Participants: James Rafferty, Ty Gibson
Series Code: BOTB
Program Code: BOTB00009A
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00:20 Welcome friends to Books of the Book
00:22 I'm Ty Gibson and with me is my co-host James Rafferty. 00:25 We are presently engaged in a study of the 00:28 book of Hebrews. 00:29 So we would like to encourage you to get a Bible, 00:31 and pull up a chair, a get comfortable, and open 00:33 to Hebrews Chapter 9. 00:35 Hebrews Chapter 9. 00:36 We left off with Hebrews 8 we were talking about the 00:38 new covenant experience. 00:39 Hebrews 9 transitions smoothly into relational experience 00:44 into the reality of the types of the earthly sanctuary. 00:48 The first covenant is mentioned in verse 1 of Chapter 9, 00:52 and then Paul is going to inform us that first covenant 00:56 was all structured around the first tabernacle, James. 01:00 The first sanctuary, the earthly temple system, 01:04 was the center of the old covenant experience. 01:07 This is called the worldly sanctuary in verse 1, 01:11 of Hebrews Chapter 9. 01:12 Now, friends, we have to understand that this is one 01:15 of the main emphasis of Paul's writing 01:17 the book of Hebrews. 01:18 He is seeking to transition the Hebrew thinkers, the 01:22 Israelites from earthly types to heavenly realities. 01:25 From the worldly sanctuary service, with the human 01:29 priest to the heavenly sanctuary with the priesthood, 01:32 the Melchizedek priesthood, the Royal priesthood 01:35 of Jesus Christ. 01:36 So, in verse 2, of Chapter 9 of Hebrews, for a 01:40 tabernacle was prepared. 01:42 He is talking about the tabernacle in the wilderness 01:45 that was constructed by Moses and the Jews, 01:49 in that period of history. 01:51 And then he just explains the basic parts of that 01:55 particular sanctuary service. 01:57 He names the courtyard. 01:59 He names the Holy Place. 02:01 He names the Most Holy Place. 02:02 He names the pieces of furniture. 02:04 He is basically just reminding the reader that this 02:08 whole temple service. 02:10 This is what it looked like, here's the 02:11 topical view of it. 02:13 This is what we were dealing with at that time. 02:15 Now he's saying, let's make the transition. 02:18 Let's move from the earthly temple service, to the 02:22 heavenly sanctuary ministry of Jesus, our better, 02:26 our superior High Priest. 02:28 In fact, he says right here in verse 8, of Chapter 9, 02:31 He said, the Holy Ghost signifying that the way into the 02:35 holiest of all. 02:36 That's for the King James says. 02:37 This is actually talking about the heavenly sanctuary 02:40 the heavenly places. 02:41 The Holy Place, Most Holy Place. 02:42 This is something that Paul is not dealing with directly. 02:45 In other words, it is not an issue for Paul whether Jesus 02:48 is going in the Holy Place or the Most Holy Place. 02:50 We understand from the earthly types, the ministry of the 02:53 priest began in the Holy Place. 02:55 Actually, it began in the courtyard, 02:56 and we recognize, in the book of Hebrews, 02:58 that the courtyard represents the cross. 03:00 That phase has already taken place at Calvary. 03:03 But Jesus, when He went to heaven, began 03:05 ministry in the Holy Place, but Paul here is not 03:08 dealing with those issues. 03:09 What he is focusing on primarily, is going from the 03:12 earthly to the heavenly. 03:14 Once we get to the heavenly, we begin in the Holy Place, 03:16 but the main point is earthly to heavenly. 03:19 While the earthly is still standing, he is saying, 03:22 the Holy Spirit is signifying in verse 8, there is 03:24 no reason for us to go to the heavenly. 03:27 The heavenly is being eclipsed by the earthly or a 03:29 counterfeit of the earthly, we must understand that the 03:33 earthly has done with its types and its figures, with what 03:37 it pointed to once we see the reality of Jesus Christ 03:39 in the heavenly. 03:40 In a historic context here, we need to recognize 03:43 that this was a monumental shift for these people, 03:46 at this time. 03:47 They had worship in this particular system for hundreds 03:51 of years, generation after generation. 03:53 And now all of a sudden Jesus enters human history 03:57 and the entire system, that they had come to depend on, 04:01 was passing away. 04:03 It was being annulled, something new was being 04:06 put in its place. 04:07 When we come down to verses 9 and 10 James, 04:10 it says there that system was symbolic for the time, 04:14 then present, and then it says verse 10, that this 04:18 was only until the time of reformation or the time, when 04:22 this transition, when this revolution would take place. 04:27 And Jesus was the epicenter of that change. 04:31 It's no wonder, that He was crucified. 04:33 They didn't discern that that entire system, was as it 04:37 says here in verse 9, symbolic. 04:39 It pointed to realities, it was not a reality in itself. 04:43 It was very difficult for the Israelites, 04:45 for the Jews of Christ time. 04:46 It was very difficult for them to accept the idea that 04:50 the temple, the place that they put all their hopes in, 04:53 the place that they looked to as the Most Sacred Place 04:56 in their history in relation to their religion. 04:59 In relation to their connection with God, 05:02 was going to be wiped away. 05:03 It was going to be laid aside, and all of that was going 05:07 to be fulfilled in Christ. 05:08 He was going to become the focus and the transitional 05:12 point of a new system that was going to take us into the 05:16 heavenly, into the presence of God Himself. 05:19 In fact Paul brings this out in Chapter 8. 05:22 He says that Jesus Christ is the minister of the true 05:25 sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord 05:27 pitched and not man. 05:29 The verse that I really want to focus in on here, 05:33 for just a moment James, is verse 11. 05:36 "Christ came as a high priest of good things to come. " 05:39 What is being dealt with here? 05:42 What is Paul, bringing to our, what are the good 05:44 things to come? 05:45 When you look at it in the context, verse 11 is talking 05:48 about the good things to come in relation to a greater 05:51 and more perfect tabernacle, that is the sanctuary. 05:54 In that context, also, that's not to say of this building. 05:58 verse 12, "neither by the blood of goats and calves but 06:02 by his own blood, he entered once into the Holy Place. " 06:06 And that is the heavenly sanctuary, "having obtained 06:09 eternal redemption for us". 06:12 Good things to come friends, are this wonderful heavenly 06:16 sanctuary service that incorporates Christ as our one 06:20 time sacrifice once and for all as the One who is 06:23 obtained eternal redemption for us this is the context 06:27 of the Reformation that must take place in the minds and 06:30 hearts of millions of people even today. 06:33 But I want to say this carefully, because Ty. 06:35 I was raised in a Christian home, raised in a home that 06:38 taught me to believe in God, but it was a home that 06:41 pointed me to earthly priests. 06:42 To earthly intercession, to confessing to human beings 06:46 and not to the heavenly priesthood of Jesus Christ in 06:49 the heavenly sanctuary where He has made a 06:52 one time sacrifice. 06:53 Not an ongoing sacrifice, a one-time sacrifice 06:56 for all humanity. 06:57 Good things to come are inclusive here of the fact in 07:02 verse 12 that Jesus has obtained eternal redemption. 07:06 It's important that we recognize here that this is past 07:10 tense language. 07:11 Jesus is not in the process of accomplishing something. 07:15 All one level. 07:16 Jesus purged our sins in the one act of His sacrifice at 07:21 Calvary and thus obtained eternal redemption for us. 07:26 It is a done deal is an accomplished victory, 07:30 it is a fact of history that we have embodied in 07:33 the Lord Jesus Christ. 07:34 And that is why Paul is so urgent about moving us 07:38 into the understanding of this truth, because the 07:40 only thing that remains now is that we will see a 07:43 one-time sacrifice and accept it 07:46 appropriate as our own. 07:48 In other words, there is nothing else that is needed 07:52 as far as sacrifice for sins is concerned. 07:54 There is nothing we can add to the sacrificial atonement 07:57 that has been made for us, for everyone by Jesus Christ. 08:01 There is no sin that can be committed, or has been 08:04 committed by anyone that has not already been atoned 08:06 for by Jesus Christ. 08:08 But there is a need for us to understand, to allow 08:13 this truth to become a reality in our lives. 08:16 It is for us to let go of the earthly, for us to let 08:18 go of the worldly, for us to make this transition. 08:21 This reformation, if you will Ty, this reformation 08:24 from the old to the new. 08:26 So the fact that eternal redemption is a completed fact, 08:30 in the person of Jesus Christ, doesn't necessarily mean 08:34 that it is a completed fact in my personal experience. 08:38 This is where the faith factor comes in, which is all 08:41 through the book of Hebrews. 08:43 The apostle Paul, over and over again, is calling upon us 08:47 to enter into these accomplished facts in Jesus Christ. 08:53 To obtain eternal redemption, in Himself is preparatory 08:58 to each of us obtaining eternal redemption experientially. 09:03 Absolutely, and now verse 15 brings us to another idea 09:06 another point that is very important for the Gospel. 09:09 Because when we talk about "once and for all". 09:11 We're not just talking about New Testament believers. 09:14 He says here in verse 15, "and for this cause, he is the 09:18 mediator of the New Testament that by means of death", 09:21 His death, for the redemption of transgressions that were 09:25 under the first testament that which they which are called 09:28 might received the promise of eternal inheritance. " 09:30 In other words, all of God's people in the Old Testament 09:32 come under this new covenant promise. 09:34 All those people were going to be saved in the Old 09:36 Testament, are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. 09:39 They looked forward to the Lamb, who would take away 09:42 the sins of the world, they look back to the "Lamb who 09:45 takes away the sin of the world". 09:46 But both the Old Testament faithful and the New Testament 09:50 faithful look to the cross and come together at the cross, 09:53 according to Hebrews Chapter 8, and verse 15. 09:57 So there an objective reality, in the person of 10:00 Jesus Christ, and then there is the subjective 10:03 experience of God's people, of each of us as individuals. 10:07 There is what He has done in His humanity. 10:11 Having moved through the entire human experience, 10:14 conquering sin, dying on the cross, raising from the dead, 10:19 ascending to the right hand of the throne of the 10:21 Majesty in the heavens. 10:23 Paul says, and then there's you, there's me. 10:26 There is each individual who is called upon in the book 10:30 of Hebrews, to become a partaker of the new covenant. 10:34 And there is nothing more glorious James, then to have a 10:39 spiritual experience with God. 10:41 That is real, that is vital, that is actual. 10:44 That is not merely a theory or a series of legal ideas 10:50 that we have about something that was done merely 10:52 in a historic sense. 10:53 Now, we don't want to minimize the historical aspect, 10:56 because what was accomplished in Jesus, is as it 10:59 says here, the obtaining of eternal redemption for us. 11:03 It was all done in Him. 11:04 But praise God that it was an experience in Him that 11:10 invites us to be partakers of that same experience. 11:13 Amen and its partakers of an experience that He has given 11:17 to us as a gift. 11:18 In other words, we do not merit salvation by partaking 11:21 of that gift. 11:22 We simply acknowledge the truth of the salvation that 11:25 has been accomplished for us it becomes a reality in our 11:28 lives, we take hold of it. 11:29 Faith does the not make facts, faith takes hold of the 11:33 facts and acknowledges the facts for our salvation 11:36 in Jesus Christ. 11:37 Now notice what Paul does here is the moves on in 11:40 Hebrews 8 verses 16 and onward. 11:42 For where a testament is, there must also, of necessity, 11:47 be the death of the Testator. 11:49 Now let's pause there for just a second because we know 11:52 this Testament, this New Testament is God's testament, 11:55 the new covenant. 11:56 The New Testament is authored by God, and it says here 11:59 that if this New Testament is going to be put into effect, 12:01 the Testator must die. 12:04 We talked about this earlier Ty, and this is difficult 12:07 for us to grasp at times, to wrap our minds around, but 12:10 the truth of the matter is that God is immortal. 12:13 God cannot die. 12:14 And so in order for God the Testator of the New Testament, 12:17 to die, He became a man. 12:19 He came to us in the person of Jesus Christ. 12:22 He put on mortality over His immortality so that He could 12:26 experience death for all of us. 12:28 What a beautiful picture of God's love. 12:30 It's incredible James, that Jesus, God the Creator, 12:34 became a human being, according to the book of Hebrews 12:39 as the prerequisite, the set of conditions in which God 12:43 could experience the reality of our sin and die 12:48 in our place at Calvary. 12:50 It's amazing, on the one hand, that He would even be 12:54 willing to experience that condescension, to do 12:57 that, to suffer in that way for us. 12:59 But it is vital that we recognize that it is God, 13:03 that is doing this. 13:04 It is God that is experiencing this sacrifice 13:07 and willingly doing so. 13:08 Not because He is compelled to do so, but purely, 13:12 one-hundred percent out of the abundance of His love 13:15 for each one of us. 13:17 As we continue in Hebrews Chapter 9, we are going to 13:20 explore additional aspects of this sacrifice and 13:23 emphasize what it is that Paul is bringing to our 13:27 attention here, so please stay with us. 13:28 Don't go away, we will be right back! |
Revised 2014-12-17