Jesus can forgive all sins (Hebrews 12:18-24)
Today we are going to look at Hebrews chapter 12, and the 2 mountains that are spoken about. The one mountain is called Mount Sinai. Mount Sinai is a physical place where God met with Moses and gave him the 10 commandments. At that time, the Israelites had been freed from Egypt and were on their way to the promised land. Along the way God had them stop at Mount Sinai and Moses climbed the mountain. God spoke to Moses and gave him the 10 commandments. The other mountain spoken about in Hebrews chapter 12 is a spiritual mountain, a place where anyone can go to have their sins forgiven and receive eternal life. This spiritual mountain is made available to us because Jesus was nailed to a cross and died their for our sins.
We read about both of these mountains in the New Testament. Hebrews chapter 12, verses 18-24:
“You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”
No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.”
We just read about 2 mountains: a physical mountain called Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the 10 commandments; and a spiritual mountain called Mount Zion where we can come to have our sins forgiven and receive eternal life.
Let’s read through Hebrew chapter 12, verses 18-24 so that we can understand better what God is saying:
18 You have not come to a physical mountain, to a place of flaming fire, darkness, gloom, and whirlwind, as the Israelites did at Mount Sinai. 19 For they heard an awesome trumpet blast and a voice so terrible that they begged God to stop speaking. 20 They staggered back under God’s command: “If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned to death.” 21 Moses himself was so frightened at the sight that he said, “I am terrified and trembling.”
As Christians, we have not come to a physical mountain called Mount Sinai to be saved. The physical mountain talked about here is Mount Sinai, and it was a very scary thing to look at. Moses and the Israelites saw God come down onto Mount Sinai and they were very, very afraid.
The Bible says about us Christians:
22 No, you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to countless thousands of angels in a joyful gathering. 23 You have come to the assembly of God’s firstborn children, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God himself, who is the judge over all things. You have come to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect. 24 You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.
As Christians, we have come into the presence of God to a place called Mount Zion, it is also called the heavenly Jerusalem. Our names are written in heaven. We have eternal life. Our names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. We have come to a place where it is said “to the spirits of the righteous ones in heaven who have now been made perfect.” Last week we talked about spirits. Here we see that we have a spirit given to us by God that has made us perfect and forgiven in His sight.
In verse 24 we read: “You have come to Jesus, the one who mediates the new covenant between God and people, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks of forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance like the blood of Abel.”
Jesus is our mediator. There are mediators in the UN who try to get countries to stop fighting each other in a war. Jesus is our mediator. He stepped in between God and people and died on the cross for our sins so that God the Father could forgive us of our sins. In Hebrews 12:24 it says that the sprinkled blood speaks about forgiveness instead of crying out for vengeance and revenge like the blood of Abel.
This is talking about the section in the Old Testament where Cain murdered his brother Abel in the field. Hebrews tells us that the sprinkled blood, or the blood of Christ, can forgive any sin – even murder. But under the Old Covenant, under the Law of Moses given at Mount Sinai, Cain should have been executed and killed as punishment for killing his brother Abel. But under the New Covenant, under the blood of Jesus, at spiritual Mount Zion, Jesus was punished for our sins – even the sin of murder.
Some Somalis have killed other Somalis. They have murdered their brothers. Some people want to kill those who have killed their family members. But Jesus is saying to them: come to me and I will forgive you of your sins and give you eternal life. And Jesus is saying to others: forgive them of their sins because I have forgiven you of your sins. This is the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. This is the New Covenant at the spiritual Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. If we come to Jesus through the spiritual Mount Zion we will receive forgiven of sins, eternal life, and the ability to forgive others for the sins that they have committed.