Hebrews 9:15-28

Hebrews 9:11–14 (NLT)

So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

The Anointed King of Heaven and Earth is Our High Priest

He Entered Heaven with His Own Blood as an Offering…

Securing Our Redemption Forever

His Blood Can Do So Much More Than Animal Blood

It Can Purify Our Consciences From Our Sins…

Allowing Us to Worship God with a Clean Conscience

No More Awareness or Guilt of Sin

We are Completely Clean Because of His Perfect Sacrifice

Hebrews 9:15–17 (NLT)

That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant.

Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. The will goes into effect only after the person’s death. While the person who made it is still alive, the will cannot be put into effect.

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Because of Jesus’ Sacrificial Death, He Became the Mediator of a New Covenant

This New Covenant Spoken of By Jeremiah…

in Which God Will Be Merciful to the Iniquities of His People…

And Will Remember Their Sins No More

What Does it Mean for Jesus to Be the Mediator of this New Covenant?

The Goal of the Gospel of Jesus is to Reconcile Humanity and God

For Us to Live in Perfect Harmony with Him Like Before the Fall

Jesus Represents Both Parties and Works Toward Our Reconciliation

He Represents Us By Being Human and He Represents God By Being God

He is the Perfect Representative of Both Parties at the Same Time

The Thing that Stands Between Us and Perfect Harmony with God is Sin

Jesus is the Mediator Whose Job it is to Get Rid of What Stands Between Us and God

And this New Covenant He is Mediating was Prophesied to Bring About the Reality of Sin Being Forever Forgotten

Jesus, Through His Sacrificial Death is Fulfilling that Promise

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

What Does it Mean that Jesus’ Death…

Was for the Redemption of the Transgressions that Were Under the First Covenant?

Jesus’ Sacrificial Death Wasn’t Only for the Purpose of Redeeming Those of the Present and Future

His Sacrificial Death Redeemed Those Who Transgressed/Sinned Under the Old Covenant Too

Hebrews 9:15 (NASB95)

For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Jesus’ Sacrificial Death Made it Possible for Those Who are Called (Past, Present, and Future)…

To Receive the Promise of the Eternal Inheritance

Who are the Called?

Under the New Covenant:

Those Who Have Given Their Allegiance to Jesus After Receiving the Message of the Gospel

Under the Old Covenant:

Those Who Had Given Their Allegiance to God By Obeying the Law of Moses

What is the Eternal Inheritance?

Salvation and Life in the Holy Presence of God in the Age to Come

Hebrews 9:16–17 (NASB95)

For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives.

There is a Lot of Theological Debate on this Passage

The Debate Primarily Depends On How One Interprets diathēkē

diathēkē is the Word for “Covenant” in the NASB

Some Interpret it to Mean “A Last Will and Testament”

Some Interpret it to Mean “Covenant”

Whichever Interpretation You Choose to Hold, Both Seem to Be True

I’ll Try to Quickly and Simply Explain Both Interpretations

The “Will/Testament” Interpretation Goes Like This:

A Will Doesn’t Go into Effect Until the Person Who Made the Will Dies

God’s New Covenant that He was Establishing Through Jesus…

Couldn’t Go into Effect Until Jesus Died

Therefore Jesus’ Death was Necessary to Establish the Better New Covenant…

Where Total Forgiveness of Sins and Reconciliation to God can Be Found

The “Covenant” Interpretation Goes Something Like This:

A Covenant is Between 2 Parties and Can Be Established Without the Death of Either Party

But, According to the Scriptures, Covenants Did Require Death

To Make a Covenant in the OT was Literally “Cut a Covenant”

We See Why in Genesis 15

God Wanted to Cut a Covenant with Abraham

So He Told Abraham to Cut Several Different Animals in Half

Then God Appeared to Him in Between the Pieces and Made His Covenant with Him

In Establishing the Covenant with Israel, Moses Sprinkled the Blood of a Sacrifice…

On Several Different Things, Including the People

In Fact, this is Exactly What the Author of Hebrews Immediately Mentions

Hebrews 9:18–21 (NASB95)

Therefore even the first covenant was not inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” And in the same way he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry with the blood.

With the “Covenant” Interpretation…

It Isn’t an Animal that is Sacrificed to Establish the Covenant Between God and Humanity…

It is Jesus

The Person Who is Both God and Human Sacrifices Himself to Establish the Covenant Between God and Humanity

So Whether You Take the “Will/Testament” or “Covenant” Interpretation of Verses 16-17…

Both are True

In Order for the New Covenant to Be Established and Reconciliation to Be Available…

Jesus had to Die

And So We See in Verses 18-21 that a Covenant Can Only Be Established with Blood

Blood May Simply Represent Death…

But it Seems Like it May More Specifically Refer to a Violent Sacrificial Death

A Death in Which a Lot of Blood Would Be Involved

When 2 Parties Cut a Covenant Together…

They are Swearing to Keep Their End of the Deal

And if They Fail to Do So, Then May Violent Bloodshed Come Upon the Guilty Party

After Moses Read the Book of the Covenant to the People of Israel…

They Swore to Do Everything that was Written in it

Then the Blood was Sprinkled On Them

This Blood Represented the Covenant They Had Just Entered into with God

And if They Were to Break that Covenant, Then Nothing But a Violent End Awaits Them

The Same is True for Us

Every Sunday We are Reminded of the Blood of the Covenant that We Have Entered into with God

We Eat His Body and Drink His Blood

If We Break that Covenant with Him, Nothing But a Violent End Awaits Us

Hebrews 9:22 (NASB95)

And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

The Hebrew Author Lays Down 2 Things for Us

Almost All Things are Purified with Blood

And There is No Forgiveness Without the Shedding of Blood

Do You Ever Wonder Why that is?

Why Must There Be Bloodshed for Sins to Be Forgiven?

Leviticus 17:11 (NASB95)

‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.’

From the Very Beginning We See the Principle that Paul Tells Us in Romans 6:23:

“The Wages/Pay/Earnings of Sin is Death”

The Only Way to Pay for Our Sin is Death

We Can Only Pay with Our Lives

And the Life of the Flesh is in the Blood

But God has Allowed Us to Have Sacrifices for Our Sins

Instead of Us Dying, We Can Pass the Punishment for Our Sin On to an Animal…

And Let Them Take the Death that We Deserve

But Animal Blood was Never Good Enough to Fully Cleanse Us of Our Guilt

So God Then Gave Jesus to Die the Death We Deserve

And His Blood Sacrifice is Enough to Pay for Our Sins for All Time

Hebrews 9:23–28 (NLT)

That is why the Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.

For Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands, which was only a copy of the true one in heaven. He entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth who enters the Most Holy Place year after year with the blood of an animal. If that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.

And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, so also Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people. He will come again, not to deal with our sins, but to bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.

Hebrews 9:23 (NASB95)

Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

The Earthly Tabernacle, the Copy of the Heavenly Dwelling Place of God…

Was Cleansed with Animal Blood

But the True Tabernacle Needed to Be Cleansed with a Better Sacrifice

But that Makes Us Ask the Questions:

Before Jesus’ Sacrifice, Did Heaven Need to Be Cleansed?

There are a Lot of Different Interpretations as to What this Means

Here’s a Couple Likely Ones:

Heaven Wasn’t Defiled and Therefore it Needed Cleansing

But Jesus’ Blood was Used as a Preparatory Cleansing…

So that We Sinful and Defiled People May Approach His Throne of Grace Without Defiling it

Or the Heavenly Things that Jesus’ Blood Cleansed is Referring to Us as God’s New Tabernacle/Temple

We Were Defiled and Therefore God Couldn’t Live in Us

But Jesus’ Blood Cleansed Us and Made Us Holy so God Could Take Up Residence in Us

Regardless of the Specifics…

Jesus’ Blood Purifies and Cleanses so that We Can Be Reconciled to God

Hebrews 9:24 (NASB95)

For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

Jesus Entered the True Most Holy Place/Heaven, in the Presence of God…

For Us!

That’s the Point of All this High Priesthood Talk

Jesus’ Priesthood is All for Us

Hebrews 9:25–26 (NASB95)

nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the holy place year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now once at the consummation of the ages He has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Jesus Only Had to Enter Heaven Once

He Only Had to Offer Himself as a Sacrifice Once

And Through His Life, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension…

Jesus Has Brought About the Consummation/Completion/End of the Ages

We are Living in the Time that All History has Been Pointing to

The Last Days Before All Things are Restored

In this Age (Messianic/Kingdom Age) He has Removed Sin Through His Sacrifice

Hebrews 9:27–28 (NASB95)

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him.

Jesus Appeared Once to Remove Sin Through His Sacrifice

We Will All Die Once

Jesus Offered Himself Once to Take Away Our Sins

And He Will Appear a 2nd Time to Save Those Who Were Eagerly Waiting for His Return

As Sure as We Will All Die Once…

Jesus’ Sacrificial Offering Takes Away Our Sin

As Sure as We Will All Die Once…

Jesus Will Return to Rescue Those Who’ve Placed Their Faith in Him

This Paints a Picture for Us of the Day of Atonement Under the Old System

Our High Priest has Entered the Most Holy Place to Make Atonement for Our Sins

And Now We are Waiting for His Return From Behind the Veil to Know Assuredly that We are Atoned For

Invitation

James 1:21 (NASB95)

Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

“Therefore” = What’s About to Be Said is Going to Add to What was Already Said

Listen More

Speak Less

And Don’t Have a Short Temper

Control Your Anger; Don’t Let Your Anger Control You

Because That Will Never Produce the Righteousness of God

Keeping that in Mind, Put Aside All Filthiness

“Put Aside” = To Take Off and Put Away

Like Taking Off Dirty Clothes and Putting Them Away, Never to Wear Them Again

“All Filthiness” = Every Moral Uncleanness

Take Off and Put Away for Good Every Moral Uncleanness

“And All that Remains of Wickedness” = “And the Abundance of Evil”

“Take Off and Put Away Every Moral Uncleanness and Abundance of Evil”

In Simple Terms:

Get Rid of Your Sinful Ways!

“In Humility” = “In Gentleness”

“Receive the Word Implanted”

“Accept the Implanted Message of the Gospel”

The Gospel is Like a Seed that is Deeply Implanted in the Soil of the Listeners Heart

Only a Humble/Gentle Heart Will Accept the Gospel

“Which is Able to Save Your Souls”

The Gospel has the Ability to Save Your Life

Here’s What We Learn From James 1:21

Keeping in Mind that Anger Will Never Lead to the Righteousness of God…

Take Off and Throw Away All Your Immoral Ways and Abundance of Wickedness

Instead, With a Humble Heart, Accept the Gospel of Jesus Christ that has Been Implanted in Your Heart

Because if You Accept it, it Will Rescue You and Give You Life in the Age to Come

Are You Allowing Anger, Immorality, and Wickedness to Control and Cover You?

Take All of That Off and Throw it in the Trash…

And Humble Yourself Instead

Humility Doesn’t Lead to Anger, Filthiness, or Wickedness

Humility Leads to Accepting Jesus as King of Heaven and Earth and Submitting to Him

When You Do That, You Will Be Given Life in the Age to Come