Today, we’re looking at Hebrews 10. This chapter speaks directly to Jesus’ Perfection, specifically, Jesus being the Perfect Sacrifice. We will see that Jesus’ one, perfect sacrifice enables believers to live by faith.
Have you ever received a traffic ticket? I have. Once, I was rear-ended at a traffic light and insisted we wait for the police to come and file a police report. When the officer arrived at the scene, he asked for our licenses, registrations and proofs of insurance. At this point, the officer pointed out to me that my insurance had expired. At that moment, I remembered receiving new insurance cards in the mail and could see in my mind’s eye the exact place on the kitchen counter where this piece of paper was sitting. Oy! The officer gave me a ticket for expired proof of insurance and told me that the fee for the ticket would be waived if I went to court and presented my valid proof of insurance for that date. Did I want to go to court? No. Was I tempted to just pay the $300+ fee and not go to court? Sure. But I went to court. I presented the documents. The debt was canceled. My name was cleared and I was free to go.
Jesus paid the price for our sin with His death on the cross. When we accept Him as Savior, the price He paid in blood is credited to our account. Our sin debt is canceled. Our name is cleared and we are freed from slavery to sin and death. We are free to live a powerful life in Christ.
When we walk away from our time together today, I want you to know Born again believers are made holy, offered intimate relationship and empowered to persevere because of Jesus Christ.
Gracious Father, would You open our hearts and mind to receive what You have for us, today? Would You encourage us, convict us, change us, make us look more like Your glorious Son, and teach us to love Him more. In the beautiful name of Jesus. Amen.
We have three divisions today:
1.Made holy through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ (10:1-18)
2.Draw near to God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
(10:19-25)
3.Persevere (in suffering) through Jesus Christ (10:26-39)
Let’s dive right in to this amazing chapter of Scripture.
Read Hebrews
10:1-4.
Scripture tells us that the Law cannot perfect those who
are offering sacrifices. The Law was
meant to reveal to man how impossible it is to fulfill the Law. The Law was meant to reveal the Messiah. The Law to point to the perfection of Jesus’
fulfillment of the Law.
Verse 3 says that the Law serves as a reminder of
sins. Every morning during my prayer
time, I have a time of confession. In
the past, I would recite from a list I’ve kept of things to confess, hoping it
would bring to mind new offenses that I hadn’t confessed. And this practice worked. But what I discovered was that reciting from
a list of past sins was starting to instill in me an identity. A sinner’s identity. Not that I’m still not a sinner, but I
recognized that the things I put in my mind – the things my eyes see – at the start
of my day (or at any point in my day) shapes who I am. And the foundation I want to build on each
day in God’s mercies that are new each morning.
God’s forgiveness and healing and mercy and grace. Anymore, I don’t remind myself in the morning
who I was. Now I ask God what I need to
confess and I trust Him to bring the things to mind that I need to lay at His
feet. Now that I think about it, I
should probably do my confessing at night before bed, reflecting on the day so
those sins don’t remain while I sleep to plague my subconscious.
In a nutshell, the blood of animals cannot take away
sins. That’s why this practice was
repeated over and over. This practice,
however, pointed to a better way – God’s “Plan A.” Let’s continue.
Read Hebrews 10:5-10.
Ooh, this passage gives me chills! Psalm 40:6-8 is quoted here, and these verses
spell out God’s plan: It was always
about Christ’s body, not the animal sacrifices that pointed to the coming
Messiah Who would suffer and be the ultimate Sacrifice, the Lamb of God Who
takes away the sins of the world!
Hallelujah! Jesus came to do the
will of God, which was to willingly give up His life to pay IN FULL the sin
debt of all mankind and reconcile the human race back to God the Father. Wow!
What a gracious, loving, caring, patient, merciful Father we have!!!
These verses say He takes away the constant reminder of
sins through the Law to establish the grace offered through the obedient
sacrifice of Jesus! That’s it. Done.
Animals were NEVER enough. Jesus
is enough. JESUS IS ALL WE’LL EVER NEED. The work is finished.
Read Hebrews
10:11-14.
The priest’s job was never done. He stood daily and offered the same
sacrifices over and over because those sacrifices could not take away sins. BUT HE…
That’s a HUGE start to verse 12!
But He – Jesus – the Perfect High Priest – offered ONE sacrifice that
took care of the sin debt for all of humanity!
Every sin! PAID IN FULL! “One and done.” And after He offered that one sacrifice, HE
SAT DOWN! What a contrast with the
priests who were still standing! Jesus’
way is so much better. That is the
encouragement the author of Hebrews is sending in this letter: Don’t even be
tempted to go back to the old ways. The
work is never ending. Stay with
Jesus. His work is finished.
Hebrews says Jesus is sitting and waiting for a footstool
made of His enemies. It also says that,
with His one sacrifice, He “perfected for all time those who are sanctified.” That is one powerful sacrifice. The entire sanctification process in every
believer was accomplished at the cross!
It’s too much to fathom!
Sanctification is the process of being made holy…of being
purified. I get impatient with my
sanctification process. But I have to
thank God it is a slow, gentle course of action on His part. I recently listened to a sermon that talked
about what the cross was like for Jesus.
How taking on the sin of all the world was like being plunged into a
sewer! I never thought of it this
way. Ick! The same sermon equated the cross with a
lightning rod that drew all of God’s wrath to the Son nailed to it. Oh, the thought of Christ being electrocuted
on my behalf! Yes, I am grateful not to
be plunged or shocked into sanctification!
How about you?
Read Hebrews 10:15-18.
Now, the author takes us to Jeremiah 31: 33-34. Such beautiful verses. Such wonderful promises. The covenant God will make with His people is
that He will put His Laws upon their heart and write them on their mind. Wow!
But wait, there’s more. He will
remember the sins and lawless deeds of His people NO MORE! Jesus washes away our sins! His once for all sacrifice brought lasting
forgiveness, unlike the animal sacrifices before He appeared. And now that Jesus has provided that
forgiveness, there is no need for any other sin offering! Praise the Lord!!!
This leads us to our first principle:
Principle: Jesus’ perfect blood takes away sins, making
the born again believer holy.
How is Christ’s perfection empowering your imperfections
to serve Him? In what area(s) is God
setting you apart for Himself and His service?
Where could you be more willing to cooperate with His plan for your
life? How has Christ’s perfect sacrifice
for your sins set you free? Where are
you still living in bondage to some sin that you need to confess and release
completely to God?
Now let’s look at how Christ’s sacrifice brings us into
fellowship with God the Father.
Read Hebrews
10:19-25.
Verse 19 begins with the word “Therefore,” which means
that the words that follow are a result of the concepts that were previously
presented. So, because of Jesus’ perfect,
once-for-all sacrifice that removed the need for any other sin offering, we can
approach God the Father! As believers in
Christ, we are called a kingdom of priests.
Priests have access to the Holy Place.
Since Jesus’ death, which tore the veil between the Holy Place and the
Holy of Holies. This means we have
direct access to the Holy of Holies! Not
everyone has this access. Do you? Are you taking advantage of the access you do
have?
In verses 22-24 there are three “Let us” statements. First, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and full assurance of faith. Second, let us hold fast to our hope without wavering. Third, let us continue meeting together and consider how we might encourage others toward love and good deeds especially as we see the day of Christ’s return approaching! How different would your life look if you lived those three “let us” statements? Has covid stopped you from meeting with your church family? Many people attending my church have stopped coming since covid began. I spoke with one of our pastors about it, and he told me that's what really hurts: not seeing people he used to see every week who aren't quarantining from anything but church.
Since we are supposed to be living free as
Christians, I don’t really want to ask what we might “do” to implement these
statements, so how about this: What one thing can you let go of today
that will bring you into greater compliance with these “let us” statements? Do you think that maybe a cessation of
striving will help us live more Christ-like lives? Let me know in the comments.
And here is our second principle:
Principle: Jesus’ perfect death makes relationship with
God possible.
Where would you like to see Christ’s perfection on
display in your life? Where would you
like to see growth in your relationship with God and how will you make that
available to Him? What thinking needs to
change for you to approach God boldly and confidently?
Let’s talk a little bit about perseverance before we
close.
Read Hebrews
10:26-31.
Our scribe pulls no punches in these verses: if we
willfully sin after knowing the truth, judgment awaits. We trample the Son of God underfoot when we
refuse to accept His free gift of salvation.
In essence, we are saying that we will pay for our sins on our own! Oh,
my, what an enemy pride is! This is what the author is warning his audience about: going back to the old ways would be like trampling on Jesus! Why would
anyone want to do that when life everlasting with God is a free gift? Because those who make that choice want
nothing to do with God, no matter how “nice” they seem to us! Hard truth.
Judgment awaits those who reject Jesus!
Terrifying judgment. But let me
encourage you that God is just and faithful and loving and giving and merciful
and gracious. He wants no one to
perish. He created hell for Satan and
his angels, NOT FOR PEOPLE. So the
people who end up there have made a choice to be there.
You might still be asking: how can a loving God send
anyone to hell? I assure you that God
doesn’t send anyone there. People send
themselves there by not being grateful for the cross. One day EVERY KNEE WILL BOW AND EVERY TONGUE
WILL CONFESS THAT JESUS CHRIST IS LORD.
I pray those we love will bow and make that confession in this life, voluntarily,
humbly, gratefully.
Read Hebrews
10:32-39.
In the past, the author talks about how the recipients of
the letter suffered. How they were made
public spectacles. How they endured
tribulation and shared in the tribulation of others. How they joyfully shared in this suffering
because of the assurance they had of salvation.
They possessed eternal security, and the author warns his audience not
to throw away that confidence. He warns
that they will need to endure because there will be suffering. There will be temptation to give up and turn
away. But the people of God are not
those who shrink back. Our faith in
Christ enables us to persevere.
And here is our final principle:
Principle: Jesus’ perfect suffering makes it possible
for born again believers to persevere.
Where are you experiencing challenges and how might you
trust God with those challenges like Jesus trusted God with the cross? Where is Christ’s example of perfect
suffering encouraging you to suffer well?
How are you encouraging others who are suffering?
Because of Jesus’ death on the cross, those of us who
accept His death as payment for our sins have our debt erased. We are in the process of being made holy. This will be completed when we meet Him
face-to-face. We have the opportunity to
be in intimate relationship with God the Father. We are empowered to persevere through
suffering. Jesus has completed the
work. What we do with that is our
choice. What will you choose this day? Judgment or Jesus.
Holy Father, I pray
You are transforming hearts today as a result of reading Your word and
understanding its message. I pray those
reading today are being encouraged and falling more deeply in love with
Jesus. Or learning to love Him for the
first time. Bless them in His mighty
name which will one day cause ever knee to bow and tongue to confess His Lordship. Amen.
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