"Then I Will Accept You"

Today I was reading in Ezekiel 43 and in verses 18-27 God instructs Ezekiel on how sacrifices should be made. The Lord goes into great detail and describes each step down to the smallest degree. But what I was really impressed with was the statement made at the end of God's instructions. After all of those details and requirements, the end of verse 27 says: '"Then I will accept you," declares the Sovereign Lord.'

Isn't the New Covenant glorious! We no longer are labored will all of these duties, all of these rituals that have to be performed just right, down to the smallest, most intricate detail. Any action that God has required, He has required of His Son, and we are counted as righteous! How amazing that God now accepts us, not on our own merits, for we have none, but on the merits of one who lived in sinless perfection, died to pay our penalty, and rose in victory.

"For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant." Hebrews 9:15