Dec 31, 2023. Hebrews 10:5-10

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DIVINELY PREPARED SACRIFICE. Hebrews 10:5-10. 12/31/2023. #30.

5 Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come—In the volume of the book it is written of Me—To do Your will, O God.’ ”

 8  Previously saying, “Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them” (which are offered according to the law), 9 then He said, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10 By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

1. Unsatisfying offerings

                a. Psalm 40:6-10 before the foundation of the world, the Son knew that animal sacrifices would be inadequate so He offered Himself to be the satisfactory offering

                b. God took no pleasure in the OT sacrifices

                                a1. They were offered according to His will

                                a2. God was pleased when truly obedient faithful worshipers made sacrifices

                                c. However, the sacrifices fell short of satisfying God’s righteousness

                                                b1. God was not pleased with the quality of the offering (a cheap gift not worthy of God’s glory)

                                                b2. Impoverished common gifts

                c. The offerings were all that man had to give

                                a1. Nothing man could offer could please God

                                a2. Twice Hebrews states that God took no pleasure in the offerings that God willed

2. Infused holiness

                a. 3 points emphasized by Jesus offering Himself

                                a1. He volunteered: “I come…”

                                a2. He surrendered to God’s will

                                a3. God prepared a body for Him

                b. A prepared body is unusual language

                                a1. Genesis 2:7 Adam was “formed” out of dust

                                a2. Genesis 2:18-20 Eve was brought forth out of man

                                a3. All other people had been begotten

                                a4. Only the body of Jesus was prepared

                c. A body prepared within Mary

                                a1. Prepared (to furnish completely) = the Spirit made a sinless body for Christ

                                a2. This body could not contain sinful flesh, but had to be a descendant of David

                                a3. The union of man and woman produces a sinful human being (Psalm 51:5)

                d. Only by being joined to a sinless body could the Son be the perfect sacrifice

3. The last offering

                a. God did not desire (will) animal sacrifices for these had no ability to satisfy His will

                                a1. These sacrifices merely satisfied the Law as symbols of the one effective sacrifice

                                a2. The offerings were used to teach that men are sinners; they need to placate God; and they were in need of a better sacrifice

                b. Due to the fact that God desired a better sacrifice, He had to take away the one sacrifice which could not satisfy in order to replace it with the ultimate sacrifice that could satisfy for all times

                                a1. The two sacrificial systems could not exist side-by-side

                                a2. In 70 AD, the old sacrificial system was eliminated through the destruction of the Jewish temple by the Roman general Titus

                c. Since the OT sacrifices were offered by sinful men using mortal animals, they were ineffective

                d. Since Jesus’s sacrifice was completed by the holy Son of God using a sinless body, the offering is effective for all sin for all time

                e. All other religious systems, including the OT, fail to provide an effective means of salvation

                f. Romans 6 overwhelming sin is abolished by greater grace

Key verse: Psalm 40:6-10

6 Sacrifice and offering You did not desire;

My ears You have opened.

Burnt offering and sin offering You did not require.

7 Then I said, “Behold, I come;

In the scroll of the book it is written of me.

8 I delight to do Your will, O my God,

And Your law is within my heart.”

9 I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness

In the great assembly;

Indeed, I do not restrain my lips,

O Lord, You Yourself know.

10 I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart;

I have declared Your faithfulness and Your salvation;

I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth From the great assembly.

Dec 24, 2023. Luke 2:1-7

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GUEST ROOM. Luke 2:1-7. 12/24/2023.

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city. 4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

1. The journey of Joseph and Mary

                a. We do not know what time of year or how close to the birth of Christ the journey commenced

                b. Traditional understanding is the Mary was very close to delivery and that she delivered the night she arrived in Bethlehem in a stable

                c. Several things strike us as odd about the story:

                                a1. A women near birth traveling 75 miles over rough terrain by foot or donkey

                                a2. Staying in a stable where the innkeeper would be feeding the animals and cleaning the stall

                                a3. Since we find Mary and Joseph in a house when the wise men arrive, how long did they stay in the stable?

                d. Since both Joseph and Mary were both of the house of David, they may have been required to travel together, despite Mary’s condition

2. End run around the inn

                a. There is another possibility

                b. The word “inn” is actually “guest chamber”

                                a1. It can refer to an inn, but it usually means a guest room (like the Shunemmite built for Elisha)

                                a2. This is the same word used for the Upper Room where Jesus conducted the Last Supper

                c. Under this scenario, Joseph and Mary arrive in Bethlehem where he had distant relatives

                                a1. Many other relatives would be in town for the census (tax registration) as well

                                a2. All the guest rooms would have been taken

                d. Many houses in Israel and throughout the Near East were built with an anteroom for the animals (sheep, donkeys, goats, and cattle), but most houses had few animals, since these were costly

                                a1. The word stable is not found in the text

                                a2. The word manger means stall or crib

                e. Joseph and Mary were given a stall in the anteroom where the animals stayed, for the guest rooms were full

3. No room

                a. All the guests were staying in rooms for there was no room for the King of glory

                                a1. Jesus was outside the main household

                                a2. There was no room in the house for Him

                b. When Jesus used the guest chamber for the Last Supper, the room was borrowed

                                a1. After He left the Upper Room, He was arrested, tried, and crucified

                                a2. The world still said that there was no room for Him in their lives either

                c. The world still says that there is no room for Jesus

                                a1. He must stay outside where animals stay

                                a2. The guest rooms are full of self and sin

                d. The question this Christmas is will you give Him your guest room in your heart to stay permanently     

                e. To leave Him outside your room is to be outside His

Dec 10, 2023. Hebrews 9:23-28

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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.

Dec 3, 2023. Hebrews 9:16-22

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THE TESTATOR. HEB. 9:16-22. 12/03/23. #27.

16 For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant which God has commanded you.” 21 Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry. 22 And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

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1. The necessity of Christ’s death

            a. The Jews were looking for a conquering Messiah

                        a1. He would take away the Romans

                        a2. The Jews would be the top nation

            b. The main problem of the Jews was not the Romans

                        a1. Sin was a far greater problem than Rome

                        a2. Without the forgiveness of sins, an earthly

                               kingdom would be temporary & ineffective

            c. Heb. already had proven that the OT cov. was vain

                        a1. The High Priest was flawed with sin

                        a2. The blood of animals couldn’t pay for sin

            d. For sin to be atoned, a worthy sacrifice had to be

                made (only the Son of God was worthy)

                        a1. Payment had to be by death by blood

                        a2. Christ could not rule over a new Jewish

                               kingdom without save the Jews first

            e. As long as the testator (one who makes a will) is

                alive, the will has no effect

                        a1. The will is only enforced upon death of test.

                        a2. As long as Christ was alive, sin could not be

                               forgiven, for the will’s provisions could not

                               be applied until death was confirmed

2. Cleansing

            a. Most things were cleansed by blood

b. Some things were cleansed by water, meal offer-

                 ings, or fire, but sin was cleansed by blood

            c. There is no recording in the OT that the book (scroll

                 of Law) was sprinkled when Moses cleansed the

                 people in Ex. 24

                        a1. Hyssop & water were used to cleanse

                                 leper (Lv. 14) & at Passover

                        a2. Red wool is not mentioned, but could refer

                               to the bloody wool of a sacrifice

                        a3. Ps. 51:7 other uses of cleansing were ob-

                               viously done not mentioned in OT

            d. The blood of the covenant is a constant theme

                        a1. Gen. 15 God walked between the pieces of

                                cut up animal parts in cov. with Abraham

                        a2. Lv. 1 atonement was made by blood sacri-

                               fices of specific animals

            e. All the vessels of the tabernacle were cleansed by

                the sprinkling of blood

3. Enactment of the divine will

            a. “Shedding of blood” is a coined word, “blood shed-

                 der” in the Greek, referring to covenant blood

            b. For our sins to be forgiven, the testator, had to die

                 by shedding blood, then the provisions are applied

            c. Without blood being shed there is no remission (re-

                 moval, dismissal, taking away) of sin ( LK. 24:44-49)

            d. Heb. concludes that what happened had to be so

                        a1. All the cleansing rites of the OT could not

                               remove sin

                        a2. Abraham, Moses, Joshua, & the High Priests

                               could not redeem the people

                        a3. Jesus could not rule until he mediated for

                                mankind via His blood sacrifice

            e. The will has been enacted & we are the beneficiaries

                        a1. The Jews wanted peace & power, but this

                               would have fallen way short of their needs

                        a2. God knows what we need, & its Christ

            f. Any other avenue to seek salvation fails (church

                members, baptisms, creeds, rituals, “belief in God”,,,)