Finally Seated Hebrews 10:1-18

-Christ achieves what the Law could not: the perfection of our conscience before God

There are some things that aren’t easily fixed: Sin is one of them!

In an almost unbelievable turn of events, a man already facing legal proceedings for fare evasion was caught trying to avoid paying for a train ticket yet again—this time while on his way to court for the original offense. The individual, who owes more than £30,000 in unpaid fines (about $37,500 in USD), attempted to board a train without a valid ticket, only to be stopped by vigilant railway staff during a routine ticket inspection.

I. The Inability of the Law vv. 1-4

In our passage tonight, the author continues his contrast between Law and Gospel, pointing to the inability of the Law to address our most fundamental need

He begins with a statement: the Law is the shadow of the good things to come, but it is not the substance

What is it that is lacking in the Law?

It is unable to perfect the worshipper

The sacrifices have to be offered on an ongoing basis, because they do not enact any kind of fundamental change for the offerer

We do not become righteous, nor is there any kind of character change that comes as a result of the offering

It is unable to cleanse the conscience:

The offering of a blood sacrifice does not remove sin

In fact, it does just the opposite; it is a reminder of sin

This is another reason why it has to be repeated, for the sake of instruction

It has to be ongoing and repetitive because nothing really changes!

The Law is good, but it is only good for the purpose that it was given; you cannot trust it to make you whole

Sometimes in life, we try to use the right tool for the wrong purpose and it’s a catastrophe. There are some creative folks that can use anything as a hammer. They can fix anything with a little bit of duct tape and a ball peen hammer. However, the wrong tool for the wrong job won’t get it done. We have to understand the purpose of the Law and the purpose of Grace!

II. The Capability of Christ vv. 5-10

Now, we come to the great contrast. Christ has entered the world

In the Law, the problem of sin is revealed

In Christ, the solution to sin is enacted

God enters the scene and He is going to make things right

Interestingly, the author goes to the psalms with a quote that reveals something of the character of God:

Jesus comes as a sacrifice and an offering, but God’s delight is in His obedience rather than His sacrifice

The sacrificial death of Christ is a necessity, but it is only as powerful as His obedience

He is the only one who could make this offering

This is because He has fulfilled righteousness through His life, doing the will of God

This ought to draw our attention back to other words from Jesus:

He did not come to abolish the Law and the Prophets

He came to fulfill them

God’s total purpose is fulfilled in Christ, so that the first covenant no longer needs to be observed

Then, we see something terribly powerful about the new covenant in Christ: it does what the Law could not do

It sanctifies us; it makes us holy

This carries a tremendous weight:

In Christ, we are justified before the Father

In Christ, we are being sanctified and growing in His character

In Christ, we will be glorified and will be revealed just as He is

This could only happen in Christ!

On New Year’s Day 2020, New South Wales and Victoria jumped north by 5.9 feet. No, you did not miss an earthquake. The change is being made to fix a 5.9 foot inaccuracy that has crept into the GPS coordinates, caused by Australia slowly drifting north. Australian GPS was last updated in 1994, and the entire country has moved nearly six feet since then.

Australia sits atop one of the fastest-moving tectonic plates in the world. It moves about 2.5 inches north-east every year. “That’s about the speed your hair or fingernails grow,” says NSW Surveyor General Narelle Underwood.

In the days of paper maps that tectonic drift did not pose a real problem. That meant Australia could get away with the slight inaccuracy that has crept in since the coordinates were last set in 1994. But paper maps have gone the way of the dinosaurs; we use GPS now. And GPS notices. That's because GPS satellites precisely locate you on the surface of the Earth. Effectively the coordinate you have from your GPS has already moved 5.9 feet.

Add in the inaccuracy of GPS itself – it is accurate to about 16 feet – and that explains why you can sometimes open Google Maps and discover yourself trapped inside a building or drowning in a lake.

The project is handy for the average person, but its real value is in the future. Driverless cars, for example, need precise GPS data to know which lane they are in, and driverless tractors need to be able to get right up to the fence line without plowing it down.

We need a better confidence than this: Christ is going to make us like Himself!

1 John 3:1–2

[1] See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. [2] Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. (ESV)

III. The Sufficiency of Christ vv. 11-18

Christ fulfills what the Law foreshadows

The Old Testament priests worked repeatedly at their task

They are always making sacrifices

They are having to stand up to do this work; they stand daily, because it is never quite done

They are working, but their task never really takes away our sins

Now, Christ has offered Himself

He is a single sacrifice that is good for all time

He is seated at the right hand of God

He does not have to stand

His work is completed

Our sanctification is a certainty and our salvation is secured in Christ

This truth changes everything:

We have certainty in our salvation:

There is no more earning or deserving or good enough

We do not have to try to add to the work of Christ, we simply remain in Him

We have the testimony of the Holy Spirit

He places the new law of love and life and liberty in our hearts and minds

Obedience is no longer about adherence to a written code, but it is measured by staying in step with the Spirit

We have complete forgiveness

In Christ, our sins are not simply forgiven; they are also forgotten

There is a freedom and hope that we have that can only be found in Jesus; we must not miss this!

We must live dependent on Him!

Two Christian university professors had an unusual assignment for students over a long break. Stanley Hauerwas and William H. Willimon told their students while they were on school break to take a long, good look at their belly button. Why? They explain:

Nothing is quite as revealing as our belly button ... by noting that we are creatures, creations of mothers and fathers, the Bible tells us that we have life as a gift. We are begotten, not manufactured. Someone even changed our diapers; our first hint of what grace must be like. No wonder some of us resent our parents, for they are a visible, ever-present reminder that we were created, that the significance of our lives is not exclusively self-derived.

In contrast, it is all too easy in today's Western culture for us to imagine that we are self-made people. But your belly button does not merely remind you of Mom and Dad, but of your Creator and Redeemer, from whom you have life, meaning, and purpose.