Gods gift that keeps on giving

The Gift that keeps on Giving – Hebrews 10:12-14

10:12 But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God, 10:13 where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet.

10:14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy.

Introduction:

The bible describes sin as a disease that infects us all. It is the unifying illness that binds us all. Sin is the thing that every living human can relate to. Wealth, social economic status, education, zip codes, ethnic origin, medical history, and geographical locations cannot separate humanity’s identity from sin. Though our struggle with sin may not be uniform in the sense that we all struggle with the same sin, our collective stories and voices indicate that we all know what it is like to carry the weight of our call to live our lives with faith, and yet battle with sin.

There is an interesting doctrine within systematic theology known as “sanctification.” The doctrine of sanctification is the teaching that concerns itself with how God frees us from the disease of sin and conforms us to the image of his son. The scriptures are well-supplied with teachings about being conformed to the image of Christ.

2 Corinthians 3:18 says “we are being transformed into Christ’s likeness...”

Romans 8:29 says that God “predestined us to be conformed to the likeness of his son...”

And there are numerous other texts in the bible that would indicate that Christlikeness in the goal for our faith. But how does one become like Christ? How does one conform to the image of Christ when the fingerprints of the world are all over our life? How do I become more like Jesus when the music I listen to is saturated with satanic influences? How I become more like Jesus when the television I watch is tuned to worldly influences? How do I become more like Jesus when my life is representative and emblematic of the pain, I have endured my entire life?

Brothers and sisters, I would submit to you this theological statement: Sanctification is the ongoing supernatural work of God to rescue justified sinners from the disease of sin and to conform them to the image of his son: holy, Christlike, and empowered to do good works.

In our text, I want to submit three points, and the lesson will be yours.

His sacrifice sanctified us (10:9-10)

“He does away with the first to establish the second” (v. 9)

“The first” refers to animal sacrifices. They were not sufficient to take away sins (v.3-4)

“...we have been made holy...” (v. 10); the phrase “made holy” is repeated in v. 14

The word “made” would indicate that an action is being done to you

So, if I am going to become “holy”, then God must make me holy

This statement is a perfect, passive, participle, which is only but to indicate that it was an action that took place in the past but has present day implications.

A better way of saying this would be to say “God is making me Holy”

How is he making me holy? Based on “the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

The word “holy” in the text is the same meaning as “sanctify.”

The word refers to the human attitude regarding the divine.

The implication is that as I develop more reverence for God, I become more like him

His sacrifice perfected us (v. 14)

“For by one offering he has perfected us...”: the basic sense of the word “perfection” is to bring to completion or make fit to accomplish a task. The indication is that Christ’s offering made us fit to accomplish a task.

What task are we to accomplish? The task is in our call to holiness.

God employs the use of supernatural power to free us from the disease of sin for the purpose of sanctifying us. He sanctifies us through process. It does not happen overnight.