We Have Come To Mount Zion
Eternity Online: John Edmiston (Editor)
(Heb 12:18-29 NKJV) For you have not come to the mountain that may
be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and darkness
and tempest, {19} and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words,
so that those who heard it begged that the word should not be spoken
to them anymore....... {22} But you have come to Mount Zion and to
the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an
innumerable company of angels, {23} to the general assembly and
church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the
Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, {24} to Jesus
the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling
that speaks better things than that of Abel.
{25} See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For if they did not
escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not
escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, {26} whose
voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, "Yet
once more I shake not only the earth, but also heaven." {27} Now
this, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of those things that
are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which
cannot be shaken may remain. {28} Therefore, since we are receiving
a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we may
serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. {29} For our God
is a consuming fire.
In verses 18 to 24 above the author to the Hebrews points out that
the New Covenant which has taken us to Mount Zion - the heavenly
Jerusalem. In Christ we are already present in heaven. "(Eph 2:6-7
NKJV) and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the
heavenly places in Christ Jesus, {7} that in the ages to come He
might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward
us in Christ Jesus." Here in Hebrews he says "but you have come" -
past tense. As puzzling as it is to the natural mind we are with
Christ in heaven in the Spirit and the saints move naturally amidst
the angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. Our "native
air" is not on earth but on Mount Zion. We were made for praise and
reverent worship.
Since we have come to Mount Zion we should live as if we were there.
That's the point. Through faith we have stepped into another world -
a supernatural world where we are citizens of heaven. Like the
magical wardrobe in C.S. Lewis's "The Lion, the Witch and the
Wardrobe" faith transports us to a new realm where God's laws apply
and we meet a new kind of people - the holy ones of Heaven. We
stepped through that doorway when we became born again - but many of
us are blindfolded to the glory that is ours. We are not under a law
that came with a trumpet blast but under grace that came with the
blood that speaks better than that of righteous Abel. We are not in
an earthly Promised Land with a set of rituals and a tent made of
porpoise skins. We have come to Christ, all rituals are gone and our
High Priest - Jesus, participates in the tabernacle made without
human hands in Heaven. (Hebrews 9:13) We are in glory, under grace.
We have come to the Holy. We are to be holy. We are to serve God with
reverence and awe in the Spirit. Our God is a consuming fire and will
judge His people - (see verses 30&31 above) therefore considering our
high status and our holy God we should be careful Christians who walk
with God boldly but wisely. There are twin calls to freedom (from
the Law - we have NOT come to Mt Sinai v.18 above) and to holiness -
in sharing God's nature.The New Covenant is stricter than the Old
Covenant with much more severe penalties. Physical death was the
penalty under the Old Covenant, eternal death the penalty under the
New. We have come to more precious things and therefore we must be
far more careful of them.
Prayer:
Lord open our spiritual eyes and ears that we may see that we have
come to Mount Zion and dwell in glory, under grace. Awaken us to the
sounds of Heaven, help us to hear Your voice and sing Your praises in
our spirit. Call to us and show us how holy You are and how we should
serve You in reverence and in awe. O Lord we are dull, help us Lord
in this that we may praise Your name, live holy lives and escape the
judgement that comes to those who disregard Your will. Amen.
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John Edmiston ([email protected])
Editor - Eternity Online Magazine http://www.eternity-magazine.org/
Cults, exegesis, bible teaching, Christian life and leadership.
For the thinking Christian!