An animal sacrifice cannot take away sin; it cannot make you clean. Thus, an OT believer was barred from coming into God’s holy presence. Yet, these sacrifices pointed forward to how God would ultimately cleanse sinners. The Son of God has a body prepared for Him and He comes to do God’s will. He obediently submits to being the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. It’s through His sacrifice that we are sanctified, cleansed and enabled to draw near to God. The Holy Spirit witnesses to this access by reminding us of the new covenant blessings that are ours in Jesus.

The evidence of Jesus' resurrection is radical, but verified. However, the women's response was to flee and stay in frightened silence. What is exposed is the importance of not just receiving evidence, but embracing the One to whom the evidence points: the risen Lord Jesus.

As the sky turns dark in the middle of the day, Jesus cries from the cross, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" This cry reveals Jesus' great agony in bearing God's wrath for sinners. Thus, this cry shows us that Jesus is forsaken for our sin. Having paid our penalty, we can be reconciled to God and be assured of His presence in our suffering.

The death of Jesus has opened to us all of the blessings of the new covenant in the same way that a death brings a last will and testament into effect. Through Jesus' sacrifice our sin-debt has been cancelled and we receive His perfect representation in heaven on our behalf. Thus, we are enabled to look forward to His return eagerly, being beneficiaries of His will by faith.

The old covenant provided limited and restricted access into God's presence. The tabernacle, priesthood and sacrifices couldn't atone for our sin and prevented sinners from drawing near to God. Yet, the old covenant pictured what we have received in Jesus. He has provided stability by anchoring our hope not in an earthly tent, but in heaven. He has given us security through securing an eternal redemption in His blood. We now can now draw near to God with a clear conscience and live assured of the blessing of His presence.

When a relationship breaks down, mediation is required. Jesus Christ is the perfect Mediator between us and God. He is the God-Man who represents us to God and God to us. Hebrews 8:6-13 explains that Jesus is also Mediator of the new covenant. This new covenant is enacted on the better promises of a desire to obey God, belonging to God, knowing God and the forgiveness of God.

What do we do when the world is turned upside down? Psalm 46 gives us three answers in response. First, don’t be afraid because God is our refuge, strength and help. Second, look to the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem - that is where your citizenship is registered in Jesus' blood. Third, this looking points us to beholding and being still before our God.

In Hebrews 8, the preacher shows us that in Jesus the new is better. This chapter builds a bridge between the better nature of Christ's priesthood (Hebrews 1-7) and His better ministry on our behalf (Hebrews 9-13). We learn in Hebrews 8:1-6 that Jesus is a better priest because He is seated and ministers on our behalf in heaven. In Christ we have an advocate in the highest court of heaven. We are also given the grace to persevere through His intercession.

While travelling around Galilee, Jesus is confronted by a leper. Leprosy in Jesus' day was basically a death sentence. Isolated from community, left to suffer and barred from God's presence was the lot of the man full of leprosy. Yet, Jesus in His compassion touches the leper and cleanses him. Luke thus provides us with a wonderful picture of the salvation Jesus came to bring. Jesus is the King who came to save us from sin's corruption and sin's separation. He is the Saviour who says to sinners, “I will; be clean.”

We see in Peter's experience the result of an encounter with the true and living God. An encounter begins with God revealing Himself to us through His Word. This revelation of God leads to a revelation of ourselves as sinners. We are moved to confession like Peter, "I am a sinful man." Yet, in God's grace, He moves toward us to redeem us in Christ. Then, He calls us to partner with Him in His mission to seek and save the lost.

Authority is not a concept we naturally warm to. Through its abuses and our cultural aversion, we tend towards believing that authority is a bad thing. However, we have no authority over the forces of evil, sickness or even our own lives. Yet, Jesus displays His authority over all these things. Jesus came as the King, but uses His power to compassionately call sinners into His kingdom and to save them through laying down His life on their behalf. Jesus exercises His authority to save!

Luke 4:14-30 recounts Jesus' rejection in His hometown of Nazareth. As followers of Jesus we rejoice in the fact that He came to set sinners free through His life, death and resurrection. Jesus is the good news; the gospel! Yet, we must also recognise that just as people rejected Jesus, people will reject us as His followers. We can take comfort in the fact that Jesus experienced being an outcast and never leaves or forsakes His own.

2 Corinthians 2:12-17 unpacks how to approach 2022 through looking at the apostle Paul's ministry and gospel principles. These principles can be summarised under 3 R's. First, rejoice that Christ suffers no setbacks and always leads us in triumphal procession. Second, reflect on how you are spreading the aroma of Christ. Third, resolve to speak Christ to those who are perishing and to those who are being saved.

The wilderness, a place of testing and failure for Israel, becomes the place where the new Israel, the second Adam is tempted by Satan but doesn't yield. Thus, as our representative, Jesus succeeds where we failed. He is our perfect sacrifice and our spotless righteousness. We also learn by Jesus' example how to fight sin in our own lives. We use and live in God's Word to combat the fiery darts of the evil one.

In this passage, three groups of people are searching for Jesus. However, each search for Him for different reasons. Herod seeks to destroy, the religious leaders seek to ignore and the wise men seek to worship. Matthew calls us to respond as the wise men did: bow in submission before Jesus as our shepherd King.

Psalm 16 exposes our need to be preserved. In David's prayer to be preserved, he recounts all the way that God has kept him. This leads him to thanksgiving and also the assurance that God will preserve him even in death. We too can know this security and confidence because of Jesus' resurrection.

Jesus is the perfect priest because He is holy, innocent, unstained and exalted. This also qualifies Him to be the perfect sacrifice for our sin; a sacrifice offered once for all. As the glorified, exalted Son of God, Jesus is able to help His people and intercede for them perfectly and continuously.

Jesus is a priest after the order of Melchizedek. This means that Jesus' priesthood is an effective priesthood having won forgiveness for our sins and drawing us near to God. His priesthood is also an established priesthood because God takes an oath in Psalm 110 that Jesus is a priest forever. His priesthood is also an eternal priesthood because Jesus ever lives to intercede for His people.

The preacher of Hebrews unpacks in Hebrews 7:1-10 the significant, but mysterious figure of Melchizedek. Drawing on Genesis 14, the preacher shows how Melchizedek resembles the Son of God. The fact that Jesus is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek means we have a King of righteousness and peace who has secured our salvation. The fact that Melchizedek is a type of Christ also provides the ground of our assurance that Christ ever lives to intercede for His people.

We live in a time of uncertainty about the present and the future. Yet, the Bible's definition of hope is not uncertain but certain, fixed and confident. We're urged to pursue hope, hold fast to that hope and to see where that hope is anchored - in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ.