Heb. 12:24

24 And [kai] to Jesus [Iesous] the mediator [mesites] of the new [neos] covenant [diatheke], and [kai] to the blood [haima] of sprinkling [rhantismos], that speaketh [laleo] better things [kreitton] than [para] that of Abel [Abel]. KJV-Interlinear

24 and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. NASB

As sinful man, we do not have any access to perfect God. As sinful man, we do not have any means of access to perfect God. As sinful man, we do not have any ability to discover or acquire access to God. So as sinful man, we have a destiny of oblivion and terror beyond imagination.

God is eternal. God is perfection. God is the power that holds all things together.

So, needless to say, if we are going to have any future other than doom and terror, then we need some help from someone with whom we can interact, and who can interact with God. In order to have any kind of a future we have to have a relationship with God. Otherwise there is nothing in our future but disaster.

Lots of folks will look to invented religions, or to their own beliefs, or to their own wisdom, in order to gain access to God. That is where we get all of the religions, all of the cults, all of the philosophies and such. People invent them. And people invent them from their imaginations, never from fact or reality. For all religions are false.

Christianity is not a religion. It is a relationship with God, through Jesus Christ. And that brings us to our topic. Jesus Christ.

The name Jesus Christ comes from the Greek. It is the same as the name that comes from the Hebrew Joshua Messiah. These two names are the same but from their respective languages. Jesus and Joshua mean God saves. Christ and Messiah mean anointed. Therefore, the anointed savior is God, who is the source of salvation. Salvation means deliverance from the clutches of doom and oblivion.

We know the savior by His Greek name Jesus Christ. He was born a man. He is also God. Jesus Christ is the unique person of the universe, the God/man, both God and man in one unique person.

As God, He has direct access to God the Father. As man, we have direct access to the person of Christ. No other religion, no other philosophy has this characteristic or attribute within them. And of course all religions are empty ideas with no power, no substance.

There are two covenants. We have studied them both extensively in this book of Hebrews.

The first covenant is centered around sacrifices and offerings. These teach salvation, but they are not, salvation.

The second covenant is Jesus Christ, the real savior, His work on the Cross, His Word from which we receive our spiritual growth.

The first covenant only teaches. It is a shadow only. As we know, a shadow cannot show the color, the texture, the detail of the thing is represents. The reality is in heaven. When we look at the shadow, we have to turn toward the light in order to see exactly what is casting the shadow. Jesus Christ is that reality through which the light is cast in shadow form in the Levitical sacrifices and so forth.

To worship the shadow would be silly, but the world does many silly things. It even rejects the shadow and invents other ideas, ideas which have no basis in truth, and many pursue them with vigor. So much so that people can become obsessed with their chosen beliefs, even when those beliefs are lies.

When people lack truth in their soul, then they lack discernment and are open to all manner of lies. They can be easily fooled, and easily convinced that any idea is really something other than what it is. This is how psychological warfare is conducted. And, I might add, this is how politics is often conducted as well. Politicians will try to take advantage of an ignorant public. The evidence of their success or failure can be seen in honest polls. Polls also show how fickle people can be, and therefore, how low (or high) the general publics spiritual status is.

Unfortunately we live in a day when the spiritual index (if you want to call it that) of the general population, is in need of repair. Just look at the news and the general beliefs surrounding the recent Shipping Port story. People are panicking over rumor and bad news stories. Or look at the news stories predicting civil war in Iraq, when violence erupts in waves, as it has been doing from time to time over the last three years. News organizations wish for it and people believe it. But oddly enough the violence has subsided a bit as other stories have replaced the headlines.

A spiritually weak society is susceptible to rumors and sensational stories. Even the stock market is driven by psychology to some extent.

Abel made sacrifices of animals. He did this because that was what he was properly taught. It was a part of his worship and an expression of his faith in the promises of God. We too have our sacrifices today. We study the Word of God. That is our worship and from where our faith is derived. This is the proper thing to do, as we are commanded by God, to study.

But, all of our study will not get us one bit of spiritual growth if we do not pursue our studies in the proper way. Satan can read the Bible and yet he will not go to heaven. So we look to a still higher authority within the scope of our studies. We look to Christ.

Ritual is fine when it teaches truth. Ritual is not fine when it becomes the substitute for truth. You do not have to perform any ritual in order to be saved, or to advance in your spiritual life. You merely believe in Christ to be saved, and you merely have to study the Bible and make its principles a part of your daily life in order to advance in your spiritual life.

Spiritual growth protects you from the rumor mills of the world. Spiritual growth gives you discernment and helps you separate out the truth from the lies of life.

Matt. 1:21

21 And she will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for it is He who will save His people from their sins. NASB

No other faith can save you from the opinions of the world and the ultimate bad decisions that come from those patterns of rumors.

Anyone who rejects Christ and doctrine leaves themselves open to the many false ideas that the world promotes. Sooner or later, the constant hammering of the world will cause you to stray into a very deep pit of failure. Your only protection against being misled, is Bible doctrine.

Your only protection against failure in life is Bible doctrine.

Abel offered sacrifices which were accepted, but those sacrifices did not save him. Faith alone, saved Him and helped him to grow up spiritually.

The world offers rituals and beliefs in many forms. None of them will save you nor help you succeed in your life. None of them.

Only reliance on the one and only savior, Jesus Christ, and His Word, will bring you to the point of seeing truth in this world and seeing you through to certain success in this life as well as in the next.

Now is the time to post a prayer.