Jesus Is . . .! Series

Jesus Is . . . !

Hebrews 10:1-39

August 27, 2017

Has anyone ever had to repeat themselves to you? Have you heard the same thing over and over until you know what’s coming? It’s kind of frustrating, isn’t it? You think and maybe even say, “I know, I know! Don’t worry!” Especially when it’s a parent seemingly harping on you to do what you know to do.

Well, we’re going to look at Hebrews 10 this morning. We are moving towards the end of Hebrews, only a few more weeks in our study through this great book of the Bible. We’ve been looking at who Jesus Is. And for the past 4 weeks we’ve been looking at Jesus as greater than the Jewish High Priests. Jesus was THE great High Priest. He was the One who came and abolished the old law, the old covenant and led us into the New Covenant through His life and sacrificial death.

In some ways for the past 4 weeks we’ve talked about the same thing. . . . Today is no different. The writer of Hebrews is finishing his writing about the old covenant and old sacrificial system. He’s said close to the same things in very different ways and today we’ll look take a final look at this old system juxtaposed against the New Covenant of Jesus.

There's an old hymn many of us have sung many times . . .

Jesus paid it all

All to him I owe

Sin had left a crimson stain

He washed it white as snow.

This is what we’ve seen in recent chapters. The sacrifice of Jesus Christ — His death on the cross, His blood shed for our sinfulness. He paid the price for our sins

Sin does leave a crimson stain in our lives. It spoils things. It causes us to do things which hurt others, hurts ourselves, and alienates us from God. Sin, by its messes up our lives.

Sin separates us from God. So often we don’t realize it, we don’t realize it because we think we’re in control. But there comes a point in time when we realize we’ve moved further and further away from God. The writer has much to say about our sinfulness and the consequences.

We sin because we're imperfect. We fall again and again; we need forgiveness, we need salvation, we need restoration. The message of the book of Hebrews proclaims in no uncertain terms that these are available to us in Christ, only in and through Christ.

Jesus Christ came into the world to forgive our sins and heal our brokenness. The book of John says ~

12 But to all who did receive Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, – John 1:12

That's what we've seen in the book of Hebrews: this connection, this relationship with God begins when we proclaim He is Lord and Savior in our lives.

Now as we move into chapter 10, the writer starts by telling us again, the Old Testament system of sacrifice, wasn't a perfect system, but it was designed to point the way to God's true plan of salvation for us. The writer of Hebrews wrote ~

1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities,

it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near.

2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins?

3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.

4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

He’s telling us that all of these animal sacrifices had to be offered year after year after year, and they could never make the people perfect. The people were never fully cleansed. They could never be made white as snow. If they could, there would have been no need to make further sacrifices. So, they were repeated again and again and again, year after year after year. That's because - - animal sacrifices didn’t fully work. It was kind of like putting a bandage on a gaping wound. It’s a stop gap measure. It doesn’t do the full job.

Only God can forgive sins. The good news is that God is willing to forgive our sins and He does this through His Son, Jesus. Hebrews 10 tells us - that even though the Old Testament sacrifices had to be performed again and again, year after year, the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a once and for all event.

Once and for all - the problem with sin has been settled. Our need for forgiveness has been settled. Our guilt, our shame and our regret has been settled.