Christ Opens The Inner Sanctuary
October 11, 2019
Commentary
Christ came as a priest of the New Covenant, called “the good things that have come” (v. 11). Under the Old Covenant, sins were covered by the blood of bulls and goats (vv. 12-13). If you are carrying a load of guilt because you are finding that you can’t be good enough to please God, take another look at Jesus death and what it means to you. Christianity has often been referred to as the “slaughterhouse religion” because of the continual emphasis upon the need for the shedding of blood. We need to accept the fact that the blood of Christ completely satisfies God (vv. 14-15). He welcomes us into His presence, not on the grounds of our Christian progress, the depth of our knowledge, or even the victory we may have, but on the grounds of the shed blood of the Lamb.
Westcott outlines four ways in which Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself differs from the animal sacrifices of the Old Covenant:
The sacrifice of Jesus was voluntary. The animal’s life was taken from it. Jesus willingly gave His life,The sacrifice of Jesus was spontaneous. Animal sacrifice was entirely the product of law. Jesus sacrifice was not to fulfil the law but to show His love for us.The sacrifice of Jesus was rational. The animal victim did not know that was happening. Jesus knew all the time what He was doing.The sacrifice of Jesus was moral. Animal sacrifice was mechanical. Calvary’s sacrifice was not a matter of prescribed ritual but a matter of Jesus obeying the will of God.
Application
God does not love me because I serve Him; God loves me because He is love! He accepts me because I believe in the shed blood of His Son Jesus Christ as the payment for my sin.
Hebrews 9:11– 15 (NET)
11 But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 12 and he entered once for all into the Most Holy Place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God.
15 And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant.