Day 11: Purify
“…and to purify for himself a people of his very own…”
Titus 2:14
To purify something is to cleanse it and make it suitable
for holy purposes. This was the purpose of the sacrifice on the Day of
Atonement in the Old Testament. The people would bring their offering, such as
a lamb, to the priests who would place it on the altar in the temple and
sacrifice it to God. Atonement required blood as the cleansing or purifying
agent, in turn cleansing the people of their sin. So, in the Old Testament we see mention of various
cleansing rituals and sacrifice requirements meant to purify God’s people. Unfortunately,
over time the religious leaders of the people of God turned the cleansing
rituals and sacrifices into laws and rituals that became burdensome for the people.
But God promised that a new covenant in the future would
create a better way for them to be purified in order to live as His holy
people.
“I will
sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will
cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and
put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and
give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep
my laws. Then you will live in the land I gave
your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.” Ezekiel 36:25-28
That new covenant
is found in Jesus Christ. God offered His Son as the atoning sacrifice, that by
His blood we would be cleansed from our sin and be purified, made holy. Through
His resurrection from the dead, we received the gift of His Spirit living in us
to enable us to live as His holy people.
Christ now acts
as our High Priest, He made one sacrifice for all time. “The death he died,
he died to sin once for all.” (Romans 6:10) “Such a high
priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart
from sinners, exalted above the heavens. Unlike the other high priests, he does
not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own
sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins
once for all when he offered himself.” (Hebrews 7:26-27)
By His blood we
are purified. We are made holy in order to serve God. We can therefore enter
His presence free from the guilt of sin and full of confidence that we are
worthy.
“How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the
eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our
consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the
living God!” Hebrews 9:14
“Therefore, brothers and sisters,
since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of
Jesus, by a new and
living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over
the house of God, let us
draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that
faith brings, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty
conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:19-22
Through His blood we are the holy people of God.
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