What the Finished Work Does

Hebrews 10:1-18 | What the Finished Work Does If you have your bibles, we are in the book of Hebrews. This morning, we will look at chapter ten, verses one through eighteen. Over the past several weeks, we've been in this section of Hebrews, where the writer is speaking of Christ as the shadow, or picture, or fulfillment of several Old Testament - or Old Covenant - types, that is activities, objects, or people that represent or point us to Christ. From chapter 8:18-through our reading today, we will see that this section will come to a close. In fact, even if we head all the way back to chapter 7, we will see that that the author is even closing that section. In this series, Greater Than, and particularly in this section, we have learned that Jesus is greater than the High Priest and the Levitical Priestly order, we've seen that Jesus is greater than the tabernacle, greater than the sacrificial system, and by Jesus ushering in the New Covenant, He declared the Old Covenant obsolete. As we enter into this closing section, I think verses 1-4 summarize what we've been studying nicely. So, we will begin there, then see what the rest of our passage says today. Hebrews 10:1-4 I'd like to offer three quick observations of this short passage: * The Law was a shadow * If the shadow was sufficient, wouldn't it have stopped? * Therefore, it acted as a temporary covering, and a reminder of our sin Hebrews 10:1-18 The writer quotes from the Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) from Psalm 40:6-8. I love what he does here, he attributes this quote to Jesus directly. I also love how the writer interprets the quotation for us in verses 8-10. I think part of the reason the writer does this is to show us: * This was always "Plan A." * This was God's will. The writer also takes us back to the New Covenant from Jeremiah 31. Here, he attributes this quote to the Holy Spirit. I think, if nothing else, this affirms the role of the Holy Spirit in the writings of the Scriptures. His summary verse is in verse 18, where he closes with another affirmation of the finality of the sacrifice of Jesus. With that in mind, here is the main idea that I want to work through for the rest of this morning: The finished work of Christ perfects us and sanctifies us. I think it's most appropriate to begin by defining these terms, then we'll talk through how God accomplishes this. * Perfect: o The term here literally means "to bring to completion" or it may refer to an accomplishment of a task. Sometimes it refers to someone who is blameless. The writer of Hebrews uses the term almost exclusively in contrast to ceremonial cleansing, implying that only Christ is perfect us with His sacrifice. o I'm sure you all remember this from Pat's sermon on Hebrews 7:11-22 just over a month ago, where he alluded to the meaning of this term was "to put someone in the position in which he can stand before God." * Sanctify o This term is used to describe one who is being made holy. o Remember, this idea of holiness is something that is set aside for God's purpose. o Another way of looking at this process of sanctification is that it is the process of becoming more like Jesus. o Sanctification manifests the activities within the Christian's life cycle, which is their growth and maturity I hope that this helps to better understand these terms, so we can move on to seeing ... HOW WE ARE MADE PERFECT AND SANCTIFIED First ... * Because we are cleansed o As we've seen before, in order to be in the presence of God, we must be holy. o Since we cannot be holy on our own, we must be accounted for as holy o This is accomplished through being fully cleaned of our sins (past, present and future). * Because Jesus sat down o Verse 12 tells us that Jesus SAT DOWN. o I think this has the same implications as God resting on the seventh day of creation. He saw that His work was "good," and He rested. WHAT DO WE DO NOW? * Be obedient * Check your motives * Remember that Jesus is coming back We've seen this morning that ... The finished work of Christ perfects us and sanctifies us. Christianity says that it doesn't matter how hard you work at your salvation, you will never - on your own - work hard enough. Christ did the work. Christ paid the price. Christ perfects and sanctifies those who believe. 2