We will be in Hebrews chapter one verse three.
You guys already knew that though.
You all are starting to figure it out.
Some of you may be wondering what I'm doing with all my extra time now that other people
are helping with some of these jobs and I'm not teaching Sunday school.
Well the answer to that is I'm reading a lot about the book of Hebrews.
I'm reading a lot of time in commentaries and looking at the book of Hebrews and we
are really breaking down these first three verses in this introduction to understand
them as best as we can.
We are building a foundation.
The author of Hebrews is building a foundation here that everything is going to be built
on.
The book of Hebrews is really a sermon that the focal point is Jesus Christ.
When I've said it before I'll say it again, if you like Jesus the book of Hebrews is
a good book for you because it is a book about Jesus.
And so eventually we're going to make it through the whole book of Hebrews but we are just
now getting started.
We have been in verse three for a couple of weeks and today we'll be in Hebrews chapter
one verse three part C I will call it.
We'll look at one little part of it and talk about that.
We've talked about the Son of God, the glory of God, the Word of God and today we're going
to move on to the next section of Hebrews chapter one verse three.
So let's read verse three then we'll pray and get started.
The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact expression of his nature sustaining
all things by his powerful word after making purification for sins he sat down at the right
hand of the majesty on high.
Let's pray.
Father God we come to you and your word is good.
God your Son is good and so I pray that as we read these words today, God that we see
your Son, that we see your Word, that we see the goodness of it.
God I pray that if there's one in this room today that does not know Jesus Christ that
they would know Jesus Christ when they leave.
God that we would realize today that we come into this place and we are wretched sinners.
God let us not fool ourselves to think we are better than we are because God we are
not.
We come before you today not because of anything that we have done.
We come before you broken.
We come before you because Jesus Christ has given his life on the cross and because you
have given us grace through that God and we come and we need your grace and we need your
mercy God because we fail and we do so miserably time and time again.
So God I pray that as we read your word that your word would impact us that we would see
the need for being purified and that we would know that that purification today comes through
Jesus Christ and Christ alone.
And I ask these things in Jesus name.
Amen.
We are just looking at one little section of verse 3 today and it is this, after making
purification for sins.
Now we are talking about Jesus Christ.
We are talking about the Son of God and the most important thing that Jesus did is that
he made purification for sins.
Why is that significant?
Why is that important?
Why is the fact that Jesus made purifications of sins important for us today?
When we look at scripture especially in the Old Testament we see this idea, this word
that you may see in a lot of your translations, the word atonement.
You may see the word purification depending on your translation from time to time and
this is what is necessary for us.
We as human beings are sinful.
And the scripture tells us that the wages of sin is death.
The wages of sin is death.
Death has to occur when sin occurs.
That's the problem that you and I deal with today.
That's the problem that Adam and Eve were faced with and that's the problem that all
of humanity will be faced with so long as we are on this earth.
We are sinners and the wages of sin is death.
But praise the Lord, God provides a way that we can be atoned for our sins and our sins
are atoned for by death.
Now if it was left to us we would sin and we would die and that would be a just punishment
for our sins.
Now we may think about the fact that Jesus gave his life on a cross for us.
We may think about the fact that blood atones for sins and we may ask ourselves the question
but how?
Like why is it even necessary?
If God is so good and God is so full of grace then why when sin entered into the world why
couldn't God have just used his grace abundantly and dealt with sin in that way?
Because God is also just.
Now God is certainly gracious.
Grace is part of God's nature but so is justice.
And so for God to be fully God and to be perfect in every way that he is God is certainly
gracious and we are grateful to him for that but God has to be just.
God cannot allow sin to go unpunished.
And we understand that if we begin to think about what that would look like you cannot
just allow sin to go unpunished and allow grace to keep on going and grace to keep on
going all at the same time while sin goes unpunished.
What would happen in the world?
Well eventually we would sin and we would say well God is going to give us grace and
we would sin and we would sin and we would have no desire not to sin and it would end
up being that God would be there to serve us to continually give grace to us and we
do nothing for God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth.
Now God doesn't exist to serve us we exist to love God we exist to serve God because
he is great and he created us and he provides for us.
So part of who God is is his grace praise the Lord but also part of who God is is that
he is just and for justice to be served sin has to be punished.
You look in our world today perhaps there are occasions where people who commit crimes
there is no punishment what is the result of that?
We see the result of that sometimes in our world.
People who commit crime and break the law that go unpunished it ends up to be a chaotic
world and so God is good.
God is gracious but God is just and the wages of sin is death.
You cannot put the toothpaste back in the tube.
When sin entered into the world sin began to do what sin does and that is to cause death.
So for us to have a relationship with God we cannot do so because we are sinners there
has to be something that has to occur justice has to be served and that justice can be served
in two ways.
Two ways we can suffer the punishment for our sins that is we have sinned we are punished
justice is served but praise the Lord God saw fit to provide a better way.
So we see in the Old Testament in the story of Adam and Eve in the garden that they sinned
and after they had sinned we see in Genesis chapter 3 verse 21 the Lord made clothing
out of skins for Adam and his wife and he clothed them.
Now the word sacrifice is not used here but God did have to get the skins from somewhere
and so it is certainly possible in that particular instance that that was the first sacrifice
that we see in the Bible that God sacrificed some animal and some form to provide skin
for Adam and Eve.
We also see as we continue to read on not much further in the book of Genesis this idea
of sacrifice and offering and these are words that you will see often in the Old Testament
sacrifice atonement burn offering these are all part of the things that God had commanded
his people to do and we see before the law ever even came into effect that is through
Moses when God says ok here is the way that things are supposed to be here is the way
the priesthood is supposed to be set up we even see burnt offering to the Lord before
that in Genesis chapter 8 verses 20 through 21 after Noah had been on the ark and the
water went down they got off the ark it says that Noah built an altar to the Lord he took
some of every kind of clean animal and every kind of clean bird and offered burnt offerings
on the altar when the Lord smelled the pleasing aroma it not interesting that what we see
sometimes for these burnt offerings in the Old Testament is it is a pleasing aroma to
God that is kind of weird right I mean what kind of God do we serve that he enjoys the
smell of dead animals well I don't know if it was so much the smell that was pleasing
to God is maybe so much as the heart that was behind the offering that was giving you
see that's what God really desires for these offerings that we see in the Old Testament
we see verses sprinkled through there that says what God really desires more than anything
more than all of these burnt offerings it's he desires a heart that really seeks him that
really trusts him and the reason why Noah was offering these types of offering was in
praise and in thankfulness to the Lord and that I believe is what is pleasing to the
Lord when these offerings were made from a right heart it is pleasing to the Lord I believe
that today when we serve the Lord now praise the Lord we're not offering sacrifices and
burning them on the altar but there are works and there are acts and there are things that
we do for God and when we do those because we love God and we desire to follow his commands
those things are pleasing to God when we do those things for ourselves when we do those
things simply to be seen by our by others when we do those things simply to get a pat
on the back I do not believe that those works are pleasing to God the works in and of themselves
may be good the things that we do may be the right thing for us to do but if we're doing
the right thing for the wrong reason that's not the way that God desires for us to do
things and so here Noah is offering this burnt offering to the Lord and it is pleasing to
God and so we see this idea of sacrifices and burnt offerings and then as we continue
to read through the Old Testament we see this spelled out for us much more clearly what
God desires and required of his people in the Old Testament now I'm going to be honest
with you I'm not I'm not really an expert in all of these sacrifices because you go back
and you read the book of Leviticus and you read some of these early things where God
told him to do some stuff it is some gnarly stuff like some weird stuff like put some
blood on your ear and on your toe and this animal for this sin and that animal for that
sin and it's just stuff that I don't fully understand and I don't fully get and it seems
kind of strange but this is the way that God had had told his people to do these things
and at the end of the day the point is this not so much maybe necessarily all the details
of how things had been done but the point is this is that God's people and you and I
are sinful and sin is atoned far by blood we see that in Leviticus chapter four excuse
me Leviticus chapter 17 verse 11 for the life of a creature is in the blood and I have
appointed it to you to make atonement on the altar for your lives since it is the life
blood that makes atonement okay so the wages of sin is death but the life of a creature
is in the blood so death comes from sin but life comes from blood blood represents life
we see that life blood makes atonement right that's part of God's justice when we talk
about part of God's justice if we see it and that leads to death and blood represents
life life must cover death so that we can live and how does God say that that occurs
he says that it is the blood that makes atonement so for God to be just God is gracious praise
God but for God to fully allow us to enjoy and see that grace and God also to be just
there has to be sacrifice that has to occur there has to be blood that has to be shed
there has to be purification that has to be made and what is it saying Hebrews chapter
three that after making purification that is Jesus is the one who made purification that
must occur that atonement must take place for us to have good relationship with God our
sins must be atoned for and so we see in the Old Testament and particularly in the book
of Leviticus if you get bored this week need some homework read the book of Leviticus you
are going to see some gnarly stuff in there but we will sum up a little bit of what the
book of Leviticus is about today Leviticus chapter four verse 20 tells us this at the
end of the verse so the priest will make atonement on their behalf and they will be forgiven
okay so we all must be atoned to stand before God and be in his presence and the only way
that atonement can occur is through blood and the only one who can offer that blood
is the priest and so it is in the Old Testament that God had established this priesthood okay
here you are my people God says and you are a bunch of sinful people and I am a good God
and I desire to be with you and you to be with me but your sins must be atoned for therefore
God says I am going to establish this system I am going to establish some men who are going
to be priests among you and they will be the ones who are given the job to sacrifice these
variety of animals in this variety of ways so that this blood can be shed and so that
you can be atoned for now maybe when you read in the Old Testament if you haven't spent
a lot of time reading in it you may hear the word priest and you may say oh yeah priest
that is kind of like a preacher nowadays not at all the priest in the Old Testament you
may would better come out better thinking about them as butchers because they made sacrifices
all the time lots of sacrifice to be a priest would have been a horrible job to have had
to constantly be able to cut up these animals and you had to take this part of the animal
and offer it in this way and you had to take this part of the animal and offer it in this
way and you had to burn this part of the animal and you had to clean yourself in certain ways
and you had to wash yourself in certain ways and you had to do it day after day and week
after week and year after year because the people that you were there with were constantly
sinning and you were sinning and so before you could ever do anything for the people
you had to make a sacrifice for yourself and then you had to make a sacrifice for somebody
else and the next day they were going to go off and guess what they were going to do?
They were going to sin again and so day after day these priests offer these sacrifices over
and over and over.
This was a nasty and bloody mess.
This was death, it was just nasty.
Innocent animals that didn't do anything.
And oh what a powerful picture, what a powerful realization maybe this is for you and I and
maybe it was for God's people that when they saw these animals slain and slaughtered again
and again and again maybe it helped them to realize holy smokes our sin is pretty rotten.
God saw that our sin was pretty rotten and can you believe that in all the sin that you
do and that I do that God still said I want to provide a way for them and God said in
the Old Testament this is the way.
I'm going to set up this priesthood.
They're going to make these sacrifices at the proper time and this is how sin is going
to be atoned for.
Let's read a little further in Leviticus chapter 5 verses 5 and 6.
Now in the context that I've been talking about some specific sins that we're being
dealt with and specific sins and specific things had to be dealt with in specific ways
but this just gives us an idea and kind of reinforces what the priests had to do.
In Leviticus chapter 5 verses 5 and 6 if someone incurs guilt in one of these cases that is
one of the cases previously mentioned he is to confess he has committed that sin.
He must bring his restitution for the sin he has committed to the Lord.
A female lamb or a goat from the flock as a sin offering.
In this way the priest will make atonement on his behalf for his sin.
So here we see the same idea that we just talked about.
We see this repeatedly throughout the Old Testament.
The priest, the priest, the priest, the priest.
The priests are the ones who offer the sacrifices for the sin.
Now we have two priestly groups.
We have the priest and then we have the high priest.
As we read in 1 Chronicles chapter 6 verse 49 but Aaron and his sons did all the work
of the most holy place.
Now what is the most holy place?
Well we're going to talk about that here in just a second.
But there was this tabernacle that God had said, okay here's the way you need to build
this thing.
Here's the dimensions, here's the materials.
There's all this stuff that goes around but in the middle of this tabernacle there was
one place and that's where it said the Ark of the Covenant.
And there on top of the Ark of the Covenant there were these two angelic looking creatures
whose wings came together and it was there on top of that which is called the mercy
seat that God would come down among the people and rest there in this most holy place.
And it was the high priest who was allowed to go into the holy of holies, the most holy
place once a year.
So here we see this with Aaron and his sons.
They presented the offering on the altar of burnt offerings and on the altar of incense
to make atonement for Israel according to all that Moses, the servant of God, had commanded.
So what is the job of the priest?
It is to make atonement.
How do they make this atonement?
It is through the blood of all of these different animals.
Now we've seen this in Leviticus and Exodus and back in these parts and here all the way
is we're going through chronicles and it's recounting what God had laid out for them.
Here we see again it talks about the priesthood, it talks about Aaron, it talks about his sons,
it talks about the need for atonement.
And we continue to see this throughout the Old Testament.
We continue to see this idea of atonement and the priest doing their job as we read through
the events of the Old Testament.
Second Chronicles chapter 30 verses 18 through 20.
Now this is an interesting story.
Now if you go back and you read the history of Israel, eventually Israel is pretty rotten.
They split up into two groups.
One is referred to as Israel, that's the northern 10 tribes of Israel, they retain the name
Israel.
The other two tribes that were part of the 12 tribes become known as Judah, they're
the southern tribes, they become known as Judah.
They split apart and they each have their own different kings as we read throughout the
Old Testament.
Now Israel was bad all the way through.
Israel never had a bad king, they were bad, bad, bad.
Judah however had a few good kings, they had some bad kings along the way too.
But Judah did have some good kings along the way and one of those we read about here in
Second Chronicles chapter 30, one of those good kings was named Hezekiah.
Now it was often the case for God's people that they would do good for a little while
and then they would go back into sin.
We get that, we are guilty of that too.
You do good for a little while, you come to church, you read God's word, your prayer
life is good, you're walking in obedience to God, things are well.
And then we slip and then we give in to temptation and then we give in to sin and then we kind
of put God back on the back burner and we're not seeking His word, we're not being obedient
to Him.
Well that was the case for God's people often in the Old Testament.
Now when Hezekiah comes along, I encourage you to go back and read these chapters around
the Second Chronicles chapter 30, you can see this story, it's a good story.
But Hezekiah comes along and he says, I'm summing up here, hold up a second, we're not doing
right.
We're not doing what God has called us to do.
We're not keeping God's commands.
We're not doing all these things that God wants us to do.
Therefore I'm reinstating things the way that God had commanded us to do these things.
I'm reinstating the Passover that we remember what God did for us, that He delivered us
out of the land in Egypt.
I'm reinstating the sacrifices, all these things that we are supposed to be doing, that we
have not been doing, Hezekiah says, we're about to start doing these things.
So He tells everybody around, He says, y'all all come on down, we are fisting to start
doing what God has called us to do.
That may be a good message too for those who are God's people today.
That's another message for another day.
But perhaps we need such a wake up call.
Perhaps there are those who are already God's children, but they are not living like Him.
Maybe we need to come together and say it's time for us to listen to and live by the word
of God.
That's what will bring healing to our country and to our world.
Another message for another day.
But Hezekiah did this for God's people and this is what he said after he called everybody
in 2 Chronicles chapter 30 verse 18, a large number of the people, many from Ephraim, Manasseh,
Issachar and Zebulun were ritually unclean.
Now, when we look at the Old Testament there were certain things you could not do.
If you did these things you were unclean.
It didn't necessarily mean you were evil or anything.
It just meant that you were unclean and there were certain processes you had to do to be
made clean and all of these different things.
An example, one of the things like touching a dead body.
If you touched a dead body you were unclean for a certain period of time.
There were certain ways that you had to wash yourself and all these other things.
Like I said, I don't completely understand all the ins and outs.
It doesn't matter.
But in this instance, these that some of the ones that Hezekiah had called in would be
those who would fall into that category of being ritually unclean for one reason or another.
Let's continue on.
Yet, they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written.
So Hezekiah says, come on down.
We're going to eat the Passover like God called us to.
But they come down and they eat the Passover but they weren't supposed to eat the Passover
because they were unclean.
They didn't go through whatever process they needed to be made clean.
Yet they had eaten the Passover contrary to what was written.
But Hezekiah had interceded for them saying, may the good Lord provide atonement on behalf
of whoever sets his whole heart on seeking God, Yahweh, the God of his ancestors, even
though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.
Now, this is an interesting passage for me.
Here there was a certain thing that God had laid out for them, a certain set of procedures
in a way that they were supposed to do things.
And Hezekiah told everybody to come on down.
They came down.
They were unclean.
They weren't supposed to take the Passover and they did.
But what did Hezekiah say?
It says that Hezekiah interceded for them.
It says, may the good Lord provide atonement on behalf of whoever sets his whole heart
on seeking God.
Now, who is the one that's going to provide the atonement there?
Hezekiah is saying, God, may you make atonement for these people?
And for what reason did He say?
He said, because do it for the ones who are seeking you.
So Hezekiah said, look, these people weren't supposed to do this.
They didn't follow the commands in the way that they were supposed to.
But there was one thing about them that was right and that was good.
And that is they were seeking God for the right reasons.
That is important for us to remember.
This is what God cares about.
He does not care about sacrifices and burnt offerings and the blood of goats and bulls.
That's not what God cares about.
What God has always cared about from the get-go.
And the thing that God still cares about today are, are you going to seek Him?
And it is God who is going to provide the atonement through His precious Son, Jesus Christ.
So Hezekiah praised this prayer to God.
And He says, OK, God, these people didn't follow all the letter of the law.
They shouldn't have taken the Passover.
But God atoned for what they have done anyway.
And listen to the next verse here, verse 20.
So the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people.
Isn't that a beautiful thing?
God had hauled this whole system lined up for atonement.
But at the end of the day, Hezekiah recognized that God is good to those who seek Him.
And it is God who ultimately atones for the people.
I think that's a beautiful passage for us to consider as we, as we talk about the idea
of atonement and purification here today.
Let's read a little further.
Another example from Nehemiah, chapter 12, verse 45.
Now I'll give you a little background here of what was going on in Nehemiah.
God's people were sinful.
And they were sinful and they were taken into captivity for about 70 years.
The Babylonians had come in.
The northern Tim tribes that we just talked about, they had been overtaken by Syria some
time ago.
Judah was a little better.
God was with them.
But eventually Judah, they didn't live for God the way they should.
And by that point, the Babylonians came in.
They overtook the people of Judah.
And for 70 years, they lived in captivity.
This is the book of Daniel.
That's what's going on in the book of Daniel.
But ultimately God had said that He was going to return His people to the land.
And He did.
And by the time we get to the books of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see that God is leading His
people out of captivity and He's bringing them back to Jerusalem.
And they're rebuilding the temple.
Now in Solomon's day, first they had the tabernacle, that tent we talked about.
But then eventually Solomon, King Solomon made this beautiful, huge, grand temple for
the Lord where the priests would offer their sacrifices.
And ultimately that was destroyed.
And when God's people came back into Jerusalem, they rebuilt the temple.
We see this in Ezra and we see on into Nehemiah as they continue these works.
And they rebuilt the temple, praise the Lord.
So the sacrifices that the priests can offer for atonement and purification are restored.
And then they begin to build these walls around Jerusalem.
And that's what's going on in the book of Nehemiah.
And ultimately with some opposition, they rebuild these walls.
And after they get through rebuilding the walls, they dedicate the walls to the Lord.
And let's see what they do in Nehemiah chapter 12 verse 45.
They perform the service of their God in the service of purification along with the singers
and gatekeepers as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.
So what did they do?
They continued to do the things that God had commanded them to do.
The purification that was to take place, that had been taking place, off and on throughout
the history of Israel, whenever they got back in, whenever they had rebuilt the temple,
whenever they had rebuilt the walls, they did these purifications and this dedication,
these burnt offerings that God had commanded them to do.
And so we see all throughout the Old Testament this idea of purification and atonement.
We are sinners who must be atoned for.
The atonement comes only through blood and it can only be offered as a sacrifice by the
priests.
This is the plan.
This is the way that God has laid this out.
Now it's important for us to understand this in some detail.
When we see Hebrews chapter 3 where it talks about Jesus making purifications for sin, we
need to get that.
That's why we're talking about all of these things.
And we will talk about these things in great detail because as we get in further into the
book of Hebrews, the author of Hebrews spends a great amount of time talking about these
very things.
We are simply looking kind of surface level at this today.
But this is what we've seen through the Old Testament.
The blood did a sacrifice by the priests to make the atonement for God's people.
Now there was one particular atonement that was the big one.
It was the big deal.
And we often refer to it as the day of atonement.
You may have heard that before.
You may see that title perhaps over a passage of Scripture in your Bible.
The day of atonement.
Now this was a one day a year thing.
This was a one time a year when the high priest would go into the Holy of Holies, the holiest
place that only the high priest could go, and offer sacrifices for the people's sins.
Now first the high priest had to offer sacrifice for his own sin.
And that came through the sacrifice of a bull and he had to do things in a variety of different
ways.
But once a year the high priest would go on the day of atonement to atone for the sins
of all the people of Israel.
Now you may have heard the phrase yam kapoor and don't have a clue what that is.
It's a holiday.
But it is the day of atonement.
That's what the Jews celebrate as the day of atonement.
Now they're looking for atonement still in the blood of goats and bulls.
We seek our atonement and know that it is found in Jesus Christ.
Nonetheless the day of atonement itself is what God called the people to do in Scripture.
Exodus chapter 30 verse 10 says, once a year Aaron is to perform the purification right
or atonement in some of your translations, on the horns of the altar.
Throughout your generations he is to perform the purification right for once a year with
the blood of the sin offering for atonement.
The altar is especially holy to the Lord.
So this is a big day.
This is a big day for the people of Israel.
The day of atonement.
This is a special day for the high priest to go into the most holy place and to offer
these sacrifices in the way that he would.
Now if you want to read something this week and you don't have enough time to read all
of Leviticus, you may want to put a bookmark in Leviticus chapter 16.
Now I'm going to sum it up today simply because we are short of time.
I thought about reading the whole thing but I will not.
But I encourage you to read Leviticus chapter 16.
It talks about the day of atonement.
It talks about the sacrifice the priest had to make the sacrifice for himself and then
he could make the sacrifice for the people.
But there's something interesting about that chapter when you begin to read is that once
the priest had made atonement for himself, there were two goats that were supposed to
be there that day.
There were two goats that were to be there and one of those goats the priest was to take
and he was to sacrifice that goat.
He was to sacrifice that and shed that goat's blood for the forgiveness of sin.
There was another goat however that the priest was not to sacrifice but after sacrificing
the first goat which would atone for the people, the second goat would be brought to the priest
and the priest would lay his hands on the goat's head and he would put the sins of the people
on that goat and the goat would be let go and the people's sins would be cast out.
They would be gone.
You see that type of language in Scripture that our sins may be cast as far as the east
is to the west.
This is what occurred on the day of atonement, that a sacrifice was made for atonement and
that our sins or the sins of God's people in that case were cast away.
This was a significant day and as we see always in the Old Testament, all of these things
that God has implemented in the Old Testament are but a shadow of what is to come.
It is a shadow of Jesus and what Jesus will fulfill in a more perfect way.
And so as these two goats were brought so that sin could be atoned for and it could
be cast away, away from the people, this is what Jesus does for us.
But Jesus does it in a unique way, a little different than what we see in the Old Testament.
Similar but different in a much greater way.
Let's read just a little part of Leviticus 16 verse 29.
This is to be a permanent statute for you.
Oh, excuse me, wrong verse.
Leviticus 16 verse 21.
Aaron will lay both his hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the
Israelites' wrongdoings and rebellious acts.
All their sins he is to put on them on the goat's head and send it away into the wilderness
by the man appointed for the task.
The goat will carry on it all their wrongdoings into a desolate land and he will release it
there.
And then skipping down to verse 29.
This is to be a permanent statute for you.
In the seventh month on the tenth day of the month you are to practice self-denial and
do no work, both the native and the foreigner who resides among you.
Atonement will be made for you on this day to cleanse you and you will be clean from
all your sins before the Lord.
This was significant.
This is the way in the Old Testament in which God chose to atone for sin.
The wages of sin is death.
So death has to occur when sin occurs.
We can die for our sin or God can atone for our sin.
God chose to atone for our sin.
And in the Old Testament the way that he atoned by the blood of goats and bulls was not, it
was never going to be able to withstand, right?
We talked about that with the priest because day after day after day people would sin and
so the priests were always making sacrifices on behalf of the people and this was never
going to be sustainable.
And praise the Lord.
Would it not be horrible if that's what we had to do today?
That you came to church and that you brought with you some animals and all day I had to
slice them up and slaughter them up and we had to do that day after day and week after
week.
That would be a horrible thing and ultimately it would not atone for our sins and the way
that they needed to be atoned for.
And so God says I will provide a better way.
And this didn't just pop up one day by the way in God's head.
It's not like he said I'm going to make creation and then one day they're all going to sin
and then I'll figure out a problem.
No from the get go God had established this plan through Jesus Christ that all of these
sacrifices foreshadowed because it said that Jesus was set apart before the foundation
of the world.
Before things even came into existence Jesus was set aside to be our sacrifice.
And so the things that we see in the Old Testament they were but a shadow of what God had already
prepared and what was to come through Jesus Christ.
And that is why it is so significant that when we finally flip the page from the Old
Testament where all these animals were sacrificed when we flip that page to the New Testament
and John says look here is the Lamb of God that is significant.
Here John the Baptist is baptizing.
He's preparing the way for people so that they know that the Messiah is coming.
The one who will deliver them.
The one who will forgive them of their sins.
The one who will atone for them.
The one who will make purification for them.
And when Jesus came on to the scene that day that John was baptizing behold here comes
the Lamb of God.
And so when we see that language of Jesus that Jesus is a lamb we see this same imagery
it should pop into our head of these sacrifices that God made in the Old Testament of these
goats or bulls or lambs or cows or whatever it was that when we see Jesus mentioned in
this way that we know what the Scripture is talking about.
This is what we need to get.
The people of Hebrews needed to get this idea that Jesus is the purification for their sins.
Why?
Because the people of Hebrews were tempted to go back to the old sacrificial system.
They had been freed from that through Jesus Christ.
They had put their faith in Jesus Christ.
They had been living for Jesus Christ.
And now all of a sudden they said well let's go back to slaughtering animals again and
the writer of Hebrews says Jesus is the Son of God the radiance of God's glory the exact
image of God the nature of God and he made purification of sins.
Now praise the Lord we don't have to go back to the old way of purification but we do still
have to be purified for our sins and the only way in which God provides for us today for
that purification to occur is through Jesus Christ.
In the Old Testament it was through animals and that was until Jesus.
Now no doubt there are many people today that are sacrificing animals to God and they're
trying to follow these rituals as good as they think that they can and they are missing
the point because God has said this is done because in that holy of holies between the
holy of holies and the outer courtyard was a veil and only the high priest could go into
that veil and offer that sacrifice but when Jesus was crucified on the cross that veil
in the temple that day was torn by God himself because there is no longer a need for a high
priest to enter into the holy of holies because Jesus Christ has done that for us once and
for all.
Hebrews chapter 10 verses 11 and 12 every priest stands day after day ministering and
offering the same sacrifices time after time which can never take away sins but this man
after offering one sacrifice for sins forever sat down at the right hand of God and who
is this man that is being spoken of here?
It is Jesus.
This is what makes Jesus unique.
In the Old Testament there were sacrifices that had to be made.
There were priests that had to make those sacrifices.
There were kings that God had put over his people but here is the uniqueness of Jesus
Christ that we will look at in much greater detail in Hebrews but this is the uniqueness
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus was the sacrifice.
Jesus was the high priest who offered the sacrifice.
He offered himself to God.
Jesus is the king of kings and Lord of lords.
Time and time again day after day Hebrews says the priest of the Old Testament had to
offer sacrifices for people but Jesus has done it once and for all.
When he gave his life on a cross and was crucified Jesus Christ has made purification for our
sins and there is purification in none other.
Do you know that truth today?
Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ today?
Our sin has been atoned for.
Blood had to be shed.
The blood of goats and bulls was insufficient the book of Hebrews says but the precious
blood of Jesus Christ was sufficient.
He gave his life.
He took on death so that you could receive forgiveness of sins and the grace of God.
He atoned for us like the goat that was slain on the day of atonement.
He is the one that cast our sins away like the scapegoat who was cast into the desolate
land and so it is when we put our faith in Jesus Christ that we have been purified because
Jesus is the purification of our sins today if we put our faith in Him.
And that's the question that you have to answer.
Have your sins been forgiven today?
Are you purified today?
Though your sins are as scarlet Jesus Christ will make them as white as snow today but
only if you put your faith in Him.
So Peter chapter 1 verse 18 says this, For you know that you were redeemed from your
empty way of life inherited from the fathers not with perishable things like silver or
gold but with the precious blood of Christ like that of a lamb without defect or blemish.
He was chosen before the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the times
for you.
We are redeemed today if we have put our faith in Jesus Christ.
And all of the ways that those in the Old Testament had failed, they had failed everything
that God put before them.
God knew that that way was not going to be sufficient to sustain people for all of eternity
and so God provided a better way.
Yeah, the sins were atoned for in the moment in the Old Testament.
Yeah, the priests did what they were supposed to do for a moment in the Old Testament but
God says there needs to be a more perfect way.
There needs to be a more perfect sacrifice and therefore I will send my perfect Son without
spot or blemish whose precious blood will be shed for you so that you can be atoned
for so that you can be made pure.
So when we see in Hebrews chapter 3 that Jesus made purification of sins, we need to know
what Jesus did.
He put an end to all the blood of goats and bulls.
He put an end to the high priesthood because Jesus himself is the perfect sacrifice.
He is the perfect priest.
He is the king of kings.
He is the Lord of lords and he desires to make purification for your sin today by the
work that he did on the cross if you would put your faith in him.
Let us pray.
Father God, we come to you today and we thank you for your good work.
God, I pray that we would not fail to realize today who Jesus is.
God, maybe there are some in here today and they are tempted in the same way that the
audience of Hebrews was.
God, they are tempted to turn from you.
Maybe life has been tough.
Maybe they've just began to live for the world.
Maybe the world has been more appealing.
But God, let them not be drawn away from Jesus but let us recognize the greatness of who Jesus
is.
The greatness of his sacrifice that he gave with his life on the cross, dear Lord.
God, I pray that if there is one in this room that does not know Jesus, maybe today for
the first time they have realized that they are a sinner, that they hadn't been doing
right, hadn't been living right, hadn't been thinking right.
Maybe today they realize that they are a wretched sinner.
God, we all are.
But, dear Lord, we thank you that the precious blood of Jesus Christ can purify our sins,
forgive us of our sins, and make us new, dear Lord.
That you will cast our sins as far as the east is to the west.
That God, even after coming to Jesus, that when we sin, dear Lord, we have an advocate
in Jesus that boldly is there for us, dear Lord.
So God, I pray that if there are some in this room that do not know Jesus today, that they
would before they leave.
Maybe there are some in this room, God, and maybe there are some things that they just
need to get straight in their life.
I pray that they would, dear Lord.
God, we thank you for your good word.
We thank you for providing a better way through Jesus.
God, we don't have to do all this gnarly stuff we see in the Old Testament that we don't
really get.
But God, that you have already done all that needs to be done through Jesus Christ.
So let us get that, dear Lord.
That is not hard for us to get.
That Jesus loved us so much that he gave us only life so that we could be forgiven.
God, I pray that we would live in that truth today.
And I ask these things in Jesus' name, amen.