Better by Far - 10
The Excellency of Christ in the Book of Hebrews
Today we look at the tenth chapter of Hebrews. Do you long to know God and meet with Him? Is God accessible? Many believe that God is distant and cannot be known. Some feel that God isn't interested in us. This tenth chapter shows that not only is God concerned about us but that He wants you to draw near to Him, and have intimate fellowship with Him. In verse 22 we find an exhortation, "Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith". That invitation from God to draw near still stands today. You can be assured that He wants you to do just that. How is this possible? Its through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. How close may we get to God when we approach Him? Verse 19 says, "therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the most holy place". Yes, you and I may go right into the most holy place. You will remember that only the high priest who served in the tabernacle was permitted to do this. In chapter 9 verse 7 we read, "only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood". We enter by the blood of Jesus. Not merely once a year but now in any place and at any time. Chapter 10 verse 19 says its, "a new and living way opened up for us through the curtain, that is, His body". In other words we may enter the most holy place on the grounds of the finished work of Christ. His body hung dying on the cross. He was giving His life a ransom for many. John the Baptist said in John Ch. 1 v 29, "Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world". Jesus is the superior Lamb. This is the theme of verses 1 - 18 of chapter ten. Jesus the Lamb of God is superior in value.
The Old Testament was offered regularly. Verse 1 says that were offered, "endlessly year after year". If they could have provided perfect cleansing from the guilt of sin then surely they would have stopped being offered. Verse 2 says, "the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all". It wasn't God's purpose to deal with sin permanently through the blood of bulls and goats. Verse 1 tells us that, "the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming - not the realities themselves". In verse 4 we read, "it is possible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins" They only pointed forward to the reality of the perfect and final superior sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood is of far more value than theirs. Paul quotes from Psalm 40 v 6 - 8. It speaks of the coming of the Messiah the Lord Jesus. Christ says in verses 6 - 7, "with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, "here am I -I have come to do your will, O God". God is more pleased with the precious blood of His son Jesus Christ. In the coming of Christ and the shedding of His blood on the cross the first covenant is replaced by the second. Its firmly established on the better blood of Jesus. Jesus the Lamb of God is superior in effect. We see this by contrasting the work of the priest of the old covenant and the work of Jesus. The work of the priest in the tabernacle was never finished. Verse 11 says, "Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties, again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins". How different is our Saviour Jesus Christ. Verse 12 says, "But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He say down at the right hand of God". Such was the perfection of the blood of Christ that no more sacrifices needed to be offered or could be offered. There was no seat in the tabernacle. When Jesus entered the heavenly sanctuary He sat down. The work of salvation for men and women was full, final and complete. For any Jew to return to the old temple sacrificial system was a return to the inadequate and the futility of the old inferior sacrifices. The Lord Jesus said in John Ch. 14 v 6, "I am the way-----no one comes to the Father except through me". Your sins which are many need to be forgiven and cleansed . Verse 10 says of all who believe, "we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all". You cannot approach God while you remain in the unholiness of your sin. When you come to Jesus Christ and seek His forgiveness and cleansing He will receive you. You may enter into the most holy place with confidence. Your sins are forgiven. Verse 17 says, "their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more". We are assured in verse 18, "where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin".
The last section of chapter n10, verses 19 - 39, contain an exhortation based on all that has been said about the superiority of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It calls for a worthy response. There's a call to faithfulness. Rather than be tempted to go back we must go on. Verse 23 says, "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess". We must keep our focus on the Saviour. There's the promise of the support of the Lord. The verse ends by reminding us, "for He who promised is faithful". He will forgive our sins. He will not bring them to mind. He will welcome all who come to Him in their need. You can count on the faithfulness of God. There's a call to fellowship. Believers must stick together. Rather than being distracted away from our hope, and falling out in our churches we read in verse 24, "Let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds". We can only do this well if we regularly meet to encourage each other. Verse 25 says, "Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching". Don't miss any opportunity for fellowship. We need one another in these evil days in which we live. The day which is approaching could be a reference to the coming of the Lord for His own. We need to be ready. It could refer to the imminent invasion of the Roman army. Just two years after writing this letter the temple in Jerusalem would be destroyed. If ever there was a time to keep together and be found fellowshipping with God in the true heavenly tabernacle it was now. The earthly would soon be gone. To go back to it would eventually leave them with nothing. The believers security is in the invisible God, the heavenly tabernacle, and our eternal high priest. These will never be shaken or removed. There's a call to perseverance. Verse 37 says, "He who is coming will come and will not delay". Since this is true we're exhorted in verse 35, "do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised". As we persevere it will call for sacrifice and trials. Verse 33 tells us, "sometimes you are publicly exposed to insult and persecution". The true child of God will show the genuineness of his conversion by standing his ground. We read in verse 34 that the Hebrews, "joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions". The genuine believer has his eyes on heaven and the coming of the Lord. The loss of the things if this world means nothing for those who are looking for that city whose builder and maker is God. Pleasing God means more than passing possessions. For any who go back verse 29 says, " a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant". This is a terrible sin if God's sight. It brings God's severest judgement. Those who went back were clearly not saved. Paul makes this distinction in verse 39. He says, "But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved". The sign of a real follower if the Lord is the desire to do God's will.
Have you drawn near to God in repentance over your sin and placed your faith in the saving blood of Jesus Christ? Are you drawing near to God in Christ, through the veil, and enjoying rich fellowship with your Saviour? Hold on to Christ. Encourage your fellow believers.