The Necessity of the Savior
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Introduction
A New Life in Christ
Introduction
Last week we were in . We looked at the idea that we were not saved to sit, but we were saved to serve. Meaning, we were saved to go and by any means possible, tell the rest of the world about the Amazing work of Jesus Christ. We saw that tabernacle worship is dead, and that any works done outside of working for the Kingdom is dead. Jesus Christ shed his blood so that we may be purified by God so that God will live with us and we with him. So, this purification does not mean that we sit back and wait for death or his return, but that we may worship him by telling others by any means necessary of his goodness! I hope to build off of that this morning!
Keep in mind that the author of Hebrews had an audience that was composed of three types of people[1]. 1) Those who are holding fast to their confidence even in the midst of persecution 2) Those who had shrunk back from their faith in time of persecution and 3) those who haven’t trust in God to do what he said he is going to do. So, chapter 9 is highly evangelistic so that all three groups might be fully convinced of the Goodness of God.
So, my aim this morning is that all around we would see the incredibly majestic nature of Jesus. If you don’t have a relationship with him: I plead with you that you would devote your life to him for there is not another Lord, they are dead. But Jesus is alive and wants you and will come back for you. My second aim is that you who have at one time or another trusted in the name of Jesus would fall in love with him all… over… again. That whatever may be on your mind this morning, whatever excuse you have that you have shrunk back, or whatever is weighing you down in your life would not come close in comparison to the divine mercy of your creator.
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I) To Partake in the New Covenant, Believing Jesus is Necessary (v 15)
I) To Partake in the New Covenant, Believing Jesus is Necessary (v 15)
A) He is the Mediator
A) He is the Mediator
Jesus is the mediator. Meaning that he brought the new covenant from God, between God and his people reconciled. Bringing an opportunity for peace rather than wrath.
B) The Mediator gives eternal inheritance
B) The Mediator gives eternal inheritance
There is a circular pattern here, do you see it? This is actually the main point of this chapter and dare I even say this book. God has called some, these who are called receive the eternal promise that God will dwell with his people, then remember from last week, we take that power and go and herald this message to others. So that, they can heed the call of God and receive power! That is the only way we show that we believe Jesus.
“We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.”
“We don't believe something by merely saying we believe it, or even when we believe that we believe it. We believe something when we act as if it were true.”
C) The Mediator breaks all old bonds
C) The Mediator breaks all old bonds
Remember the audience here. Some of them would have been Jews under the old covenant and would have offered sacrifices to God via the high priest and sacrifices. It would have been their normal way of life. Let’s pause here and ask…Why is Christianity so radical? Why in a secular world such as ours do millions of people reject Biblical Christianity and seek to redefine it? Because Jesus has said, I am the ONLY way to eternal life… nothing else will do! not works, not sacrifices, not doing your best, not paying giving your best etc. Only through Jesus! Jesus is better!
… SO why did Jesus come?
II) For the NC to be Guaranteed, Jesus’ Death was Necessary (v 16-17)
II) For the NC to be Guaranteed, Jesus’ Death was Necessary (v 16-17)
A) A “will” is legal terminology
A) A “will” is legal terminology
v 16a – Again, from last week. This covenant is a legal bond. Our relationship to God is best described in a legal manner. That’s why you find a lot of legal terminology in the Bible. Since we are by nature, sinners (we are disobedient to God) we have a legal debt to God. We have done so much wrong to him if we wrote it all down it would be an eternity long. We could never repay our debt. Just like our court system today, payment for crime is doing time. God’s standards say that our payment should be an eternal amount of time in hell, away from his glory. But being a just judge, God provided a way for humanity to not only spend eternity with him, but for God to start living with his people immediately! This way was Jesus. He desires to be your payment when the just judge has his eternal say. He desires to take your punishment. But he also wants God to come to you now….
B) A will only takes place when there is death
B) A will only takes place when there is death
v 16b -17 – So, for the promised eternal inheritance to be available, the one who owns it had to die. Picture our modern day will…Don’t miss this! Why did God send Jesus? Why not send someone else? Because God had to die so that the will could take effect… This is proof for the doctrine of Incarnation, meaning that Jesus is God. God the father sent his son, a real part of the triune God, to sacrificially become a human. So that he could be 100% God and 100% man. That was the only way for the perfect sacrifice to do the work on Humanities behalf. Christ came to take humanities place, so that all the wrath of God the father toward sin could be poured out on himself, because no other sacrifice would do. no other sacrifice would completely guarantee God’s promise.
III) For the NC to go into Effect, Blood Payment was Necessary (v 18-22)
III) For the NC to go into Effect, Blood Payment was Necessary (v 18-22)
A) The first Covenant was symbolically initiated by blood
A) The first Covenant was symbolically initiated by blood
v 18-21 –
B) The better Covenant needed a better initiation of blood
B) The better Covenant needed a better initiation of blood
v 22- There were times that exceptions were made in the law for a sacrifice to be made for sin without blood. That was if someone was not able to afford an animal for sacrifice. They would make take one tenth an ephah, or 9 cups, of choice flour and offer that to the priest. This was EXTREMEMLY RARE.
The point is that a life is to be offered as sacrifice…. God is spirit, which doesn’t have blood. So, Jesus, was 100% God in spirit mind and soul, but was 100% human in that the vessel God was in was 100% real flesh, real flesh has real blood, and blood was necessary for payment
IV) Only one death was Necessary (v 23-26)
IV) Only one death was Necessary (v 23-26)
A) Jesus’s blood was a one-time purification
A) Jesus’s blood was a one-time purification
v 23-24 – On the cross, Jesus died. Think about that. Ever seen anyone die? Jesus died, so that he could enter in to the throne room of God (remember God’s comments made to Moses, no man could do that with out dying), in that throne room to present the blood and death necessary to initiate the policy of the new covenant… Signed, sealed, and delivered, once and never again….
B) Repeated atonement is heretical
B) Repeated atonement is heretical
v 25-26 – Let’s get something straight, Jesus does not die every time we sin, nor do we re crucify him during each communion time for the forgiveness of that week’s sin, as some believe we Christians so. If that was true, Jesus would still be on the cross. He is most certainly not still on the cross but is in the Holy Place with God…. The belief that Jesus is still on the cross is a heretical belief that is not from God, it is from Satan. Jesus’ last words on the cross before he gave us his life was “it is finished” … done… never happening again. He appeared once on earth as the God man, to offer his body as a sacrifice of blood, to appear to God with that sacrifice once, and will come back once more only this time with a new title, The King of Kings and the Lord of Lords… This is the title that is given to him in the Book of Revelation when Christ comes back to save his people and judge the world. Whether we meet death first, or Christ comes back, one this is assured…
V) A Substitutional Death for Salvific Judgement is Necessary (v 28)
V) A Substitutional Death for Salvific Judgement is Necessary (v 28)
At the end of that eventful passover week when Jesus was finishing his ministry, the Romans had prepared three crosses for three criminals. On two of the crosses theives were to hang. The third cross was for an insurrectionist named Barabbas, who had been found guilty of treason against the empire. But Barabbas never made it to the cross. He was guilty and condemned, but he was not executed - Because someone took his place. On the middle cross that day hung not a violent, profane rebel, but the sinless son of God. Barabbas went free not because he was innocent, but because Jesus took his place. Jesus was crucified not because he was guilty, but so that he could take Barabbas’ place - and the place of every other sinner
A) He will come not to deal with Sin
A) He will come not to deal with Sin
Jesus will not come back to deal with sin, he has already done that on the cross! He bore the full punishment for your sin if you should so believe it. When he comes back, he will have something else on his mind, judgement. So, listen, time is short, and judgment is coming, and YOU NEED A SAVIOR FROM THE WRATH OF THE JUDGE. Place your life, now, right now, into the control of Jesus Christ.
B) He will come to save
B) He will come to save
When Christ comes back, he comes only to save his blood purified heirs. Time of judgment will have come, and the judge has been very clear. The sentence is everlasting separation from a holy God in extreme torment, or everlasting glory in the presence of God the father.
Now listen, if you haven’t believed that God is who he says he is, and that Jesus is who he says he is, then you have not come into the promise of the new covenant. I urge you to! Don’t wait! Do it today because you are NOT guaranteed tomorrow!
But for the rest,
How do you know that you have been included into the new covenant and that you are partaking in the New Covenant?
How do you know that you have been included into the new covenant and that you are partaking in the New Covenant?
Ask yourself three questions…
1. Do you have internal Joy that is expressed outwardly?
1. Do you have internal Joy that is expressed outwardly?
The Old covenant was mostly outward expression, but there was no joy about it. However, trust Christ and being a part of the new Covenant means that God’s law is written on your heart. How you obey God should be in Joy. is a command…. READ. God becomes the center of your life… everything is filtered through him when you are his. There is nothing greater than having a God saturated life. Nothing else can bring as much joy because nothing else is as great of significance.
2. Do you practice freedom?
2. Do you practice freedom?
Freedom means to be able to act on something without restraint. READ 12-14
Sin was paid for. So you who are in Christ under the new covenant can act in a right way without restraint. Your conscience gets purified so you know you are doing the right thing without asking. We don’t talk a lot about sin in the conservative church. Because in the church sin is something we want to be free from but we don’t talk a lot about how to deal with it on a day to day. How does one deal with pride issues or drug addiction? Overwhelming fear or pornography addiction? Explosive anger or the lust of money? We need to talk about it more because sin GROWS in the quiet. Sin grows when it is not exposed to light. In our life groups, during service, and at the dinner table, we need to talk about it more because Christian’s should be constantly fighting sin, reminding each other that we are not alone in the fight, and encouraging each other to push on. In partaking of the new covenant, sin is NO LONGER taboo. Sin is a reality that we rule over.
3.Do you have hope?
3.Do you have hope?
This life isn’t your own, it is bought, it has purpose, and the one who owns it or Lords it is coming back! Hope no longer in a set of rules, or in a leader on earth Hope is found in Jesus who saves you from Hell. This powerful Hope is for this life, and then the next. We as christian’s normally get this right, that Hope for this life it’s not the only hope we have. We have hope in the afterlife! and Paul talks about that in first Corinthians chapter 15:9. He says that if we hope in this life only for Christ and we have all men are most to be pittied. But we in this current age have flipped that around and it seems like we hope in the next life only. Like, we try and medicate and numb this life because in the next life we will be free from sin and finally with God. This is ignorance on our part, because we have been liberated in this life. We have a purpose, we have a job, we have no chains holding us down, we have the one who is able to destroy both body and soul on our side, and yet we aren’t unhesitant telling others about God’s goodness! Oh church, we can’t have one without the other, because both are true. We have hope in this life as well as hope in the next life that we will be judged by the sovereign creator of the universe free.
The New Covenant promises that you could take sin head on in a battle. it promises that you can take on persecution because what you are living for is SOMEONE so great, he holds every life in his hand....it promises that you will be purified to the point that God will come and live with you. And it promises that we will spend eternity with him.
[1] John macarthur