- Thank you choir and worship team for helping us think about the nature and significance of the death of Jesus Christ for us…
- would you agree with this statement tonight – that there’s nothing like finding someone who can completely solve the problem?...
- when we built our house about 30 years ago now – to save money – I functioned as the quasi-general contractor…
- we moved here from the east coast where I had been working on my final degree and both Kris and I were working to put me through school…
- but housing was so expensive there…we assumed we would never own a home and that was fine with us…
- then when we moved here, it seemed like maybe it would be possible…so we were very thankful to be able to build a house…and a lot of very kind, generous people helped us…
- but I tend to be a little…well…cheap…
- and so I was trying so save money anywhere we could…
- and that included selecting the contractor who would install our roof…
- the summary of this story is – that’s really not a good place to save money…
- so we always had this nuisance leak right where the house met the garage…
- and the guy came out a few times to try to fix it…it never worked…
- I think the warranty was – “no rain, no leak”…
- but it was so frustrating…because we started getting stains in our garage ceiling…
- pretty soon the guy disappeared…so I took over the repair responsibility…
- and I would try to fix it…it would last for a while – then it would start leaking again
- I can’t tell you how many products I tried…and I can still see myself driving home after a late night meeting….hearing the rain on the roof of the car and thinking…I wonder what I’m going to see when I open the garage door…
- and sure enough – it would be leaking again…
- finally I contacted a local roof company that had been in business for a long, long time in this town…
- they came out – and it certainly wasn’t the cheapest option…
- but they found the problem – they fixed the problem – and that roof has never leaked again, and I can’t even remember the last time I had to spend even a second worrying about it…
- there’s nothing like finding someone who can completely solve the problem…
- I think we’d all agree that’s true regarding the condition of our roofs…but would we also say this – it’s far truer regarding…the condition of our souls…
- with that in mind, please open your Bible to Hebrews chapter 10…page 174 of the back section of the Bible under the chair in front of you…
- this book is written to a very interesting group of people…they were Jewish, thus the name Hebrews…and they had left the Jewish temple and become associated with the church of Jesus Christ…
- but it would appear that they fell into two very distinct categories…
- some were genuine followers of Jesus Christ…
- others had just come to church because of convenience or intrigue…
- but as time went on, either because of family pressure, or societal pressure…some are thinking about going back to the temple…or abandoning the worship of Jesus Christ and their faith in Him…
- so this book is all about the sufficiency and superiority of Jesus Christ…He’s the climax of the story…He’s the One to whom all of human and biblical history has pointed…
- and in the verses before us this evening…Jesus is Our Hope because Jesus is Our Sacrifice
- and the question for everyone here tonight is – do you believe that?...have you accepted Jesus Christ as your ultimate hope, and your substitutionary sacrifice??
- As I read the first 18 verses of Hebrews 10…please be listening for 3 characteristics of the death of Christ that bring His children hope.
- read Hebrews 10:1-18
- so we’re talking about how Jesus is our Hope, because Jesus is Our Sacrifice…and let’s think about 3 characteristics of His death that make all of that possible…
I. His Death was Obedient
- it’s truly fascinating to hear this writer say the OT law and its corresponding sacrificial system was…
- v. 1 - …only a shadow of the good things to come…
- that doesn’t mean that it was unnecessary…
- there had to be a way for the world to understand the holiness of God…
- there had to be a way for the world to contemplate all the ways human beings fall short…
- I’ve been reading through the book of Leviticus this week and have been struck again at how unique the children of Israel would have been compared to all the nations around them…
- this seemingly endless set of laws…revealing our rebellion and our sin…
- with a correspondingly endless need for animal sacrifices…
- and the repetitive refrain…sin demands a sacrifice...sin demands a sacrifice…
- and friend…if you don’t believe that this evening, then your God is something other than holy…and I would gently suggest to you, that you need a better God…
- and all of this creates this thirst in our souls…is there anyone who can fix the leaky roof of my heart once and for all?...that’s why the law was a shadow of the good things to come…
A. The Old Testament sacrifices pointed to Him
- the apostle Paul picked up this theme when writing to the Galatians…Galatians 3:24 - Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith.
- everything in the OT was pointing to something better…
- these verses also explain that the sacrificial system in the OT became even more corrupted as men and women began bringing their worst animals instead of their best…or found satisfaction is the ritual itself instead of the spiritual change the ritual was intended to produce…in other words…their hearts weren’t in it….
- which is why we begin to see places in the OT like this quote from Psalm 40 where the coming Messiah says to His heavenly Father…
- Hebrews 10:6 - In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure. … or the first part of the previous verse…
- Hebrews 10:5 - …Sacrifice and offering You have not desired…
- Wait a minute - God commanded them…not as an end in themselves, and certainly not to be performed in a half-hearted, legalistic, self-righteous fashion…
- which is why this quote from Psalm 40 brings us so much hope…because it recounts a conversation between Jesus and His heavenly Father…
- Hebrews 10:5 - Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, But a body You have prepared for Me;
- and what was Jesus going to do with that body?...
- to die the most cruel, unjust, painful, death imaginable…
- because that’s what the OT sacrificial system was pointing to…or perhaps better stated…that’s Who the OT sacrificial system was pointing to…Someone Better…
- and what’s the emphasis of these first 9 verses?...
B. Christ’s sacrificial death fulfilled God’s plan of glorifying Himself through our redemption
- it was an act of obedience to the plan/will of God…
- that’s why verse 7 says… Hebrews 10:7 - “Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (In the scroll of the book it is written of Me) To do Your will, O God.’ ”
- and then again in verse 9 to be sure we don’t miss it…Hebrews 10:9 - then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second.
- think about a holy God who would fashion such a plan…and think about an obedient Son who would obey it…
- this is why Jesus, said to His disciples in the upper room, - John 14:30–31 - I will not speak much more with you, for the ruler of the world is coming, and he has nothing in Me; but so that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. Get up, let us go from here.
- Paul picked up this theme in one of the most beautiful passages about our Lord in the entire NT – Philippians chapter 2 - Philippians 2:8 - Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
- so what does that mean for people like you and me?...
1. First of all – you could say it this way – we have to decide if we want to borrow His perfect obedience...or, benefit from His perfect obedience…
- because He did something – as the perfect Son of God…that we could never do…His substitutionary death perfectly met His Holy Father’s righteous demands…
- now we have to decide if we will repent and believe…
- and friend, that too, is a call to obedience…Paul explained to the religiously curious people on Mars Hill…
- Acts 17:30–31 - Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent, because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.
- this means that the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ is not just a gift to be received, or a message to be embraced…it is a command to be obeyed…
- but you don’t have to go first…you’re simply following in the footsteps of your obedient Savior…
- one of the great joys of my heart is to think back of the many men and women over the past year who done exactly that – who have come to an end of themselves, and placed their faith and trust in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord…if you’ve never done that before…we would invite you to do that in the quietness of this moment…
- and if you would say – I am unwilling or uninterested in doing that…I have to love you enough to ask you this…do you recognize that for what it is?...an act of rebellion and a choice to be unlike the obedient Savior whose death we have gathered to contemplate this evening?...
- for followers of Jesus Christ…the free gift of salvation is what motivates and empowers our desire to follow God’s Will and obey Him more progressively each and every day…
- some people might argue – well, if Jesus is the perfect and final sacrifice…then human beings will take advantage of that…
- you motivate people to greater godliness by making them earn their salvation and keeping them in constant fear of losing it…in other words, having a leaky spiritual roof is better than having an eternally fixed one…
- Paul anticipated that objection, didn’t he?...in Romans chapter 6….
- and He explained that when a person becomes a Christian…they are united with the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ…
- so now our obedience is united to and fueled by His…
- that’s why Paul said, Romans 6:16 - Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?
- and all of this is done out of love for a Savior who used His body to die in our place…
- that’s something else that provides incredible joy…to think about men and women who could say—I have a long way to go, but over the last year I’ve become more obedient to God’s will in a particular area of my life…because of my union with the obedient death of my Savior…
- friend – He went first – the question is – are you going to go next?
II. His Death was Complete
- there is a very important transition in verse 10…
- Hebrews 10:10 - By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
- some of you may remember the old hymn that came right out of this verse…
Once for All
Free from the law, O happy condition,
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission;
Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,
Grace hath redeemed us once for all.
Chorus:
Once for all, O sinner, receive it,
Once for all, O friend, now believe it;
Cling to the cross, the burden will fall,
Christ hath redeemed us once for all.
Now we are free, there's no condemnation,
Jesus provides a perfect salvation;
"Come unto Me," O hear His sweet call,
Come, and He saves us once for all.
"Children of God," O glorious calling,
Surely His grace will keep us from falling;
Passing from death to life at His call,
Blessed salvation once for all.
- and what is it that the writer of Hebrews wants us to remember has been secured for us by Christ’s sufficient death?...the answer is…
A. Securing our stand before God
- because remember what verse one said about the OT law and sacrifices…
- Hebrews 10:1 - …can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
- there was always this sense that you were behind…there was always this sense that you weren’t qualified to draw near…
- that’s why only the high priest could enter the Holy of Holies…
- and that’s why they put those bells on the bottom of his robes…because if the he stopped moving, and the bells stopped ringing…everybody was in big trouble…
- but when Jesus died on the cross, the veil in the temple was torn in two…
- and for those who believe in Jesus Christ…Hebrews 10:14 - For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
- this isn’t one of those – oh no, my coupon has expired situations…
- which is why the very next verses say…
- Hebrews 10:19–22 - Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.
- it’s like…are you kidding me?...who do you think you are…waltzing into the Holy of Holies with your questions, and your requests, and your burdens, and your complaints?...
- and what’s the answer for a Christian?...I’m a child of God…washed in the blood of the Lamb…
- and the next question is – and just how long do you think this access is going to last?....
- what’s the answer?...for all of eternity….because He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified…
B. Ensuring His, and our eternal victory
- Hebrews 10:11–13 - Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time onward until His enemies be made a footstool for His feet.
- no wonder the apostle Paul, when contemplating the resurrection of Christ, said…1 Corinthians 15:57–58 - but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.
- I’ve been getting these notifications from the place that changes my oil…it’s time for an oil change…it’s time for an oil change…
- wouldn’t it be great to have someone who could do a once for all oil change…when the guy was done, he sat down….because you’ll never need another one…
- or once for all laundry…once for all house cleaning…once for all bill paying…
- or a notification from the IRS – Good news…your taxes have been paid…once for all…our agents have all retired…
- and doesn’t that give us incredible hope?...
- we don’t have to live in guilt…we don’t have to live in shame…
- and we can be honest about the ways we need to change this side of heaven instead of trying to cover it up or blame it on someone else…why?...
- because Christ’s death was complete…
III. His Death was Comprehensive
- the writer then quotes from the New Covenant in Jeremiah 31…Hebrews 10:15–18 - And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws upon their heart, And on their mind I will write them,” He then says, “And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
- Because the perfect Son of God was willing to die in His body on the cross for us…where is God’s law now written?...on our hearts…this isn’t behavioral modification…
- it’s transformation at the level of the heart…
- that’s why it was so significant that Jesus said at the last supper…which we are about to commemorate…Luke 22:20 - And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
- His death was so comprehensive that it could change us from the inside out…
- which is why the writer said earlier in this book…Hebrews 4:12–16 - For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
- can I ask you this evening – have you been trying to fix the leaky roof of your heart with the cheapest subcontractor out there?...
- and are you getting tired of the guilt, and the shame, and the endless frustration?...
- the law was just…Hebrews 10:1 - …the shadow of the good things to come…
- The cross proved that…the good thing has come…
- Jesus’ death was obedient…it was complete…and it was comprehensive…
- friend, if you’ve trusted Jesus Christ as savior and Lord…you will never have to call a roofer again…and that is very, very good news…