SIMPLY JESUS
Jesus Our Sacrifice
Hebrews 9:1-28
INTRODUCTION
-When we look up into the evening sky we see…well, usually we see rain…but for the sake of the illustration we see all these little stars twinkling above us.
-And though we see them we know that there is much more out there than just what our eyes can take in.
-We know that for every star we can see with our naked eye, there are thousands more beyond them.
-There are an estimated 70 sextillion stars. 7 & 22 zeroes!
-There are an estimated hundred billion galaxies in the universe.
-Modern people have had the advantage of huge telescopes, planetariums, and even space exploration crafts which have allowed us to know more…
-But for all we have discovered there is still even more.
-We don’t have a telescope that can see, we don’t have a ship that can take us, & we don’t have the minds to comprehend
-How vast, and beautiful, and complex space really is.
-What we see is only the tip of the iceberg.
-And that’s how the Tabernacle in ancient Israel was.
-It was beautiful, it was ornate, it was elaborate and awe-inspiring for those ancient people to see.
-But when they entered that Tabernacle they had the sense that there was more…that something bigger than what they saw.
-The rich symbolism of the Tabernacle was designed to give people the hint of something even better.
-The shocking truth is that the OT tabernacle is this; it was patterned after the very throne room of God.
-The place where people worshipped God on earth, was a miniature replica of the place where God is worshipped in heaven.
-THE OLD COVENANT WAS JUST A SHADOW OF THE NEW COVENANT.
OLD TESTAMENT WORSHIP
-When you take all that we have learned so far in Hebrews…and you put it together it paints a real picture for us.
-Let me summarize the beginning of chapter 9 for the sake of time
-EARTHLY TABERNACLE (VS 1) A tent. It was a kind of a portable temple that the Israelites took with them through all their desert wanderings and even into the Promised Land.
-Everything in the tabernacle had symbolic meaning.
-LAMPSTAND, TABLE, SACRED BREAD. (VS 2) Inside there was
-MOST HOLY PLACE WITH A CURTAIN (VS 3) There was only one person who could go into that most holy place…the High Priest of Israel.
-When he entered he’d come face to face with the golden incense altar and the ARK OF THE COVENANT (VS 4)
-If you don’t know what the ark is, just watch Indiana Jones; Raiders of the Lost Ark…it will all become clear.
-On top of that ark were two carved CHERUBIM (VS 5) angels.
-All of these things are shadows of the real things in heaven.
-The Holy Place pictured God’s throne room in heaven.
-Incense represents prayers being sent right to God.
-The bread and table are like a meal; symbolizing the fellowship with have with God.
-The lid on the Ark of the Covenant was called the Mercy seat, and it symbolized God’s throne…where he sits in power!
-If you read Ezek & Rev you find that there are Cherubim angels who surround God’s throne.
-Which is why there are two cherubim angels on top of the ark.
HIGH PRIEST ENTERED THE MOST HOLY PLACE TO DEAL W/SINS. (VS 6-7)
-He would only go in once a year…behind the curtain.
-He would offer the sacrifice of atonement which covered all the sins of the people.
-Now if those OT high priests are also shadows of the real thing in heaven…who did the priests symbolically represent? Jesus!
-All of the OT is filled with these shadows, these illustrations, these patterns of the things that would come later through Jesus.
-But there is one issue about OT worship that may shock you:
8 By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the TABERNACLE AND THE SYSTEM IT REPRESENTED WERE STILL IN USE.
-THE HOLIEST PLACE WAS NOT OPEN TO EVERYONE (VS 8)
-Regular people were not allowed to enter into God’s presence.
-Only one person was allowed to approach God in the place that symbolized his throne room. The High Priest.
-There were people in Israel who loved God, worshipped God… and tried to obey God…but they not could approach God where he dwelled. Their access was denied.
-A new movie released about the baseball player Jackie Robinson.
-The movie chronicles his struggles as an African American man trying to break into Major League Baseball.
-Jackie Robinson loved baseball, he was great at baseball player, but there was a racist attitude in our country and in sports.
-So went he entered the big leagues he was threatened, mocked, ridiculed, and discriminated against.
-There were coaches, players, and even media members who opposed him playing baseball in the Big League.
-Imagine having to be afraid to play….a game.
-Imagine everyone telling you that you don’t belong.
-It’s one thing to be left out. We all know that feeling.
-But to be labeled as unworthy is hard to take.
-And that’s exactly what the holy of holies communicated to the people of Israel. You are not worthy to enter.
-But it wasn’t the darkness of their skin that kept them out.
-It was the darkness of their sin.
-They were not allowed…under any circumstance to enter the Most Holy place…because they were not holy.
-Only the High Priest could enter.
-And though their sins were forgiven through the ministry of the High Priest…look at what they didn’t have.
9 This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them.
-This verse gives us an insider’s view of the OT people’s worship experience.
-They were forgiven; they were covered by their sacrifices and offerings and ultimately by their faith in God.
-But OT SACRIFICES DIDN’T CLEANSE THE PEOPLE’S CONSCIENCES. (VS 9)
-This is a major issue for all people!
-People who don’t know Christ will wander into church looking for something or someone to ease their guilty conscience.
-Many people who come into Celebrate Recovery sign up thinking that they just have a certain problem to deal with.
-And often times they discover that the real problem is that they’ve been packing around a lot of shame and remorse.
-They have guilty consciences and don’t know what to do with it.
-That guilty conscience can powerfully affect us.
-There was nothing about the Law that eased a person’s conscience!
10 For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.
-THE OT WORSHIP ANTICIPATED SOMETHING BETTER. (VS 10)
-It was religion; very ceremonial, very rule oriented.
-And people suffered under it. They longed for something better.
-That’s the point; OT worship anticipated the ministry of Jesus.
NEW TESTAMENT WORSHIP
11 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. 12 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.
-In the OT there were priests, the tabernacle & sacrifices.
-But they were just shadows of the real thing.
-Jesus is the ultimate priest, he ministers from the true place of worship in heaven, and Jesus sacrificed…himself.
-And while the work of the High Priests was effective, it didn’t last! They kept having to offer more sacrifices. But…
-WE HAVE ETERNAL REDEMPTION THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
13 Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. 14 Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God.
-They became ceremonially clean through the sacrifices of animals
-WE HAVE CLEAN CONSCIENCES THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
-The sacrifice of Jesus makes us clean on the inside.
-Don’t underestimate how important that is.
-What does it do for people to know that God loves them?
-What does it do for people to know they are truly forgiven?
-What power is there in knowing that all of your past, present, and future sins were paid for by the Savior?
-What does that do for us? It eases our conscience.
-And gives us a way to deal with our consciences in the midst of our struggles.
-We can know for sure, that no matter how bad our attitude, how wretched our sin, how disgusted we are with our failures…that we are forgiven, we are loved, we are accepted by God.
For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. 15 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.
-In the OT the people’s inheritance was the Promised Land.
-But it was captured/lost/captured/lost because they kept breaking the covenant they made with God.
-BUT WE HAVE AN ETERNAL INHERITANCE THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
-Jesus has an inheritance for us which lasts forever.
-No one can take it away from us. No one can taint it, cheapen it, or diminish it in anyway.
-And…it’s not just a chunk of fertile farmland.
-Our inheritance is in the place where God dwells.
-Our high priest has acquired all-access-backstage passes for us.
-Anyone can enter that holy place because of Jesus.
-The book of Hebrews says we can enter his presence boldly.
-And our inheritance, held for us in heaven, will last forever.
-Now this next part is kind of technical but it’s important.
-Remember that all this OT stuff was a shadow of the real thing.
16 Now when someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead. 17 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.
-You don’t receive an inheritance unless someone dies.
18 That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal. 19 For after Moses had read each of God’s commandments to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, and sprinkled both the book of God’s law and all the people, using hyssop branches and scarlet wool. 20 Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.” 21 And in the same way, he sprinkled blood on the Tabernacle and on everything used for worship. 22 In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood.
-Again, that might sound crazy to us.
-Israel’s covenant was signed in blood.
-The blood of the sacrifices was mixed with water, dipped in hyssop branches and cast out onto the crowd.
-Now this is where things get kind of cool. Symbolism revealed
-When Jesus was on the cross they offered him a drink from a sponge that was extended to him on a hyssop branch.
-When the Roman soldiers pierced the side of Jesus with a spear what flowed out? Blood mixed with water.
-Are you getting this symbolism. Everything in the OT was just a shadow pointing to what was coming through Jesus.
-And the end of vs 22 says something really important…gritty.
For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
-Because we fall short of God’s standards…because we are all sinners…we all deserve death. Rom 6:23 Wages of sin is death.
-The sentence for convicted sinners is death.
-What can satisfy the death penalty? Only death!
-That’s the bad news that you have to know, before you can accept the message of Good News.
23 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. 24 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. 25 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. 26 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.
-WE HAVE ETERNAL FORGIVENESS THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
-And this is where things get really practical for us.
-Here’s what it means: We are forgiven.
-If Jesus is your Lord & Savior you are forgiven.
-One final sacrifice, for all time, for all who would believe.
-This is the message that people are dying to hear.
-There is forgiveness of sins.
-There is a remedy for those guilty consciences.
-There is a Savior for sinners, and he’s able to forgive anything.
-And the best time to receive what Jesus offers is always…now.
27 And just as each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment, 28 so also Christ died 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.
WE HAVE OUR SINS REMOVED THROUGH CHRIST’S SACRIFICE.
-In the OT men and women could not approach God without a priest and a sacrifice.
-But the message in this NT era is very different.
-When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain that kept people out suddenly tore in half.
-And anyone who was paying attention got the message.
-Come on in. You are welcome. You may enter. You can approach your God with confidence.
-There is forgiveness in Jesus. There is salvation in Jesus.
-There is life in Jesus. And there is an eternal inheritance for you.
