We’ve been reading through the book of Hebrews. Last time I wrote, we covered the first half of Hebrews 9. The author was describing the tabernacle, and the holy items in the tabernacle. We spoke about how these things in the tabernacle were all a shadow or copy of greater things to come. The author said that the tabernacle served as an illustration for the present time. The gifts and sacrifices were only external regulations that left the worshipper ceremonially clean but still internally unclean. The priest can sprinkle blood in a certain way to follow the rule, but it doesn’t clean our consciences.
11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption.
The author of hebrews likes to compare and contrast to teach and explain. So in the first half of Chapter 9, he just explained how the old tabernacle was set up, how everything was arranged just in the right way to give an accurate picture or a correct shadow of the true thing that God wants us to see. All the things we learned about the tabernacle pointed us to a greater thing to come. A more perfect and complete tabernacle, a new covenant. Christ came, not as a wise rabbi. Not as a motivational speaker, not as a magician. He came as a high priest. Not a high priest of the Old Covenant, but a High priest of the New Order, the good things that have arrived. Jesus Christ didn’t enter a tabernacle made of human hands. He didn’t enter into a place constructed by sinful humans. He didn’t fit into the shadow or copy. He was the real thing. He entered into a greater tabernacle, an eternal tabernacle created by God Himself. Jesus Christ didn’t enter into a part of a tent that represented God’s dwelling place. Jesus Christ entered God’s actual presence, the Most Holy Place. Let’s look at verse 12. Do you remember how the High Priest was supposed to enter the Most Holy Place? He had to make two sacrifices, one for his own sin, and then one for the people. But Jesus Christ didn’t need to sacrifice goats and calves to pay for his sin. He was sinless, so He didn’t need to make a sacrifice to enter God’s presence. But He did have to make that second sacrifice. The one for His People. Jesus Christ made that sacrifice once and for all, sacrificing Himself for us. Shedding His own blood for Our Sin. This was a Forever sacrifice. Verse 12 says Jesus entered once and for all. His blood was the sacrifice that obtained Eternal Redemption for His people.
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death,[c] so that we may serve the living God!
Today I don’t think many of us who are covered in ashes and animal’s blood would feel clean, but for the purposes of the Tabernacle ceremony and the purpose of the religious procedure, these offerings serve to outwardly clean the worshipper. And here’s another comparison by the author. The blood and ashes that are sprinkled on ceremonially unclean people will outwardly clean them. But how much more will the Blood of Christ clean us? It will be a cleansing not just externally but internally. Not just ceremonially, but truly down to our conscience and our core being. HOW can Christ’s blood be so different? Jesus’ blood is perfect. His blood is not just innocent like the blood of an animal that knows no wrong, but it’s perfect because it has the knowledge of Good and Evil, right and wrong. This blood knows temptation, and yet is without Sin. Blood of sacrifices is innocent, but ignorant. But the Blood of Christ, who is all God and all man, is innocent and perfect.. It’s the blood of the man who knows and feels all of our temptation and yet resisted, offering himself unblemished before God. This is a blood that willfully offered itself by the power of and through the Eternal Holy Spirit. The blood of animals works to clean the outside for the ceremony, but how much more can Christ’s blood cleanse our consciences. We are cleansed from what? Verse 14: acts that lead to death. There’s a footnote, so let’s look a bit closer. What are acts that lead to death? Some translations like New Life Translation say “Sinful Deeds” but this isn’t enough. This is not just our sin and the bad stuff we do, although that’s plenty of that to go around. We have enough sinful deeds to prove that we are condemned many times over by our acts, and desperately need this Blood. But “Acts that lead to death” is translated in King James from the Greek to be “dead works.” So what is the big deal? “Dead works” isn’t just the bad stuff that we do when we willfully disobey God. Dead works also includes religious rituals, it includes even nice things that people have done throughout the ages in order to try and get closer to God. Remember, even our most righteous acts are like filthy rags before God. That’s especially true when those righteous acts are done with an expectation of justification before God. It’s important to remember that Jesus Christ saves us not just from our sin, but from the good deeds that we think are good enough for God. Even at my most righteous moment, I am still in dire and desperate need of God’s Grace. Why does God go through all this effort to purify us and cleanse our consciences? The very end of verse 14 explains. It’s so we may serve the Living God. We don’t serve God first in order to be saved, that’s a dead work. We are saved by God unconditionally, so that Then we are freed to serve him.
I like how the author does these comparisons, he talks about the blood of sacrifices and then asks, how much more will the blood of Christ cleanse us. It’s a similar comparison Paul makes in Romans 5:17
For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!
If the sin or trespass of one man meant death reigning for mankind, how much more will grace and righteousness reign in Life through Jesus Christ. With Jesus Christ we aren’t just cleansed of sins, we are made righteous. Jonathan Edwards described it this way, the guilt of sin is like negative righteousness which deserves punishment. Positive righteousness allows for the reward of life. Imagine it in terms of math. Our sins and even our righteous acts are all dead works which count against us. We are in deep negative territory. If Innocent Sacrifices could cleanse us, they would take away all those negatives and assuming we make enough of them, maybe we get back to zero… If we’re Lucky, and that lasts how long? Until the next sin. In that system, the best we can hope for is zero, because animals aren’t capable of law abiding and righteous acts. But Jesus blood is different. When we are clothed in Christ, not only is our sin cleansed, but his Righteousness is imputed onto us. We aren’t just brought up to zero sin, we are lifted to positive territory. And not just any positive territory. +1 Good deed? No we are positive to the extent of Jesus’s willful perfect righteousness.
We aren’t dead, or waiting in limbo. We are alive! And we are alive with a purpose, and that’s to serve God.
15 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.
Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant. We need someone between us and God, and that’s Jesus Christ. Hebrews 5 talks about this at length, the role of a mediator, and how a high priest fulfills that role. The New Covenant agreement comes with a promise, or an eternal inheritance. Christ died as a ransom. That word ransom means he made a payment, in order to set us free from sins. The sins aren’t just paid for, we are made righteous so that we don’t need to be enslaved to sin from the first covenant. You can look at Jesus as a priest or a mediator, you can also look at him and see a benefactor or someone who paid a penalty for our sin. You can also look at him and see one who sets us free by paying a ransom. All of these illustrations can be expanded upon during other sermons, and each one paints the work or character of Jesus Christ in a bit of a different light. They are all true in their own ways, and they all magnify our lord and savior. The author compares these promises to an inheritance, which also has many important implications. Remember, you don’t earn an inheritance, it’s something that someone else earned and then gave to you upon their death via a contract, known as a will. Let’s keep reading.
16 In the case of a will,[d] it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. 18 This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood.
The author continues to compare the gift of salvation with an inheritance, a gift given through a will upon the death of the giver. Just like you can’t receive your inheritance until the giver dies, We could not receive the gift of salvation fully until Jesus died for it. Jesus death put into place the new agreement and contract. These types of legal contracts are written as a covenant or agreement. God puts into effect these contracts by blood. Let’s continue to read about historical covenants
19 When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. 20 He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.”[e] 21 In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Back to Moses and the old covenant. Recall that when the old covenant was given to the people, God used blood along with water and Scarlet-wool and branches of Hyssop to sprinkle the scroll and the people. Each element had a purpose, and set a precedent for future covenants. The goal was to purify the people. In Exodus, we read about the Passover, when the Hebrews were commanded to dip Hyssop in the blood of lambs, in order to mark their doorposts so that the angel of death would pass over their homes. In Numbers 19, there was a requirement of the law to make a “water of cleansing”. It was like a recipe with various ingredients.
They sacrificed a red heifer and burned it along with cedar wood, Hyssop, and scarlet wool. The resulting ashes were to be mixed with water and used as a water of cleansing, which is to provide purification from sin. Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. How are we forgiven? It’s very similar.
23 It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
The author has been saying that every earthly thing in the old covenant is a copy of the heavenly thing. The Earthly things were purified with these sacrifices, and they should point to the heavenly thing, but the heavenly thing should be better. The scenes of the crucifixion are described in detail by the gospels. A casual reader might overlook the details, but when you look closely, you see how the old covenant was a copy of the new one. Recall that Jesus was dressed in a scarlet wool robe.
Remember how the branch of hyssop was used to extend a vinegar to Jesus when he said he was thirsty? Then the centurion stabbed the side of Jesus and water and blood came out, sprinkling the onlookers.
Together, this blood and water, along with the hyssop and the scarlet wool ushered in a new covenant. A covenant that is distinctly different from the old one, but similar enough that the Old Covenant could be seen as a copy or shadow of the true thing. As all that was happening, the curtain in the temple separating the people and the priests from the Holiest of Holy places tore in two, showing us that communion and access to the Father was no longer restricted. Jesus didn’t enter into the place that was made by human hands, the Holy of Holies. He entered into the presence of God Himself!
Verse 24 reiterates the first verse we read today, verse 11. The Bible continually reminds us the things that are seen are passing away. The things that are unseen are eternal. The sanctuaries made by human hands are part of the creation. They are put together and built by sinful human hands. These human made sanctuaries and tabernacles are all copies or shadows of the true tabernacle, heaven itself. We are talking about entering God’s presence, approaching the throne of God Himself. This was a terrifying idea in the days of the tabernacle. They understood God’s holiness, and our sinfulness. But when we approach the throne of God, we have a high priest, an intercessor, who is Jesus. We approach the throne of God by way of the Son of God. not as an enemy, not as a sinner. As a friend, as a son, as a daughter. As someone who is clothed in the righteousness of perfect obedience, even obedience all the way to death on a cross.
25 Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Jesus was similar to the copy and shadow of the things to come, but he also was very different. He was like the previous High Priests, but his priesthood was on the order of Melchizedek, which means he is not from the line of Aaron, and his priesthood is eternal, lasting forever. Jesus sacrifice was better than the previous sacrifices in many ways, as we described before. It didn’t just neutralize our sin, but it gave us righteousness. But most importantly, the sacrifice was once and for all. It was Permanent. It didn’t need to be made again and again. Every year at Easter and Good Friday, we put Jesus back on the cross. It’s kind of frustrating that we repeat it over and over again. We do this not because His sacrifice needs to be made again, but we do this because unbelievers need to know and learn, and we believers need to be reminded of the severity of our sin and the Greatness of God’s Love, and mercy and Grace. Even though we commemorate Jesus’s death and resurrection annually, our sin was dealt with one time. Because of that, we are freed from any future eternal penalty and payment of sin going forward. We may (and probably will) face earthly consequences, but our standing before God and our eternal state will not change. Verse 26 says Jesus appeared once for all to do away with sin. Christ didn’t have to suffer many times since the creation of the world. On the cross, He said himself, “it is finished”.
27 Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, 28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
We are all destined to die. None of our bodies last forever. This is our mortal nature. Our days are numbered, and they will run out sooner or later. When that happens, we face Judgement. Guess what? We will be found lacking. We will be found sinful. So now we are left with an easy choice. Well it’s easy for me. Do we face Judgement alone? IN other words, Do we 1) bring our sin before God and tell him why His Good laws didn’t suit our desires, Do we tell God to Judge us and do his worst? OR 2) do we humble ourselves, Do we acknowledge our imperfection. Do we give Glory to God and His pure and holy word. Do we approach the throne of God clothed in Christ and His righteousness, Do we sprinkle the blood of that sacrifice and cling to the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of those who believe in him? To some it looks like there’s a choice, but I can say, if God has called you, and you hear the voice of your shepherd, there’s no possible choice. It’s a no-brainer.
Putting on Christ is the only way to approach God that makes any sense. When God calls His people, it’s irresistible and inescapable. Christ will return, not to make the same sacrifice, but to bring us to Salvation. To Bring us to Glory, To Bring us Home to our God.