The Superiority Of The Cross
Text: Heb. 9:11-28
Introduction
1. "In the Cross is salvation; in the Cross is life; in the Cross is protection against our enemies; in the Cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness; in the Cross is strength of mind; in the Cross is joy of spirit; in the Cross is excellence of virtue; in the Cross is perfection of holiness. There is no salvation of soul, nor hope of eternal life, save in the Cross." ? Thomas à Kempis, The Inner Life
2. The idea of the cross is that someone had to pay the price for our sins. However, this presents us with a problem, because it requires someone paying the ultimate price, the price of life. Our redemption had to be paid with blood, and that blood had to come from someone who was perfect, sinless.
3. The only person who could pay that price was Jesus.
4. The cross of Jesus is...
A. A Superior Covenant
B. A Superior Sacrifice
C. A Superior Effect
5. Let's stand together as we read Heb. 9:11-28.
Proposition: Only those who accept the cross of Christ as the payment for their sins will receive eternal salvation.
Transition: Only the cross of Christ pays for our salvation because it inaugurates...
I. A Superior Covenant (11-15).
A. New Covenant
1. Anybody in here ever signed a contract? Whether you realize or not most of you have. If you have ever bought a house or signed a lease then you have signed a contract.
A. A contract , like a mortgage, says that you are agreeing to buy a house from the seller for whatever the agreed upon price may be.
B. Then you sign a contract with the bank who agrees to loan you X amount of dollars and you agree to pay it back and Y amount of dollars per month for Z amount of years
C. Basically, the covenant that is between God and ourselves is a contract.
D. God offers us salvation, paid for by Jesus on the cross with his own blood.
E. Our part of the contract is simply to accept God's offer.
2. This is what the author of Hebrews is telling us here in chapter 9. It begins in vv. 11-12, "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."
A. Although the people worshiped under the old covenant for nearly fifteen hundred years, God provided a new way that arrived because Christ has now become the High Priest.
B. Christ fulfilled perfectly and completely all that had been illustrated in the old covenant.
C. Christ came as a priest of the new covenant, called the good things that have come.
D. As a high priest, Christ also served in the Tabernacle, but his ministry was in that great, perfect sanctuary in heaven, not made by human hands and not part of this created world.
E. In typical first-century thought, the heavens were pure, perfect and changeless; the heavenly tabernacle, then, would be the perfect prototype for the earthly and the only one that was ultimately needed (Keener, The IVP Bible Background Commentary – New Testament, Under: "Hebrews 9:11-22 The Final Blood Offering").
F. Christ’s ministry on our behalf was in God’s presence, a place where the blood of goats and bulls would have no effect. This point again reveals Christ’s superiority.
G. This imagery comes from the Day of Atonement rituals described earlier.
H. The high priest on the annual Day of Atonement brought the blood of a bull for himself and that of a goat for the people (Keener).
I. Just as a priest would enter the earthly Most Holy Place, Christ took blood into that Most Holy Place in heaven.
J. But he took not the blood of goats and calves, but his own blood.
K. With that blood, he secured our salvation forever. The real work was done on the cross. (Barton, Life Application New Testament Commentary, 1037).
3. The writer then talks about the superiority of Christ's sacrifice. He says in v. 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."
A. The sacrifices of animals under the old covenant were not useless. After all, they were appointed by God.
B. The sacrifices commanded to be performed annually on the Day of Atonement and the ceremonies in which the ashes of a sacrificed heifer were mixed with water and sprinkled by the priest upon those ceremonially unclean provided sanctification, that is, ritual cleansing for the external, physical body.
C. The point is not that these sacrifices had no power whatsoever, but that their power was restricted and small in contrast to the power displayed in the single sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ.
D. The argument then is from the smaller to the greater, from the weaker to the more powerful.
E. If these earthly sacrifices had earthly consequences, then the sacrifice of the Son offered in heaven has heavenly, eternal consequences (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 107).
4. The author then says, "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."
A. By a rhetorical question then, the inference is drawn concerning the superiority of the Son's sacrifice.
B. To the degree that His blood is superior, to that same degree His sacrifice is more powerful in its effects.
C. Christ, the Messiah, offered himself to God the Father as a perfect, unblemished sacrifice, for He was sinless.
D. His sacrifice was not passive. The animals in the Old Testament were in every sense victims, but Jesus voluntarily laid down His life for the sheep (John 10:17,18), indicating the greatness of His love. He was a victor!
E. John 10:17-18 (NLT)
“The Father loves me because I sacrifice my life so I may take it back again. 18 No one can take my life from me. I sacrifice it voluntarily. For I have the authority to lay it down when I want to and also to take it up again. For this is what my Father has commanded.”
F. This tremendous sacrifice was accomplished through the agency of the "eternal Spirit."
G. Interpreters have disputed the exact meaning of this phrase. Many take it as a reference to some ministry of the Holy Spirit to Jesus during His crucifixion.
H. Others see it as a reference to Jesus' eternal nature in His sonship as Second Person of the Trinity.
I. The Greek phrase has no article with it and literally means "through eternal spirit."
J. Since the argument is for the superior effects of Christ's sacrifice on the basis of His personal superiorities, it seems best to understand this as a reference to the deep-rooted life inherent in Jesus (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 107-109).
5. Then the author talks about Jesus as the mediator of this new covenant. In v. 15 he says, "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."
A. Covenant: the verbal content of an agreement between two persons specifying corresponding benefits and responsibilities (Louw and Nida, Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: Based on Symantic Domains, Under: "34.44).
B. Because Jesus Christ is the Son of God, His blood is superior to the blood of animals and makes the new covenant superior to the old.
C. A superior sacrifice was needed to establish a superior covenant. His death made Him the Mediator of the new covenant.
D. Generally, the term is taken in the sense of go-between, but in this context it may be interpreted as referring to Jesus as a surety or guarantee of the new covenant.
E. Because His blood is superior to that of animals, He was able to become the surety for God's new and superior covenant.
F. The blood of animals could not bring salvation; the shedding of the Son's blood did.
G. It made possible "the redemption of the transgressions" of those who sinned under the Mosaic law.
H. Because of Christ's sacrifice it was possible for them to receive the eternal inheritance which they had been promised in the covenant God made with their forefather Abraham (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 109).
B. Confirmed In My Blood
1. "It is no coincidence that Christian fundamentalist movements worldwide seek a return to Old Testament laws - because they fundamentally reject Christ as the New Covenant - which replaced all that. They are not Christians - they are Leviticans." ? Christina Engela, For Love of Leelah
2. We entered into a new covenant with God when Jesus died on the cross...a covenant confirmed with Jesus' blood.
A. 1 Corinthians 11:25 (NLT)
In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this to remember me as often as you drink it.”
B. Under the law of Moses we had to offer a blood sacrifice of a bull or a goat.
C. But the new covenant is confirmed with the precious blood of Jesus.
D. It does what the blood of bulls and goats couldn't do.
E. It washes away our sins completely.
F. It heals all our diseases.
G. It gives us the power to overcome sin.
H. It gives us the power to overcome temptation.
I. It gives us the power to overcome death.
J. It gives us the power to overcome the grave.
K. It gives us power over the devil.
L. Because there is power in the blood of Jesus.
M. What can wash away my sins? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Transition: The cross of Christ is also...
II. A Superior Sacrifice (16-23).
A. Without The Shedding Of Blood
1. Now the writer shows the necessity of the cross.
2. He begins by talking about when some leaves a will. Look at vv. 16-17, "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."
A. An inheritance is what is passed on to the heirs after the one who promises it to them in his will dies.
B. The heirs do not receive what is promised until the one who makes the will passes away.
C. The effectiveness (bebaia) of a will is dependent upon the death of the one who made it. The promise is not carried out while he is alive.
D. Although it is not expressly stated here, the imagery points to Jesus as the testator who made the promise to Abraham and who activated it by His own death (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 109-111).
3. Then he continues this idea in vv. 18-19, "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."
A. The necessity of a death in the carrying out of any settlement based upon a divine diatheke is illustrated by the procedures used when God established the first covenant, that is, the Mosaic covenant, with the Children of Israel at Sinai.
B. The record found in Exodus 24:5-8 is clear. When the Lord inaugurated (enkekainistai) the Mosaic covenant, animals were sacrificed, and their blood was used in the ceremonies and rites accompanying the ratification of the compact.
C. To speak vividly, in type, of the death of Christ which was to come, Yahweh instructed Moses that animals must lose their lives at the institution of His first covenant with Israel.
D. To stand in solemn assembly and watch them die for their sins, knowing they had done no wrong, must have had a sobering effect on the worshipers.
E. They may have wept as eyes focused on the cutting of each creature's throat while a priest caught his blood in an appropriate container.
F. Exodus says, "Moses took half of the blood, and put it in basins; and half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar" (Exodus 24:6).
G. It was a dramatic picture of redemption. Silence settled over the congregation of Israel as Moses read from the book of the old covenant.
H. Exodus 24:7-8 (NLT)
Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it aloud to the people. Again they all responded, “We will do everything the LORD has commanded. We will obey.” 8 Then Moses took the blood from the basins and splattered it over the people, declaring, “Look, this blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these instructions.”
I. Then the great leader of God's people placed the scroll in a conspicuous place and sprinkled some of the blood from the bowl on it.
J. The rest of the second half of the blood Moses used in a ceremony one would have to experience to sense its full impact (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 111).
4. Then he talks about the inauguration of the old covenant, "Then he said, “This blood confirms the covenant God has made with you.”
A. The description of the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant given by the writer was not a word-for-word or step-by-step quotation from the Old Testament account.
B. The basic purpose in alluding to the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant seems to be found in the words "the blood of the covenant."
C. They come directly from Exodus 24:8 which uses the word "covenant." They form the proof of the argument.
D. When God establishes a covenant (diatheke), blood must be shed.
E. The inspired writer links the establishing of the first covenant with the new covenant by combining the words of Exodus 24:8 with words spoken by our Lord Jesus Christ when He was about to inaugurate the new covenant: "This" and "God has made with you."
F. The word "this" (touto) appears in all the records of Jesus' establishment of the Lord's Supper (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 111).
5. Now pay close attention to what he says next, "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. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness."
A. This verse moves beyond the inauguration of the Mosaic covenant to describe events that occurred later: the consecration of the tabernacle and its sacred vessels.
B. No specific references are cited. The emphasis is on the place of sacrificial blood in the rites associated with the Mosaic law.
C. By divine commandment blood was pervasive in the observance of the old covenant.
D. Two more pieces of evidence are here presented for the contention concerning the preeminence of blood sacrifice under the old covenant.
E. The use of blood sacrifice in ceremonial rites of cleansing and in sacrifices for the ceremonial remission of sin is cited.
F. In almost all cases of ritual cleansing of ceremonially defiled persons and objects a blood sacrifice was commanded (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 113).
G. Once I was in an adult SS class and heard a man say, "Jesus didn't have to die!" When I heard this statement I went ballistic! "Yes, he did!" Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness!
6. Then the author says, "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."
A. Moses only copied the tabernacle and its furnishings after the heavenly articles revealed to him on Mount Sinai; therefore, it was appropriate for the sacrifices offered on these earthly altars to be sheep and bulls and goats.
B. The ceremonial cleansing of the Law only cleansed earthly and physical things. Heaven needed a sacrifice that was better (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 113).
C. And Jesus was better! He was the ultimate!
B. Ultimate
1. In the early 1970s the Dallas Cowboys had a star running back named Duane Thomas who was kind of a head case. One year the Cowboys made it to the Super Bowl and someone asked Duane Thomas what he thought about playing in the "ultimate game." He replied "If this is the Ultimate Game, why do they play it again next year?" Jesus is the ultimate answer because IT IS FINISHED. That is the message of the New Covenant and not of the Old that constantly has to do and redo. It was all done for us through Christ and now we are to reflect Him to those around us and to do it with great and greater glory as His Spirit continues to transform us more and more with each passing day.
2. The blood of Jesus has to power to set us free from the power of sin.
A. 1 John 1:7 (NLT)
But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
B. It doesn't matter what you have done.
C. It doesn't matter what you have said.
D. It doesn't matter what you have thought.
E. The blood of Jesus has the power to set you free.
F. Once you were alienated from God because of your sin, but now you have been reconciled to God because of the blood of Jesus.
G. "Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you fully trusting in his grace this hour? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed in the blood? In the soul-cleansing blood of the Lamb? Are you garments spotless are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb?"
Transition: The cross also has...
III. A Superior Effect (24-28).
A. Once For All Time
1. Not only did Jesus bring us a better covenant based on a better sacrifice, but he also went to a better sanctuary.
2. In v. 24 the author states, "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."
A. That the heavenly realities shown to Moses on Mount Sinai needed to be cleansed with better sacrifices than the blood of bulls and goats was demonstrated by the ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven itself.
B. He is seated in the heavens at the right hand of God the Father. It is there that He makes priestly intercession for His people.
C. He did not enter into the Holy of Holies here on earth. He did not deal with the earthly figures and copies. He had to do with the genuine articles. His high priestly ministry takes place in "heaven itself."
D. Moreover, what He does in heaven is "to appear in the presence of God for us." And He is doing it "now."
E. I don't know about you but the fact that Jesus is in heaven right now praying for me is incredibly comforting and reassuring!
F. So the contrast with the ministry and sacrifices of the Aaronic high priesthood advances. Not animals, but the Son; not on earth in a tent, but in heaven in the very presence of God (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 113-115).
3. Then in v. 25 we read, "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."
A. Another element of contrast is that Jesus did not have to offer himself as a sacrifice on more than one occasion.
B. The high priests of the Levitical order were commanded by the Lord to enter into the sanctuary once every year (Leviticus 16).
C. Furthermore, this annual sacrifice did not involve the sacrifice of themselves; they instead offered the blood shed by other victims, the animals previously mentioned.
D. In every way this epistle proves that the work and sacrifice of God's Son, Jesus Christ the Lord, is definitely superior to those of the old covenant (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 115).
4. He continues this concept by saying, "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."
A. If Jesus had been on the same level as the Levitical priests, it would have been necessary for Him to have suffered many times "since the foundation of the world."
B. This statement is a bit puzzling and, in the end, mind-boggling. Since the Son is also the Creator, He was also available at the foundation of the world.
C. Yet this does not seem to be the intended meaning. The argument is the value of Christ's self-sacrifice contrasted to the value of the animal sacrifices required by the Mosaic law.
D. Obviously, the self-sacrifice by its very nature could only be performed once. If it had only the same power as the annual sacrifices, it would have had to be repeated over and over from the beginning of time to equal the value of the animal sacrifices.
E. This, however, has not been the case. Because He is the eternal Son of God, Jesus accomplished more than all of the sacrificed animals by sacrificing himself only once.
F. In Him the Father has spoken finally "in these last days" (1:2). His single sacrifice has ushered in "the end of the world" (literally the Greek says "the end of the ages").
G. He has by His atonement begun the final age of human history. By offering himself, He has accomplished what all of the animal sacrifices failed to do: the annulment (athetesin) of sin.
H. For as Horatius Bonar declares in his hymn, "Richer blood has flow'd from nobler veins to purge the soul from guilt and cleanse the reddest stains" (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 115).
5. Now we see the greatest effect of the new covenant that Jesus ushered in. In vv. 27-28 it says, "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."
A. Since Jesus has "put away sin," there remains no more need for sacrifice. He does not need to sacrifice himself over and over again, and believers do not need to continue to offer blood sacrifices.
B. The ritual sacrifices of the Mosaic system served God's intended purpose. The old covenant was "ready to vanish away" (8:13).
C. Shortly after this epistle was written, the animal sacrifices of Judaism ceased with the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in A.D. 70. (The Jews did offer sacrifices on the ruins of the temple for a short while until the Romans stopped them.)
D. Christ died once for all, and the next item on His agenda is "the judgment." But He will be the Judge.
E. So Jesus Christ, God's Son, was offered once in death. And what a death it was: a substitutionary death.
F. The words used here are graphic. He was offered "to take away the sins of many people" God placed upon Him "the sins of many." He carried away, bore the burden, and removed (anenenkein) sins for the many.
G. The sins of all who will believe were laid on Him. He has borne the penalty for sin, and they do not have to look forward to judgment. Instead, believers, those who look for Him, discover that for them Jesus will "appear again not to deal with our sins but to bring salvation."
H. By His one sacrifice, He has removed believers' sins forever.
I. When He returns He will not come as a sacrifice, nor will He come to condemn and remind believers of their sins; He will come to bring what He promised: the inheritance (The Complete Biblical Library – Hebrews-Jude, 115).
B. It Is Finished
1. "The cross is a fitting symbol of the atonement, for it represents the intersecting of two attributes or facets of God’s nature. Here it is that the love of God meets the holiness of God. The holiness requires payment of the penalty, and the love provides that payment" (Milliard Erickson, Christian Theology, 835).
2. The greatest effect of the cross is that it paid the penalty for our sins once and for all time.
A. John 19:30 (NLT)
When Jesus had tasted it, he said, “It is finished!” Then he bowed his head and released his spirit.
B. Because of what Jesus did on the cross our sins have been dealt with completely.
C. Because of what Jesus did on the cross our sins have been forgiven, forgotten and cleansed.
D. Because of what Jesus did on the cross we who have accepted him as Savior will never be reminded by God of the things we have done wrong
E. The reason for all of this is once we have accepted what Jesus has done for us, and we have confessed our sins to him, our sins are considered under the blood.
F. The blood of Jesus has washed it all away once and for all time.
G. When the devil tries to remind you of and criticize you for your sins just tell him, "It's under the blood!"
H. When he tries to tell you, "if you were really a Christian you wouldn't do that," remind him, "it's under the blood."
I. For when Jesus said it was finished, it is finished forever!
Transition: Are you washed in the blood? If you are it is finished!
Conclusion
1. The idea of the cross is that someone had to pay the price for our sins. However, this presents us with a problem, because it requires someone paying the ultimate price, the price of life. Our redemption had to be paid with blood, and that blood had to come from someone who was perfect, sinless.
2. The only person who could pay that price was Jesus, and the good news is that Jesus was willing to go to the cross in your place!
3. The cross of Jesus is...
A. A Superior Covenant
B. A Superior Sacrifice
C. A Superior Effect
4. Lay aside the garments that are stained with sin,
And be washed in the blood of the Lamb;
There’s a fountain flowing for the soul unclean,
Oh, be washed in the blood of the Lamb!
