“The Good Things to Come”

The “good things to come” (Heb.9:11-15, cp.10:1-2) are the blessings promised under the New Covenant of which Christ is Mediator and High Priest. Among the good things promised is the complete and eternal forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ, that is the blood of the New Covenant. It was not possible that the blood of bulls and goats offered under the Old Covenant could take away sins (10:4). The fact that they were offered year after year indicated they could not provide eternal and complete forgiveness of sins. These sacrifices made people clean on the outside (ceremonial cleansing) so that they might participate in the worship of God. But Christ, through His blood, cleanses the conscience of those who believe in Him. There is an internal cleansing of guilt not experienced under the Old Covenant. Christ not only provided internal cleansing through His sacrifice, but also eternal redemption. Through Christ’s death and resurrection, we have been eternally released from sin an its penalty! As God promised in the New Covenant, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb.8:12).