Exalted through His Blood

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After worship - Seder Meal/Communion

Wednesday - Joint Adult Bible Study

Resurrection Sunday next week!

Reading: Hebrews 9:13-14

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

13 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, 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.

Pray

Have you ever believed in something with all of your heart, but it turned out to be wrong?

ILL: Super Bowl XXX

Transition: Just because you believe something with complete sincerity and you do works with perfect execution, that still sometimes isn’t enough.

That’s the problem with the old covenant God made with Israel. No matter how devout they were and how many good works they did, the old covenant had a fatal flaw:

The Old System Could Only Cleanse the External...

God designed the Old Covenant in order to bring cleansing of his people. You see this throughout the chapter. Verses 1-5 describe much of the furniture and layout of the Tabernacle and Temple, the center of worship in ancient Israel.

These items came to represent religious devotion to God. When people thought of serving God, the picture of the Temple stood foremost in their minds. The idea of the Ark of the Covenant, complete with manna, the staff of Aaron, and the stones carved with the Ten Commandments, provided the ancient Israelites with a tangible understanding of what it means to serve God.

Then add the actual services - the offering of sacrifices in verses 6-7 - and you have a system for bringing cleansing to the sinner. When the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies to sprinkle the blood, he was attempting to make atonement for his own sins and the unintentional sins of the people. Now look at verse 8:

Hebrews 9:8–10 ESV

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.

Did you catch that part in verse 9? He describes all of the offerings and sacrifices and gifts as incapable of perfecting the conscience. They only dealt with the body, and not with the soul.

The question in times past would have been the people’s sincerity. Prophets like Malachi lamented the dishonorable practices of offering blind or sick or crippled animals to God as sacrifices. It’s so bad, God wishes they would shut it down:

Malachi 1:10 ESV

10 Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

That’s not the issue the writer with Hebrews sees. I believe that he sees genuine sincerity. Think of the people throughout the gospels that show sincere faith: Zacharias and Elizabeth, Simeon (the one who basically tells God he’s ready to die now that he has seen the salvation of the Lord come), Anna the prophetess. There are statements from the disciples of true faith, such as Peter’s acknowledgement:

Luke 9:20 ESV

20 Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Peter answered, “The Christ of God.”

These Jews were earnest in their faith. How many others were just as sincere, looking to the rituals of sacrifices and prayers and phylacteries and feasts to bring God’s salvation and favor to bear on Israel. How many saw in the Temple proceedings the salvation of the Lord? But their sincerity wasn’t enough. The Temple was never designed to permanently deal with sin.

But more than that, the rituals of the Old Covenant were never designed to deal with the heart of our sin problem. The problem we have is not that we need external cleansing. Our problem lies far below the surface.

If our problem was only behavioral, we could learn to correct it. If our problem was surface level, like dirt on our arm, we would be able to grab some soap and wash it away. If our problem was simply our attitudes, we could learn techniques to be more grateful and more kind. If our problem was external, the Old Covenant would work just fine. The ritual washings would remove the “sin dirt,” the sacrifices would cover over the behavioral issues, and the attitudes would be fixed by saying the right prayers and performing the feasts. We would be holy by our works.

Psalm 14:1–3 ESV

1 The fool says in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, they do abominable deeds; there is none who does good. 2 The Lord looks down from heaven on the children of man, to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. 3 They have all turned aside; together they have become corrupt; there is none who does good, not even one.

Paul concludes in Romans 3:20:

Romans 3:20 ESV

20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin.

The Old Covenant brings us to the realization that we are sinners who are in danger of eternal separation form God. It forces us to look in the mirror and see the devastating effects of sin on our hearts and souls. It wrenches our stomachs with the agony of knowing just how wicked we have become. But the Old Covenant can’t fix our sin problem. It can only deal with the external.

Verse 10 leaves us hopeless. God’s covenant cannot handle our most central problem with sin. It leaves us totally destitute and without any sign of life. At the end of verse 10, we are nothing but spiritual corpses.

Hebrews 9:11 ESV

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)

Verse 11, however, begins with “but.” Have you ever considered how important, how life-changing that word “but” really is?

The Old Covenant could only cleanse the external,

…But Christ Purifies the Internal

Let’s see that play out:

Hebrews 9:11–12 ESV

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.

Last week, we talked about Christ being the superior High Priest, who entered the superior temple and offered the superior sacrifice. The author of Hebrews wants to drive this home. All of the faith that his audience once put in the sacrifices and works of the Old Covenant, he wants to re-direct them to put that faith in Christ. So he is making it clear that Jesus Christ does what the OT priests could not do.

He brings a new covenant, securing the new covenant with a sacrifice made directly upon the throne of God. Not just the mercy seat where God came own to be present among his people, but the true mercy seat in heaven from where God permanently reigns among his people.

And the sacrifice is not just the blood of goats and calves. That’s not good enough for the new covenant. The only acceptable sacrifice for the new covenant is Jesus’ own blood. And he willingly offers it:

John 10:11–18 ESV

11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. 12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. 13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. 14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, 15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. 16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. 17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

Jesus Christ offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. Willingly. He’s the only one that could have. That’s why, when John the Baptist sees him coming, he exclaims, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!”

He calls Jesus the “Lamb of God” because he is the sacrifice - the ultimate sacrifice. The Passover lamb was not sufficient. That year-old lamb with no blemishes or spots or maladies or deformities could never take away the sins of a human being. Only Jesus could be the sacrifice that would meet God’s just standard yet also express his unfailing love.

So it all boils down to Heb9:13-14:

Hebrews 9:13–14 ESV

13 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, 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.

If the blood of animals brings ritualistic purity, the blood of Christ brings complete, spiritual purity. Purity that changes us from the inside-out. Purity that softens our conscience to God’s voice, and that engages us in God’s service. The Old Covenant could never dream of doing that.

What are you putting your faith in? Careful - sincere belief isn’t very good if it’s in the wrong thing. Genuine faith in the wrong thing is just as bad as no faith at all. But earnest, genuine faith in Jesus Christ brings eternal salvation.