If you have your Bible with you, please open it up to the book of Hebrews.
This past week I was reading in the book of Hebrews, and I love the book of Hebrews.
I love Hebrews because God gives me such deep assurance of my salvation as I read in Hebrews.
But yet, I also love it because somehow at the same time, He also gives me such powerful and penetrating warnings
that my soul needs to turn away from sin and to keep following Christ faithfully.
Well, this week as I was reading in Hebrews, I came to chapter 10.
In chapter 10, as the author comes to it, he's talking about the sacrifice that Jesus offered for us
and how much better Christ and His sacrifice is than the Levitical high priests
and the animal sacrifices offered long ago according to the law.
So, let's read some of these words together.
I'm going to read Hebrews 10, from verse 1 down to 18.
So, a little bit longer section.
And let's reflect together on these words this morning as we prepare to take the Lord's table.
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming, not the realities themselves.
For this reason, it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year,
make perfect those who draw near to worship.
Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered?
For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins.
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Therefore, when Christ came into the world, He said,
Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.
With burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased.
Then I said,
Here I am.
It is written about me in the scroll.
I have come to do your will, my God.
First, He said,
Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire,
nor were you pleased with them,
though they were offered in accordance with the law.
Then He said,
Here I am.
I have come to do your will.
He sets aside the first to establish the second.
And by that will,
we have been made holy
through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
Day after day,
every priest stands and performs his religious duties.
Again and again,
He offers the same sacrifices,
which can never take away sins.
But when this priest
had offered for all time
one sacrifice for sins,
he sat down at the right hand of God.
And since that time,
he waits for his enemies
to be made his footstool.
For by one sacrifice,
he has made perfect forever
those who are being made holy.
The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this.
First, He says,
This is the covenant I will make with them after that time,
says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds.
Then, He adds,
Their sins and lawless acts
I will remember no more.
And where these have been forgiven,
sacrifice for sin
is no longer necessary.
There's so much in these words,
we could spend days unpacking it all.
But for this morning,
as we come to the Lord's table,
I want to just focus in on two things.
The first is a question.
It's,
What is the will of God
that Jesus came to do?
You see there in verse 7,
Christ came into the world,
and He said,
I have come to do your will,
my God.
What is that will?
What is God's will
that Christ came to do?
And the second thing is,
What does Jesus doing that
mean for us?
I was deeply moved
as I reflected on these
two questions this week.
Let's just start by
having an overview,
a little summary look
at what the author of Hebrews
is saying
here in these verses
which lead up to that.
In verses 1 to 4,
the author of Hebrews
makes this wonderful statement
that the law is only a shadow
of the good things
that are coming.
He talks about
what the Old Testament law
required.
He talks about the priests
and how they were required
to offer sacrifices
for the cleansing
of the people
who ever wanted to
come near to worship God.
He says that those sacrifices,
they had to be offered
again and again,
year after year.
Why?
Because those animal sacrifices
were not able to make
the people perfect.
They were only able,
as we read in chapter 9,
to outwardly cleanse
the people,
to make them ceremonially
clean
of the past sins
that they had committed.
Now God did say
back in the law
that when they brought
an animal of their flock
and offered it as a sacrifice
that they would be forgiven.
But there still remained
a sense in which
those sacrifices,
those animal sacrifices,
were like a temporary
covering of sin.
Because as the author
of Hebrews says
in verse 4,
it is impossible
for the blood of bulls
and goats
to take away sins.
And I think
deep down inside
we all know that,
don't we?
It was costly
for a man or woman
to take
one of their
own animals
out of the flock,
a perfectly good animal,
and bring it to the temple
where it would be slaughtered
as a sacrifice.
It was costly.
But deep down inside
we all know that
true justice
requires more than that,
don't we?
We know that
the appropriate cost
for our sins
is much more than
just the life
of an animal.
the cost
for us,
for our sins,
is death.
That's what the Lord said
clearly
to Adam
in the Garden of Eden.
In the day that you eat
of the fruit of that tree
you will surely die.
The consequence
for defying
the Lord of glory
is death.
death.
Yet still
we often wonder,
don't we,
why God prescribed
animal sacrifice,
such a bloody
and gruesome thing
to make atonement
for the sins
of the people.
But the reason
we wonder,
I think,
is because we don't
properly feel
the ugliness,
the seriousness
of our sin.
we think
it a small thing
to do what is wicked,
to do what is
sinful,
to do what is
selfish.
We think
it a small thing
to defy
the living God,
the righteous one,
but it's not.
The bloody
and gruesome
animal sacrifices
were meant
to help us see
just how bad
our sins
really are.
in the sight
of him
who is good
and righteous
and just.
They were a shadow
pointing to a greater
reality.
And even though
God prescribed
these animal
sacrifices
to be brought
for a time,
deep down
inside God's
heart,
he did not
desire
these animal
sacrifices.
Verse 5,
when Christ
came into the
world,
he said,
sacrifice
and offering
you did
not desire.
And then again
in verse 6,
with burnt
offering
and sin
offerings,
you were not
pleased.
There's a difference
between requiring
something to be
done
and desiring
something
to be done.
this is not
a perfect
analogy,
but it's
like this
with our
children.
When our
children
disobey,
we give
them consequences.
We discipline
them,
not because
we want
to,
but because
we have
to.
For all
you kids
listening,
if your mom
or your dad
are disciplining
you in the
way that God
has said
we should,
then they
discipline you
because they
love you.
Because they
want you to
learn to do
what is right.
They want
to teach you
that there are
consequences to
disobeying those
in authority
over you.
But as a
parent myself,
I can tell you
that disciplining
my children is
something I'm
required to do
for the good
of my children.
It's not
something I
desire to do.
In fact,
even when I
do,
I feel in my
own heart
the sting
of the
consequence
that they
receive.
It's like
that with
God.
He is
good.
He is
just.
And so,
yes,
sacrifices
are required.
But God
doesn't take
pleasure in
the slaughter
of animals.
He doesn't
take pleasure
in the sting
of the cost
that's felt
by the person
who had to
select that
animal and
bring it
from his
own flock.
God is
not,
as Richard
Dawkins
once said,
vindictive
or bloodthirsty.
In fact,
God cared
for each
of those
animals even
more than
their owners
did,
even more
than you
or I
might think
that we
care for
them.
It was
God who
said,
do not
muzzle
the ox
while it
is treading
out the
grain.
Let him
eat while
he is
going
along.
It's
God who
in Proverbs
12.10
said,
the righteous
care for
the needs
of their
animals.
If the
animal sacrifice
is revolting
to us,
how much
more is
it revolting
to the
one who
himself
made that
creature
and called
it good
and cares
for it?
So even
though God
required animal
sacrifices
for sins,
he did
not desire
them.
He took
no pleasure
in them.
But I
think as we
read here,
the biggest
reason why
he did
not desire
them,
it's right
here in
the text,
he did
not desire
them,
because these
sacrifices
did not
and could
not accomplish
what God
most deeply
desires for
his people.
And nobody
knew this
better than
Jesus,
God's own
son.
Verse 5,
therefore,
when Christ
came into
the world,
he said,
sacrifice
and offering
you did
not desire,
but a
body you
prepared for
me.
With burnt
offerings and
sin offerings
you were not
pleased.
Then I
said,
here I
am.
It is
written about
me in
the scroll.
I have
come to do
your will,
my God.
God.
I love
these verses.
It's as
though the
author of
Hebrews is
peeling back
the skin
and opening
up so that
we can see
the very
heart of
Christ as
he speaks
to his
father.
As Jesus
speaks these
words to
his father,
it's as
though Jesus
is saying,
I know,
Father,
that you
do not
desire these
animal
sacrifices.
I know
that they
don't
please you.
And so
here I
am.
I am
here to
do what
you really
truly desire
and long
for your
people.
I am
here to
do your
will.
And so
we come to
that question.
What is
Jesus come
to do that
God wills,
that God
wants?
What is
the will
of God?
what is
it that
God most
deeply
desires for
his people,
that Jesus
came to
do?
The answer
is this.
What God
wants,
what God
wills and
desires,
is what those
animal sacrifices
could never
do for
his people.
He desires
for his
people to
be cleansed
clean of
their sin,
not just
outwardly,
but inwardly.
he desires
for his
people to
be covered,
to be
atoned for,
not just
temporarily,
but permanently,
lastingly,
once and
for all.
He desires
for their
guilt to
be truly
and fully
taken away,
as the
animal sacrifices
could not
do.
He desires
and wills
for his
worshipers,
as we read
in verse
one,
to be made
perfect.
And as we
read in
verse 10,
to be
made
holy.
That's the
will of
God.
That's the
will of
the Father.
Sometimes we
come to that
place,
though,
I think,
where we
think,
or where
we're tempted
to think,
that God
the Father
is not
for us.
That he
doesn't
really love
us.
that he's
mostly angry
with us
because of
our sins.
We might
think that in
his heart of
hearts,
he's really
just waiting
for us to
finally cross
that line
again so
that he
can pour
out his
judgment on
us and
strike us
down.
And maybe
we love
Jesus much
more because
we see him
as the one
who has
come to
stand in
the gap
between
us and
this angry
God.
We might
think that
Jesus loves
me.
This I
know.
But the
Father,
deep down
inside,
wants to
see me
suffer for
my sins.
But nothing
could be
further from
the truth.
What did
Jesus say
when he came
into the
world?
It's right
there in
verse 9.
Here I
am,
he says to
his Father.
I have
come to
do your
will.
I've
come to
do what
you want,
what you
desire.
And what
is that
will,
that heart,
that desire
of the
Father?
It's for
you to
be and
have what
the sacrifices
of animals
could not
do for
you.
It's for
you to
be cleansed
inside,
clean,
and out
as well
for your
guilt to
be taken
away once
and for
all,
for your
legal
indebtedness
to God
to be
taken care
of.
What the
law requires,
paid in
full,
forever.
He desires
for you
to be made
perfect,
to be
holy,
to be made
holy,
and that
forever.
Verse 10,
and by
that will,
he says,
we have
been made
holy.
How?
Through the
sacrifice
of the
body of
Jesus Christ.
Once and
for all.
Animal
sacrifices
couldn't do
what God
in His
heart of
hearts
wanted to
do for
you.
A much,
much
costlier
sacrifice
was required.
The
sacrifice
of the
body of
Jesus
Christ,
once and
for all.
this is
what happened
at the
cross
2,000
years ago.
Jesus,
the perfect
Son of
God,
He came
as the
ultimate
High Priest
and He
offered on
our behalf
Himself
as the
ultimate
sacrifice,
the one
sacrifice
which could
accomplish
the will
of God
and put
an end
to all
sacrifice
forever.
And all
of this,
the author
of Hebrews
tells us
is part
of a
new
covenant,
a new
arrangement
that God
was coming
to with
His people.
As the
author of
Hebrews said
earlier on,
the old
sacrifices,
they had to
be made
again and
again,
endlessly.
The people
kept sinning
and so they
had to come
and bring
another
sacrifice
and offer
it to
cover their
sins.
But this
new covenant
deal with
Christ,
is infinitely
better.
This new
covenant
deal secured
by the
blood of
Jesus leads
us to
verse 17.
It leads
us to
God the
Father saying
their sins
and lawless
acts I
will remember
no more.
Gone.
Forever.
Verse 18,
and where
these have
been forgiven,
sacrifice
for sin
is no
longer
necessary.
What Jesus
did at the
cross brought
a forgiveness
so full,
so all
encompassing,
so deep,
so true,
that there
will never
ever be a
need for
another
sacrifice to
be offered.
Lord,
you know,
what really
got to my
heart here
is this.
It's one
thing in a
moment to
forgive someone
for all the
wrong that
they've done
to you in
the past,
but it's
another thing
in one
moment to
forgive them
for all the
wrong they
will ever
do in
their entire
life,
even before
they've done
it.
what does
this mean
for us?
It means
that when we
sin against
our God,
every time
we do it,
we do not
have need
of another
sacrifice
to be offered
because what
Jesus suffered
at the
cross,
he suffered
for yesterday's
sins,
he suffered
for today's
sins,
and he
suffered,
yes,
even for
the sins
of tomorrow.
There's no
perfect analogy
for this,
but let me
try a couple.
It's one
thing to pay
the bill
for someone
else for a
restaurant meal
that's already
been eaten,
but it's a
whole other
thing to pay
the bill for
someone else
at the
restaurant,
not just
for the
meal they
ate,
but for
every meal
they will
ever eat
at that
restaurant
ever again.
And it's
not a good
analogy,
because sinning
against God
is not like
a restaurant
meal.
It's wrong.
It's evil.
It's more
like crime.
It's one
thing to pay
the fine
of someone
else after
they've
committed a
crime.
It's another
thing to
pay enough
so that
every infraction,
every crime
they will ever
commit for
the rest
of their
life is
paid in
full,
and justice
is done.
it almost
sounds too
good to be
true,
doesn't it?
That God
would love
us with a
love like
that and
forgive us
with a
forgiveness
like that,
but it's
not,
because God
is not
like us.
If someone
sins against
us again
and again
and again,
eventually there
comes a time
where we are
ready to say
to them,
enough is
enough,
I will
not
forgive
you
again.
It hurts
too much,
or I just
don't care
about you
anymore after
all you've
done to
me.
But God
loved us
so deeply
that what
he wanted
to do
was to
give us
full and
free
forgiveness
for every
sin that
we would
ever commit,
past,
present,
and future
our entire
lives,
so that
nothing could
separate us
from him
ever again.
And so
Jesus came
to do,
to accomplish
that desire
of God,
that will
of God
for all
who repent
and believe
in him.
The suffering,
the agony,
the pain,
the shame
that we
deserve,
even for the
sins that we
will commit
tomorrow,
Jesus
took that
upon himself
at the
cross
2,000 years
ago.
In God's
books,
what God
wanted,
it is
finished.
Let's take a
few minutes to
reflect on this
and to pray
quietly.
David's going
to put on
some music
break.
And Rod
is going
to,
after a
couple
minutes,
come around
with the
bread and
the cup.
These
things,
of course,
are a
reminder
of the
body of
Christ
and the
blood of
Christ,
which was
broken and
shed for
us.
If you
believe
that because
of what
Jesus did
on the
cross for
you,
there is
no need
for any
more
sacrifices,
then I
invite you
to partake
with us,
to eat
and drink
with us.
Just ask
that you
hold on
to the
bread and
the cup,
both,
until everybody
has been
served and
then we
will partake
together.