If we give up and turn our backs on all we’ve learned, all we’ve been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ’s sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgement – and a mighty fierce judgement it will be!  Hebrews 10:26-27 (The Message)

Chapter ten of Hebrews talks about the “old plan” of laws and sacrifices. It was a good plan but verse four of this chapter makes a good point: “The plain fact is that bull and goat blood can’t get rid of sin.” Thanks to Jesus Christ and his sacrifice for us, we can come directly to God. We don’t have to worry about sacrificing anything any more in order to stand before God.  We can bring everything to God without fear that he will turn his back on us. If, however, we decide to go back to the old ways, we deny the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and we’re back to sacrificing animals every time we want to meet with God.

The old plan was a good one – but it had its limitations. Sacrificing bulls and goats and sheep every year only etched our sins ever more deeply into our identity so that we spent most of our time focusing on our sins rather than on the infinite love and mercy of God. We almost created idols of our inadequacies to worship rather than focusing on the God who makes all things possible.

When the time was right, God sent his beloved Son to us. Jesus lived among us, and we were able to know Him personally. He taught us about God and how much we are loved. Because of Jesus, we are able to see a side of God that is not bent on punishment and paybacks. Because of God’s “new plan,” we can focus on the positives of life, bringing hope to us.

It’s kind of like keeping financial records in a ledger using pencil and paper. We discover ways of tracking our expenses and find that it’s easier to track expenses for a quarter at a time and then, at the end of the year, we only have to worry about four sets of numbers. When spreadsheet programs were developed for the computer, not only could they add up all the expenses for us, but they could do it by month rather than by quarter, and it could be done in a fraction of the time that it took using pencil and paper. The new way of recording finances is much better than the old way.

By the same token, the “new plan” of Jesus Christ – believing that his sacrifice paid for all our sins once and for all – is much better than the “old plan” that kept us focused on our sins. We can move forward now into a brighter future – as long as we keep on track. 

Becky Gillette is a former teacher, newspaper reporter, and preacher who seeks to take an original approach to life’s lessons. She is the author of “Jessie’s Corner: Something to Think About,” a collection of articles which she wrote for a weekly newspaper.