Our Exalted Redeemer

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Quarterly Business Meeting - Wednesday at 6:30 in the FH

Happy Resurrection Day!

Reading: Hebrews 9:15-28

Hebrews 9:15–28 ESV

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and 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 that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Pray

Jesus is our mediator.

The writer of Hebrews does not speak much of the Resurrection. In fact, he says next to nothing about it. He seems to focus in on the death of Christ and its affects on us. But we know that Jesus’ death isn’t the end of the story. We know that the grave is empty.

As I wrestled with Hebrews 9 preparing for this morning, I began to find myself drawn in to verse 15.

Hebrews 9:15 ESV

15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Verse 15 begins with “therefore,” and like my old preacher used to say, we need to find out what the “therefore” is there for.

In 9:11-14, the author of Hebrews recounts the sacrifice Christ brought into the True Holiest place - the heavenly Temple. The earthly temple is a copy of the reality in heaven, so Christ as our superior High Priest made his offering there instead of down here. He brings the superior offering of his own blood, willingly given, rather than the blood of animals that could not give willingly. In the process, his offering goes beyond the external cleansing of the OT Law; he purifies the conscience from our dead works and frees us to serve the living God.

But look at what this author, whomever he may be, says about Jesus. He is the mediator. Jesus is the one who brought us into communion with God. When our sins alienated us from God, Christ bridged the gap and restored the broken relationship between the Father and us.

That is an amazing truth to consider. The whole idea of death is separation. Sin leads to death - it separates us from God and from each other. Sin causes us to become isolated from all others, lonely and hopeless. But Christ changes that. His death incurs the wrath due to us, so that we can experience a renewal of fellowship with the God who loves us and who created us to be with him.

The author of Hebrews wants his readers to experience this renewal of fellowship with God. He wants them to find a sure and steadfast anchor of hope, placed in the bedrock of Jesus Christ.

I thought about what we celebrate on Resurrection Sunday. We celebrate the fact that Christ rose from the dead. I began to wonder, what impact does the resurrection have on Christ’s work? How does the fact that Jesus rose from the grave make any difference in his role as our mediator?

I believe the resurrection magnifies the person of Jesus Christ in everything he does, and I also believe that the resurrection ought to magnify Christ in us, too. When it comes to Christ as our mediator, the resurrection does something astounding:

The Resurrection Guarantees Our Eternal Communion with God

Here’s what I mean. Because Christ died, his death purchased our redemption from sin. Look at how the author of Hebrews says it:

Hebrews 9:24–28 ESV

24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

Do you see how his death is accomplishing salvation? He goes into the heavenly temple, making one single sacrifice of his own blood that is sufficient to cover all sins. And just as for us judgment surely comes on the heels of death, so too does Christ’s saving us (those who are eagerly waiting for him) come on the heels of his own death.

But let’s add another piece to the puzzle. Christ died and offered his sacrifice. Then he rose. That means that we do not have a dead mediator, but a living mediator. Peter says in 1 Peter 1:3

1 Peter 1:3 ESV

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

Only a fool can have a living hope in a dead person! Christ is alive. That means that he is currently, at this very moment, mediating between us and God the Father.

1 Timothy 2:5 ESV

5 For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

Watch this, church. The fact that Jesus is alive means that he is currently our mediator. And the fact that Jesus will never die again, but lives forever, means that he always will be our mediator. Gerald Bray put it this way:

Lexham Survey of Theology Jesus as Mediator

the Son’s work of mediation lasts forever. It does not cease once our sins are forgiven but remains a permanent feature of our relationship with God, a relationship which is impossible apart from our union with Christ.

The fact that Jesus lives as our mediator means that we will always stand in relationship with God as dependents of Jesus Christ. Every year, he gets to list us as his dependents on his taxes.

We depend on Christ to defend us, for John tells us that when we sin, we have an advocate in Christ Jesus (1 John 2:1).

We depend on Christ to remain for us, for he promised to never leave us nor to forsake us.

We depend on Christ to make us righteous, for “he became sin who knew no sin, that we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Co 5:21).

We depend on Christ for even our most basic needs, for “in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

We are so dependent on Christ, and we will remain that way for all of eternity to come. And the fact that he lives for all eternity means that he will always be there, always capable of being the author and finisher of our faith. He will always remain.

We can live with confidence that our mediator will always remain faithful.