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Today's Little Lift
by Jim Bullington
A shadow is real, but it is only a representation of something else (the substance). A shadow may reveal some things about the object it represents, but it does not reveal everything. By looking at a shadow I might be able to tell the approximate size of the individual casting it, but I could not tell the color of the eyes, or the breadth of the nose, or a thousand other details that only a face to face view would reveal. Shadows are spoken of in Scripture; today’s message will treat one of these shadows.
The Hebrews writer penned the following: “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.” (Hebrews 10.1).
The law involved in this passage was the Law of Moses. The good things to come were the spiritual blessings that were to be made available only through the blood of Jesus Christ and the gospel system which He made possible through that sacrifice. The sacrifices that are referenced were those sacrifices offered through the Levitical Priesthood codified under the former covenant. Those sacrifices, according to this text, could never make the worshiper perfect; such was the great limitation of the Old Covenant. To cite an old illustration, the worshipers under the former covenant could pay the interest on the sin debt which they owed, but they could not pay a single cent on the principle.
The good things to come were things not yet a reality under the Old Covenant. The prophets, even if they saw these things in the future, could not partake of the blessings of the gospel age. Peter wrote about it this way: “Of this salvation [salvation through the gospel] the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them [the Old Testament prophets] it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.” (1 Peter 1.10-12).
The good things to come came for the very first time upon those who heard and accepted Peter’s message on the first Pentecost following the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. What the previous prophets would only declare in prospect, Peter could announce as a reality. What they could only see in bits and pieces, Peter and those who heard him could see as “whole cloth.” The patchwork of the Old passed away and was replaced by the substance of the New. These things which “…eye had not seen and ear had not heard” (see 1 Corinthians 2.9) were now freely known and spoken of as a then current and ongoing system of blessings available to all humanity (see 1 Corinthians 2.12-13). Forgiveness, once only seen as a dim and distant hope, was now proclaimed as a living reality to those who were bearing the burden of guilt that only a convicted sinner can know.
One amazing thing about the effects of the good things to come is that it (the gospel system) has the power to make mankind perfect as we approach God through it. Of course, the word perfect here does not mean flawless or sinless, but it means complete and whole. Hence, believers in Jesus Christ are without the need of any further work on God’s part or on man’s to be declared not guilty! That, all would agree, is a good thing, and better yet, it is for the here and now!
Questions:
1. Why could worshipers under the Old Covenant not be seen as perfect?
2. What is different about worshipers under the New Covenant?
3. What disadvantage did the Old Testament prophets have over the New Testament prophets?
4. How can we know that the gospel is good? Who and what made it good? Through what power?
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