Hebrews 10:1 The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

All of the physical things mentioned in the old covenant (i.e. water, land, mountains, rivers, the temple, sky, birds, etc…) are real and literal but now in the new covenant, these physical things are made as an illustration of the realities we have as individuals in the spirit realm now.

Because Jesus came, died, and was resurrected from the dead, He ushered in a new age and the new covenant in which a temple as a building is no longer needed for us to be cleansed from our sins to worship God. He made it very clear that the temple is our body(s).

There were two curtains that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. Only the High Priest was able to go past the curtains with the shedding of the blood of bulls and goats. These things are only a shadow of things to come in Christ in the New Covenant.

The blood of Jesus though cleanses our conscience so we can enter the Holy Place in the heavenly temple of our bodies. (Humans are in two dimensions, the Spiritual and the physical).

^{Hebrews 9:23-24 23} It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that were only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.

The Kingdom Of God Is Within You Through a Clean Conscience

When you accept and believe that your sins are forgiven Jesus’s blood cleanses your conscience and gives access to heavenly realities you can experience in the temple of your body. You step into a realm of peace and power that gives believers the authority to perform miracles and experience the Love of God in a personal way.

^{Hebrews 9:11-14 11} But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,^[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves, but he entered the Most Holy Place once and for all by his own blood, thus obtaining^[b] eternal redemption. ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ 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,^[c] so that we may serve the living God!

The post Your Body Is The Temple | The Old Covenant A Shadow Of Things To Come appeared first on Reese Irish.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we really want to make His name look great. This desire comes from the Holy Spirit. God has shown us great revelations. He marks our lives with signs, wonders, and prophetic utterances from other believers. The problem sometimes is we go astray from the straight and narrow path sometimes and stumble. Sometimes small, sometimes big.

Some of us have tendencies to open doors for demonic activities that can make others stumble. We sometimes end up ostracizing ourselves from our brothers and sisters. But, God has an irrevocable call on our lives and He will always sternly and strictly discipline us back into His will. Talk about great grace! This dynamic requires us to persevere and endure in our faith in the midst of great opposition and persecution, deserved & un-deserved.

I pray in Jesus’ name He works it out for our good and the good of others as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 1:3.

³ We remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Great Grace & Besetting Sin

The Gospel teaches that everyone has fallen short of the Glory of God and that all deserve the death penalty. The good news is though, that God manifested Himself as a human in all divine perfection and took that death penalty upon Himself. He miraculously resurrected 3 days later in order to save and justify those who put their faith in Him for salvation. Thank you Father in Heaven for this gift of righteousness.

We really need Jesus because that should have been our death. Although we may have a highly disciplined Jesus seeking life, it has been peppered with evil & sinful moments… As Christian, our body (temple) cannot be possessed by a demon, but under the influence of alcohol, sexual immorality, anger, and all the other defiling thing; the enemy can have a very strong influence on our actions and words. The closer we get to Christ and the more we empty our temple for His Holy Spirit the stakes get higher. Our besetting sin bites us harder and harder as life goes on when we allow our sin to hi-jack our temple.

Matthew 12:43-45

⁴³ “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. ⁴⁴ Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean, and put in order. ⁴⁵ Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

I am writing this post today to portray God’s Great Grace even through our worst sins. Our words and actions during dark times are grounds for being cast into outer darkness forever.  I see a great grace from our Father through Jesus that disciplines us back into His will. And my prayer is that the gift of faith He has given us encourages other people into believing that Jesus will never give up on humanity.

Irrevocable Calling Of God

Romans 11:29

^{29 …}for God’s gifts and his call are irrevocable.

This short scripture has been of great encouragement. God has made many promises about our lives. This should motivate us to seek Him more and more. When we fail it should remind us that we cannot save ourselves through willpower. Romans 11:29 encourages us that He will not give up on us and will use our mistakes, good works, and faith to fulfill His purposes in our lives and in the life of others.

When we chose to have faith and embrace a clean conscience by the Blood of Jesus Christ, God uses us to change the spiritual atmosphere. God wants everyone to be saved through faith in His Son Jesus. No one can earn it through work. Our disciplined life and willpower cannot save us. But that does not mean we should live an undisciplined life. In fact, the power of the Holy Spirit should encourage us, even more, to have a disciplined faith in the midst of our failures because it propels us into His Kingdom and proves as an example that others can have faith and be saved as well.

Many of us think we are disqualified to have a relationship with God. But because Jesus died for everyone who believes we can boldly approach God in grace no matter how messed up our life is or how sinful we are. This is all possible because God punished all sin in Jesus. He is our way out, He is our pardon from the messes we make for ourselves. He is the salvation of God to all those who believe.

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