The Shadow and the Reality
Christ Is Exalted • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 68 viewsThe Law is merely a shadow, but the reality is Christ!
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Storms can be a little frightening, no matter your age. But when you’re a small child, it can be especially scary. I grew up in Mobile, where hurricanes are a perennial threat. But for me, the biggest worry came when the lights went out. My parents found a way to calm my fears - and I bet you’ve done this too for your kids when it went dark at your house. We made shadow puppets.
Shadow puppets are great - you can make all kinds of shapes with your hands. Creative and flexible people can make elephants, rabbits, dinosaurs - all sorts of animals. And it wasn’t long before those shadow puppets were saying silly things and eating each other! Chomp!
Shadows are not reality. They show us some aspects of reality. They can even point us to reality. But shadows are not real themselves.
This morning, we live among a people that has confused the shadows with the reality. Like children scared of the dark, we mistake every eery shadow for a fearful sight. We cannot tell the difference between a man and a woman but insist that women’s “rights” be upheld. We reject God and claim to be “logical” and “ethical” while we insist that a child be mutilated and drugged because the boy feels like a girl. We proclaim ourselves to be the height of civility and tolerance while we demand that those people who disagree with us be canceled, barred from common discourse and scourged for their gaul to ask difficult questions. We say we desire diversity but we shun any dissent of opinion. We sit in front of a TV listening to pundits tell us how a certain candidate will save America if we buy their books and T-shirts but refuse to be actively involved in our community because “we don’t have time.” We say we love God but we do not do what he says. We profess “faith over fear” but fear drives our decisions instead of faith.
Have I made my point? We live life in shadows, like a fish lives in water. It’s easier to deny the truth than to face it. That’s not a new problem. People have had problems telling the shadows from reality ever since the garden. And in the time Hebrews was written, the audience of the letter had the same issue. They grew up under the Jewish Law. For them, the Law was the reality of their relationship with God. Their sanctification appeared to come from sacrifices made in the Temple. But look at what the author of Hebrews says about the Law:
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
In other words:
The Law Is Merely a Shadow...
The Law Is Merely a Shadow...
They mistook the shadow for the reality. The sacrifices and the actions of priests in the Temple were not the basis of sanctification. They couldn’t be. They where merely the shadow.
Think for a moment about what a shadow is - when light shines on an object, some of that light gets blocked. The shadow is that area where the light is blocked. Now, the shadow itself isn’t an object - it’s how the object distorts light. But it does show the outline of an object.
A few years ago, I was at someone’s house, and they had a picture of their child. But it wasn’t a picture - it was a silhouette. It showed the outline of that child’s head. You couldn’t see any of the details: you couldn’t tell whether the child had blonde hair or black hair, blue eyes or brown. You couldn’t see that boo-boo from where they scratched their cheek. That’s not what a silhouette is for. The silhouette just shows the outline - the basic form, but not the full reality. That’s what the Law does with sanctification. It’s just a shadow. It’s:
A Silhouette of Sanctification
A Silhouette of Sanctification
The Law gives some idea of sanctification. It shows the outline - the need for a sacrifice to atone for sins. The Law, for example, says:
11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life.
And the author of Hebrews said this just chapter:
22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Without the Law, we would not recognize sanctification by sacrifice. That silhouette helps us know the real thing when we see it. But look at verse 1-3:
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
The Law shows us our sin and helps us see the need for atonement through sacrifice. That’s a lot of detail. But it doesn’t show us all the details. It’s just a shadow. It uses bulls and goats, rams and lambs to shadow the true sacrifice, but those things just aren’t sufficient.
Transition
A shadow not only gives a silhouette of the reality, but it also mimics the action that the reality performs. It copies what the real object is doing. Think about how when you see your own shadow, it seems to copy what you do. If you wave, it waves. If you bend down to pick up a box, it bends down too. It even looks like it’s picking up a box itself.
But in reality, the shadow isn’t really doing anything. It’s just blocked light, after all. Shadows can’t wave or pick up boxes. Only the real thing can do the real work. The shadow is just giving us the “pretend” form of work.
So the Law doesn’t really sanctify us. As a shadow, the Law is but:
A Semblance of Sanctification
A Semblance of Sanctification
It looks like it sanctifies, with the fragrant offerings of incense and the altars covered in blood, with the priestly performances and the constant uttering of prayers. It looks like it’s bringing the people closer to God. But it’s just a shadow. Look back at verse 1 yet again:
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
Or consider verse 4:
4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
And just in case you’re like me and need it repeated over-and-over again, verse 11:
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
Day after day, the priest performs these actions that point toward our restoration with God. “Sanctification is going to look like this,” they say. But those sacrifices are the shadow. They can’t sanctify. They look like sanctification in some ways, but just as a shadow can’t pick up a box and move it, neither can the sacrifices under the Law effectively deal with our sins. They are not the reality. They are a shadow.
Transition
One more thing about a shadow stands out to me. Think about how temporary shadows are. They are constantly changing, fading within hours or sometimes even minutes, and leaving no lasting marks or having any lasting effects. Realities last much longer, but shadows come and go so fast.
In the same way, the Law has it’s own temporary nature. It’s not meant to last, for the Law is:
A Transience of Sanctification
A Transience of Sanctification
Transience means something that doesn’t last long. There’s an old phrase, “Here today, gone tomorrow.” That’s transience. And the Law is a transience of sanctification. It just isn’t made to last. We’ve already read these verses, but notice the terms that show just how short lived the Laws effects on our sin really are:
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.
Did you hear how temporary those sacrifices are? They are offered “continually,” “every year.”
3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.
The reminder of sins, too, is “every year.”
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.
If this sounds like he’s beating a dead horse, it’s because the horse of sanctification by the works of the Law IS a dead horse! It’s a shadow that doesn’t last. As a few small clouds briefly hide the sun on an otherwise bright and sunny day, so the Law is transient. It’s not meant to be permanent.
The Law is a shadow: a silhouette, a semblance, and a transience of God’s sanctifying work in us.
…But the Reality is Christ!
…But the Reality is Christ!
If you hear nothing else from me today, hear this: Christ is the only way we can be made right with God. He made the ultimate sacrifice to cleanse us from sin and to make us righteous before God.
When the light of God shines upon the sanctifying sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the shadow that is cast is the Law.
That means that while the Law shadows our sanctification, Christ is the reality of it. The Law was a silhouette, but Christ is:
The Fullness of Sanctification
The Fullness of Sanctification
Look at verses 5-7, and note the contrast made:
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me;
6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.
7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’ ”
The contrast couldn’t be bigger. The sacrifices and offerings in verses 5-6 were made under the Law, but God took no delight in them. He couldn’t be pleased, for they could not fulfill God’s perfect will. They were merely the shadows. The reality of sanctification comes in the body of Christ, perfectly performing the perfect will of God, just as his perfect Word had proclaimed before hand through the prophets.
Jesus Christ fulfills our sanctification through his sacrifice.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
The shadow just gives us an outline, but Christ shows us the full picture in all God’s radiant glory. Remember how this same author described Christ in the first few verses:
3 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,
15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.
19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,
20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
Christ not only shows us the fullness of God and fulfills the fullness of our sanctification, but he also accomplishes the work that the shadow can only pretend to do. Christ is:
The Perfection of Sanctification
The Perfection of Sanctification
Whereas the shadow was just the semblance, Christ perfectly completes our sanctification. That, by the way, is what Jesus himself said on the cross just before his final breath:
30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, he said, “It is finished,” and he bowed his head and gave up his spirit.
He really does it - he makes us holy and righteous before God!
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
That phrase “we have been sanctified” is in a form that means our sanctification is totally and completely fulfilled, without question, and it always will be for all eternity to come. But look in verse 14:
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
You see that same completed work in the phrase “he has perfected for all time,” but then something interesting happens at the end of the verse. He calls us, God’s people, “those who are being sanctified.” Not only has Christ secured and guaranteed our sanctification, he will see it all the way through to it’s full realization. We struggle to live our lives in the full reality of being made right with God, but Christ is present with us through the indwelling Holy Spirit, shaping and molding us to be more and more like Christ. He is making the reality of our sanctification come to life in us more and more as we draw nearer to God. By the way, is Christ’s sanctifying work being made more real in you?
The shadow is a silhouette, but Christ is the fullness. The shadow is a semblance, but Christ is the perfection. Lastly, the shadow is a transience, but Christ is:
The Permanence of Sanctification
The Permanence of Sanctification
Shadows don’t last, but the reality does. Christ is not a temporary band-aid for our sin problem. Christ is the permanent solution.
9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second.
10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God,
14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
That’s permanence.
By the way, one more thought about shadows. If you’re looking at the shadow, but you never look toward the light source, you’ll never see the real thing that’s making the shadow. The original audience of this letter was mostly if not completely Jewish Christians. For them, the Law was the shadow. They needed to look toward the light to see Jesus giving true sanctification instead of only looking to the Law.
But what about us? Very few of us (and almost certainly no one in this room today) would look at the OT Law for our sanctification. That’s not the shadow we find cast on the ground. We look to other shadows: maybe its the shadow of the faith of our parents or grandparents. Maybe we look to the shadow of the good works we have done. Maybe our shadows lie in our reputations or our accolades we have achieved. Perhaps we stand staring at the shadow of our history in the church, expecting faithful attendance and active participation as earning us favor with God. But these are all shadows. Sanctification is not found in works, in awards, in church activity, nor in the faith of others whom you emulate. Sanctification is only found by having a personal faith in Jesus Christ alone.
The shadows may be helpful - they give us some help spotting the reality. But when the reality has come, it’s time to stop looking to the shadows. It’s time to behold the reality.
Pray, then invitation