WWUTT 1848 The Savior of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:15-28)

We have sinned against God, and for that, God requires a life. It's only by the shedding of blood can there be the forgiveness of sins, the shedding of Christ's blood, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand the Text, a daily study of God's Word that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will. For questions and comments, send us an email to whenweunderstandthetext at gmail .com.

Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Hebrews 9 and the Mediator of the New Covenant

Thank you, Becky. Back to our study in Hebrews, chapter 9. Hoping to finish up the chapter today, I'm going to start reading in verse 15, and we'll go through verse 28 out of the Legacy Standard Bible.

This is the Word of the Lord. And for this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

For where a covenant is, there must, of necessity, be the death of the one who made it. For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood.

For when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.

And in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he sprinkled with the blood. And according to the law, one may almost say, All things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Therefore it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.

Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy places year by year with blood that is not his own. Otherwise, he would have needed to suffer often, since the foundation of the world.

But now, once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment, so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation, without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him.

The Better Sanctuary and Better Sacrifice of Christ

To remind you once again of our outline in chapter 9, we're reading about how the new covenant is affected in a better sanctuary with a better sacrifice. It's not in a sanctuary on earth that is made by human hands, but a sanctuary in the heavenly places made by the Lord and not by man.

And a better sacrifice not being the blood of bulls and goats, but the precious blood of Jesus. On Monday, we read verses 1 through 10, understanding the earthly sanctuary and the symbolism of old covenant worship, and how this pointed to what we read yesterday in verses 11 to 14, the exalted sanctuary and the superiority of new covenant worship.

Now finishing up the rest of chapter 9, we're reading about the necessity of a sacrificial death in the ratification of this new covenant. And we start here in verse 15 by understanding the reason for Christ's sacrifice.

It was to mediate the new covenant to redeem sinners and secure an inheritance for his people. And we have that promise of the inheritance come back up again at the very end. So that kind of bookends this section, the mention of eternal inheritance in verse 15, and it's for those who eagerly await him in verse 28.

So starting off here again in verse 15, we read, for this reason, he is the mediator of a better covenant. For what reason? Well, remember how we concluded the section yesterday. How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

In the old covenant, it was only good for sanctifying the flesh, but it did not cleanse the conscience. Whereas the blood of Christ, and by his power, who is a much greater sacrifice, cleanses us from all sin, even giving us a new conscience that we may live justified before God and in obedience to his commandments from the heart.

So for this reason, he's the mediator of a new covenant, not a covenant that just sanctifies the flesh, but a covenant that sanctifies our very souls. So that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, nobody could keep the law.

Nobody is capable of keeping the law perfectly. We've failed at every point. As James says, if you break even one commandment, you've broken the whole law at every point. But here in Christ, the rest of verse 15, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Then verses 16 and 17 spell out for us the requirement of death in regard to a covenant. This is a little confusing, but let me read it and then give you an explanation. So verses 16 and 17, for where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Well, how does that make sense, you might wonder? Because am I not in a covenant in marriage? And so is my marriage not really a marriage until I die?

Now let me tell you what's in view here. This is not talking about any and all covenants, but a covenant that is like a will. There are covenants that you can make that don't involve death, but some covenants, if it's established like a will, does involve death.

Like if your parents make a will to entrust their estate to you when they die, you don't get that until they die, right? And so the covenant that's in view here is in that way. Even the covenant that God made with Abraham would not take effect until after he died because the promise was for his children.

It was for his descendants. The Davidic covenant that God made with David wouldn't take effect until after he died. On your throne, I will establish your kingdom forever through one of his offspring, which of course was pointing to Christ.

So sometimes these covenants, these major covenants that we see in scripture, do necessitate a death before they take effect. And so it's the same also with this covenant of grace that we are in. Jesus Christ died for us, and because of his death, we have received all of the benefits of the grace of God by faith in him.

Consider that in Luke 22, verse 28, Jesus said, he was speaking to his disciples and he said, now you are those who have stood by me in my trials, and I grant you a kingdom just as my father granted one to me, that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom and you will sit on thrones judging the 12 tribes of Israel.

Now when would that take effect? Not until after Jesus died. And so that's what's in view here in verses 16 and 17, where a covenant is, talking about a covenant like a will, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it.

For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. Therefore, not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. And so then where the preacher goes next is talking about all those different ways that blood was applied to the sanctuary and to the things of worship, all of this being types and shadows of a greater covenant that was to come.

Verse 19, for when every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of the calves and the goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people saying, this is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.

That's a quote that comes from Exodus 24. Let me go to that chapter and I'll begin reading here in verse three, Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of Yahweh and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which Yahweh has spoken, we will do.

And Moses wrote down all the words of Yahweh. Then he arose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain with 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel. Remember, this is all going on at the base of Mount Sinai.

And he sent young men of the sons of Israel and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed young bulls as peace offerings to Yahweh. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins and the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar.

Then he took the book of the covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, all that Yahweh has spoken, we will do and we will be obedient. So Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people and said, behold, the blood of the covenant, which Yahweh has cut with you in accordance with all these words.

So that's the, that's the reference there. Verse 20, this is the blood of the covenant, which God commanded you. Moses sprinkling the blood on all of these things on the sacred things. Even when the tabernacle was made and constructed, it was consecrated with blood.

When the walls of Jerusalem were built, when they were rebuilt by Nehemiah, they were consecrated with blood. And so this is the sign, the symbol of the covenant, a covenant being ratified with blood.

Verse 21, and in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry, he sprinkled with blood. And according to the law, one may almost say all things are cleansed with blood and without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

Really seems kind of backward. I mean, by the world standards, they wouldn't say something has been cleansed. If you sprinkled blood on it, you just made it really gross. But this, according to God's requirements, what he has said in his law, because of your sins and your transgressions against God, a life is required.

Now, the life of a lamb or a goat or, or an ox or anything else that was not sufficient to pay for your sins. That's coming up in Hebrews chapter 10, verse four, it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

We'll read that next week. But God was merciful, though the blood of these animals could not actually take away sins. God, in his mercy, in his, in his divine forbearance and patience, the way that it's put in Romans chapter three, he passed over former sins.

These things were all types and shadows of a way that God was going to make for the forgiveness of sins. And that is in Jesus Christ. And even in the Old Testament period, faith and trust in God that he would do these things just as he promised, I will blot out your transgressions.

God would make a way for us to be forgiven and justified before him, trusting that he would do that. By faith, a person was justified. That was the truth in the Old Testament as much as it is the truth for us in the New Testament age.

A person has always and only been saved by grace through faith, whether you're talking about the Old Testament or the New. And Paul uses Abraham as an example in that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.

And so these types and shadows that God gave to point towards something greater that was to come. All this blood sprinkling, all the blood shedding, all of this was to show Israel, to show God's people, this is how disgusting your sin is.

It results in bloodshed. It results in the taking of life. You are destroying lives when you sin. And it separates you from God and what you deserve is death. But God has made a way for your sins to be atoned for.

That does not require your blood because your blood is also insufficient to take away your sins. So all of these sacred things were cleansed with blood because it's only by the shedding of blood can our sins be forgiven.

And the shedding of blood of the bulls and goats, that wasn't going to be the way that our sins were going to be forgiven. It was the shedding of the blood of Christ. But these things, types and shadows of the greater sacrifice that was to come.

Now, verse 23, therefore, it was necessary for the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. So once again, in verse 22, without shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.

Verse 23, therefore, it was necessary for even the copies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but they're cleansed with a better sacrifice. Not the blood of bulls and goats, but with the blood of Christ.

Verse 24, for Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of the true things, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Once again, what's the theme of what we're reading about here in Hebrews 9?

It is that a new covenant has been effected in a better sanctuary with a better sacrifice. And Christ is in the exalted sanctuary, the superior sacrifice, and a better mediator, a better high priest for us.

Verse 24, for Christ did not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of the true ones, but into heaven itself now to appear in the presence of God for us. Nor was it that he would offer himself often as the high priest enters the holy places year by year with blood that is not his own.

Like I said yesterday, Christ sacrificed himself for us once, once for all. He is the victor over death. He does not need to re-sacrifice himself because otherwise death would be superior. We read in Hebrews 9 .12, he entered the holy places once for all, having obtained eternal redemption, not a partial redemption, eternal redemption.

He does not need to re-sacrifice himself. We'll read when we get to Hebrews 10 .10, by this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. We read also in 1 Peter 3 .18, for Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, so that he might bring you to God, having been put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit.

Jesus has done this for us. It's not going to be a continual sacrifice. And you know, those who practice communion, or to put it more specifically, the Roman Catholics who practice the mass, they believe that the mass is a continual sacrifice.

It is a re-sacrificing of Christ, that the Eucharist literally transforms into the actual body of Jesus, and the cup transforms into the actual blood of Jesus, as though he needs to be sacrificed again and again and again.

It is a diminishing of the sacrifice that he gave once for all, to think that this needs to be done continually. Christ did it once. It never has to be done again. The sacrifice was sufficient, and we receive the benefits of God's grace by faith in him.

Not by our works. Not by praying that this loaf would become his literal body, and this cup would become his literal blood. By faith in Jesus. Believing in the one who died once for all. Who shed blood that was his own.

Whereas the high priest, he was sacrificing with blood that was not his own. Jesus being the superior high priest, shed his own blood for us. Verse 26, otherwise he would have needed to suffer often, since the foundation of the world, but now once at the consummation of the ages, he has been manifested to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.

And inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment, and we hear that verse often, but it's often taken out of context. Like the context isn't given, it's just, it's appointed for a man to die once, and after that comes judgment, that's true.

It is a true statement standing by itself, but we have a context here. There's more to this sentence. So let me read it again, verse 27, inasmuch as it is appointed for men to die once, and after this comes judgment, verse 28, so Christ also.

It's appointed for men to die once, so it was appointed for Christ who died on our behalf to die once, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, and he will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await him.

And there we have that promise again that we heard at the end of verse 15, the promise of the eternal inheritance. That is for all of us who are in Christ. When Christ comes back, it will not be to deal with sin.

It will not be to offer himself for the forgiveness of our sins. He already did that. That was at his first advent. When he comes a second time, it will be to deliver us from this place into his eternal kingdom where we receive the eternal inheritance that we are promised.

Now, of course, Christ will deal with sin when he comes back in the sense that he will be issuing judgment. His first coming was not to bring judgment on the earth, but his second coming will. His first coming was to offer himself as a sacrifice for the sins of his own, but his second coming will be to deliver his own, to save his own into his eternal kingdom, and then issue judgment on the rest of those who did not believe.

All of us who eagerly await him, we will receive that salvation, that inheritance that we are promised in Christ, his eternal kingdom. And the only way we receive this eternal life is by faith in Jesus.

My friends, there is a heaven and there is a hell, and you will go to one of those two places. You will either go into the presence of God forever in his perfection and glory and in his eternal kingdom where there will be no more tears.

He'll wipe every tear from our eyes. All the former things will have passed away. There will be no more sin, death, corruption. All of that stuff will be gone. We will live in perfection with God in his presence forever.

You will either go there or you will go into hell where you will be under the wrath and judgment of God forever. How can you be sure that you'll go to the first place and not the second? Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins and you will be saved.

Salvation by Grace Through Faith in Christ Alone

Heavenly Father, we thank you for this salvation that we have been given in Christ. This is the only message by which we can be saved. Jesus is the only name under heaven by which we can be saved. And so we call upon you knowing that he is a perfect savior.

And I ask that we be given boldness also that we may go out into the world and proclaim Christ as savior. For there is no other way anyone else in this world can be saved except by the precious blood of Jesus.

Continue to work out our salvation in us. May we work this out with fear and trembling for it is God who works in us both to will and to work for your good pleasure. It's in Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. You've been listening to When We Understand the Text with Pastor Gabe Hughes. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, Gabe will be going through a New Testament study. Then on Thursday, we look at an Old Testament book.

On Friday, we take questions from the listeners and viewers. Tomorrow, we'll pick up on an Old Testament study, When We Understand the Text.