Grace Community Church

An Infinitely Better Death

Hebrews 9:15-28 (ESV)

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.  [16] For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established.  [17] For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.  [18] Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.  [19] For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,  [20] saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.”  [21] And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.  [22] Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

[23] Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  [24] For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.  [25] Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own,  [26] for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.  [27] And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment,  [28] so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Introduction

Many people ask the question…Why did Christ have to die?  That’s an extremely good question.  It’s a question with multiple answers on various levels.  It’s a question that really bears the gospel.

Christ had to die to make payment for our sin…

John 3:16 (ESV)

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

For this verse to take place required God to make a way for our sin guilt to be taken care of.  God could not grant to us eternal life as long as our sin debt was left unpaid.

The Apostle Paul tells us that God sent Jesus to be that payment for the sin of His people.

Romans 3:21-26 (ESV)

But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— [22] the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction:  [23] for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,  [24] and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus,  [25] whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.  [26] It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Christ had to die to make payment for our sin debt.  God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus instead of us.  All the wrath that God had for the sin of His people was poured out on Jesus.  Because of the death of Christ, God has no more wrath left for the church. Because of Jesus’ death, God can be favorable toward us.  His death was infinitely better than any other sacrifice ever made.

So, we’ve seen that Christ died to make payment for sin.

Do you think Christ’s death was enough to make payment for all your sin past, present, and future?

If Christ would have only paid our sin debt for us we would still not be suited for heaven.  More had to be done.  Simply taking our sins away would not make us righteous. Read the rest of this entry »

The Work of Christ

Hebrews 9:1-14 (ESV)

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.  [2] For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.  [3] Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,  [4] having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.  [5] Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

[6] These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties,  [7] but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.  [8] By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing

[9] (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,  [10] but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

[11] But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)  [12] he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.  [13] For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,  [14] how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

So far in our study of Hebrews we’ve learned just how Jesus Christ far exceeds all the Old Covenant.  All of it has also shown that the benefits to God’s people are also superior.  God’s people have much greater benefits in the New Covenant with the Great High Priest than we ever could in the old system.  So, we’ve learned all this from the prospective of greater things for us.  What about God?  Has the New Covenant benefited Him in any way?  This text shows us again the great benefit to us and it does also show that from God’s prospective a great benefit for Him as well.  If we are to be God-centered we must consider all aspects of the New Covenant.  Christ’s great mediatory work not only brings sinners to God but allows God to be approached by sinners.

1. Old Testament Worship Symbols and Types (Hebrews 9:1-5)

Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness.  [2] For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place.  [3] Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,  [4] having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.  [5] Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

The author begins by explaining the various regulations for Old Testament worship.  If God was going to meet with His people He had to make provisions to do so.  Thus the tabernacle was brought into reality.  It was that special place that God’s holiness could exist on earth.  Since the fall when sin entered the world and death through sin, God had been separated from His ultimate capstone creation.  Man, made in God’s image, could not enjoy the fellowship that once was there.  Man’s sin not only affected man’s relationship with God but also affected God’s relationship with man.

The writer lays out for us the setting of the tabernacle.  Each piece had a symbolic purpose.  I want us all to see that each piece pointed to Christ.  The tabernacle was on earth but what it pointed to was heavenly.  It was an earthly symbol of a heavenly reality.

Col. 2:17 (ESV)

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

The tabernacle was divided into two sections.  The first section was called the sanctuary or holy place.  In the sanctuary there was the lamp stand, table and the shewbread.

The lamp stand was always lit.  The oil had to be continually kept up and the wicks trimmed on a daily basis.  The light from this lamp would fill the sanctuary at all times.  This light was the symbol of Christ the true light.

John 8:12 (ESV)

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Christ is the light of the world and as the lamp was filled with oil continually, believers are filled with the Holy Spirit continually.  The lamp pointed to Christ but it wasn’t Christ.

The shewbread was prepared every Sabbath by the priest.  This was similar to the manna that fell in the wilderness during this time.  The bread was displayed on a table made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold.  The way it was displayed looked a lot like a meal prepared in the presence of God. Read the rest of this entry »

The Better Promises of the New Covenant

Hebrews 8:1-13 (ESV)

Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,  [2] a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.  [3] For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.  [4] Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.  [5] They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.”  [6] But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.  [7] For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

[8] For he finds fault with them when he says:

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel

and with the house of Judah,

[9] not like the covenant that I made with their fathers

on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant,

and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

[10] For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel

after those days, declares the Lord:

I will put my laws into their minds,

and write them on their hearts,

and I will be their God,

and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor

and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

for they shall all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

[12] For I will be merciful toward their iniquities,

and I will remember their sins no more.”

[13] In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

The writer of Hebrews has been emphasizing the superior High Priest which is Jesus Christ.  He is superior to all the other priests because His priesthood predates the priesthood set up in the Old Testament. In other words, the OT priesthood was a temporary priesthood.  Jesus’ priesthood actually dates as far back as Abraham.  He continues with his many points to show us the superiority of Jesus Christ as Priest verses the Old Testament priesthood.

The next stop is that of comparing the covenants that the priests mediate.

Divine Covenant is an agreement or it’s almost like a treaty God makes with man.  God says, you obey Me and I’ll bless you.  Basically, the 10 Commandments were given as the standard for godly conduct.  So, in the Divine Covenant, God decides the terms.  As with everything, He makes the rules. The priest’s responsibility was to be the go between before God and man.  God always has kept His part of the covenant but because man hasn’t a priest is needed to offer sacrifices to atone for man’s failure to keep his part.

What’s amazing about a covenant between God and man is that He did not have to enter into a covenant at all.  God was not obligated to make a covenant with man.  The Lord places Himself under obligation to fulfill His end of the agreement, which He does perfectly all the time.

Where does that leave us?  Our greatest need is the ability to meet God’s covenant requirements.

Example of the covenant…

Abraham-

Genesis 17:1-10 (ESV)

When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, [2] that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” [3] Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, [4] “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. [5] No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. [6] I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. [7] And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. [8] And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.”

[9] And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. [10] This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised.

The covenant continued throughout the generations of God’s people.  It is the covenant that binds God to His people.  When God said I will fulfill certain covenant obligations He binds Himself to do them.  If God were to fail to uphold His part then He would be a liar and He could not be trusted.  However, throughout the ages God has always kept His end of the agreement.  Man is the one who has never kept his part. Read the rest of this entry »