"15 For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. 18 Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the 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 which God commanded you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. 22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
23 Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. 26 Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, 28 so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
Good Morning my beloved,
My commitment is to teach the Word of God, and I am called to do so exactly as God wrote it. Over the years, I have come to understand that frustrates some Christians, and that’s exactly what I like to do, is create such a frustration
that there then becomes a great desire within the individual to learn that which he does not
understand. However, it is my prayer, that will become the motivation for your own further study of God's Word. Through the Word of God, is a wonderful way to meet our Lord Jesus Christ!
Since the time of Christ, many Christians have stumbled over the doctrine that
Christ had to shed His blood to atone for our sins. In fact, when Jesus announced
to the twelve that He had to go to Jerusalem where He would suffer and
die, the Apostle Peter said in Matthew 16:22, "God forbid it, Lord! This shall never happen to You."
The Apostle Paul wrote in I Corinthians 1, "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." He went on to say in verses 23-24, "but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God."
Today, many liberal Christians and theologians hate the idea of Christ’s blood being shed, paying for our sins. Some, even chastise those of us who believe in a God who would be appeased by the shedding of blood. However, Scripture clearly teaches that before human history began, God made it plain that forgiveness of sins is only possible through the shed blood of an acceptable substitute.
I am sure you will recall in the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, they became aware of their own nakedness and
sewed fig leaves together to try to cover their guilt and shame. However, rather to accept their approach, God, instead clothed the guilty couple with the skin of a slaughtered animal. Rightly understood, even then, God was demonstrating to us, in a rather graphic way, the horrifying penalty of sin, but also His great mercy in providing an acceptable substitute.
In Genesis chapter 4, Adam and Eve explained to their children, Cain and Abel, the type of sacrifices that God would
accept. Abel obeyed God, by bringing a sacrifice from his flock, however, Cain
chose to present God with an offering from the fruit of the ground. God had
regard for Abel’s offering, but He had no regard for Cain’s offering.
In jealousy and anger, Cain murdered his brother Abel. And in his pride and rebellion,
Cain became the father of those who hate God’s ordained way of
forgiveness through the shedding of blood.
Let us pray.
Heavenly Father,
Father, we again thank You for Your Word. Lord, we know it’s not a question of guilt or innocence, because we stand guilty, but it’s a question
of whether we accept the perfect substitute, Jesus Christ. We understand that Christ had to die. He had to die to be our substitute in judgment. He had to
die because forgiveness demands blood. He had to die in order to free
the legacy of the Father to belong to us. Thank you for dying in our place. Thank you
for shedding blood Your on our behalf.Thank You that He Who knew no sin, became sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Father, we pray that everyone among us today, would not depart until they have come into a right relationship with Christ by believing that Jesus died and rose again for them. For Christ's sake and Your glory, we pray they would understand and know that.
In Jesus' name
Amen
Today's Message: Nothing But The Blood Of Jesus
Today, there are many look upon the shedding of blood that formed such
an essential feature of the Old Testament religion with disgust. Equally they consider, with horror, the New Testament teaching concerning Christ’s blood.
They cringe with abhorrence at the gospel hymns that emphasize
the efficacy of the blood of Christ. Many who scorn the shed blood of Christ,
have their eyes blinded both to God’s blazing holiness and to the
dreadful, the nature of sin. Sin, is a horrifying reality that
calls for a radical cure. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, had such an impact on the world!
As we continue in our study of the book of Hebrews 9, we come to verses 15 through 28. The book of
Hebrews does, in fact, teach us about the superiority of Jesus Christ.
The writer of the book of Hebrews is, in writing to this Jewish
community, endeavoring to show them that they can leave Judaism, once and for all, and abandon all the sacrifices, the priesthood, and all of the rituals that went along with the old covenant and they can come to Jesus Christ. Today, even the vilest of sinners tend deny their need for God’s forgiveness by abating the
holiness and justice of God and by venerating their own self-righteousness.
However, in order for them to do that, he must prove to them that Christ is superior
to Judaism, that Christ’s new covenant is better than the old covenant,
that Christ’s priesthood is superior to the Aaronic and Levitical
priesthood, which constituted the Judaistic priesthood, therefore, he must
also prove to them that Christ’s sacrifice was superior to all of the other sacrifices. So, the author is pointing out that the entire Jewish system of worship was
based on blood sacrifices, and that God instituted that system to point
ahead to the one all-sufficient sacrifice of Jesus Christ. In our text today, because the blood of Jesus is important, He drives that point home.
Open with me your Bibles to the book of Hebrews chapter 9, verses 15 through 28. I invite you to follow along with me as I read to set the text in our minds as we prepare our hearts. Hebrews 9:15-28.
"For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood. And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.
Therefore
it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be
cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better
sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; nor
was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the
holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise,
He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world;
but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to
put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him."
I have often been asked how those who lived before Christ were saved. The answer is pretty simple,
the same way that we are saved, through faith in the shed blood of
Christ. The sacrifices that they offered symbolized the
sacrifice of Christ who would offer Himself as their substitute.
The answer is here in Hebrews 9:15 which says "For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
In other words, by His death, Christ brought redemption to those under the first covenant. The Messiah became the mediator not only in order that He might pay the
penalty of sinners who lived since the cross, but that He might pay the
penalty of sinners who lived long before the cross. When Jesus died, He
gathered up all the sinners from the beginning to the end of
time, in that one sacrifice, that’s the point that he’s making here to Israel. He must, therefore, give them some indication of what the sacrifice of
Christ means to them. And so he says, "It is the sacrifice of
Christ not only that redeems from now on, but all the way back
and covers redemption for everybody who’s ever lived and who has
believed throughout all time."
The Apostle Paul says the same thing in Romans 3:23-26, when in talking about Christ, he says "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus;whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation in His blood through faith. This was to demonstrate His righteousness, because in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed; for the demonstration, I say, of His righteousness at the present time, so that He would be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus."
In other words, God set forth Christ to be the satisfaction for sins in order to declare
God’s righteousness because of the remission of sins that are past. God required death to be satisfied. Remember, in verse 12, He said "and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood." They were only symbolic acts whereby a man’s faith was made visible, so they didn't do it. The word "remission" means forgiveness. When God sent forth Christ to be the satisfaction, He therefore declared
His righteousness in forgiving sins in the past. And He illustrated
that it was only forbearance or patience. Christ’s blood then satisfied forever the just
requirements of God’s holy law, which man broke. The purpose of
justification is to declare God righteous. Jesus’ death satisfied God’s justice. Therefore, God is satisfied when a man puts his faith in the shed blood of Christ.
So he tells his readers that the new covenant was ratified by the death
of Jesus Christ and provided the full salvation that Israel had been
waiting for since the very beginning. And this introduces to us the
subject of the death of Christ, as he goes on from now on, through even
chapter 10, to get into detail on it. And this has always been a
stumbling block for Israel. Because a dead Messiah never fit their theology. And
so proceeding from there, in verses 16 through 28, he gives three great
reasons why Jesus had to die, three great reasons why this death was
necessary. The first is, a testament demands death. Second, forgiveness demands blood. And, third, salvation demands a victim. Judgment demands a substitute. Judgment demands a substitute might be better.
By the word "covenant," we’re referring to a will. Remember, it is the word diathēkē. So, that comes into play again here. Verse 16, "For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it." In other words, if there’s going to be a will, the guy who gives the will has got to be dead, or its not any good. Let's look at verse 17, "For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives." Do you see it? So, as long as the person is alive, you can’t collect on the will.That's pretty simple. So, God made a legacy to Israel. And, He made a legacy to all men, and the
legacy was eternal inheritance. But you cannot receive the legacy of God
in inheritance until the one who gave the legacy dies. Jesus Christ had to die, in order for us to receive the eternal inheritance.
The kingdom of heaven is bequeathed to all believers. Such is God’s will
and testament. And Jesus’ death released it to our possession. And some
of it is ours now, and it will be ours in its fullness when we go to be
with Him. Christ had to die to release the legacy of God to men. That's the pint.
The second reason is, forgiveness demands blood. This is directly in line with the previous point. Here, we see the word "covenant" used in terms of a covenant, not so much a
will. The will idea exists in verses 16 and 17. So, He switches gears
going into verse 18, which says "Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood." Notice the word "covenant," here is in italics. He is making the distinction between a covenant and a will or testament in
verse 16 and 17. "Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood." In other words, there has to be the death because it has always been that covenants are ratified by
blood. Blood was a part of the dedication or the
ratification of covenants, even the old covenant. That’s the point. In the case of the old covenant, the death of animals, typical and
prophetic, looking forward to the death of Christ, which would ratify
the second covenant. And so in both these aspects, Christ needs to die.
He needs to die first of all to release His will. He needs to die
secondly because covenants are ratified or made
secure by the death and the bloodshed of an individual.
Now, here is a beautiful thought. If you have the death of someone releasing something in verses 16 and
17, and you have the death of something ratifying the covenant in verse 18,
then you still have someone who is a living mediator of a
covenant, then you have a resurrection. In putting all of these
things together, they have to allow for the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. He had to die to release His will; He had to live to make it
operate. He had to die to ratify the covenant; He had to live to keep
the terms of it. And so the resurrection is implied in all of it. That's is just beautiful.
Now, look at verses 19-20, "For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." Here he digs into the old covenant. he law came clear back there in the book of Exodus, and when Moses got
done firing the whole thing out to everybody and unloading every bit of
it on them, he took the blood of calves, goats, and some water and some
scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the
people, saying, "This is the blood of the new covenant which God has enjoined unto you." In other words, just look at Moses, when the first covenant came, it was a whole thing with blood. That was Moses’ act of ratifying the covenant.
Look at Exodus 19:5-6, "Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine;and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel." Then, God gave them the various characteristics in the covenant. The Ten Commandments, in chapter 20. Now look at verse 24 and following, "You shall make an altar of earth for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen; in every place where I cause My name to be remembered, I will come to you and bless you. If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to My altar, so that your nakedness will not be exposed on it."
In other words, if you don't want people who can see up the back side of your whatever that you’re wearing. It
was a very sacred place, and He didn’t even want carved stone. It was
to be sacred because it was a place where they could atone for sin. We often sing songs about "There's power in the blood," however, the only importance the blood of Jesus has is that it showed He died. There is no saving in the blood itself. It is Christ's death that atones for sin. His shed blood was an act of His death. So we shouldn't become preoccupied with that, as some people do, it is by His sacrificial
offering of Himself. It is by His death that we are redeemed. His shed blood is the portrait of His death. That's the point of verse 20, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." Notice that He doesn't say "This is the blood of the covenant which you and God made together." God laid the covenant on you and said "Obey it." It calls for obedience. It implies precepts, not promises. The blood was the confirming sign.
Then, He goes a step further in verse 21, "And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood." An interesting footnote, the Tabernacle wasn’t even built until Exodus 40. Yet they were still sprinkling blood everywhere. From then on, every ceremony connected with the covenant was a blood ceremony The reason is because God wanted men to know that every covenant He ever made with man was a
covenant that had to bypass sin, and the only sin bypass there is, is
death.
In verse 22, He sort of wraps the whole thing up, "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness." In other words, wherever there is forgiveness, there is bloodshed. Obviously, there were some exceptions. Notice the word "almost," so there had to be some exceptions. In the Old Testament, for the super-poor Israelites who really couldn’t
get it together to purchase an animal and didn’t have one available,
they were allowed to bring one-tenth of an ephod of fine flour. If I had to guess, I suppose that’d be around four pints or so. And that is what they would bring that as a sin offering.
You can’t enter into God’s presence by reading the Bible, by going to
church, by being a member, by thinking sweet thoughts about God. The
only way you’ll ever enter into God’s presence and into participation in
the new covenant is by the death of Jesus Christ and your faith and
belief in His shed blood on the cross in your behalf. That’s the only
way. That’s the only access. God set the rules. "The soul that sins, it shall die."
In Romans chapter 6, Paul faces the question "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin so that grace may increase? May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?" How lightly we take the forgiveness of God! Let's pause for moment to consider the cost of our forgiveness. Forgiveness isn’t God looking down and saying,"You know what, I like you. I'm just going to forget about what you did, its O.K." If you are forgiven, it is because somebody died!
In verse 23, He drives His point home, "Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these."
"Therefore it was necessary," Christ had to die, "for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these." In other words, if your whole system had to be purified with a sacrifice, then you must
know what that heavenly one must have to be purified with, a far better
sacrifice. Because God was satisfied, He highly exalted Him and gave Him a name above every name. At the name
of Jesus, every knee should bow, things in the earth and under the
earth. God exalted Him and lifted Him up to the highest place He could
lift Him to, His own right hand, because of what He had done, He was so
satisfied. God is satisfied with Jesus.
Now, here is something for you, God is not satisfied with me. And, He’s not satisfied with you, that is why we must come to Him through Jesus Christ. That's the only way we can ever come into God's presence! Christ's death purchased our forgiveness. He recognized that God was the one that had to be
satisfied, and He offered His blood, and therefore, revealed God’s love and
mercy and forgiveness for all who believe.
And, when he was finished with His perfect sacrifice, verse 24 says "For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:" He's coming right off the better sacrifice concept in verse 23. He didn’t go into an earthly Holy of Holies; He went into the presence of God. And He did it for us. What a wonderful illustration.
There's another reason why it’s a better sacrifice, in verse 25, "nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own." Notice the word "often." In the Old Testament, they had to keep repeating the sacrifice, Jesus never had to repeat it. He was the Perfect Sacrifice. He did it once.
If Jesus had had to repeat a sacrifice, look at verse 26, "Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." In other words, if Jesus’ offering had to be repeated, it would have had to be repeated
for every individual who lived from the foundation of the world. Jesus would’ve had to die throughout history over and over. "But now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself." Because it was completely effective, it only needed to be done once and that was it, a better sacrifice. Think about that! There have been a lot of ages, since Satan fell, since Adam sinned, since God destroyed the earth by the flood, since He spoke on Mount Sinai. The end of the age has been going on for 2,000 years. This is the last
age. This is Messiah’s age. At the end of the age, by one sacrifice, He
put away sin. Is it any wonder that the apostles in the New Testament expected Jesus to come any moment?
Verse 27-28, "And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." You see it? Jesus needed to die only once. If we had to suffer our own judgment, we’d be doomed. All men have to die, and our death is appointed. That’s one appointment every one of us must keep. But notice, "after this comes judgment," immediately after death comes judgment. All men die by divine appointment and in their case, judgment follows, but in Jesus’ case, "having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." Christ didn’t get judgment after death. Why, because He still lives, He's coming back.
If you die for your own sin, you're not coming back. You're going to get judgement. Judgement demands death! Because it’s only appointed to men once to die. He only had to die once. And He died for us.
Christ will return a second time, not to die for sin but with salvation. When Christ appears to those of us who expect Him, it won't be to deal with sin. Sin only needs to be dealt with once. He will come back in the blessings of full salvation.
Christ will return a second time, not to die for sin but with salvation. When Christ appears to those of us who expect Him, it won't be to deal with sin. Sin only needs to be dealt with once. He will come back in the blessings of full salvation.
We’re going to die and get judged. But He made three appearings take
care of it. Appearing number one is in verse 26, "but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin." That’s
the first appearing on the cross. The second appearing is in verse 24,
the end of the verse, "now to appear in the presence of God for us."
Right now, He’s interceding for us. Then, the third appearing is in verse 28. One day soon, He "will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.." That's the three appearings
of Christ to give us the account of His work on the cross, ministering for
us now, and in His return. He is a perfect sacrifice.
As you think about the cross, the Romans prepared three of them,two of the crosses, were for the thieves to hang. The third one, was prepared for Barabbas. Barabbas never made it to the cross, he was set free. Not because he was innocent, but because someone took his place on the cross. On that middle cross, prepared for Barabbas, hung the sinless, perfect Son of God, Jesus Christ
Today, you and I you can stand at the foot of the cross, and know that that cross, was prepared for you and me, we got free, because someone else hangs there in our place. It is my prayer that you understand what Jesus Christ did for you...
May it be so..
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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