The Application of the Incarnation

Introduction

Last time, we looked at the purpose for Christ’s coming to be born. Our key text is Hebrews 10:5 “Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me:” which begins with the words when he cometh into the world. Why did Jesus come to earth? Why was he born in a manger 2000 years ago? The passage deals with the incarnation: Jesus taking on flesh and being born in a manger, but it ties the birth of Jesus to the death of Jesus. Why was Jesus born in a manger 2000 years ago? Jesus was born to die for our sins because we could not save ourselves.

Tonight we are going to be looking at the application of this truth to our lives as believers starting in Hebrews 10:19 “Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” Before we get into the message, notice two things from this verse. First of all, the word therefore indicates the application of the previous text. It ties this section to what was stated before.

The second thing I want you to notice is the word brethren. This section of the text is written to be applied to Christians whereas the first part of the text primarily deals with those who do not know Jesus as their savior. In essence this passage is saying that because our salvation is accomplished by the bodily sacrifice of Christ, we should do three things: we should draw near, hold fast and provoke one another to good works.

Hebrews 10:20-21 “By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God;”

Before the Jews sought to have their sins atoned by sacrifices and doing good, but now we can approach God by a new and a living way: his flesh. Jesus needed to be born a human child because his bodily sacrifice was necessary to make the way for us to come to God. He is also made the high priest who has offered the sacrifice of his blood to grant us access to God.

I. Draw Near vs 22

Let us- all of these commands are phrased as encouragements. He is pleading with them to do this.

The first thing we are told to do is draw near. Because Jesus cleared the way for us by his sacrifice, we can draw near to God. We have access to him. Before in the OT, only the high priest could actually come into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, but now we have access to Him. We can have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. As Christians, we have a luxury that so often we take for granted. We can have a relationship with God and yet, how many of us spend time with God in devotion: reading his word and prayer actually seeking to meet with God? We take our rights and our privileges for granted. Maybe its because we don’t realize how special this is? Maybe its because we don’t realize how much it cost Jesus to give us this access to God? Maybe its because we have never experienced the joys that it can bring?

We have become like an old couple, who go through their daily routine almost totally ignorant of each other. They maybe say “hi” in the morning but they do not spend any meaningful time together. They have gotten too used to each other to be passionate about one another. Couples every now and then need to stoke up the fire in their relationship and this is how we become toward God. We don’t take advantage of our access and relationship with Him.

Maybe you have been saved for 30 years. I have been saved almost 29 years this year. But maybe you have been saved for nearly 30 years and church is old hat to you. You’ve read the bible and there is nothing new; you pray and it seems like none of the requests you pray get answered so why bother. Can I just challenge you that if this is you, you might just be doing it wrong. If you are getting nothing new out of your bible, maybe you aren’t asking God to show you and maybe you aren’t actually looking. Get a pen and paper out. Write down some thoughts. Take the time to meditate on what you read and ask, “How does this apply to me?” If prayer is dead, maybe you have just been coming to God as if he is a soda machine. Have you ever thought about coming to God just to be with Him? To love and adore Him? To praise Him?

We are told in this text to draw near with a true heart. Sincerity, a couple weeks ago, we preached on Hypocrisy. True here means a sincere heart. The book of Hebrews was written to a group that was a mixture of real and fake Christians. The fake Christian cannot approach God with a true heart because they have not truly been saved. There are many people who say they are Christians but have never accepted Jesus Christ as their savior by faith alone. They think their baptism saves them or going to church or keeping the sacraments saves them, but they are not saved. Such cannot come to God sincerely because they have never truly come to God to be saved. but as Christians, sometimes we come with wrong motives. We come for show, or habit, or to get something out of God. So we ought to come to God with a sincere heart. Jesus told the Samaritan woman that they day would come when John 4:24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” We must worship Him in truth. Reality. Authenticity.

We are also told to come in full assurance of faith. As a believer we can be confident that when we come to Him, He will not cast us out. We can have confidence because our acceptance is not based on our goodness. Jesus was good for us. Our acceptance was based on His sacrifice and if we have faith in Him, we can be confident in coming to Him. Hebrews 4:16 “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” Confidence manifests itself in boldness. Not this self-righteous type of boldness, but a confidence in the blood of Jesus. A boldness that comes from faith.

Notice also the condition for our access to God. We have access to God because our consciences have been purified by the blood of Christ. We are made ceremonially clean in the sight of God. When God sees me, he does not see all the bad things I have done in the past, he sees the righteousness and purity of Jesus Christ. Because of what Jesus did we are clean in the eyes of God.

Why would we not take advantage of this privilege given to us. Jesus was born 200 years ago to give us access to God.

II. Hold Fast vs 23

The second thing we are told to do is hold fast. The book of Hebrews was written like many other books to believers who were facing persecution. The purpose is to encourage them not to go back to Judaism to escape this persecution because by doing so they are revealing they never truly were saved to begin with. Because it is written to these types of believers, the author is constantly challenging them to hold fast. These words mean to stick firmly to, to lay claim to, to hold onto. But what are they to hold onto the text in English says the profession of our faith- the actual word here is hope in the Greek. It isn’t saying don’t abandon the faith as much as it is saying don’t lose the hope that we have because of our faith. Now we are to hold on to hope without wavering. Literally means leaning back.

Its kinda like that person who gets into a rollercoaster ride excited about what they are about to experience. but as the closer they get, they start seeing all the loops and drops. They see all the people coming off the ride looking like they are going to be sick. and in their mind, the start pulling back and saying, “Oh, no, I’m not doing that!”

Don’t let hard times make you pull back from the Lord. It is easy to confuse the things the Lord allows in our lives with how he truly feels about us. Jesus says in Matt 11:28-30 “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” Those of us who are beaten down by work and burdened with circumstances outside our control. We are told to Come. He will give us rest. Notice our circumstances do not define who God is. We may be going through some tough times, but God is not sitting on the throne excited by how hard it is for us. Jesus tells us whats in his heart in these verses. I am meek and lowly in heart: Christ’s heart is gentle and humble. He is kind and He cares. Don’t lose heart.

Not only is He kind, gently and humble. The author of Hebrews tells us not to pull back from the Lord because He is faithful. He will do that which he promised to do.

Joshua 21:45 “There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”

2 Cor 12:9 “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” All the strength we need to stand firm, to hold on comes from God and not from ourselves.

It isn’t like you are a soldier who has been told to guard the door against an on coming army of 3000 all by yourself. God stands with you.

III. Provoke one another vs 24-25

Because holding fast is not easy, the author challenges us to consider one another. This phrase literally means to pay attention to one another. We should be keeping an eye out for one another. Church members should not suffer in silence. They should not be going unnoticed because someone should be connected to them that sees what they are going through. We ought to be paying attention to one another. If someone looks like they might be withdrawing from God, we need to and have a responsibility to intervene.

Church is like a family. If your brother or sister were getting into drugs and their life was going down hill, would you just ignore it. No, you would have a family intervention. They may not like it but because they are family you don’t have the privilege of pretending like it isn’t happening.

We aren’t just supposed to pay attention when things are going bad. We are to pay attention and make sure we are provoking unto love and to good works. Provoke is a strong word. Think of two guys walking down the street and one of them starts shoving the other one. They are provoking them into a fight. Provoke means to stimulate, to excite, to encourage, to stir up. To get them excited about loving one another and doing good things for people. Also we should be provoking them to be at church.

Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together- forsake here means to abandon. When you see someone gradually coming less and less to church, they are beginning to abandon church. We should be encouraging them. One of the best ways to do this is to reach out to them. Show them you care. Invite them over for dinner or do something nice for them. But we should encourage them. exhorting one another means to say something. And we should be doing this more and more since Jesus’ coming is so much closer today than it was before.

You need the church. The community of believers at church are supposed to provoke you, to excite you about serving God and doing right.

Conclusion