We have the best and highest priest who is now sitting on the right side of the shiny bright throne in the heavens who keeps it right for us with God.

 

 

The ones who were priests in this world gave God the people’s presents and helped the people be closer to God. But they just showed us shadows of the very best stuff in heaven that go on and on forever.

If the first way had worked best, when God took them by the hand and led them out of being slaves in Egypt, then Jesus wouldn’t have had to come and die to save us. But God made the best way through the best promises.

 

 

He said, I will make a new deal with them. I will put my rules in their mind and write them on their hearts and I will be to them a God and they will be My people.

 

They won’t have to tell people to know me anymore because everyone will know me from the littlest to the biggest.

 

I will put my special love on them and not remember their bad stuff anymore.

So the new deal cancels the old deal and the old deal disappears.

The first deal had rules for serving in the house that had the candlestick and the table and the bread of His presence and the veil and the most special place that had the ark of the covenant and the golden pot of manna

and Aaron’s rod that burst out almond blossoms and almonds and it had the cherubim’s of glory making their shadow over the mercy throne.

And one time each year the high priest went in behind the veil and sprinkled the blood of the lamb on the mercy seat to cover the people’s bad stuff for that year.

 

 

 

But Jesus, the promised One, made a deal for better things that are coming.

If the blood of goats and bulls cleaned away the bad stuff for that year, so God could be close to His people and give them all His good stuff,

 

 

 

Then how much more the blood of God’s own special Son from heaven will make clean forever the ones who trust in Him.

 

Jesus didn’t go into that tent in this world that men’s hands made, but into heaven itself to stay in the presence of God for us.

 

It is set for men to die one time, and after that be judged for what they did in their body in this world.

And Jesus because there is no end to His specialness, only had to save us one time and it lasts forever and ever.

 

And He will come back again to bring get us and bring us back to heaven with Him.

The rules God gave were to show a tiny bit of the good stuff that God is bringing us to.

 

They rules couldn’t make the people all right, or it would all be done by now. They had to keep doing over and over again, one time every year.

But Jesus came and did it for us, and then wrote his good life on our record.

 

 

 

Now Jesus has won over all the bad ones and put them under His feet.

 

 

And now, God puts His rules in our hearts and writes them on our thinking. He doesn’t remember our bad stuff anymore.

 

 

So now we don’t do the old rules anymore. So let’s go close to God, knowing how big is His special love for us.

 

If we turn away from God now and go with the bad ones, a really big spanking will be waiting for us, because we are stomping on God’s very own Son. It is really scary to make God so mad.

 

So remember God’s big special love for you and all the times He saved you out of big troubles.

 

The people helped Paul a lot when he was in prison and were very kind to him.

They didn’t care when they were treated bad because they believed in Jesus, they didn’t care when people took their stuff, because they knew that they had lots of treasures waiting for them in heaven.

 

Paul told them, So keep trusting and knowing Jesus will take care of you, and save you forever, and give you a big reward.

You need to stay under what God says, and after a bit of trouble, the promises will happen for you, and won’t be slow.

 

The ones who do right are living by trusting in God’s promises and leaning on Jesus to keep being their helper.

But if you stop trusting and turn away, God won’t be happy about that. We keep going straight on to heaven and don’t turn back to get into trouble.

 

 

 

 

We keep on leaning on Jesus to save us forever.