The Shadow and the Real Pt 2 Hebrews 9:15-28

Introduction

Text Read

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.

Text Explained

15 Therefore He/Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called/everyone who has believed and will believe may receive the promised eternal inheritance, The purpose of this New Covenant is salvation for the lost. since a death has occurred that redeems them/buys them back from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. The apostle Paul would put it this way Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” The Mosaic Covenant shows that all have sinned and have earned the wages of sin which is death. Eternal separation from God in Hell. Yet Christ as the mediator of the New Covenant has died the death that you and I deserve, He stood in our place so that the debt was paid, buying us back from the penalty of sin, and thus Christians are able to receive the promised eternal inheritance. To help us understand this, the author uses this idea of a will.

16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. A will is a future promise until the owner of the will dies. For instance if someone writes a will and says that when they die, they will give their friend a 100k. The friend is not able to access or receive that money until the owner of the will dies. 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. God made a promise/a will as it were, but that promise could not come to effect until Christ died. 18 Therefore/based on this truth not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood/death. In other words, this truth is so foundational that even the Mosaic Covenant/the shadow clearly demonstrated it. So true is the fact that the shedding of blood/death is required that the author uses the illustration of the Mosaic Covenant that the Hebrew readers would have known very well. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, When Moses first taught the entirety of the Law, 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. (Exodus 24:8) Thus the writer of Hebrews makes the obvious statement to his Jewish readers. 22 Indeed, under the law/the Old Covenant almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. In the same way a will requires a death before it can be enacted, both the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, blood must be shed, death must occur.

23 Thus it was necessary for the copies/the shadow of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites blood had to be spilled through the sacrificial system in order for people to be purified, but the heavenly things themselves blood was also spilled, but with better sacrifices than these. What is this better sacrifice? 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things He did not enter into the earthly Tabernacle, but rather He entered into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Thus Jesus is the Mediator between God & man. And He does not do this repeatedly 25 Nor was it to offer Himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, The earthly high priests had to offer sacrifices every year. Year after year. That is because they were the shadow/the copy of the Heavenly Reality. No Jesus’s sacrifice was the true sacrifice/the Better Sacrifice/the Perfect Sacrifice and not an earthly shadow. If Christ had been like those Shadows, 26 for then He would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. Yet His sacrifice was enough 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. He died to pay the debt of sin I owed. 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.

Text Applied

1st-Sin Requires the Judgement of Death. Ever since Adam rebelled/sinned against God in the Garden of Eden, death has passed to all people. Romans 5:12 “Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—” the just penalty of our sin is death. We have sinned against a Holy and Just God and Justice demands that the wages of sin be paid. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death...” Now many of us have heard this many times. Yet let us ponder this truth for a moment. Under the Old Covenant, the bull and the goat were killed to demonstrate that we cannot be purified without blood, we cannot be made right with God without death. Illustration: Deer Hunting. Russ wounded a deer and we had to go out after it in the dark. All our rifles were in the cabin and so we are trapsing through the swamp in the dark. As we are going through, my brother hears something moving in a bush. We shine our lights and sure enough. The deer is there and it is wounded. Its’ back had been broken and its’ hind legs were paralyzed. Those who have hunted for a while know that sometimes a bad shot happens. This was a bad shot. All of our firearms are in the cabin because it is after dark and we found the deer heavily injured but not dying. The only thing we had were our hunting knives. So, rather than let the deer suffer all night, one of our group was able to get on its’ back and slit its throat. As soon as the task was accomplished, we all stood quietly waiting for the deer to bleed out. In the darkness, you could hear it breath. It didn’t take long for it to bleed out, but in the dark it seemed to me to take forever. Under the old Covenant, the throats of the bull and the goat were slit, the blood drained from the animals into a bowl. Life ended in place of the person. In the New Covenant, Jesus is beaten, He is marred, His beard is ripped out, the Thorns are placed on His brow, and as Isaiah 52:14 says “...His appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance, and His form beyond that of the children of mankind—” Jesus bled and died to pay the debt of your sin and mine. Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death...” So why do we treat sin so lightly? Scripture gives us list after list of sins. Galatians 5:19–21 “Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.” Proverbs 6:16–19 “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to Him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” Romans 1:29–32 “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Everyone of these separates us from God and requires the Judgment of death. So why do you treat sin so lightly?

2nd- Christ has dealt with the Judgment of Sin. Yet if we ponder the weight of our sin for too long it will crush us. For when we look at the sins listed, a little bit of honesty will show that we have fallen short. We deserved the judgment of death. Herein lies the Good News of the Gospel. Christ died in your place. 1 Peter 3:18 “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit,” Christ died for my sins. The judgment was mine, but He stepped in and once for all paid the debt I could not pay. He willingly went to the cross and died. The Just One, Jesus, for the Unjust, me. The debt was paid, once for all.

3rd- He will Save those who are waiting for Him. Hebrews 9:27–28 “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 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.” You see, He paid the debt and thus He is able to offer salvation to all who would believe. John 1:12 “But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God,” Salvation is not for everyone. Salvation is offered to everyone, but it is only for those who have believed. Every person will die one day, yet for those who have believed, we need not fear judgment because Christ has paid that debt. For those who are in Christ, when we see Jesus, it will not be to deal with our sin, for that task is Finished. When we see Him it will be final salvation. For those who have not believed, for you it will be a day of Judgement. If that is you, dear one, listen to the words of the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 55:6 ““Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near;”

Concluding thought: The weight of the sin we commit is death. Do not treat sin lightly. Hallelujah Christ has paid my debt of sin and one future day I will see my Savior face to face.