A Greater Sacrifice

Reading: Hebrews chapter 10 verses 1-18:

Ill:

• The story of Daddy Long Legs is a book by Jean Webster;

• It has now been made into a film.

• It is the story of a little girl in an orphanage.

• She knows that there is a wealthy man who provides for the orphanage.

• But no-one knows who he is, he is never seen.

• One day the little girl sees his shadow cast onto a wall.

• Because of the position of the light;

• The shadow it is elongated and has tremendously long legs.

• She calls the shadow ‘daddy Long Legs’.

• And for years she dreams of this shadow.

• And then one day she meets the owner of the shadow and falls in love with him;

• He too falls in love with her and a relationship develops.

Now here is the point:

• Once she has got him she stops thinking about the shadow altogether.

• Because the substance is far better than the shadow.

• What would you think of her;

• If she went back to the shadow on the wall and tried to kiss it?

• We would say; “She must be crazy”;

• For she now has something far superior in the man himself.

You will have noted in your studies in the book of Hebrews:

• That these Hebrew Christians were being tempted to go back into Judaism;

• But the writer reminds them (and us) that would be like swapping substance for a shadow.

• All through this letter;

• The writer has shown his readers how the Old Testament is full of ‘types’ and ‘shadows’

• The substance of which they speak is Jesus Christ.

• Whose shadow is cast all over the Old Testament.

• But remember a shadow is distorted; depending on the position of the light;

• It never quite gives you the clear picture of what you want.

• It is the same yet very different; and different yet the same.

• And remember, you cannot have a shadow without the substance being real.

The writer of this letter is about to show his readers:

• How the Old Testament sacrifices were really shadows;

• And the death of Jesus Christ is the real substance to take note of!

• In this section the writer presented three benefits

• That explain why the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is superior to the Old Covenant sacrifices.

Note:

• The heading in my Bible for this chapter is:

• ‘Christ's sacrifice once and for all’.

• Verse 10 backs up that statement.

• That only in Jesus Christ is their forgiveness of sins.

Ill:

• Sin, of course, is man's greatest problem.

• The barrier that cuts a person off from God.

• To know God and enjoy his presence;

• We need to be able to deal with the problem of sin.

Ill:

• World that says it doesn’t matter what ‘religion’ you have;

• They all are basically the same.

• Ill: Spokes of a wheel leading to the centre spindle (God).

• This book and Jesus himself said that idea is wrong!

• Only Jesus Christ has the ability and power to deal with the problem of sin,

• Therefore only Jesus Christ is the way to know God.

• Ill: Not all medicines will cure you of your particular ailment.

• Ill: Not all planes fly to the same destination.

• Ill: So not all religion will make you right with God!

• So the writer starts this section off by reminding his readers;

• Exactly WHAT or rather WHO they need – if they want to get right with God.

(1). THE NEED FOR A BETTER SACRIFICE (vs 1-4):

The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming--not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.

2 If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.

3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins,

4 because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Questions:

• Why were the Old Covenant sacrifices inferior?

• After all, didn’t God himself ordain them?

• And were they not in force for hundreds of years.

Answer:

Ill:

• If you think of the Law as a cookbook;

• A cookbook represents something far greater than itself.

• Cookbooks don’t satisfy the taste, fill the stomach, or nourish the body.

• Instead, they point to something beyond themselves – food!

• What the meal is to the cookbook; Jesus Christ is to the law!