Searching for the Self: Classic Stories, Christian Scripture, and the Quest for Personal Identity

by Adrian T. Smith

and to Jesus—mediator of a new covenant; and to his sprinkled blood that speaks—not of vengeance, like Abel killed by Cain, but of forgiveness, reconciliation, peace with God. (Heb 12:22–24, my paraphrase, italics mine) Hebrews dares to situate the Christian reader in the suburbs of heavenly Jerusalem. Thankfully, with a claim like that, the writer more than hints at how this locality may be reached. This transcendent environment manifests itself wherever the blood of Christ is speaking. Blood speaking? How? Well, blood symbolizes vitality, and it symbolizes death. The blood of Christ speaks of his noble life and sacrificial death. When his purity makes contact with our impurity, he consecrates us so that we may enter boldly and confidently into the presence of God. Through Jesus, the gate of the holy city is flung wide open for us to enter in. Wherever the blood of Jesus is speaking, wherever the holy and imperishable gospel is encountered, the eternal city—the heavenly Jerusalem—graciously invades our personal space. In church. Where the Lord’s Supper witnesses to the blood of Christ. Where the Scriptures are encountered in reading, exposition, prayer, confession, and song. But not only in church. Even when we occupy the “secular” realm, the heavenly city surrounds us. Through the channel of our faith-filled imaginations, its sacred energy and joyful celebrations can transform our mundane space into holy ground.