For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one. (Heb. 9:24)
The artwork on the walls of our home is made up of mostly original pieces. I could tell you the artists’ names, but you wouldn’t recognize them. They aren’t world-renowned, and we didn’t pay thousands of dollars for prints of priceless originals. For the most part, every print and canvas has come from our friends or even our own nonprofessional handiwork. Each piece tells a story, carries a memory, and is unique to our life story.
While there’s certainly nothing wrong with art prints (and we do have a few of those as well), there’s something beautiful about an original. Art can be duplicated, but the connection and the story cannot.
For hundreds of years, the Israelites approached God through “a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one” (Heb. 9:24). It met a need, but there was an imperfection about it. They likely did not even realize it because it was all they’d ever known. But then Christ came, and he was so much more than a duplicate sacrifice. He did so much more than enter a man-made sanctuary.
Jesus wasn’t a duplicate. He came to be the ultimate original. The once-for-all sacrifice for sin. He entered the sanctuary of heaven itself and appeared in God’s presence on our behalf. That’s a connection that can never be duplicated.
Thank Jesus for his once-for-all, never-repeated atonement.
Bekah Shaffer lives in Kokomo, Indiana, and enjoys endless coffee, scrapbooking, speaking, and planning adventures with her husband, Ryan.
© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.
Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
