YOU HAVE COME. Hebrews 12:22-24 We are brought to Mt. Zion, “the perfection of beauty” – the type of joy and peace; the heavenly Jerusalem. The Jerusalem above [Gal. 4:26] reckons us among its citizens. Unnumbered hosts of angels; the Church of the first-born ones – sons of God whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life; and the spirits of those individual believers before the Church. All have distinct places in the heavenly Jerusalem. Above all these, we have been brought to God, the Judge of all, and to Jesus, the Mediator. This is what we are separated unto. This is our city – not a bad exchange for the world. -
Mt. Zion is the heavenly city of God, and those who dwell there with Him live in His eternal home. Saints of all ages have looked forward to being in the place God has prepared for those who love Him. The angels who serve Him are also present there.
God’s work of saving grace and the work of the Holy Spirit within us reveal that Mt. Zion is our actual resting place now, where the power of God is upon us as God works through us. The veil has been removed, and we have “come to Mt. Zion.” We belong in this city, where we have access to the presence of God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Mt. Zion is where every Jewish person wanted to come, and where future blessings will come to them and the world through them and the Ruler who sits on the throne of David. The writer asks, “Why would Jews who are already in Mt. Zion by faith want to go back to Judaism?”
All believers, Jews and Gentiles, have come to the city of the Living God and are citizens here, even though our bodies are not yet redeemed and are limited to the earth. In our spirits and souls, we live in “heavenly places in Christ Jesus.” The “throne of grace” is here. Our Great High Priest is here. The place where we live in spirit is the “kingdom of the Son of His love.”
The heavenly host of angels is here, serving God, fulfilling His will, and ministering to those who are “heirs of salvation.” They worship and obey God as servants, while we worship and obey Him as sons and daughters in this city. Our fellowship is with the Father and the Son, not with angels, and we are not to worship angels. Our worship is far higher than that of created beings. We worship the Creator, not the creature.
There is a great multitude of angels, as well as a great gathering in heaven, where there are “living creatures,” “elders,” “seraphim,” and “cherubim” in the city of the Living God, of which we have a part and place in our spirits and souls. The church of the firstborn is enrolled in heaven, “your names are written in heaven.” “The church of the firstborn” are those who have been made a “new creation” in Christ, who is the “firstborn among many brethren.” God, in His sovereign grace, has given us our right to live as God’s firstborn who are “in Christ.”
Believers in Christ have come to “God, the Judge of all.” Our deliverance from sin has opened the way for us to be admitted to the Judge’s home. Sinners who have believed the Gospel have been brought into a place of eternal blessing because God gave His only begotten Son so that we live in Him. Our judgment is past! Because our Lord Jesus Christ bore our judgment, we can come without fear to “God, the Judge of all!”
There are the “spirits of just men made perfect,” all those who have gone on before us. Many believers we knew have died, and their spirits are waiting for the redemption of their bodies when the Lord Jesus comes for His own blood-bought people. We belong where they are, among them, not where we are in this world.
We have also come to “Jesus,” the Mediator of the new covenant. This covenant concerns our hearts so that we can have fellowship with God, do His will, and live a life suited to and committed to representing “Jesus, the Mediator.”
“The blood of sprinkling” teaches us the value of the precious blood of Christ, which cleanses us from all our sins, and to enjoy the “peace that has been made through the blood of His cross.” Our consciences convict us, but the blood cleanses us from all sin. Judgment on us is past, and peace with God is present, now and forevermore.
The blood of sprinkling is not a reference to the sacrifices the Jews were bringing as offerings. The blood of Christ, the Mediator of the new covenant, our Lord Jesus, was brought into heaven by Himself. In the sight of God, justice has been satisfied, and the righteous Judge cannot take vengeance. The blood of Abel cried for vengeance on his murderer. The blood of Jesus brings peace because it is the basis of reconciliation between a righteous God and the one who believes in Jesus. If the blood brings peace, do we need to hear Him? Yes!! The greater the dignity of the speaker who is refused, the greater is the punishment of those who despise and reject Him [Heb. 2:2; 10:28]. God has provided the means of salvation and has pointed out the danger and the remedy, so all are without excuse.