Not Mt. Sinai, but Mt. Zion ― Hebrews 12:18-24

Having come to the Lord Jesus Christ by faith, we now enjoy the blessed privilege of complete freedom from the curse and terror of God’s holy law. ― “For ye are not come unto the mount that might be touched, and that burned with fire, nor unto blackness, and darkness, and tempest.”

Not Mt. Sinai

Paul states it emphatically, “Ye are not come to Mt. Sinai.” We now have nothing to do with the law. That horrible, black, fiery mountain might be touched; but to touch it meant certain death! Sinai issued demands we could not fulfill, threatened wrath we could not endure, and exposed sin we could not remove. But Christ fulfilled the law for us. And now, in Christ, we are free from the law (Rom. 7:4; 10:4). The Lord Jesus Christ fulfilled the righteousness of the law for us by his obedience to God as our representative (Rom. 3:19). He satisfied the penalty of the law by his death as our Substitute, redeeming us from its curse (Gal. 3:13-14). The righteousness of the law is now fulfilled in us by faith in Christ (Rom. 8:4; 3:28). We are, right now, as completely free from the law of God as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

But Mt. Zion

In Christ Jesus, we now have the enjoyment of free access to God. “But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels” (v. 22). Mt. Zion was the hill on which the temple was built. There alone, God was seen, heard, revealed, and known. There alone could men approach God on the mercy-seat, through a priest, by the blood of an animal sacrifice. But now, we are the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16; Matt. 18-20). Christ is our Priest, our Mercy-seat, and our Sacrifice. And we are as free to approach God in Christ as the saints in heaven (Heb.10:19-22). Right now we have free access to God (Heb. 4:16). We enjoy the perpetual presence of God (John 14:23) and are perfectly accepted by him (Eph. 1:6).

Heavenly Citizenship

You and I, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, possess the privilege of heavenly citizenship. ― “Ye are come unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem.” Our citizenship is in heaven, from whence we look for the Savior. I am like an American traveling through Europe. I stop along the way, enjoy the sights, eat the food, smell the flowers, and learn from the history. But my purpose is to return home soon. I want to behave so that I bring no reproach upon my homeland. But I do not, must not, set my heart upon anything along the way. And I do not, must not, let the affairs of the strange land disturb me greatly.

Angelic Companions

Are you a child of God? Do you trust Christ? If so, you have come into the companionship of the angels of God. ― “Ye are come unto…an innumerable company of angels.” I don’t pretend to know much about the angels of God, but I do know some things about them. ― They are an “innumerable company.” ― They are all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister to them who shall be the heirs of salvation (Heb. 1:14). ― The Lord has given his angels charge over his elect to protect them. ― “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him.”― The angels of God meet with God’s saints in our assemblies of public worship (Eph. 3:10; 1 Cor. 11:10). ―The angels of God attend the saints in death and carry them home to glory, as they did Elijah and Lazarus. ― And the angels of God will gather his elect from the four corners of the earth in the last day.

“Firstborn”

In Christ every believer possesses all the spiritual wealth of adoption into the family of God (v. 23). In God’s family all the sons are firstborn sons. Our names were written in heaven before the world began (1 John 3:1-2). That makes us all “heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ.”

Perfectly Safe

Every believer is safe and secure, because we have come under the defense and protection of God’s holy throne. We live in the immediate presence of “God the Judge of all” all the time. God has judged our sins in Christ, and declares now that we are not subject to condemnation (Rom. 8:1; 33-34). He who judges us righteous is our Judge in all things. He will “plead my cause.” He will “undertake for me.”

General Assembly

Being united to Christ by faith, we are brought into the company of glorified saints. We have (not shall, but have) come “to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” God’s church on earth and God’s church in heaven is one church. Our glorified brethren are our brethren in the body of Christ. They worship before the throne just like we do, only perfectly. They rejoice before God every time one of God’s elect are saved (Lk. 16:6, 7, 10). And they are very interested in those of us who are not yet made perfect (Heb. 12:1).

Our Mediator

You and I who believe are the objects of the personal care and mediation of the Lord Jesus Christ We have come “to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel” (v. 24). Our all-glorious Savior, Jesus, is the Mediator of that everlasting and ever new covenant of grace, ordered in all things and sure from eternity, that covenant that has been ratified and put into force by his sin-atoning blood. And, believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, we have right now, as surely as the saints in heaven, full, irrevocable salvation through Christ’s precious blood. Abel’s blood demanded the wrath of God upon his brother who killed him. Christ’s blood demands the mercy of God upon us, his brethren, who killed him. For what does the blood of Christ speak? Does it speak for forgiveness? Then we are forgiven. ― For justification? Then we are justified. ― For sanctification? Then we are sanctified. ― For glorification? Then we have promise of that, too. ― For life? Then we have life! Let these things comfort, strengthen, and sustain you in the midst of your heartache and toil in this world

Don Fortner