Jesus Has Done It All

Hebrews 9:1-14  

The people that the book of Hebrews was written to were tempted to go back to their old ritualistic system; to rely on the law once again and turn back to putting confidence in the sacrificial system. They lacked faith at times and experienced doubts and struggles just like we do. They needed to be reminded that what they had was far better than anything the world could offer them. What they had was far better than anything the law could offer them. What they had was even far better than the God-ordained, sacrificial system and the entire Old Covenant.

In fact, the author of Hebrews has already written that as good and helpful as the priestly system was, it was too weak and useless to save them. And, as we learned in chapter eight of Hebrews, the priestly system of old, was really just a shadow- a copy of the real thing. It was always meant to point forward to the need for something else.  And what the author of Hebrews has is trying to get the people to see in these verses is that Jesus has done what no covenant or system could ever do.

Main idea: Jesus has done what no covenant or system could ever do.

The first five verses can seem foreign to us and may not seem to make sense to us at first. But they are meant to show that the old covenant and the sacrificial system were never enough for man to be reconciled back to God completely.  A main points of the first six verses is to show that there was no way to get into God’s presence.

1.     There was no way to get into God’s presence

The author of Hebrews is taking time to show the inferiority of the old system and setting up the reader to understand that what we have is better. For us, reading this passage in our day, these verses are meant to make us appreciate just what it is that we have in Christ, that isn’t available to us any other way.

Their access to God in the old covenant, although gracious and good, was limited. And when the author calls the tabernacle an earthly place of worship, in verse one, the inference that he is making, is that it was lesser. Although it was God-ordained, it was only an earthly place of holiness. From the very outset, it was meant to reveal that it was limited and to show the need for something greater.

Then the author of Hebrews goes on to explain where the worship took place. It took place in a tent and for the most part, in two sections of the tent that the people were not permitted into. He mentions some of the ceremonial trappings of the lampstand and the table, which had twelve loaves of bread on it as a symbolic offering to God. And these things were in the first section  of the tent called the Holy Place as it tells us in verse two.

Then, in verse three, notice that the author is careful to distinguish that there were two distinct sections – two places within the tabernacle. It says in verse three,  “Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place,”. They had to go through the Holy Place to get to the Most Holy Place.  And in between the holy place and most holy place would have hung a large, thick curtain.  

The curtain would have been made of fine, twisted linen woven together beautifully with purple, scarlet and blue yarn.  On the curtain was embroidered figures of cherubim, large angels, signifying the guarding of entry back into God’s presence. Remember when we last heard about cherubim standing guard? It was back in the book of Genesis, when God sent man out of His presence in the garden and placed cherubim with flaming swords to guard the way.

In verses four and five, we see that inside of this most Holy Place, were the greatest symbols of the presence and nearness of God that the people of Israel possessed. The altar of incense represented the prayers of the people going up to God. The Ark of the Covenant was a manifestation of God’s powerful presence. The manna spoke of God’s provision - that only He is the bread of life and man lives by every Word that proceeds from His mouth. The rod reminded the people both of God’s miraculous deliverance. And it had budded when God was demonstrating that Aaron’s line would be the priestly tribe. The tablets were God’s gracious giving of the law to them to make a covenant with them, so that they could relate to God. The mercy seat was the place of atonement and the cherubim were symbolic of the glory and majesty of God, a dim reflection of the cherubim in heaven

But the interesting thing about all of these symbols is that almost no one was allowed to enter into the most holy place. No one could draw near, except the high priest and he could only come near on the day of atonement once a year. All of the symbols of God’s nearness were not near the people. They were withheld from the people under the Old Covenant. Oh, how the people must have longed to look into these places with a mixture of both fear and wonder. But they dared not or they would die. There was no way to get into God’s presence for them.

Indeed, for all mankind, there is no way for us to come into God’s presence on our own. No other religion, no merit, no effort, nothing and no one but Jesus Christ alone can bring us into God’s holy presence. Our condition apart from Jesus is even more hopeless than the people of Israel though, because the Old Covenant has been done away with now.

And the author of Hebrews is saying not only was there no way to get into God’s presence. All of these rituals, all of these symbols and even the continual sacrifices could not make the people really clean. So we see him laying out in verses six through nine the argument for why there was no way for man to be truly clean under the old covenant and its sacrificial system.

2.     There was no way for man to be truly clean

The priests go regularly into the holy place to perform the ritual duties of replacing the bread and replenishing the oil in the lampstand. The priests were continually entering the outer tabernacle performing their symbolic rituals. And the reason why there was so much symbolism in the Old Testament worship is that it was meant to help them understand that something greater was yet to come.

Verse seven tells us,  “but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people.” Only the High Priest goes into the most holy place and only once a year. He only goes taking blood as an offering for himself and the sins of the people. The high priest would have to sacrifice every year for himself and the people both.  And it was this yearly sacrifice, that was meant to show them that they needed a true pardon from their sins. They needed to be forgiven completely.

As long as this sacrificial system was in place though; as long as all of these rituals remained, there was no way into God’s presence, no means to be completely clean and no possibility of a full pardon. Verse eight says, “By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing”. By these regulations themselves, the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.

The tabernacle and the whole system it represents never gave people access to God. And as long as the whole sacrificial system remained, there was no hope for the way into the holy places to be opened. What this is saying, is that the Holy Spirit was showing that the very rituals that happened every day outside of the most holy place were a constant reminder that entry into the Most Holy Place was blocked to mankind.

The fact that the High priest could only come in once a year, as a one-time a year exception, and then only with blood, testified all the more that there was no such thing as free or bold access to God for the people of Israel. As long as the first section of the tent was still there, it symbolically blocked people from even seeing the outside of the most holy place, much less ever hoping to enter in. Most people couldn’t go there and most of us, who would have been considered Gentiles then, would never have been permitted. The way into the presence of God was blocked and there was no way for close communion with God or the nearness with God that we can experience now in Christ Jesus.

Verse nine goes on to say that, “According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper,”. The first section of the tabernacle was meant to be symbolic for the age when the gifts and the sacrifices being offered could not cleanse the conscience of the worshipper, because they only dealt with external things.  Their very repetition reminded the people that their sacrifices were insufficient and that they could not bring the people a true, inward, lasting cleansing from sins.

The people could never feel like their sins were paid for finally and if you were living back then, I am sure that you would have longed for an atonement that was good enough to last; a cleansing that could really change you; and a sacrifice or someone or something that would take away your sins for good. But the yearly sacrifices didn’t change the heart and they were unable to purify the motives and they were meant to show that we need something more than the blood of animals and ritual and symbols.

Those who had their bodies washed but whose consciences remained defiled, could not draw near to God. A better, a more perfect cleansing was needed, because under the old covenant there was no way for man to be truly clean. Those things could only deal with the externals. They were regulations for the body that “ deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.” Another way of saying this might be “regulations for the body imposed until the time of correction”. And what needed to be corrected was the law. The law was inadequate to save and it was in dire need of being corrected.

In 1776, the very first lines of the US Declaration of Independence said "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." This was a very true and good statement. But the problem was, the authors of the Declaration didn’t truly understand and didn’t get quite right who all men were. They wrongly treated people of different ethnicity or color of skin as less than men. So the law wrongly and shamefully discriminated against people of color. The declaration was good but the law needed to be corrected.

All men were created equally valuable before God and all men deserved an equal opportunity to pursue life and liberty and happiness. But people of color were severely restricted and they did not have equal access. The law needed to be corrected and thankfully, through time, finally the law has been corrected and we can all enjoy the liberties that we were equally created for. There was a severe restriction of the people that needed to be changed, that created a longing for change; that cried out for change – that there must be something better!

In the Old Covenant, there was a severe restriction of access into God’s presence and this was meant to show the arrangement of the law was only for a season. There was a fundamental problem that all of the external washings could never correct -the heart of humanity was corrupt and needed to be replaced.

The problem humans face now is no different than the problems that they faced back then. Nothing we do and no distraction, no indulgence, no passion can make us clean on the inside and do away with our guilt.  No amount of blame shifting can ever make us feel better because we know we’re really not better, even if we don’t want to admit it. Cutting isn’t the answer to feeling closer to God and it only makes you feel worse and more ashamed.  Serving the homeless for Thanksgiving won’t make you a better person. No amount of lying, manipulation, deceit or covering up will fix the problem we have. Not even a heroic amount of self effort can make us different. We need to be cleaned from the inside out. And now, the good news is that the scripture tells us, the time of reformation has come.

The time when Christ came to completely reform the way we came into God’s presence has arrived. And the point the author is making, is that unlike the old covenant and unlike any sacrificial system, Jesus has secured eternal redemption.

3.     Jesus has secured eternal redemption
Let’s look at verse 11 and twelve together, it says, “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent ( not made with hands, that is, not of this creation)  ¹² he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.”

The tabernacle and the whole system it represented had to be done away with in order for the way into the holy place to be opened up. In the New Testament, we don’t have any need for the symbols of the Old Testament to point to something greater in our worship, because the reality has come in the person of Jesus Christ.  There is nothing greater; there is no fuller sacrifice to be made.  Jesus has come and he is greater in every way.

Now Jesus, as our High Priest, has gone into the true tabernacle and no shadow or earthly copy. Jesus has gone into the place where God Himself dwells in unapproachable light. So that now, we can enter into the Most Holy Place through Jesus, who gives us access to God. We enter in through Jesus.

Notice too that it says that Christ is a High Priest of the good things that have come.  It does not say that the good things are about to come or may come or might come or even will come. It says Christ has appeared as a high Priest of the good things that HAVE come. Jesus mediates good things to us and we have good things in Christ already. He doesn’t bring condemnation to us, although we deserved it. He doesn’t bring separation from God, although we should have always been separated from God. He doesn’t bring punishment from God, although we earned every bit of it. Jesus was condemned for us. He was separated from God in our place. He was punished instead of us. He brings good things.

What are the good things that have come? Complete forgiveness. Freedom from slavery to sin. Eternal life. Confidence to come into God’s presence. A new heart. The ability to be God’s own people now. Knowing God. No more remembrance of our sins, ever again!

Jesus entered into the Most Holy Place once and for all by offering His own blood. The once a year offering of the Levitical priests only stayed God’s wrath for another year but didn’t bring all the good things we enjoy now. It didn’t bring access into God’s presence, but Jesus has secured eternal redemption. If you are in Christ, you are not temporarily redeemed, you are eternally redeemed. But what does this redemption mean?  

To redeem is to purchase of buy back something or to pay to redeem slaves who were taken as someone else’s possession. We were all slaves of sin. We were all slaves to our own sinful desires. We were all deserving God’s just judgment for our sins. What has Christ redeemed us from?

Jesus has redeemed us from our bondage and enslavement to sin. He has delivered us from His wrath. He has given us a once-and-for-all forgiveness of sins. He has freed us from the guilt produced by sin. You never have to fear again if you are in Him.

Then in verses 14 and 15, the author of Hebrews explains that unlike the ceremonial system that could never make the conscience clean, Jesus is the One who can truly make us clean.

4.     Jesus is the one who can truly make us clean

It says, “ For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,   how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works”

The blood of animals in the old covenant did have some effectiveness and it was able to make His people ceremonially clean, after they had become ceremonially unclean or defiled. They were considered at least outwardly clean and they could participate in worship with God’s people again. The sacrifices of bulls and goats with the ashes of a heifer only purified the flesh. But it was only an external, symbolic removal of defilement; it never cleaned the conscience of the worshipper.

Unlike animals, who can never truly represent man or stand in our place really, Jesus Christ knowingly took our place and His blood purifies our conscience from dead works. Because Jesus Christ was spotless, without any blemish, His incalculable worth and dignity guarantees the inestimable value of His sacrifice. And His sacrifice does the one thing all of the other sacrifices could never do: He removes the sin and guilt that kept us away from God’s presence.

Did you notice that? In Christ, it isn’t about externals any longer. He purifies our conscience from dead works. And why does He give us a pure conscience? So that we might serve the living God.

The last five words in chapter 14 are important. It says that He redeems us and purifies our conscience from dead works “to serve the living God”. The kind of serving he is talking about in this context is that of serving in worship. Before only the priests could serve in worship and only the High priest could serve in the most holy place and then, it was only serving in front of symbols. But now, Jesus has made a way for us to freely worship God before his throne.

Which brings us to the fifth and final point that we are going to unpack,

5.     Jesus enables us to freely worship God

Where before only the priests could serve the living God, and only partially, now we can live all of our lives as worship; as service to the living God. Jesus saved us so that we might serve the living God. He didn’t save us to serve ourselves. Serving ourselves is enslavement. We were already free to serve ourselves and by nature we serve ourselves and our own desires all too well. But the problem was that we couldn’t serve God as He required before.

Now, by the grace of God, we’ve been made truly free, so that now, we can serve the living God and actually have our desires and not just our flesh, sanctified. And our sanctified desires can now serve the living God. The whole purpose of Christ giving Himself to purify our conscience from dead works was so that we can serve the living God.

Before we only served ourselves and we were under the authority of the evil one. Now, He truly sanctifies us and we can serve God. Now, Jesus has made a way for mankind to be accepted by God and enter back into God’s presence again.

Why is Hebrews so focused on Christ opening up the way for us to have communion with God; to be in His presence? Better yet, why does the whole Bible have something to do with man being reunited back with God?

It is because, in the Garden; in Genesis, God created man to be with Him. Man’s perfectly designed home was the place where God was. God created man to have fellowship with God; to be in His presence, to walk and talk with Him; to trust Him completely and find fulfillment, satisfaction and joy in God’s presence.

In the fall, man was kicked out of the garden. But mankind was really designed to be at home in God’s presence. We were made to only be truly satisfied in God’s presence. There is nothing better, no air sweeter, no pleasure greater than knowing God and being with Him forever.

All of the Old Testament after the creation, is the story about God’s great plan to call a people to Himself; to reconcile man back to God. It is about God’s promise to one day make all things new again and God’s promises to bring hope and salvation to His people. The New Testament is the unfolding and fulfillment of that glorious plan through His Son Jesus Christ.

Why does Hebrews spend so much time talking about how Jesus as our Great High Priest reconciles us back to God and how Jesus redeems us and brings us into God’s presence? It is because that is where we are meant to be – in God’s presence. This world as we know it is not meant to be our true home, but we are mean to be truly at home in God’s presence. To walk and talk with God in the garden.

The good news is that we don’t have to wait to heave fellowship with God. We can have fellowship with God now through Jesus Christ. We can know God. We can speak with Him in prayer, we can worship Him, we can serve Him, and we can live all our lives for Him as we were designed to do.

You know that feeling you get when you feel like you were made for something more fulfilling, something greater? That is meant to remind us that we were made to do all for God, that we were created to live for Him, to do His work, to worship Him and fellowship with Him. He is the something greater that we long for. And we can know God through Jesus Christ.

Jesus came to redeem a people to Himself and to undo the effects of the fall, undo the consequences of being kicked out of God’s presence and being barred by cherubim from ever entering again. And when Jesus died, do you remember what happened? The temple curtains were torn in two – the cherubim on the curtains were parted and the way was made for us to come into God’s presence.

God has restored what humanity ruined and one day Jesus will make all things completely new. And after we grow old and our bodies have worn out, or when perhaps some of us die through protracted illness or suffering or maybe some will die young from circumstances unknown, we can all rest and trust that if we are in Christ Jesus, He will usher into the presence of God not just in spirit but in reality and one day, all those who have trusted in Jesus Christ as their redeemer will one day see God face to face.

That is a better hope, a better promise. Amen.

Potential Application Questions:

1.       How does it affect you to think about the fact that there is no other way for man to know God except through Jesus Christ?
2.       What has Jesus done that the Old Covenant could never do?
3.       How would you show someone, by using the Bible, that there no other way for man to be saved apart from Jesus Christ?
4.       How does seeing that there was no way into God’s presence for thousands of years change the way that you view the access you have into God’s presence? How should it change our practice of coming into God’s presence?
5.       How does knowing that there was no way to be truly clean under the Old Covenant  affect you?  Do you live in the good of the fact that Jesus made a way for us to be completely clean in Him?
6.       What are the implications of the fact that Jesus has eternally redeemed all of those who place their faith in Him?
7.       How do you combat feelings of condemnation and guilt when they come? How can you use chapter 9 in Hebrews to do battle with these enemies?
8.       Jesus has purified our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Do you really view all of your life as worship, serving the living God? If not, what is getting in the way?
9.       How should our whole view of life be changed as a result of these verses?