Prepare for Christmas: The Twenty-first Day of Advent

And Who Is Melchizedek?

Saturday, December 22, 2018

This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. . . . Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more. . . . And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. Hebrews 10:15-17

When the first laws were given, they were written on tablets of stone, which Moses threw to the ground and broke when he saw the sin of the people. This time, God says the laws are not on stone but on our hearts. We know instinctively what is right and wrong after we have come to Christ, the high priest whom God revealed in Melchizedek and whom he brought to earth in the person of a tiny infant. Now the new covenant is established through Christ’s finished work, and we are free from the Old Testament law.

That does not mean we do as we please! It does mean that we recognize what our freedom from sin has cost Jesus, and we gladly do what the old law taught us pleased his Father and ours (Exodus 20:1-17).

I remember years ago speaking to a new Christian, a student on our campus. She was very sad, and I asked her why. She explained that her past life was very ugly, and she felt so bad as she realized how she had hurt God by her behavior. I showed her the Scripture above, and her face lighted up with joy! “Do you really mean God has forgotten my sin?” I assured her he had and encouraged her to forgive herself. I suggested that she picture herself before Christ washed clean of her past in the blood of Jesus! Glorious thought!

Prayer: Father, help us to see ourselves as you see us – redeemed and clean thanks to your Son, our Great High Priest! Amen

And Who is Melchizedek?

An Advent Devotional Guide
prepared for Rehobeth United Methodist Church, Winter 2012,
by Patience Nave, Christian Education Coordinator

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