Christ is The Perfect Sacrifice
November 26, 2020
Commentary
The writer seeks to show the superiority of Christ by giving comparisons between:
The Old Covenant The New Covenant
Repeated sacrifices One sacrifice
The blood of others His own blood
Covering sin Putting away sin
For Israel only For all sinners
Left the holy of holies Entered heaven
Could not produce perfection. For over fifteen hundred years the nation of Israel was under the law of the Ten Commandments, in addition to all the ceremonial laws and ordinances. Yet after all the years of struggling, laboring and toiling, not a single Israelite was ever saved by keeping the law. They had failed completely under the law. Then Jesus came and fulfilled the law. He paid its penalty, bore its curse and now offered salvation as a free gift without the deeds of the law. Christ has forgiven our past sin when He died on the cross, He sacrificed Himself once for all (v. 26); He has given us the Holy Spirit to help us deal with our present sin; He appears for us in heaven as our High Priest (v. 24) and He promises to return (v. 28) and raise us to eternal life in a world where sin will be no more.
Application
I must not have any confidence in the flesh, but surrender every area of my life to the grace of God.
Hebrews 9:23– 28 (NET)
23 So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands—the representation of the true sanctuary —but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 25 And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation.
Illustration: God Alone Was “His Present Help in Trouble”
Lt. General Sir William Dobbie (Dobbie of Malta) was Governor General of Malta during the Second World War – at a time when the defense of Malta was at its darkest hour. Dobbie, a committed Christian, realized the weakness of his position and that God alone was “his present help in trouble.”His first “Special Order of the Day”, defining policy governing the defense of the island read: “I know that the courage and determination of all ranks will not falter and that with God’s help we will maintain the security of this fortress, I therefore call upon all officers and other ranks humbly to seek God’s help and then in reliance upon Him to do their duty unflinchingly.” (A Very Present Help – Sir William Dobbie p. 11-12).