I am going to the beach.
Look! I brought a friend.
I like to chase him.
But, sometimes he chases me.
…
Oh no! Here comes a big cloud.
Now my friend is gone.
I am all alone.
I know what to do!
I chase the cloud away.
Now my friend is back again.
We are a great team.
(An excerpt from I Love My Shadow, a children’s book by Hans Wilhelm).
Hans Wilhelm tells the story of a dog going to the beach with his friend. His own shadow. He loves his shadow. Cute, right?
It’s cute when it’s a dog who loves a shadow but the writer of Hebrews doesn’t think it’s cute to go back to loving shadows when the substance of the shadows have been revealed in Jesus.
The Mosaic law was a shadow but Jesus is whom the shadow points.
The High Priest was a shadow but Jesus the Superior High Priest with a
Animals sacrifices were a shadow of the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus the spotless lamb.
The law of God and the temple sacrifices are types and remind of us of our sin. Jesus is the reality and releases us from the burden of our sin.
The law and sacrifices call God’s people to his ordinances for penance. They demand an apology. Blood must be shed, repeatedly.
Jesus calls us to faith and repentance.
Sacrifices and burnt offerings God does not desire. He is pleased with your faith. He is pleased with your faithfulness.
God is not looking continually for your apology. “I’m sorry.” He wants your obedience. “I’m serving.”
Jesus did not come to offer up one big I’m sorry for God. Jesus offered up his life and the Father raised him from the dead.
Jesus was morally perfect but he became perfect through his obedience to God.
Through obedience, Jesus came to do even more than fulfill all prophesy and all law. He came to do God’s will. He came to obey the spirit of the law and not the letter of the law.
He showed us the heart of obedience. And through Jesus, the law is written on our hearts so that we are not required to know a system but trust in his sacrifice.
We are not required to study a new religion but submit to a new relationship. A relationship with God having Jesus as
If we want to know God we know Jesus. If we want to see God then choose to see Jesus with eyes of faith.
But sometimes we can fall in love with types and shadows.
God gives us church buildings but Christ builds his church with people.
God gives us the church but the head of the church is Christ.
God gives us the Bible but Jesus is the Word made flesh.
God gives us a conscience and morals but He cleanses our conscience through the blood of Christ.
God gives us the ability to do good but salvation is given by grace through faith, not by works.
God gives us wealth but through Jesus, we have every spiritual blessing.
Have you ever unboxed a toy for your kids and they end up playing with the box? The box is loved and the toy is forgotten. Depending on the price of the toy it’s frustrating
Well, think about the price Jesus paid so that we would be reconciled to God. He gave his life and we choose treasure dead things and relics. We make idols out of what God made for our good. We trade in the eternal for the
Through Jesus, God has forgotten your sin and will not count them against you. Live by faith and resist shrinking back into the shadows.
Don’t love shadows. Love Jesus. Chase after him. He is coming back again.
You and Jesus make a great team. Live in the reality of Christ’s presence and be saved.
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Jovan preaches for the Littleton Church of Christ near Denver, Colorado. Visit here to listen to sermons preached at the Littleton Church.