Why Old Testament sacrifices were not good enough

"For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year" Hebrews 10:1-3.

The main subject of the epistle of Hebrews is the difference between the Old and the New Covenants. Apparently, the sacrifices that were offered under the law were far from perfection and they were merely a shadow or symbols of the things to come. We see that God was not pleased with those offerings and they could not cleanse people from their sins. Their consciences would still feel guilt for their sins despite the fact sacrifices were offered to remove the sins. Their sins could not be removed due to inferior blood. People, in the Old Testament developed a consciousness of sins and the sacrifices reminded them that they were constantly guilty before God. Fortunately, that changed.

Jesus came and offered Himself as a sacrifice for our sins once and for all. He was innocent and His sacrifice was enough to remove the entire sins of the world and make us right in the eyes of God. His perfect sacrifice makes our consciences perfectly clean. You have to believe it. God no longer counts your sins if you come to Him by faith in Jesus. All of your sins were put on Him. His sacrifice is enough. You can come to God with boldness knowing that you are forgiven and clean. You shouldn't have consciousness of sins, but consciousness of righteousness that Jesus gave to you. Praise God, Jesus took your sins, and gave you His righteousness. You are guilt free. And God accepts you with His hands wide open.  

From death to life

"Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life" John 5:24. 

In the Old Testament, you had to do good works to be justified by God. If you kept all commandments but failed at one thing, you broke all law. You were guilty. You could only be justified by observing the entire law. If you failed at something, judgement of God was in store for you. The law demanded for you to be righteous. It was a heavy burden on the shoulders of the Jews and nobody could really fulfill the entire law. If they thought they could, they actually were lying to themselves. 

Christ came. He was the only person in the world who never sinned and fulfilled all the commandments of God. He died for you and me. The New Covenant was established. On the cross, God poured His judgement on Jesus for all the sins that the entire world committed: past, present and future. Now, what you have to do to be saved and have eternal life is to listen to the words of Jesus and believe. If you do, you are saved and pass from eternal death to eternal life. You don't have (can't) to be good in order for God to justify you. In the New Covenant, God does not demand righteousness from you, He supplies His own righteousness for you. You cannot be good enough. You have to accept (believe) the gift of Jesus' sacrifice on the cross and you will never be judged by God. You will pass from death to life. What a glorious gift God has given us! Thank Him for that. 

Temple of the Holy Spirit

„Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?“ 1 Corinthians 6:19. 

When the Old Testament ended and the New One started a lot of important changes took place. One was that human bodies became temples of the Holy Spirit. In the Old Testament, God lived in the Tabernacle, the Holy of Holies and only the highest priest could enter the place once a year. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil that separated people from the presence was torn apart and the presence of God went inside those who believed in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This truth is valid today. You can be the sanctuary of God if you believe.