OUR BETTER HIGH PRIEST
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 1, 2021 under 2021 |
Bethany Bible Church Sunday Message; August 1, 2021 from Hebrews 9:11-15
Theme: Jesus Christ—our crucified Savior—serves us as our better High Priest.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
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It’s hard—in the trials of life—to look beyond the immediate circumstances; and to keep our focus on the good things of God that never change. But it’s something that’s very important to do for the well-being of our souls. God’s word tells us these changeless truths in order to help us endure through trials faithfully, and to receive the eternal blessings He wants to give us.
As we prepare ourselves to come to the Lord’s table this morning, I invite you to look at a portion of God’s word in Hebrews 9 that—if we will pay attention to what it says—will help lead us to a great deal of encouragement. It tells us about something that has been done for us by the greatest of all persons, and who has the highest possible authority to do it, It’s something that’s certain, changeless, and will never fail. In the midst of all the raging waves around us, this thing that has been done for us is the anchor that binds us to eternal life. It’s what secures us for a glorious heavenly inheritance that—no matter what may happen—will never be lost to us.
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Now; before we look at this passage, I ask you to consider a question. It might be something that you’ve wondered about before. It’s a very important question that involves a mystery—something that we would not know unless God’s Word had revealed it to us. But it’s a question that this morning’s passage, at least to some degree, answers for us and tells us what we truly need to know.
The question is, What was happening between the time that our Lord died on the cross and was raised from the tomb? As His body laid in the grave, what was He, in His spirit, doing?
Think about it carefully. It’s very clear that something important happened during that time. Just before He died on the cross, our Lord turned to the believing thief who was being crucified next to Him, and told Him, “Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Our Lord’s spirit would be—that very day—in the abode of His Father; and something would have happened that would make it possible for that condemned thief’s spirit—who could not have lived on to lead a repentant life, or could have offered any sacrifices to atone for his sins—to be in Paradise with Him. So plainly, something very remarkable was about to happen. And then we’re told in Matthew 27:51 that, immediately after our Lord yielded up His spirit on the cross and died, the veil of the temple—that curtain that separated the most sacred place of the temple from the rest of the world—was torn in two from top to bottom as if by an unseen Hand. It was as if the way to God had been suddenly opened up to mankind. And then, after our Lord rose from the dead three days later, He met Mary Magdalene and announced that a new relationship with God had been established. He gave her a message to give to the apostles; saying, “go to My brethren and say to them, ‘I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God’” (John 20:17).
So; something very significant happened between the time that Jesus died on the cross and the time that He bodily rose from the dead. It was something that has changed everything for us. It was what will give us security and encouragement in our times of trial if we will allow it to. What was Jesus doing during that time? What wondrous thing did He accomplish for us?
We’re given an answer in Hebrews 9:11-15; where it says;
But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Hebrews 9:11-15).
The key point of this passage is found in verses 11 and 12. And it can be stated this way: Jesus Christ came as “High Priest of the good things to come”; having “entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.” That’s what He was doing for us between the time He died on the cross and the time He rose from the dead.
As we come to the table of the Lord this morning, if we think with reverent gratitude about the death Jesus died on the cross for us, we are certainly thinking rightly. But if that’s all that we think about, we’re not thinking rightly enough—and we’re not able to express the fullest gratitude for all that He did for us or experience the fullest security about our future. An offering for sin would not be accepted by God unless it was then also administered on our behalf by someone who was qualified by God to do so. And our Lord Jesus not only died as our sinless Substitute on the cross—He not only gave Himself as the offering for our sin—but He was also the fully qualified High Priest who then administered that offering before God on our behalf. He was both our offering for sin, and our High Priest for the administration of that offering.
After He died on the cross for us, He went to a better place for us—that is, to the tabernacle in the heavens; and He bore a better offering for us—that is, His own blood; and He became Mediator of a better covenant for us—the New Covenant by which we are fully saved.
And so, as this passage shows us, Jesus Christ—our crucified Savior—serves us in every way as our better High Priest. The communion meal is a good time to celebrate that.
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Now; to understand what this passage is telling us, we need to know a little about why the Book of Hebrews was written.
We can’t say for sure who the human author of it was. (Plainly, its primary Author was the Holy Spirit.) But it was clearly written to encourage Jewish Christians who were suffering persecution for their faith. They were tempted to draw back from a whole-hearted faith in Jesus, and to go back to the old Judaistic patterns and rituals of the Old Testament era. And the writer was appealing to them that there was no going back. Those older-covenant patterns—with all of the offerings and sacrifices and feast days and rituals—had served their purpose and had been brought to an end. They were only meant to serve as a picture of the good things that were yet to come. And they had all been perfectly fulfilled for us in the High Priestly work of Jesus Christ.
Look at how Chapter 9 begins. The writer pointed back to the Old Covenant that had been established by God in the days of Moses. He said;
Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail (9:1-5).
The ministry of that Old Covenant tabernacle was important. It was given by God for the atonement of the sin of His people. It served as a temporary picture to point the people’s faith ahead to what God would one day do to completely take their sins away. But in its time, it provided only an imperfect ministry. It could not entirely take away sin. The writer went on to say;
Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation (vv. 6-10).
Clearly, a better covenant was needed. Better offerings in a better tabernacle were needed. A better High Priest was needed—one who had no sin of his own to atone for. And that’s where our Lord comes in. As verse 11 tells us, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come”; that is, a New Covenant from God that would provide a complete atonement for sin; a work that would result in ‘eternal redemption’—not just for the Jewish people who believe, but for all people.
Let’s look a little closer at this passage, then; and see what it is that Jesus—our better High Priest—accomplished for us between the time that He died and the time that He rose again.
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First, we see that He is our better High Priest …
1. HAVING ENTERED INTO A BETTER TABERNACLE.
In verse 11, the writer says, “But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.”
It’s good to think of that Old Covenant tabernacle. It’s remarkable to think of the things in the tabernacle that the writer of Hebrews described for us earlier. But it’s even more remarkable and wonderful to consider that it was only a copy of a greater and more eternal tabernacle in the heavens. Back when Moses was first commanded to build it, God told him,
“According to all that I show you, that is, the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all its furnishings, just so you shall make it” (Exodus 25:9).
That’s because that Old Covenant tabernacle was not the ultimate tabernacle. It was an earthly copy—made with human hands—of the real tabernacle in the heavens. And after our Lord died on the cross as our offering for sin through His blood, He took the atonement of that offering for us into the better tabernacle—the one made without hands; the one that was not of this created realm—in order to administer His offering on our behalf.
Do you remember that, when that old earthly tabernacle was set up, God commanded that it be sprinkled with blood? Once a year—on what was called the Day of Atonement—offerings were made; and the blood of those offerings were sprinkled upon the tabernacle and all of the articles in it. And if the earthly tabernacle needed to be cleansed by the atoning blood of an offering in order for sinners to draw near to God, then the greater tabernacle in the heavens needed the purification of atonement too. But more so! As it says in Hebrews 9:23-24;
Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us … (Hebrews 9:23-24)
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; an eternal dwelling place is being prepared for us in our Father’s house. That’s where we are absolutely destined to be. And we can be sure that we—though sinners—are going to be welcomed there. The tabernacle in the heavens—our eternal home—has already been made fit to receive us by Jesus our High Priest. He has already entered into the better tabernacle for us and administered His sacrifice for us on our behalf.
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And think too of the offering itself. The Bible tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins. Back in the days of the Old Covenant, the high priest had to offer the blood of animals for the sins of the people. But look at what we’re told in verse 12 about Jesus our High Priest. It says, “Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
This teaches us that our better High Priest ministers on our behalf …
2. BEARING A BETTER OFFERING.
The writer of Hebrews asked his readers to think back to what the Old Testament told them. Back in Leviticus 16, they were told about the Day of Atonement; when the blood of bulls and goats were sprinkled upon the holy things of God’s tabernacle. And in Numbers 19, it told them about the ashes of the red heifer. Whenever one of the Jewish people came into contact with a dead human body, they were defiled by it. And so, God ordained that a red heifer—without any spot or blemish on it—was to be made into a burnt offering; and its ashes were to be stored away. And whenever a person became defiled by a human corpse, they were to come to the temple. A priest would then mix the ashes of the heifer with water and sprinkle that person; and then they would be ceremonially clean before God.
The writer of Hebrews shows us how much greater an offering the blood of Jesus is when—in verses 13-14—he writes; “For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Think of it, dear brothers and sisters! By the greater offering that our sinless High Priest has brought for us—Jesus’ own blood—our consciences are made completely clean before God from all of the dead sinful works of the past. I can testify to that personally. Before I trusted Jesus, I felt continually dirty and filthy inside. My sin stained every part of me. My conscience condemned me, and I felt no peace before God. But after I trusted Jesus—and His blood was applied to me—I immediately felt all of that guilt flow away. I felt wonderfully clean inside—and have felt so ever since. And as it says in verse 12, I have the security of “eternal redemption”. Because it is the blood of Jesus that redeems me, I will never be lost to Him.
In Hebrews 10:1-10, the writer tells us about the greater offering Jesus has made for us:
For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.
Therefore, when He came into the world, He said:
“Sacrifice and offering You did not desire,
But a body You have prepared for Me.
In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin
You had no pleasure.Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—
In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’”
Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:1-10).
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ; there could be no greater offering made for us—to completely redeem us from sin and make us 100% acceptable in God’s sight—than the offering that our High Priest Jesus has made for us. He who is without sin offered His own blood for us!
What an infinitely better offering that is!
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And so; our High Priest, better than any who served in the Old Covenant, has entered into a better place for us than the old tabernacle, and has offered a far better offering and more effective for us than could have ever been offered back then.
And that leads us, finally, to also see that He serves as our better High Priest …
3. AS MEDIATOR OF A BETTER COVENANT.
As it says in verse 15, “And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of an eternal inheritance.”
A covenant is an agreement that defines the terms in which God will accept us. And back in that Old Covenant, the terms in which God would accept us was through obedience to His commands. Back in Leviticus 18, He spoke through Moses and told the Jewish people;
You shall observe My judgments and keep My ordinances, to walk in them: I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore keep My statutes and My judgments, which if a man does, he shall live by them: I am the Lord (Leviticus 18:4-5).
But no one could live before God on those terms. Disobedience would immediately condemn the sinner; and an atoning sacrifice would need to be offered. And because disobedience would happen over and over, an offering needed to be made again and again. That Old Covenant—while holy and good because it was from God—could only result in more sin and condemnation before God, and in endlessly repeated offerings.
A New Covenant was needed. And God promised that He would give it. Back in Jeremiah 31, it said;
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
Jesus came as the High Priest who serves as the Mediator of this New Covenant. He has kept the commandments of His Father under the terms of the Old Covenant for us; and so, all of His righteousness is now applied to us by faith. And He paid the penalty of sin under the Old Covenant for us, so that all of our sins have now been atoned for. Now under the New Covenant—the new agreement which defines how we can be right with God—we place our trust in Jesus as our Mediator with God; and the Father looks upon us and sees no guilt of sin in us. He only sees the righteousness of His Son upon us. As the writer of Hebrews says in 8:6 about Jesus;
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises (Hebrews 8:6).
Praise God! We have a better High Priest, who has gone for us into a better tabernacle, bearing a better offering, and serving as the Mediator for us of a better covenant! This is what Jesus did for us after He died and before He rose again. And He now sits at the right hand of the Father for us to forever make us secure in what He has done for us. No matter what else may happen in this world, that can never be taken from us. Our destiny in Jesus is secure and sure.
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And what should we do with it all? Let’s do as the writer tells us in Hebrews 10:19-25;
Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching (Hebrews 10:19-25).
EA
