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THE REAL OFFERING. Hebrews 9:23-28. 12/10/2023. #28.
23 Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us; 25 not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another— 26 He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. 27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment, 28 so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.
1. Falling short
a. Hebrews concludes that every aspect of the old covenant fell short of accomplishing redemption for man
b. Every part of the Old Testament worship was tainted
a1. The vessels were of a flawed earth
a2. The Tabernacle was made with hands
a3. The animals were mortal and inadequate
a4. The High Priest was a mortal sinner
a5. The High Priest could only approach God via the copies of heavenly vessels, but he could not stand in the heavenly tabernacle directly before God
a6. Worship was limited to the Jews and a few God fearers, not for all mankind
c. The limit of what the High Priest could do fell way short of what was necessary to finish the job
d. The repeated efforts of the HP never ended because what he did never fulfilled what was needed
2. It is finished
a. Jesus was the effective superior sacrifice to all other previous sacrifices
b. Whereas the HP could cleanse earthly vessels and the sanctuary, he could not cleanse the spiritual
c. Jesus via His blood sacrifice could cleanse all sin and the heavenly sanctuary as well
a1. The copies (earthly priesthood and Tabernacle) could never cleanse anything that was spiritually corrupt
a2. Christ’s pure deity made His physical sacrifice effective
d. What in heaven needed to be cleansed?
a1. Heaven is perfect and holy
a2. Satan’s rebellion had corrupted heaven
a3. Genesis 1-3 the fall of man had corrupted the image of God
e. Christ completely cleansed the heavenly sanctuary
a1. 1 John 2:1-5 Christ’s sacrifice was sufficient to pay for sins for all times
a2. Colossians 2:11-15 Jesus cleansed the sanctuary of all the beings who rebelled against God
b1. Revelation 20 the eternal fate of Satan and all his followers was sealed
b2. Job 1/Revelation 12 once removed, evil could never return
a3. Unlike the HP, Jesus needed to offer himself only once, to complete the redemptive act, lest he suffered repeatedly, making Him akin to the Old Testament sacrifices
3. Deliverance delivered
a. Man dies once and then the judgment (no reincarnation, annihilation, second chance, or soul sleep)
a1. Those without Christ are judged for their sins and are cast into the Lake of Fire
a2. Those in Christ have their sins judged at the cross (Romans 6) and gain eternal life in Him
b. Christ now makes continual intercession for us
c. Christ came the first time to pay for sins, but he will come the second time to deliver salvation
a1. Even though our sins are forgiven, we still live in mortal bodies corrupted by sin
a2. At the second coming our salvation will be realized in full glorification, free from decay
Colossians 2:11-1511 In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, 12 buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead. 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 Having disarmed principalities and powers, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them in it.