Christ is a Better Sacrifice
Part 3: A Better Offering
Hebrews 10:1-18
Introduction.
The Book of Hebrews’ central theme is the idea that we are under a better system today.
And in Chapters 9 and 10, we see it culminating in the idea that Christ a better sacrifice.
The writer starts in Ch. 8 talking of the better covenant that we have, and quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34, stating that such a covenant had been foretold.
In that new covenant we would have true forgiveness of sins!
The writer of Hebrews has been spending some time expounding upon how we can have that true forgiveness through Christ.
In this section we are looking at today (10:1-18), there are some repeated ideas.
But the writer brings the point home by vs. 18.
This is the final proof that the system we have under Christ is far better than the Mosaic system that existed before.
It is because we have no more need for animal sacrifices.
Christ is a better offering than any that could come before.
It is this offering that offers us true sanctification, that is being made truly holy and reconciled to God.
Preview.
No Sanctification (10:1-4).
Better Santification (10:5-10).
Continued Sanctification (10:11-18).
Body.
No Sanctification (10:1-4).
The Law is a Shadow.
Again we see the concept of the Law of Moses being a shadow, something we talking about this morning.
It is not the very image of the things, which is a reference to the better system we are under now.
Recall the tabernacle that Moses built was merely an earthly copy of what was in heaven where the true tabernacle is.
Christ is the true image of the shadow of the animal sacrifices offered.
The Day of Atonement.
The writer here continues to focus on the Day of Atonement, the day in the Mosaic Law where sins were supposed to have been taken away.
And it was on this day that sacrifices were made every year for the purpose of forgiveness.
The phrase we see here is “make those who approach perfect.”
The writer is talking of those who approached the tabernacle and the ark, and pointing out the fact that such sacrifices couldn’t make such men perfect or complete or truly reconciled to God.
And as we discussed last week, that certainly wasn’t the case without the sacrifice of Christ who validated all those earlier sacrifices (9:15).
The writer asks a pointed question: If their sins were actually forgiven, why did they continue to offer sacrifices?
The question is rhetorical, with the implied answer their sins weren’t actually forgiven.
Instead, the Day of Atonement, while meant to forgive sins, served only as a reminder of them.
Such an activity ended up running counter to its perceived purpose.
But it did serve a greater purpose: to remind Israel that they needed a Savior!
Why? Because the blood of bulls and goats could not actually forgive sins, and could not truly sanctify.
Instead we now have a better sanctification.
Better Sanctification (10:5-10).
The writer quotes from Psalm 40:6-8 and applies it to Jesus.
This is a Messianic Psalm written by David, and here he writes about sacrifices.
In Psalm 40, it reads that God did not desire nor did He require such sacrifices.
When he writes, “My ears You have opened,” it refers to an ear being dug out as one formed. It is an idiom that expresses how one is created.
The Hebrews writer reflects that idea by saying, “a body You have prepared for Me.”
This is certainly true, as God had formed Him in the womb of a virgin conceived of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20).
You see, He came to this earth for this very purpose, to be that ultimate sacrifice.
God didn’t really care about all the animal sacrifices that He commanded in His Law.
What He truly cared about was prefiguring the Christ, His Son, to come and fulfill all those sacrifices!
He came, and the whole of the OT is written about Jesus.
It’s what we tell our kids, right? That the Bible is a book all about Jesus.
The OT: “Jesus is coming.” The Gospels: “Jesus is here.” The rest of the NT: “Jesus is coming back.”
We have a book that we read to our children often called the Jesus Storybook Bible, and the subtitle is: “Every story whispers His name” – that is so true!
One thing that the Hebrews write skipped over in the passage in Psalm 40 was that He doesn’t just do the will of God, but He delights in it!
This “will” here is not the same as a “Last Will & Testament,” it’s not a legal document, but that which the Lord desires, His wants and wishes.
And Jesus, knowing why He came to this earth, delighted in fulfilling His purpose to serve as the atoning sacrifice for our sins!
This seems to serve as a contrast to what we read about in Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, that He wanted “this cup to pass” from Him.
But ultimately, what was His prayer: “Let not My will, but Yours will be done!”
According to the Law.
Back to the main idea, the writer comments another apparent contradiction: that God did not desire or take pleasure in sacrifices and offerings, yet He commanded them in His Law.
This concept we see in several passages in the OT, that He desires mercy and not sacrifice (Hos. 6:6), that obedience is better than sacrifice (1 Sam. 15:22), and that He prefers a broken spirit and a contrite heart over burnt offerings and sacrifices (Psa. 51:16-17).
And here we see why—because those sacrifices were useless when it came to taking away sins. Only Jesus could do that.
It was also the will of God, His desire, that Jesus takes away that first Law that couldn’t actually forgive sins to establish the second law that could!
True sanctification.
We could not have been sanctified (made holy) or had our sins forgiven under that old system, but we can now through the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
And this was something that was done once for all.
And yet, while this is presented in the past tense, the next time we see this will be in the present.
While we have been sanctified, we continue to be sanctified!
Recall in that OT Law, in Leviticus, that they consecrated themselves, they made themselves holy by keeping the Law (Lev. 11:44).
“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.”
That’s not something we have to worry about, for it is Christ who sanctifies us through His work on the cross!
Even so, that doesn’t free us from any obligations found in that NT Law—we still need to continue being sanctified.
Continued Sanctification (10:11-18).
Old System.
In that old system, the priests had to work unendingly, offering sacrifices daily, weekly, monthly, yearly – constantly – in order to keep up with it all.
When we read just how many sacrifices were made on various occasions, since the writer has gone beyond the Day of Atonement, it boggles the mind how much blood was flowing during those events.
They did all that, and without Christ, it would have been all for nothing!
Why? Because those sacrifices couldn’t do anything about your sins, not really.
New System.
Instead, Christ took care of it all, all sins anytime anywhere—how amazing is that!
I know I say that a lot, but considering how often the Hebrews writer repeats it and makes sound more and more amazing every time, I can’t help it!
Notice that this Christ now sits down at the right hand of God.
This is contrasted with the standing of the priests and their constant work.
Now Christ can sit down and rest, why? Because the work is done!
Recall what He said as He was hanging on that cross? “It is finished!” (John 19:30).
And He sits, having the authority that sitting at God’s right hand provides Him, as the writer once again alludes to Psalm 110:1.
The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
And He is sitting there now, waiting for that to become a reality.
Recall that last enemy to be destroyed: death (1 Cor. 15:26).
And it will be destroyed in the resurrection, on that last day, when He returns and gathers us home!
It was this one offering that we have been perfected forever, in contrast to 10:1 where the yearly sacrifices made could not “make those who approach perfect.”
Yet, we are still in need of being sanctified.
While it is a one-time event, it is also a continual event.
You see the blood of Jesus flows continually for us all, covering our sins.
We sing a song: “There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel’s veins, and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains!” #207
And John informs us that cleansing only happens if we walk in the light as He is in the light (1 John 1:7).
That blood cleanses us, present tense, from our sins.
We have been sanctified, we are being sanctified, and the idea we might get from the morning sermon, we will be sanctified on the Last Day.
Holy Spirit’s witness.
At the same time we have the witness of the Holy Spirit.
We might recall that this is a quotation from Jeremiah 31, that which the writer spent some time on in Ch. 8.
Here he finishes this section with this reminder, that the new covenant will bring them true forgiveness.
The Holy Spirit provided Jeremiah with this thought, and He reminds the people of God of what He said about 600 years prior.
If sins are truly forgiven, then, no more sacrifices need to be made for it.
That’s why we can say He died for the sins of the world.
They’ve all been taken away, but it only applies to those who accept it.
Recall that the sacrifices people made in the Old Law only applied to those who made those sacrifices, putting their hands on the heads of their sacrificial animals as they died ritually transferring their sin to the animal—and it really only applied when accompanied by a “broken spirit and a contrite heart” (Psa. 51:16-17), which is a synonym for repentance.
So since our sins have been washed away, the only way we can take true advantage of it is if we repent of our sin by first having a broken spirit and a contrite heart, and we are baptized, having our sins transferred to Christ.
That’s what Peter told the Jews on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:38).
It was true then, and it’s true today.
Conclusion.
We have all sinned.
We are all guilty of something.
And there is Someone who can and will forgive you if you want Him to.
You can live free of guilt over your past actions—Jesus offers that for you.
That doesn’t mean we can do whatever we want, but it does mean we don’t have to feel bad for all the terrible things we’ve done in our past.
Of course, it’s often easier for God to forgive us than it is for us to forgive ourselves, but that’s a sermon for another time.
Would you like to be forgiven this evening?
Don’t wait. Obey the gospel tonight!
You don’t know if you have another day!