LAUGH 'N LEARN

An Encouragement Ministry of Verde Valley Christian Church Of Cottonwood Arizona
http://www.vvchristianchurch.net/

Issue # 361    February 1,  2010

LAUGH

LEARN

Jim's Manuscript

January 31, 2010

The "Out of This World" Sacrifice

Better In Every Way--Hebrews Series (Part 9)

Text:  Hebrews 9

Important Questions

Have you ever had these questions about Christianity, or tried to explain to someone else who had questions like these?

• Why did God set up a system of sacrifices in the Old Covenant?  They seem so bloody and backward and barbaric.  For that matter even the idea that God would send his own Son to die, seems bloody and barbaric; if God is God, why didn't he set up some different way, as other religions say he does, where God in his mercy just forgives who he decides to forgive?
• Why did Jesus, the Son of God have to die?
• And as it relates to our chapter of study today specifically, "Why does the Bible teach that reconciliation with a Holy God is "never without blood" (Hebrews 9:7)?
• Why Can't God "just forgive us"?
• Why didn't God set up some other kind of Covenant by doing it some other way, offering forgiveness some other way?

All of these questions are trying to answer one very big and all important question:

• How Is Reconciliation With A Holy God Made Possible?

You can see how the answers to these questions are more than theoretical discussions.  The correct answers to these questions are a matter of life and death.  No.  That is not saying it strong enough.  The correct answers to these questions are a matter of eternal life or eternal death, eternity with God in the bliss of heaven, or eternity without God in hell of Hell.  So you can see why this message although it might be a difficult one conceptually, is one that is important for us to grasp.

There is a VERY Popular Lie today that goes like this:  There are MANY PATHS that lead to God.  The word picture image used is that God is on the top of a mountain, and many paths lead to him, there is the Jewish Path, the Christian Path, the Islamic path, the Buddhist path, the Hindu Path, etc.  Let me show you the fastest way past this lie.

            [White Board Illustration]

Do you want to know God's Truth?  No Human Path Leads to God.

Romans 3:23 (NIV) for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

            There is a spiritual gulf, chasm separating unholy sinners and the Holy God.

            [White Board Illustration]

We aren't really talking about a mountain.  We are talking about spiritual realities.  There has been a rip in the fabric of God's universe, causing a spiritual chasm, that separates sinners from God.  The rip affects more than people.  There truly is a chasm between the spiritual and eternal and the temporal and physical.

Romans 8:19-21 (NIV) ¹⁹ The creation waits in eager expectation for the sons of God to be revealed. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

            The eternal and spiritual has ripped away from the temporal and sinful.  When did this happen?  It happened early, with the first pair of humans.  The moment they chose to sin when they trusted a lie rather than God, everything changed for the created order.  They were choosing to follow a rebellion rather than God.  The world has been under the rebellion ever since.

Each Human Path Ends At The Chasm's Edge

Proverbs 14:12 (NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Proverbs 16:25 (NIV) There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

God Did Something To Bridge The Chasm

            Mankind is fallen, and at odds with God and with each other.  There is no peace.  But God loves us still.  He created us for relationship.  He still wants a relationship with us.  The way he bridged the chasm was by providing "The Out of This World Sacrifice" which is what I've entitled today's study.  Our study today is from Hebrews 9.  This is where God's PERFECT JUSTICE met his INFINITE MERCY.  We usually use the phrase "Its out of this world" to describe something that is great.  By that we mean it is so good it is incomparable, however, we are comparing, and that's why we give the superlative comparison "It's out of this world."  The Old Testament sacrifices have points of comparison, but the sacrifice they foreshadowed is out of this world.

Focus:  God created us for relationship with him, and he loves us enough to take the time, effort, and pain to make a relationship with him possible.

I.        An Elaborate Illustration (9:1-10)

I want to start with Hebrews 9:9, then we will back up and read 9:1-10 so we know where we are going together.

Hebrews 9:9 (NIV) This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper.

The whole Old Covenant worship system was an elaborate EARTHLY illustration of something "Out of This World" "BETTER" God was going to do. 

Hebrews 9:1-10 (NIV) ¹ Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ² A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. ⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

A.      The Tabernacle Sacrifices were "copies" that Worked Through Anticipatory Faith (8:5; 9:23-24)

Hebrews 8:5 (NIV) They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: "See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain."

Hebrews 9:23-24 (NIV) ²³ It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

Hebrews 9:1-10 (NIV) ¹ Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. ² A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lampstand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. ³ Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place, ⁴ which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. ⁵ Above the ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover. But we cannot discuss these things in detail now. ⁶ When everything had been arranged like this, the priests entered regularly into the outer room to carry on their ministry. ⁷ But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance. ⁸ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing. ⁹ This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshiper. ¹⁰ They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external regulations applying until the time of the new order.

If you think bloody animal sacrifices cannot really forgive people, you are Right!  That's what Hebrews 9:9 tells us.

These were only shadow sacrifices and are not in themselves able to cleanse the conscience of the worshiper.

Sacrifices Were Shadows of the Real Sacrifice (inferior copies of the reality), but these connected people by Faith to God's offer of forgiveness, which works because it anticipated the coming REAL sacrifice. 

The power of the shadow is in the Reality that gives the shadow shape and meaning, not the shadow itself.

The ceremonial cleansing of the Law only cleansed earthly and physical things. Heaven needed a sacrifice that was better.  In the REAL, that is Heavenly tabernacle, the spiritual is cleansed by the REAL and better, or should I say, out of this world, sacrifice.

B.      The New Covenant Works Through Faith In the Real "Out Of This World" Sacrifice (9:11-12, 23-26)

Hebrews 9:11-12 (NIV) ¹¹ When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. ¹² He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

The "out of this World" Sacrifice was not Animals, but the Son; not on earth in a tent, but in heaven in God's presence.  We saw it, in the incarnation.  The Spiritual and the Earthly reality comingled.  In the incarnation Jesus was fully God and fully man.  In the crucifixion, the earthly and the spiritual reality of sacrifice also comingle.  After Jesus' sacrifice, there is the ascension!  He enters the Holy of Holies and ministers NOW on our behalf, appearing before God as our High Priest.

²⁴ For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence.

The inspired writer to the Hebrews does a quick Value Comparison!  The out of this world sacrifice is a voluntary sacrifice not a victim sacrifice and is so much better it only needs to be offered once.

Hebrews 9:24-26 (NIV) ²⁴ For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God's presence. ²⁵ Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶ Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself.

II.       Why Access Without Sacrifice is Impossible (9:13-22)

Hebrews 9:13-22 (NIV) ¹³ The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. ¹⁴ How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! ¹⁵ For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance--now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. ¹⁶ In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, ¹⁷ because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. ¹⁸ This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. ¹⁹ When Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. ²⁰ He said, "This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep." ²¹ In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. ²² In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

A.      The Scale Of Heaven

Sometimes people have the wrong scale in mind.

They evaluate themselves on a scale of good works outweighing the bad, and if one is heavier than the other then God let's them into heaven.  This is nowhere to be found in scripture. 

Some others see God grading on a scale.  There are bad people, then there are good people.  And if you are above the median curve, he lets you in. 

This also is nowhere to be found in the Bible. 

Let me introduce you to a more accurate scale of heaven.

ILLUSTRATION:  Taking out a business card.  Business Card, on a scale of 1 to 10 , 10 being the best human you know, and 1 being the worst Human you know.   Say, Mother Teresa versus Adolf Hitler.  Where are you?   Now this business card is 3 inches tall.  The best is 3 inches off the ground.  But God's standard is the Sear's Tower in Chicago, which is according to this business card scale, 5804 times the height of the moral standard of the best

Nobody Can Make It On their Own Merit.  The scale of Heaven is PEFECTION!

B.      Why We Wouldn't Want It Any Other Way

Why can't God just snap his fingers and say, "You are Forgiven"?  Why does he set up this elaborate system first in the Old Covenant, then the New?  Some would even call this bloody system in the Old Covenant as "barbaric"!   Others would describe the central truths of Christianity as "barbaric"!  Why would God sacrifice his own son!  Allowing him to be crucified in order for us to be forgiven?  Why not set up a Trinitarian formula of Knocking and Acknowledging the true God, and God graciously forgives.  So instead of Baptism the candidates for conversion simply stand before the congregation and say, "I forsake all my sinful ways, and turn to the living God, and I allow him to knock some sense into me in the name of the Father, (knock on your head), and the Son (knock again), and the Holy Spirit (knock again), Amen!"

Could God set up something like this?  Let me tell you, if God did, He'd be a different kind of God, a God that is NOT just!  He'd be an arbitrary God.  He'd be a God you wouldn't love.  Let me try to explain why. 

Who does he decide to forgive, and on what basis?  On the basis of our hearts?  Deciding we are somehow good enough?  Some Religions view God this way, judging based on some other scale than PERFECT JUSTICE.  And because it is some arbitrary scale, you cannot know if you are forgiven until judgment day.  You are always wondering if you have done enough.  You are always wondering if your heart will be weighed and measured by this God then forgiven.   You always wonder if you love him enough.  And it is his decision to forgive.  But think about this.  On what basis does such a God forgive?  On something you did on the path?  What makes one sinner forgivable and one sinner condemnable?  What sins can be forgiven?  Is a murderer forgivable?  On what basis is one murderer forgivable and another murderer condemnable?  Why are some sinners forgiven and some sinners judged?  Does one good thing offset the bad thing for which someone is forgiven?  Do you see the problem here?  It waters down God's justice.  Although some Religions claim to uphold God's justice and his punishment of wickedness, these other religions undermine God's Justice because they do not acknowledge the Atoning Sacrifice as the ONLY way.  As a result in these other religious views, judgment day is a sham!  In these other Religions, if you have done enough good things, then you can be forgiven.  But on what basis?  TRUE JUSTICE DOES NOT WORK THAT WAY.  If someone is convicted of Fraud, he isn't forgiven, just because he is a good family man, or was a really helpful and nice little league coach.  If God is PERFECTLY just, every sin has a penalty.  And if heaven is a perfect place, that penalty must be paid, or that world is not just.  Do you see my point?

But I thought God is forgiving.  On what basis then is God forgiving?  God IS forgiving, he wants to forgive people more than anything in the world, in order to restore us to himself, but God's desire to forgive does not negate his perfect justice.  The rip in the universe has to be repaired.  And every sin, has consequences. 

So what has to happen to get us back to God?  What has to happen to repair the rip in the fabric of the universe?  There are only 2 options.  Either sinners have to pay their own penalty, resulting in eternal separation from a perfectly just God, or He could pay the penalty for their sins.  Since God is God and not part of the creation, when God pays the penalty with the Sacrifice of Jesus, that sacrifice is effective once and for all.  It is an out of this world sacrifice with the merit and value that so far surpasses anything in this world, that it is big enough to pay the penalty for everyone. 

Now why would God do that?

Let me ask you a question before I answer that.

It is a question for you who are Mom's or Dad's mostly.  Have you ever loved your own children deeply enough that you know, that if your son or daughter was in harms way, you would have risked your life, or even given your life to save theirs?

If you, with your imperfect love could do that, don't you think God loves you at least as much as you love your children?

That is an understatement.  His love is more perfect than even our best example of a parent's love for their child.

He willingly sacrificed himself, for us.

III.  Next On His Agenda: 

A.  Judgment!  (9:27)

Hebrews 9:27 (NIV) ²⁷ Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,

B.  His Return  (9:28)

Hebrews 9:28 (NIV) so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and he will appear a second time...

C.  Salvation Complete! (9:28)

Hebrews 9:28 (NIV) ...he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

(C) Jim Hammond

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