Why Jesus’ Atonement Matters?

Hebrews 7:25-28

Open to Hebrews 7

Why does Jesus’ Atonement Matter?

We are a little removed from celebrating resurrection Sunday, but I think it is always helpful to dwell on what Christ did for us at the cross.

What is atonement? the word atonement means to reconcile, and theologically it means reconciliation between God and humankind.

For the Jews in the OT, Atonement is the Reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrifice of animals.

But for Christians (those that believe in Jesus), atonement is the Reconciliation of God and humankind through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Our passage today reflects on the reality of Jesus’ work on the cross and its intent to reconcile all sinners back to a relationship with Him.

Let’s read Hebrews 7:25–28 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”

Pray

Recently I had a debate which Hebrews 7:25 was part of the discussion. I have since applied more studies on the letter to the Hebrews and specifically 7:25 and the context that it is written in. Along the way I have been connected to a PHd in Biblical studies and languages and I learned more from him on the subject of today’s passage. I am excited to share with you all what I have learned. With that said, I do not represent the expert in full knowledge and understanding. And like I share often on my channel, I encourage you to not just take my word for it, but to examine what I say, study the word for yourself, and be a good Berean, which means to always go back to the Word to verify the truth!

To start, I would like to give some background to the letter of Hebrews and share what I believe is so crucial for us as people living in America in 2024 to know! And that is historical context.

When we read the Bible, we need to understand that the Bible was written to a particular people in a particular culture and time in history far removed from the culture and time we live in today. That said, there’s nothing new under the sun.

Understanding what struggles the people faced, where the tension lies within the account we read in Scripture will help us learn why the writer is writing what he is, how would the original audience understood and recieved the letter? And how do I draw application for my life today?

So, let me provide some context for the letter to the Hebrews from what I’ve learned:

Author is unknown = many believe Paul is the writer. Some believe Paul is the speaker giving a sermon and Luke is recording what Paul is saying. But it is never identified within the letter. You can only glean from literary style and the content and make assumptions or educated guesses.

We know the author is a friend of Timothy - Heb 13:23, the writer knew the OT very well, the writer uses the same OT passage of Habakkuk 2:3 in Hebrews 10:38 as Paul does in Romans 1:17 and Galatians 3:11 , the author was known by Peter the apostle.

Fun fact, Peter was the apostle to the circumcision or the apostle to the Jews. In both of peters's letters, he talks about Jews, being scattered all over due to the dispersion of that day (1 Peter 1:1; 2 Peter 3:1). In 2 Peter 3:15, Peter writes, “Even our brother Paul wrote to you also”.

Peter’s letters are to Jewish believing churches. So when Peter says our brother Paul wrote to you also that you also refers to Jewish believers.

Peter also Wrote in 2 Peter 3:15-16 That Paul wrote hard things to understand. Is this a reference to Paul being the author of the book of Hebrews? We don't know, but there's some compelling evidence.

The date is likely before 70AD, scholars would suggest 64-67AD as There is no mention of the destruction of Jerusalem or the temple, which did occur in 70 a A.D. since the letter of Hebrews focuses on the temple and the priesthood it points to the fact that both were still intact at the time of the writing of the letter.

Audience = There are no specific names mentioned in the letter but it is definitely written to Jewish believers. The book was originally titled the Hebrews. Who are the Hebrews? The Jews!

Now, you might think, how could a letter written to a entirely Jewish audience pre 70AD be applicable to me?

I’m glad I thought you would ask that question! We’ll discuss as we journey on!

I want to give you the entire outline of Hebrews. So let me share that quickly:

Pt 1 Chapter 1 – 4:13: Jesus Christ, the supreme revelation

Pt 2 Chapter 4:14-7:28: Jesus Christ, the supreme High Priest

Pt 3 Chapter 8:1-10:18: Jesus Christ, the supreme minister

Pt 4 Chapter 10:19-11:40: Jesus Christ, the supreme author of faith

Pt 5 Chapter 12:1-29: Jesus Christ, the supreme example of endurance

Pt 6 Chapter 13:1-25: the supreme marks of Christian conduct

You might ask, why would Jewish believers need to know these? Don’t they know these things already?

Let’s talk about the purpose of the letter!

Historical Context:

If you were a Jewish believer in this day, you would have had a far harder time believing in Jesus and following Jesus than if you were a Gentile believer. Why?

Jewish believers were faced with identity as a national Jew in which the culture and religion created contentions for them now as Christians since any Jew moving to a new religion was to deny they were a Jew

Extreme prejudice against the Gentiles; extreme hatred for Gentiles unless one was a proselytite (a convert to Judaism)

Jesus predicted the destruction of the temple and Jewish nation (Mt 24-25); turning to Christ for a Jew would mean they were accepting this teaching and as tensions and persecutions persisted, the chance of doubt and wavering would be easy to happen; how hard it would be to accept a teaching that what they’ve known their whole life was promised by their Messiah to be taken away

Not to mention the family tensions and division for non-believing Jews and those who were becoming a Christian

Believing Jews were looked at as traitors of their people and religion and disowned by their unbelieving families

The letter to the Hebrews can be summarized succinctly in the following statement: Don’t go back to the old covenant and sacrifices, press forward to Jesus, who has established the better covenant, He is the better sacrifice and the better high priest. Jesus is better in every way.

The author says in Hebrews 13:22 “And I appeal to you, brethren, bear with the word of exhortation, for I have written to you in few words.”

Exhortation is an earnest attempt to encourage and persuade. The author knows that there is nothing better than Jesus, and the temporal persecution that the Jewish believers are facing is worth it because they are following Jesus. They need the encouragement. They need to hold fast as Heb 3:6 explains. Over and over Hebrews is exhorting them:

Hold fast (3:6)

Move to perfection/maturity (6:1)

Consider our high priest (3:1)

Consider Him who endured (12:3)

Let us:

labor (4:11)

Come boldly (4:16)

Go on (6:1)

Draw near (10:22)

Lay aside every weight (12:1)

Have grace (12:28)

Go forth (13:13)

Offer sacrifice of praise (13:15)

All of these exhortations show us the author knew what these Jewish believers needed to hear.

What encouragement do you need today?

Where are you needing encouragement and exhortation?

Do you need reminded that Jesus is better? That there’s nothing greater than Him…

The perfect salvation of Christ (7:25)

The perfect life of Christ (7:26)

The perfect sacrifice of Christ (7:27)

The perfect appointment of Christ (7:28)

The Perfect Salvation of Christ

Hebrews 7:25 “Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.”

Verse 25 is the culmination of a thought that started back in the beginning of chapter 7. When reading verse 25 one must ask,

why is Jesus able to save those who come to God through Him?

Why was the law and sacrifices not sufficient for anyone?

The author asks and answers this very question:

7: 11-7:17 says:

Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood (for under it the people received the law):

What further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called according to the order of Aaron?

commentary: Do you see what he’s saying? If perfection could be accomplished through the law, then why does God’s Word speak of a order of another priesthood according to Melchizedek?

7:12 For the priesthood being changed, of necessity there is also a change of the law. For He of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe, from which no man has officiated at the altar.

For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if, in the likeness of Melchizedek, there arises another priest who has come, not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life. For He testifies:

“You are a priest forever

According to the order of Melchizedek.”

This is taken from Psalm 110:4 “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.””

7:18-19: For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.

What is this better hope?

Hebrews 7:20–24 “And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The Lord has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ ”), by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant. Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood.”

Jesus is better because He never dies. In fact He always lives to make intercession for those who come to God through Him.

Something Dr. Al Garza shared with me as I had this discussion over this passage:

Back when the priesthood was established, there were different types of sacrifices (sin offering, guilt offering, blood offering, etc) all of which foreshadow what Christ was going to do on the cross.

1X per year on Yom Kippur, which is called the day of atonement. This happened on the 10th day of the 7th month.

This is the only day the high priest could go in to the Holy Place (holy of Holies), the inner room of the tabernacle/ark of the covenant and mercy seat

On this day, the high priest entered the most holy place with incense and sprinkled the mercy seat with the blood of both purification offerings for the high priest, and the goat on which the lot had fallen for the people

Along with this, The purification offerings was destroyed by fire in a clean place outside the camp, while the second goat, commonly referred to as the Scapegoat was sent off into the wilderness. The goat would bear the sins of Israel into the wilderness.

Note that the people laid their hands on the goat, indicating a transferring of their sins over. This is something the people of Israel and anyone that became a follower like Israel would do

I say that to say that we have a responsibility to make a decision when it comes to our salvation. In the Old Testament, you had to choose to come and confess your sins you're responsible to lay your hand on the goat.

But today, there is a better covenant. A better sacrifice, and a better high priest. We are still responsible in our decision to trust in the savior who is Jesus Christ or we can choose to reject.

Our decision is not what saves. Jesus’ mercy and grace upon those who humbly come before Him in repentance and faith is what saves.

Point is: we can come to God. And those who draw near to God through Him, He is able to save to the uttermost. Jesus is a high priest that always lives. He always lives. He defeated death and the grave, He is not bound by death like all the previous high priests before Him. He always lives to make intercession for them.

2. The perfect life of Christ (7:26)

Hebrews 7:26 “For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens;”

Jesus is the high priest we need!

He is holy - which means set apart from sin. He is separated from all evil, anything immoral, anything wicked and vile

He is harmless - the word would be better translated as blameless. He is above reproach, He has complete integrity, He is nothing but good in all He does and all His ways.

He is undefiled - b/c He is blameless, He is not defiled by sin; He is completely perfect, absolutely free from all moral impurity

He is separated from sinners - which means He is totally different than us - He never sinned - never yielded to temptation even once

He has become higher than the heavens -

One commentator states this verse this way:

⇒ Jesus Christ alone was taken up into heaven in bodily form. He ascended in bodily form to remain forever in the presence of God.

⇒ Jesus Christ alone was exalted to the right hand of God; He was exalted to never leave the position of sovereignty as the Supreme and Majestic Lord of the universe.

3. The perfect sacrifice of Christ (7:27)

Hebrews 7:27 “who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”

Rightly put, the One who is perfect, blameless, without sin, is also the perfect one to be a perfect sacrifice.

In the Old Covenant, the high priest was special because they took the blood of the sacrificial lamb into the Most Holy Place and sprinkled it upon the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant. He was in the presence of God, but only 1x per year. Before he could enter, the high priest had to offer up a sacrifice for himself.

Commentator William Barclay writes:

“Now the very first item on the ritual of that day was a sacrifice for the sins of the High Priest himself. He washed his hands and his feet; he put off his gorgeous robes; he clothed himself in spotless white linen. There was brought to him a bullock which he had purchased with his own money. He laid both hands on the bullock’s head to transfer his sin to it; and thus he made confession: ‘Ah, Lord God, I have committed iniquity; I have transgressed; I have sinned, I and my house. O Lord, I beseech Thee, cover over the sins and transgressions which I have committed, transgressed and sinned before Thee, I and my house.’ The greatest of all the Levitical sacrifices began with a sacrifice for the sin of the High Priest himself” (The Letter to the Hebrews, p. 91).

Jesus is the superior High Priest b/c He has no sin to repent of. He offers the perfect sacrifice b/c there is nothing sinful in Him.

And so here we not only have a high priest who goes before us to God in perfection in His own right, but He is also the perfect sacrifice for us. He is the offerer and the offering.

There could not be a better sacrifice made than God Himself, perfect and holy in all His ways for us.

4. The perfect appointment of Christ (7:28)

Hebrews 7:28 “For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.”

Every man born since Adam has had weakness, has transgressed, has fallen short. The only One who hasn’t is Jesus.

The word of the oath, is a promise from God in the Old Testament that the priesthood in the order of Melchizedek will stand forever. This priesthood is King Jesus. He is our prophet, priest, and king. Lord over all.

But unlike other kings that stay on their throne and rule from it alone, Jesus came and humbled Himself, took on flesh, and lived a perfect life SO THAT His sacrifice on the cross would pay once for all the penalty of death and sin.

All those who draw near to God through Christ Jesus He is able to save to the uttermost b/c He lives forever and makes intercession for them.

Some people believe Jesus only intercedes for an elect group of people. I believe the text tells us that Jesus intercedes for believers. But I also see that people can come to God through Jesus.

The narrow door of salvation is not narrow b/c God only elects some to come. The narrow door is narrow b/c Jesus is the ONLY way to the Father. Jesus is the only way to be saved.

This is why preaching the Gospel is so important.

Romans 10:9–14 “that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

I’m going to have the worship team come up and join us now as we bring this to a close.

Our application today:

Do not turn away and go back to works of the law - we have a superior covenant, superior high priest, and superior sacrifice through Jesus

For those of us who are Gentiles, the exhortation is to not turn away or go back to the world which can only give you temporal happiness and fleeting moments of pleasure that do not last. Turn and press on towards Jesus, Who provides eternal life full of joy and satisfaction. Paul says in Romans that the Gospel is a stumbling block for Jews and foolishness to Gentiles - we need to not follow worldly wisdom, and the flashy ways of this world - but walk in the simple ways of obedience to Christ - even when the world’s wisdom condemns us for doing so - we look to Jesus (the Author and finisher of our faith)

Jesus’ atonement is universal in intent and extent but it is limited in application. What this means is this: 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.” Those who draw near to God through Christ He can save to the uttermost; He can save you forever. He desires for you to come.

If you have not bowed the knee to Jesus and confessed Him as Lord and repented from your sin, this is your day to come to God through Jesus. Will you come and humble yourself today?

Why does Jesus’ atonement matter?

Answer = b/c He reconciles sinners back into a right relationship with God; Jesus is a perfect salvation for any and all who come to God through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

R. Kent Hughes shares a story that references the reality of Hebrews 7:25 :

“Recently (back in 2015) a reporter called and asked me what I thought of Jeffrey Dahmer's professed repentance and public embrace of a relationship with Christ. Jeffrey Dahmer is a convicted serial cannibal killer; one of the most infamous criminals in US history. I replied that I had two thoughts:

First, I believe Mr. Dahmer may be mouthing Pius conventional Christian phrases that he picked up somewhere along the way in his miserable life. Certainly, he has repeatedly demonstrated an amazing ability to deceive others along with the coldest premeditation. It is very likely in my opinion that he is attempting to use Christianity for his own temporal ends.

But if he has truly confessed his sins and is trusting Christ alone for his salvation and he has been regenerated, he is totally forgiven for every sin, I explained that on the cross "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God“ 2 Cor 5:21. Jesus became a curse for us (Gal 3:13). Because Jesus truly took on our sins, the gospel was able to penetrate the ancient dark allies of ancient Rome and Corinth and to redeem murderers, prostitutes, transvestites and even cannibals, and Jesus still works the same today. Amazing! You and I (and Jeffrey Dahmer if he truly believes) are as pure as Christ because of the righteousness of Christ given to all who believe”

Pray