Last time I posted a message, we looked at verses 15-17 of this chapter. In those verses, the author of this letter is considering the 'new covenant'. He likens it to a will that people make out before they die, in order that their property and possessions can be inherited by those that they want to pass those things on to. When Jesus died he passed on a 'glorious inheritance' (Ephesians 1:18) to his people. Before this, these people were in debt. In fact, they were in the deepest debt imaginable. Because of their sin, they owed God. But they had nothing to pay with. But because of this inheritance that they received when Christ died, their debt was paid in full.
I told the story, last time, of a man named Eugene Brown. When Eugene died, his inheritance was divided up in a less than satisfactory way. The end of the story of Eugene's life is disappointing. We noticed, I hope, that the end of the story of the life of Jesus is so much better.
'Better' is a word used in this passage in Hebrews 9 (v.23). Last time, we compared and contrasted two lives and two deaths, those of Eugene Brown and Jesus Christ. Hebrews also uses this idea of comparing and contrasting. In effect, the writer says, 'I want to talk about two things and one is “better” than the other'.
On one side of his comparison are things from the 'first covenant' (v.1), or what we might think of as the 'old' covenant. He mentions the 'regulations' that governed what happened during those religious ceremonies. He speaks about the priests that oversaw those ordinances. He tells us about the tabernacle, or tent, in which some of these things took place and details the animals that were put to death and whose blood was shed and then sprinkled in ritual.
On the other side of his comparison there is only one thing – Christ. Christ compares with all of those things listed under the first covenant. And it is a favourable comparison. In verse 11 we read, 'But when Christ came as a High Priest of the good things that are now already here'. The use of this word 'good' is by way of comparison. The things that belonged to the old covenant worship weren't bad. They were just not as good as what we find under the new covenant.
This is actually a theme that is developed from the start of this letter. God gave his old covenant rules to the nation of Israel through his servant Moses. Hebrews 3 says, of Moses, that he 'was faithful in all God’s house'. But it goes on to tell us that, 'Jesus has been found worthy of greater honour than Moses' (Hebrews 3:2-3). In fact, in the NIV, that portion of scripture is given a concise, but profound, heading. It says, 'Jesus greater than Moses'. Hebrews 3 isn't criticising Moses. In fact, its language is that of esteem. Moses served the Lord. It's just that Jesus served him better. Likewise, the old covenant law, given to Israel through Moses, served the purposes of the Lord. But the new covenant contract, brought to God's true people (Romans 9) by Jesus, serves his purposes better.
In verse 11 of Hebrews 9 which we have already quoted, '...Christ came as a High Priest of the good things that are now already here', the sentence continues with reference to a 'greater and more perfect tabernacle'. Again, this is the language of comparison. The old covenant was good. But the new is 'greater and more perfect'. In fact, it is perfect. The first covenant wasn't complete and it was time limited. It was designed for a period of time. The new covenant is complete and it is eternal.
Before we get to the verses of our text, let us look at some of the comparisons in Hebrews 9. There is design in Hebrews 9. The comparisons are meant to bring us towards the final verses so that we can appreciate them more.
Verse 1 has a significant word – 'earthly'. The first covenant was essentially that. Verses 2 & 3 mention the 'Holy Place' and the 'Most Holy Place', or 'inner room' as it is called in verse 7. Verse 7 reminds us that the high priest, who was the only person ever allowed to enter that room, was himself only allowed to enter it under the most strict of conditions and, even then, only allowed to enter it once a year, on what was known as the Day of Atonement. To disobey these rules meant certain death, so holy was that place (Leviticus 16:2). These harsh restrictions were meant to reveal something to Israel. They revealed the holiness of Israel's God. They revealed the unholiness of people. But verse 8 tells us that Israel should have grasped something else, because the Holy Spirit was 'showing' them something - 'the way into the Most Holy Place had not been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still functioning'.
Yes, these ceremonies were good. They were necessary. They were vital. Without them, Israel could not expect to continue to be regarded as the Lord's covenant people. But they weren't complete. They were not perfect. They did not bring about a way in which fallen mankind could enjoy a full relationship with God. Man could not enter freely into the Lord's holy presence.
But they did point to something else. They pointed towards what was coming in the future. While these religious protocols were 'earthly', they signified (see Hebrews 9:8 (AV)) something that was 'heavenly'. Verses 23 & 24 contain something that could appear strange at first glance. The writer of this letter has been talking about the animal sacrifices and the shedding of blood. He then says this, '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. For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.'
Christ did not enter an earthly holy place, he entered heaven, appearing on our behalf in the presence of God. So, what is strange? Well, in those two verses, we have the words 'copies' and 'copy'. The things that belonged to the first covenant were only 'copies' of the second, or new, covenant. This implies that the things belonging to the new covenant are the originals. So, the copies came before the original! This never happens. As Christians, we often talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ turning the world upside down. It does that here. I cannot think of another instance where a copy of something has been produced before the original. But this is what is being presented at this point. And, although this may contrast with what is normal, there is something in this Hebrews' illustration that is the same as what we would normally expect.
Say that I owned an original. It's a Leonardo Da Vinci masterpiece. I sit down and paint a copy. Then I offer one of them to you. You aren't offered both, just one of them. Which one would you take? We all know the answer. It wouldn't be the one painted using a set of £2.99 acrylics from The Works! You would all take the original. You would do that because it is better. And this is the same with the things of these two covenants. Though the original came afterwards, we want that, because it is 'better'.
What about these animal sacrifices? What did they achieve and what did they not achieve? They atoned for sin in a very limited sense. The Lord specified them. He required blood to be shed to appease his wrath towards Israel's sin. In Leviticus 1, where the various types of whole animal offering start to be detailed, there are several verses that describe what appears to be the odour of those sacrifices as they reach the senses of the Almighty. We read, 'It is a burnt offering, a food offering, an aroma pleasing to the Lord'.
But Hebrews 10:5-6 tells us something striking. The writer claims some of the words of Psalm 40 as being the prophetic words of Christ himself, when he 'came into the world'. Christ says 'with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased'. How can this be so? How can the Lord be pleased and yet not pleased with something? Well, I think it is like this. The Lord was pleased by the 'aroma' of those sacrifices. They smelt of Christ, if you like. They reminded the senses of the Lord of the better and more perfect way that was coming. These things of that old law acted, like we read in Galatians 3:24, as a 'guardian until Christ came'. They pleased the Lord, and held off his judgment, by pointing up Jesus. The Lord wasn't pleased by them, but by what they pictured, which was the coming of God's promised one into this world of sin.
Hebrews 10:9-10 reads, 'Then he (Jesus) said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.'
What a beautiful thing this is. And, again, how different to the 'copy'. Those Old Testament sacrifices were offered repeatedly. They held off the judgment of God from Israel, but then Israel sinned again. That is why the sacrifices were repeated, day after day after day. That is why this Day of Atonement sacrifice was repeated 'every year', as we read in Hebrews 9:25. Because these didn't actually, inherently, please God, in a full and perfect way. In fact, for those Israelites whose consciences were not 'seared as with a hot iron' (1 Timothy 4 2), those whose hearts were tender, who understood their own nature, the difference between the Lord's standard and the standard found in their own lives, they were left in a desperate place. Verse 9 tells us that these 'sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.' What a sad, sad situation.
Where Hebrews contrasts the two covenants, and uses words like 'greater' and 'better' in reference to the heavenly original, we have an understatement like no other. What Jesus Christ did is not just better. It's infinitely, eternally better. One is of this earth – earthy (1 Corinthians 15 47 (AV)). The other is out of this world. Out of this world and into 'heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (v.24).
Only a perfect human life, lived according to that which the Lord stipulated as his will, can make demands of God. Jesus came to do that will. He did it. God was pleased. And then Jesus died, the ultimate sacrifice, as he suffered for the sins of his people. Their punishment was borne by him. His perfect life was given to them. They are now made right with God.
So, what about their consciences? What about the fact that Christians continue to sin, though their desire is not to do so? (as Romans 7). Can my conscience really be 'clear'? Do I need further sacrifice for my future misdeeds? Our text tells us not. When Christ appears a second time, he will not be bearing our sins. He won't be 'dealing' with them (v.28 (NLT)). Because he already did just that. Actually, for me, and for you, when Christ died on that cross, all of our sins were in the future at that point. And he suffered for all that sin. All our sins were dealt with there. And our consciences can be, and they should be, as clear as they are now clean. Better? Oh, how much better?!
Hebrews 9 brings in another contrast in its last two verses, before it tells us that Christ's second coming is not for the purpose of bearing sin. It says, 'Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many'. Our sin results in death. That is our destiny. It is God appointed. And, outside of Christ, we would face a most fearful judgment. The death of man links to judgment. By contrast, the death of Christ saves from judgment. 'At the culmination of the ages', meaning at the most climactic point of human history, Christ came 'to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself' (v.26).
Some of the Israelites perceived that the institutions of the first covenant were just a big arrow, pointing towards something greater. Others struggled. Some were found in the position that we find described in Hebrews 2:15, people who 'all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death'. Fear of death. Fear of judgment. But Christ does away with sin. Christ does away with judgment. Following Christ is not easy in a fallen world. It is not easy. But what encouragement we have to persevere. Hebrews 4:14 instructs us in this way, 'Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.' Those who look only to Christ Jesus, always to Christ Jesus, can be done with the 'fearful expectation of judgment' that Hebrews 10:26 describes. For those that trust in the Lord, Christ is coming back and Christ is bringing salvation with him.
Who is he bringing it to? 'Those who are waiting for him' (v.28). The Lord's people, and only the Lord's people, can be found in this position. Waiting expectantly for his return, rejoicing that he is coming, to take them from this world of sin and death, to something much better.
But we need to be correct in our anticipation. If I was in a burning building, and had been told that the fire brigade was on the way to rescue me, would I be waiting expectantly for their coming? I would. But it wouldn't matter which firemen or fire-women came. If I expected the Fire Service from Wakefield to come and then the Dewsbury engine turned up, I wouldn't be bothered. I have no attachment to either set of people. But Hebrews doesn't want us to wait expectantly in that way. We aren't to be concentrated on the rescue but with no real attachment to the rescuer. I think we are being encouraged to be more like I felt on my wedding day. At the front of Kingsway church, I waited expectantly for my wife to be. I wanted to be joined, not just to anyone but to her. What if she had been substituted, and another young lady had walked into the church that morning, dressed as a bride. Would I have said, 'Well I wasn't expecting that.... but she'll do'? Of course I wouldn't. I was waiting expectantly for someone who I had a deep, personal relationship with; someone that I loved. Someone that I wished to be joined to for all of our earthly time.
This is how we are to wait for Jesus. He loved us and died for us. And we love him because he loved us (as 1 John 4:19). We should be waiting expectantly for that time when we will be with him, not for all time, but truly forever.
I said at the start that the end of the life of Jesus was so much better than the end of the life of that man, Eugene Brown. The truth is that the end of the life of Jesus, wasn't actually the end. He rose again, having triumphed over the monster that was our sin. He triumphed over death. He removed judgment. And he's coming back, with salvation in his hands. This should really 'strengthen (our) feeble arms and weak knees' (Hebrews 12:12).
'Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest' (Hebrews 3:1), … while we wait for the blessed hope – the appearing of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good' (Titus 2:13-14).
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