The Seated Savior
Hebrews 10:5-25
Surely the Father would be pleased if we use the Sunday after the celebration of the incarnation to reflect on the accomplishments of our Savior.
Hebrews 10 contains the words of Jesus at the time of His incarnation…
Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: Heb. 10:5
My prayer is that you leave here today with a greater understanding and a deeper appreciation for the incarnation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I. The problem addressed by the incarnation vs.6-8
Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it.
Exodus 12:5-7
Every sacrificial lamb was a type, a shadow pointing ahead to the reality of the Lamb of God…
The problem God had, was that the animal sacrifices were never adequate to take away sin. They couldn’t bring about His just approval or satisfaction.
Christ was sent into the world to address that problem! He came to deal with the guilt of mankind.
Jesus came to do his Father’s will so that He could be, “well pleased,” not only with Jesus, but also with YOU! The Father made His Son’s soul an offering for sin; …
Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Isaiah 53:10-11
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;
Rom 3:25
Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
1John 4:10
II. The purpose for the incarnation vs.5-10
When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished (telew) and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost. John 19:30
Warren Wiersbe explains to us how profound the use of this word was: The word tetelestai is unfamiliar to us, but it was used by various people in everyday life in those days. A servant would use it when reporting , "I have completed the work assigned to me" (see John 17:4). When a priest examined an animal sacrifice and found it faultless, this word would apply. Jesus, of course, is the perfect Lamb of God, without spot or blemish. When an artist completed a picture, or a writer a manuscript, he or she might say, "It is finished" The death of Jesus on the cross "completes the picture" that God had been painting, the story that He had been writing, for centuries. Because of the cross, we understand the ceremonies and prophecies in the Old Testament. Perhaps the most meaningful meaning of tetelestia was that used by the merchants: "The debt is paid in full" When He gave Himself on the cross, Jesus fully met the righteous demands of a holy law; He paid our debt in full. None of the Old Testament sacrifices could take away sins; their blood only covered sin. But the Lamb of God shed his blood, and that blood can take away the sins of the world !
III. The past reminders of the need for the incarnation vs.11
Work, work, work = the treadmill of ineffective ritual!
IV. The perfection of the incarnation vs.12-25
A. His position vs.12
The Tabernacle and later the Temple had many furnishings… incense altar, laver, lamp, censers, the ark and various implements and tools, but NO CHAIR!
The work of the priests was never finished!
It is still so with Roman Catholicism today…
“In the Eucharist Christ gives up the very body which he gave up for us on the cross, the very blood which he poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. The Eucharist is thus a sacrifice because it re-presents (makes present) the sacrifice of the cross,.. the same Christ who offered himself once in a bloody manner on the altar of the cross is contained and offered in an unbloody manner… this sacrifice is truly propitiatory.” P.344Catachism of the Catholic church, 2000
Instructions in the Catholic Faith 1980 says, “Christ arranged His religion so that all of us could offer up the most perfect sacrifice. In the Catholic church we actually offer up Jesus Christ Himself-not goats, oxen, or lambs.
When the priest says, “This is my body, This is my blood, there is no more bread and wine upon the altar; it is now the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ. .. he genuflects, raises our Lord for your adoration… the people should take active part in the Mass… they should be nourished at the table of the Lord’s Body; they should give thanks to God by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him…”
B. His expectation vs13
C. His accomplishment vs.14- Cf.vs.1
“All heaven is interested in the cross of Christ, all hell is terribly afraid of it, while men are the only beings who more or less ignore its meaning.” - Oswald Chambers
His blood is so sufficient
He tells us in His word
On the mercy seat in heaven
It was put there by our Lord.
It stops the accuser of the brethren
As he walks before the throne
Our God just points to the blood
And Satan knows He cares for His own.
It’s sufficient for any situation
To nourish, to cleanse, and keep.
Oh, magnify your name my Lord
My soul with rapture leaps.
Can my sins though oh so many
Make this blood of no avail
Once I’ve named the name of Jesus
In my heart, I cannot fail.
His word has proclaimed it - The work begun in me
Will someday be completed - When His dear face I see.
And when I dwell in heaven
As the ages roll along
Oh, that precious blood of Jesus
Will be my victory song.
D. His benefits vs.15
1. The mind of Christ vs.16
• Let the mind of the Master be the master of your mind.
2. The standing of Christ vs.17-18
“Many years ago, a father and his daughter were walking through the grass on the Canadian prairie. In the distance, they saw a prairie fire, and they realized that it would soon engulf them. The father knew there was only one way of escape: they would quickly begin a fire right where they were and burn a large patch of grass. When the huge fire drew near, they then would stand on the section that had already burned. When the flames did approach them, the girl was terrified but her father assured her, ‘The flames can’t get to us. We are standing where the fire has already been.’” Erwin Lutzer
Knowing that our Savior exhausted the full fury of the wrath demanded by justice and then, “Sat down,” we can be assured there is a safe place where we may stand… “Accepted in the beloved!”
Your sins aren’t just covered, they are removed, as far as the east is from the west and He will remember them no more!
• The cross is the lightning rod of grace that short-circuits God’s wrath to Christ so that only the light of His love remains for believers.
3. The confidence of Christ vs.19-22
And they overcame Him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. (Rev. 12:11)
This is the last reference in the Bible to the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ; here it is the overcoming blood, enabling believers to withstand the deceptions and accusations of Satan. There are at least 43 references to the blood of Christ in the New Testament, all testifying to its great importance in the salvation and daily life of the believer.
Judas the betrayer spoke of it as “innocent blood (Matthew 27:4) and Peter called it “the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot” (I Peter l:9). It is the cleansing blood in I John l:7 and the washing blood in Rev. l:5, stressing that it removes the guilt of our sins. Paul calls it the purchasing blood in Acts 20:28 and the redeeming blood twice (Eph. l:7); Col. 1:14, thus declaring the shedding of His blood to be the very price of our salvation. Therefore, it is also the justifying blood (Rom. 5:9) and the peacemaking blood (Col. 1:20). Its efficacy does not end with our salvation, however, for it is also the sanctifying blood (Heb. 13:12). There is infinite and eternal power in the blood of Christ, for it is “the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). The first reference in the New Testament to His blood stresses this aspect. Jesus said, at the last supper: “This is my blood of the new testament (same as ‘covenant’) which is shed for many for the remission of sins” (Matthew 26:28). Let no one, therefore, even count the “blood of the covenant. . an unholy thing” (Heb. 10:29), for the blood of Christ is forever innocent, infinitely precious, perfectly justifying, always cleansing and fully sanctifying.
“Once my hands were always trying,
Trying hard to do my best;
Now my heart is sweetly trusting,
And my soul is all at rest!
Once my life was full of effort,
Now it’s full of joy and zest;
Since I took his yoke upon me,
Jesus gives to me His rest!” A.B. Simpson
4. The influence of Christ vs.23-25
Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: 2Cor. 2:14-15
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. John 12:32
The greatest thing we can do in the New Year is to lift up Jesus Christ in our daily lives!
His work on earth is done, but from His throne in heaven He is praying for us as we represent him in the world!
My prayer is that we will be very assertive in the coming year in spreading the Gospel of God!
We have every reason to rejoice daily in the incarnation of Jesus Christ1
