This Prayer Encourages Us to get Close to God
Hebrews 13:20-21 "Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen."
God's acceptance of Christ's atoning sacrifice was demonstrated by His raising Christ from the dead and setting Him at the right hand of the Majesty on high. The old covenant that God had set up through Moses characterized Judaism as sin, death, and distance from God - the continuous shedding of animal blood was required and the people were shut out from the Divine presence of God. But the new covenant which marks Christianity is a risen and enthroned Savior, who has put away the sins of His people from before the face of God and has secured for them the right of access to Him through prayer.
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Hebrews 10:19-22a "Therefore, brethren, having boldness [liberty] to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith..." [Brackets are mine]
Consequently we are encouraged to draw near to God with the full confidence of His children and in the infinite merits of Christ's blood and righteousness, depending entirely on this point.
In his prayer, the apostle Paul makes the request that the total of what he had set before them in the doctrinal part of the letter [the book of Hebrews] might be successfully applied to their hearts. In a brief but comprehensive sentence, Paul prays that there might be worked out in the lives of the redeemed Hebrews every grace and virtue to which he had told them about in the previous chapters.
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