We discussed in Friday's study that the sacrifices which were offered year after year were incapable of forever making holy those who brought them. But the sacrifice which Christ made is capable of forever making us able to stand in the presence of God. This is why the first covenant was set aside, so a new and better covenant could be brought in. We talked Friday about the fact that, although sacrifices were brought in obedience to the law, God was not satisfied until His ultimate plan of salvation was carried out. It's not that He wasn't pleased with the people's obedience to the law; it's that He eagerly awaited the day when people's righteousness would be obtained by faith in His Son.
"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." (Hebrews 10:8-10) This quote is from Psalm 40, and this conversation takes place between God the Son and God the Father. God the Son says, "Here I am, I have come to do Your will." The "will" He speaks of is God's plan of salvation for mankind, in which Christ would give Himself as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. There was never anything we could do to make ourselves holy, so Christ did what was necessary to make us holy.
The author of Hebrews is writing to Jewish Christians who are living in a time before the second temple was destroyed by the Roman army in 70 AD. We know this because he speaks of the duties the priests are still performing in his day. "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." (Hebrews 10:11) These sacrifices, made under the law, were a temporary covering for sins. When a person brought a sacrifice in faith and with a repentant spirit, God granted him mercy. But a person had to keep bringing these sacrifices because the sacrifices weren't powerful enough to obtain for them eternal mercy and eternal forgiveness. But faith in the sacrifice Christ made is powerful enough to make us the sons and daughters of the living God, to cover our sins forever, and to grant us eternal life in the presence of our God.
He now speaks of "this priest", meaning Christ our great high priest. "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." (Hebrews 10:12-14) Why is Christ seated? Because He perfectly and completely fulfilled His part of God's salvation plan. Just as God rested after He completed His work of creation, Christ is resting from the work He did on the cross. If anything was lacking in regard to God's plan of salvation, Christ would still be on His feet, but His seated position proves to us that nothing remains to be done. There is nothing we can do to add to what Christ has done for us. He doesn't need our help. Faith is our response to what Christ has done for us, for faith is what saves us...not works. Of course we will naturally become more and more like our Savior as our relationship with Him grows, but there's nothing we can do to earn salvation. This is why the author says we have been "made holy"; we didn't make ourselves holy.
Under the law, the testimony of two or three people was necessary to establish the fact that something had actually taken place. We have already seen the conversation between God the Son and God the Father which testifies to the establishment of the new covenant. Now we find God the Holy Spirit also giving His testimony that a new covenant was always planned by God. "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.'" (Hebrews 10:15-17) These quotes are from Jeremiah 31:33-34. While the nation was still under the old covenant, God promised the people through the prophet Jeremiah that a new and better covenant was on its way.
Because the readers of the letter to the Hebrews are living in a time when the new covenant is in place, they no longer have to bring sacrifices year after year in order to obtain a temporary covering for their sins. Their faith in Christ has saved them, and they have been made into new creatures, and God no longer sees the old creatures when He looks at them. He looks at them and sees the blood of His Son, not their sins. "And where these have been forgiven, sacrifice for sin is no longer necessary." (Hebrews 10:18)
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