"A Better Tent" Sermon: Hebrews 9:11-14

“A Better Tent”

[Hebrews 9:11-14]

April 28, 2013 Second Reformed Church

            Last week we looked at the earthly Tent – the earthly Tabernacle – the place of worship of the first Covenant, and we saw that as a means for salvation, the first Covenant was a failure.  Although the first Covenant was never intended to be a way of salvation, it was intended to show us that we cannot become holy or righteous on our own – by our works – our only hope is through faith alone in the Savior Whom God was sending and now has sent.

            We saw that the first Covenant failed in the following ways:

The debt that was paid through the offering up of animals was never adequate to pay for the sins of humans.  Only a human could properly pay the debt of a human.

The debt that was paid through the offering up of animals was never enough to satisfy the Wrath of God for sin – the offering was too small – it didn’t take into account the seriousness and the greatness of the affront of sin to God.

The debt that was paid through the offering up of animals never removed the dominion – the slavery – to sin which humans are born under.  Although God really forgave in the moment for the sins confessed, there was no forgiveness or deliverance from the sin nature through the first Covenant’s offerings.

The debt that was paid through the offering up of animals did not lead towards sanctification – it never got beyond forgiveness of the sin of the moment.

The debt that was paid through the offering up of animals was never meant to go on forever.  Not only could it not go on forever if the Tabernacle – and the Temple – were destroyed – as they were – eternal sacrifices of animals would prove fruitless – vain – for salvation for the reasons we have already stated.  After 70 A.D. – after the letter to the Hebrews was sent – the Temple was destroyed and the sacrificial system of the first Covenant came to its practical end – it was no longer possible to offer sacrifices in the Temple, because it did not exist.

Now, the author of Hebrews turns to look at the better Tent – the better Tabernacle:

            “But when Christ appeared as a high priest”

            We remember from the beginning of the book of Hebrews, the author writes, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs” (Hebrews 1:1-4, ESV).

            He begins by referring us back to his explanation that Christ (the Son of God) came to earth in the Person of Jesus (the God-Man) , fulfilling the word of the prophets and being the final Word from God, because He is God, the Savior, the Creator, the One Who made purification for the sins by living a perfect life under the Law of the first Covenant and then dying, taking on Himself all of the sins of all those who would ever believe in Him, and raising from the dead, victorious over sin and death.

            In fulfilling the Law and the Prophets, Jesus, the Incarnate God, appeared, not only as the Perfect and Final Sacrifice for sin, but as the Perfect and Final High Priest of the Sacrificial System – not of the line of Aaron or Levi – but of the greater priesthood of Melchizedek:

            “So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’; as he says also in another place,

‘You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek’” (Hebrews 5:5-6, ESV).

            We will remember that the priesthood of Melchizedek was one in which God chose individuals and finally, Jesus, to serve.  Melchizedek, the King of Salem, was the first priest of the line:

            “After his return from the defeat of Chedorlaomer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). And Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. (He was priest of God Most High.)”

(Genesis 14:17-18, ESV).

            So, God incarnated in the Person of Jesus, the Savior, at the right time, as the Final and Perfect High Priest

“of the good things that have come,”

And here we have a translation issue – the text could also read, “of the good things that will come.”  This may be ambiguous on the part of the author, because what Christ has done for us is “already” and “not yet.”  We are saved and we are being saved.  We are righteous and we are being made righteous.  We are holy and we are being made holy.  The Kingdom of God is here and the Kingdom of God is coming.  We have eternal life and we are will be given eternal life.

In the context, it would seem to make sense – since we are dealing with the change from the first to the second Covenant, to understand “the good things” as believers being led into Christ’s Kingdom and believers being made partakers of spiritual righteousness and eternal life.

On one hand, Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is right here – as if to be grasped – by all those who would believe:  “Now after John was arrested, Jesus came into Galilee, proclaiming the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel’” (Mark 1:14-15, ESV).  So, those who repent and believe the Gospel receive the Kingdom of God.

On the other hand, Jesus tells us, “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matthew 6:33, ESV).  Jesus tells believers to continue to seek the Kingdom of God.

Paul tells us that believers are righteous: “For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, ‘The righteous shall live by faith’” (Romans 1:17, ESV).

Yet John, in his first letter, in which he says that all people sin – saved and unsaved – he writes, “Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous” (1 John 3:7, ESV).

Jesus famously says that all those who believe in Him Alone for salvation have eternal life, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, ESV).

And Jude tells us that eternal life will be received later:  “keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life” (Jude 1:21, ESV).

What can we say about this?  “Christ appeared as the high priest of the good things that have come” entrance into the Kingdom of God and being made partakers of spiritual righteousness and eternal life – and we receive these now – but we receive them in their fullness on the day of Jesus’ return.

Do you understand?  All those who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation are members and in the Kingdom of God now, all those who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation are righteousness now, all those who believe in Jesus Alone for salvation have enteral life now, and we shall receive the fulfillment of what we have now when Jesus returns.

Similarly, we are saved from sin now.  But we all know we sin.  What has changed in our salvation is that all of the sins we ever commit are forgiven in Jesus, and we, through the power of the Holy Spirit, do not ever have to sin – God always makes a way of escape.  But when Jesus returns, we will receive the fullness of our being saved form sin, and we will be unable to sin evermore.  It is the same for being part of the Kingdom, righteousness, and having eternal life.

Through faith alone in Jesus Alone, we have blessings in this life which will be fulfilled when Jesus returns.  Jesus secured present and future blessings for us through being our High Priest.

“then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)”

Last week we talked about the Tabernacle – the tent in the wilderness where the people of Israel worshipped before they came into the Promised Land.  Now, the author of Hebrews tells us that Christ, as High Priest of those good things we just talked about – and we’ll see why it had to be as High Priest in a moment – did something through a better tent, a more perfect tent, a tent not made with human hands, a tent “not of this creation” – do you remember we talked about this a few weeks ago?

There is something else that is referred to as the “tent” other than the place of worship:  Paul writes, “For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens” (2 Corinthians 5:1, ESV).  Our bodies are also referred to as “tents” – the place in which we live.

So, what is different about Jesus’ “tent” – His body?  We remember one of the Advent texts:       The angel said, “’And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end’ And Mary said to the angel, ‘How will this be, since I am a virgin?’ And the angel answered her, ‘The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God’” (Luke 1:31-35, ESV).

Christ’s body was “not made with hands, that is, not of this creation” in the sense that Christ’s body was not made through the union of a man and a woman.  God miraculously caused Mary to become pregnant without the involvement of a man.  Christ’s “tent” was more perfect in the sense that it was created by God outside of the normal way of gestation.  It was a better “tent,” because Jesus, Who was born without man, is the Incarnate Son of God.  Christ, the Son of God, took on a real human body through the workings of God, the Holy Spirit, and remained God, as a real human being.

Now we need to ask ourselves, who entered the Holy of Holies and why?  We saw last week, that the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies once a year on the day of Yom Kippur to make atonement for the people of God.  The high priest would enter the curtain, burn incense, sprinkle blood on the Ark of the Covenant, and pray for the sins of the people to be forgiven.

We saw that this was a temporary solution – it was never meant to be the way to salvation.  It was a shadow – a type – of what Jesus would do.  And so, the author of Hebrews tells us:

“he entered once for all into the holy places,”

So, we only need ask ourselves, when did Jesus enter the Holy of Holies?  And the answer is, “never.”  Unless we remember that Jesus was fulfilling the shadows – the Old Testament Sacrificial System that looked forward to Jesus and was fulfilled in Jesus.  So, how did Jesus fulfill entrance into the Holy of Holies?  When did He enter a place to plead on behalf of all those who would ever believe that we would be forgiven of our sins and be made right with God – that atonement would be made between God and us?

Paul tells us:  “Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:34, ESV). 

Christ completed to work of making atonement by entered the Holy of Holies – which is Heaven – from whence He had come – the dwelling place of God.  And He resumed His place at the Right Hand of God – being Sovereign King over all – the place from which He has been from all of eternity, excepting the Incarnation.

But there was one more difference, was there not?  Christ was in one way different in ascending back to His throne – something had changed in the Incarnation:  Christ took on a tent – a real human body – and that real human body was received back into Heaven and is sitting on the throne with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit.  Christ sanctified the flesh through His Ascension back to His throne, so now we know that our bodies will also be sanctified and received into the Kingdom of God which is here and coming among us.  Our flesh is also redeemed – it is part of who we are – and Christ has saved us in our whole person.

 “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven’” (Acts 1:9-11, ESV).  This is Christ’s entrance into the Holy of Holies.

And just as Christ did not enter into the Holy of Holies on earth to provide us with eternal reconciliation with God, neither did He cleanse with the blood of animals, which, as we saw last week, would never be enough to save us from our sin.

“not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

Christ did not satisfy the Wrath of God with animal blood, but with His Own Blood – the only Blood that would satisfy God and pay the debt that was owed.  Because the Blood of the Savior, Who is the God-Man, was shed for us, our sins are forgiven, and God has received us as His Own.

Paul, in giving instruction to the new ministers of the Gospel, said, “Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood” (Acts 20:28, ESV).

Christ obtained a people for God through the shedding of His Blood.

“For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,”

Remember, the sacrifices of the Tabernacle and the Temple were only temporary – you were forgiven for the moment, but then, once you sinned again, you would have to offer more animals, and Yom Kippur only came once a year.  The ceremonies of the Law were meant to cause people to look forward to the coming of the Savior – to the Promises of the Savior – they were never meant to be an end in themselves.

Sinful men offered up inadequate sacrifices to appease the Holy God:  “And [the high priest] shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the front of the mercy seat on the east side, and in front of the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.

“Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering that is for the people and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, sprinkling it over the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. Thus he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleannesses of the people of Israel and because of their transgressions, all their sins. And so he shall do for the tent of meeting, which dwells with them in the midst of their uncleannesses” (Leviticus 16:14-16, ESV).

“how much more will the blood of Christ,”

The point of these rites was to cause the people to realize that the whole system was hopeless for making them right with God – it could never be enough.  They needed the Savior – they needed the Blood of the Savior to wash them clean – animals would never do – only the God-Man – promised from the Garden – could save them – and us – and provide eternal salvation.

Yes, the Ceremonial Law was a type – a shadow – they ought to have seen that they were sinners, that God required blood to be appeased, that animal sacrifices were not enough to save a human, and that their only Hope – our only Hope – is in the Savior Who would come and live and bleed and die and ascend back to His throne to intercede on our behalf.

The Sacrificial System could not do what Christ did, as John explains, “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7, ESV).

The blood of the sacrifices cleansed for a moment – for a day.  The Blood of Christ, Who is the Eternal God and Holy Man, eternally cleanses us from all of our sin.

 “who through the eternal Spirit”

The sacrifices of the Ceremonial Law were participated in by being present – by offering an animal.  How do we participate in the Blood of Christ?  We are told – through the Spirit.  Christ’s death becomes saving for us through the Spirit’s Work in us. 

As Paul explains, “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:11-14, ESV).

“offered himself without blemish to God,”

Christ was, as we have said, our High Priest and Sacrifice.  Unlike the sacrifices of the first Covenant, which were animals and even the best were not totally perfect, Jesus, the God-Man was the Lamb without spot or blemish – the Perfect and Final Sacrifice which pays our debt with God.

As we see in the vision of the worship of the Slain Lamb, Jesus Christ:  “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,         and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.’           Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!’ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, ‘To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!’ And the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ and the elders fell down and worshiped” (Revelation 5:9-14, ESV).

 “purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.”

The fact of the matter is that the best works we do, even as Christians, are tainted with sin.  Yet, through Christ and by the Power of the Holy Spirit, we can and ought to strive to do the good works He has set before us, continually working towards the holiness we are called to. 

As Peter writes, “Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God” (1 Peter 4:1-2, ESV).

The end of all these things is that we should strive to sin no more and to sin no more by the Power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us, and, instead, to do those good works that we have been called to do and live lives of holiness which reflect the salvation that we have received through Christ, Who fulfilled the Law and the Prophets, and the seal we have received with the Holy Spirit, as people who are now forever marked as God’s.

So, what have we seen?

Christ, the Son of God, incarnated in the Person of Jesus as the Final and Perfect Sacrifice and High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, meriting for us entrance into God’s Kingdom and being made partakers of spiritual righteousness and eternal life, both now, and fully when Jesus returns.

Christ was incarnated by the workings of God the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mary, being both at the same time fully God and fully man – a better tent than any high priest before Him.

Christ entered the true Holy of Holies – the dwelling place of God – Heaven – after having lived and bled and died and risen and ascended back to His throne where He reigns in His glorified human body – so we know our bodies will be raised and glorified with Him – and He intercedes for us before the Father that we would be forgiven for all of our sins and received by the Father as His adopted sons and daughters.

Christ’s Blood secures for all those who believe an eternal redemption – forgiveness for all of our sins.  The blood of animals was symbolic and forgives by the mercy of God in the moment, but was given that those who offered it would look forward to the coming of the Savior Who would offer up the Final and Perfect Sacrifice for sin.

Christ’s Work is sealed in believers by the Holy Spirit.

Christ is the Lamb without blemish Who is offered up for the real, final, and full forgiveness of our sins.

Christ has made us able to turn from our dead works of sin, and even those only infected with sin, and instead, do those good works we have been called to in all holiness by the Power of the Holy Spirit Who lives in us.

So, let us pray:

Almighty God, we thank You for showing us how Christ Jesus, in His better tent, fulfilled the first Covenant on behalf of all those who will ever believe in Him.  Help us to believe, and help us to live out our belief in faith, clinging to the Truth of the Covent of Jesus – the Gospel – living lives that are pleasing and glorifying to You.  For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.