Man-made or heavenly - Hebrews 9

For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own.

Then He would have to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now He has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,
so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;
and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him.
                             -- Hebrews 9:24-28


Before Christ came, the Jews had to depend on a human high priest who annually visited the Holy of Holies in a man-made sanctuary.

He would enter the Holy of Holies and sprinkle the blood of the sacrificed animal on the Mercy Seat cover of the Ark.

This critical rite was designed and ordained by God to cover the sins of His people.

But now we depend on our heavenly High Priest, Jesus Himself, who has entered once and for all into the heavenly sanctuary, with His own blood, to take away our sin.

There He represents us before God, and He always will.

We must not rely on anything in our spiritual life that is "made with hands." It cannot do the eternal work God wants to do in our lives.

The early Jews had a tabernacle, a tent, that temporarily housed the Ark of the Covenant and in  which the people worshipped and the priests offered sacrifices.

This tabernacle accompanied them in their wilderness journey and was their center of worship in the early days in Israel.

It was then replaced by Solomon's Temple, which was destroyed by the Babylonians.

When the Jews returned from their Babylonian exile, they rebuilt the temple, though on a humble scale. 

Later Herod rebuilt and embellished the Temple and it stood in architectural splendor in Jerusalem to bring awe and majesty to the Name of God.

But the Romans destroyed that temple about 40 years after Christ was crucified and it has never been rebuilt.



Things that are "made with hands," the author of Hebrews is telling us, are perishable, but the things "not made with hands" are eternal.

We must not entrust our salvation and our obedience to God to temporary, "made with hands" symbols, philosophies, and institutions around us.

Our salvation is based on the atoning work of Jesus Christ, who has entered the heavenly, eternal realm and appears right now and forever before God as our Advocate.

And we await His return as rightful King of His Creation!