“Enter Through the Blood”
[Hebrews 10:16-25]
April 10, 2020 YouTube
The most important question a human
can ever ask is how can I be right with God?
The author of Hebrews has up to this
point shown why Jesus is greater than Moses, angels, and the sacrificial
system. The author of Hebrews is writing
to Jewish converts to Christianity who are struggling under persecution and
wonder if they might be better off going back to Judaism.
On this Good Friday, we see that
Jesus is the final high priest and the final sacrifice, and that means some
very specific things for us as believers.
First, it means the blood sacrifices
have ended.
The author of Hebrews quotes the Old
Testament – stating two promises of God, and he argues that if these things
have come to pass – through the work of Jesus in living and then suffering the
horrors of flogging and crucifixion and death, then the blood sacrifices have
ended – they have been fulfilled in Jesus’ work.
“This
is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord:
I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,”
God
promises – He makes a covenant – a contract – that the days will come when God
puts His laws on the hearts and minds of believers.
God
continues in this text from Jeremiah (31) to explain that the day will come
when God will give His people a different covenant – not one that they can
break and be unfaithful to, but one that they will be kept in and never lost
from, because the Law will be in them.
Not
only that:
“then
he adds, ‘I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.’”
So,
two things happen – God will put His Law in the hearts and minds of His people,
and God will not hold the sins of His people against them. They will be forgiven through the One and
Final Sacrifice of Jesus. Jesus gives
His people the credit for His perfect keeping of the Law, and He suffers the
full Wrath of God for every sin of everyone who will ever believe.
Therefore,
“Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.”
If
an offering has been made – if a sacrifice has been made – Jesus – the perfect,
sinless and holy God-Man, and everyone who believes is justified under the Law
and has all of their sins forgiven in Jesus, then there are no longer any
sacrifice for sin.
If
the sins of God’s people have been paid for, there is no reason they should
ever offer up another sacrifice for sin.
The
blood sacrifices have ended because Jesus paid the debt for every sin that will
ever be forgiven. Blood sacrifices are
for those who have sins that must be paid for, but if they are all paid for,
there are no more blood sacrifices to be offered.
Second,
Jesus, our great high priest, has opened the Holy of Holies for us.
In
Matthew’s Gospel, we read:
“And
Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit.
“And
behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the
earth shook, and the rocks were split. The tombs also were opened. And many
bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, and coming out of the
tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many”
(Matthew 27:50-53, ESV).
When
Jesus cried out and died on the cross, the thick curtain that separated the
most holy inner section of the Temple – that the high priest could only go into
one day a year – on Yom Kippur – that curtain was torn from top to bottom –
opening the most holy area – the very throne room of God to everyone who
believes.
“Therefore,
brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of
Jesus, by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain,
that is, through his flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of
God,”
Since
Jesus – God in the flesh – was put to death for our sins – since His body was
torn open – since His blood poured our of His body – just as the curtain of the
Temple was torn open – allowing entrance – now we can symbolically go through
His torn open, blood running body into the throne room of God. Tearing Jesus apart opened the throne room
for believers, because He is not just the Perfect Sacrifice, He is the final
and Perfect High Priest.
And
the language that is used makes it clear that the way through Jesus to the throne
room of God is always open for us. Our
confidence in entering the throne room is found in that the High Priest made
Jesus the Eternal Sacrifice Who covers the sins of everyone who will ever
believe throughout time and space. Jesus
is always able to give us entrance – and since Jesus is God, our High Priest,
we can be confident that He will never fail to have the way open for us to come
into the throne room.
Since
the blood sacrifices have ended and Jesus has opened the Holy of Holies for us:
Third,
the author of Hebrews encourages us to do four things.
First,
“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts
sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.”
The
author of Hebrews tells this group of persecuted converts to Christianity to
“draw near” – to gather together for prayer and worship as believers, because
their assurance – and our assurance that the blood sacrifices are ended and the
veil is open to the Holy of Holies – is Jesus Himself.
God,
our Savior, lived a just life and credited that just life to us, and He paid
the debt for our sins on the cross. So,
He, as God, is the only One Who has the right to say “It is finished” –
everything necessary for the salvation of God’s people has been done. As High Priest, Jesus offered Himself – as
the perfect sacrifice – on behalf of His chosen and to the glory of God. So, our heart is secure in the truth of what
He did.
Jesus
bled and sprinkled us with His blood – like in the Exodus that we looked at
last night – cleansing us. And we are
cleansed with the waters of baptism, washing us clean, symbolizing Christ’s
death, burial, and resurrection.
We
are forgiven and righteous through Jesus, so let us come together and pray and
worship together.
Second,
“Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who
promised is faithful.”
Because
Jesus is faithful. Because Jesus is
God. Because God can’t lie. Because the work of salvation is
finished. Because Jesus promises us all
these things and He is faithful. Whether
you are being tortured and killed for your faith – as many were in those days,
or if someone might give a chuckle and think you weak-minded in modern America
– hold fast to your confession of faith.
Hold fast to the basic tenants of the faith. Hold fast to the Apostle’s Creed and
others like it.
And
don’t waver. Don’t give in on any of
it. Don’t think you can get away with
just denying the Virgin Birth or the physical Resurrection. Stand firm.
Witness to your faith. When you
are asked, don’t hesitate to say, “I believe!”
Third,
“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works,”
We
are to help each other love each other as brothers and sisters. We are to help each other show love as brothers
and sisters. And sometimes that can be
difficult. We are brothers and sisters
in Christ, but that doesn’t mean we all like each other – we can hold very
different views on politics and the things we like and so forth, but, for the
sake of Christ, we are to show an immediate love towards anyone who bears the Name
of Christ.
Paul
commands us, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility
count others more significant than yourselves” (Philippians 2:3, ESV).
Difficult
as it may be at times, we are to humble ourselves – for the sake of what Jesus
did on the first Good Friday – and love our brothers and sisters in Christ.
And
we are to encourage each other to do good works. We are not to sit in the church and the community
and just grunt and wait for Jesus’ return.
We are to actively be doing good – especially for those in the church,
but for the whole community.
Peter
encourages us about our gifts, “As each has received a gift, use it to serve
one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: whoever speaks, as one who
speaks oracles of God; whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that
God supplies—in order that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus
Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen” (I Peter 4:10-11,
ESV).
We
are to use whatever we have and are to encourage others to do good works – not
for salvation, but for the good of the church and the world, and for the Glory
of God.
Fourth,
“not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one
another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”
Putting
it in the positive: we are to meet
together as the church to pray and sing, to hear the reading and preaching of
the Word of God, and to receive the sacraments together.
That
means, the guy who was staying home in first century Asia, reading his Bible
and watching TV preachers but never getting together with other Christians for
worship and the equipping of the saints was wrong – just as any of us are wrong
who think we can be Lone Ranger Christian.
We must gather together regularly.
Now,
there are exceptions – those who can’t leave their homes for a time or
permanently for whatever reason. But
most people – most of the time – are here commanded to be in worship with other
Christians.
And
that’s not to punish us! We grow being
with other Christians, hearing the Word read and preached, and receiving the
sacraments – as we love each other and as we encourage each other in our good
works. Gathering together as the Church
grows the Church.
As we remember Jesus being mocked,
hanging on the cross, let us listen carefully and hear as He cried out, “It is
finished.” That means that the need for
blood sacrifices is over and Jesus has opened the Holy of Holies so every
believer can come before God and pray and worship Him.
Let us recognize how God has
empowered the Church and loved us through the crucifixion of Jesus.
And let us understand that the only
way a person can be right with God is if God comes to earth as a human, lives a
perfect life under His Law, suffers the fulness of God’s Wrath for sin and
dies, and then lives.
You can be right with God if you
believe in your heart and mind that Jesus is Who the Bible says He is, and if
you confess Him as Savior with your mouth.
Let us pray:
Almighty God, You turned the sky
black as Your Son breathed His last and died.
Help us to see what a great thing – the greatest thing – it is that
Jesus lived and died for all those who will ever believe – and rose again. Help us to respond in faith and belief, being
confident, proclaiming Your Gospel, supporting each other, working together,
encouraging one another, and gathering together for worship. For it is in Jesus’ Name we pray, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment