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BIBLE
STUDY LESSON
For
the week beginning Sunday December 13, 2015
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ONCE FOR ALL
(A call to persevere)
Hebrews 10
The old sacrificial system contained in the Mosaic Law was only a shadow of
the things to come. Through it, we could not
really grasp the realities of the good things that CHRIST JESUS has done for us. The sacrifices under the old system
had to be repeated over and over again, year
after year, and still, were not able to provide perfect cleansing for those who came to worship. If the old system
sacrifices could have provided perfect cleansing,
they would not have had to be repeated over and over again, because the worshipers would have been purified once
and for all time.
Hebrews chapter 10 is the final
subsection of the writer’s expository unit regarding the superiority of CHRIST, which he began in chapter seven. Here
he argues that the superior sacrifice of CHRIST
is what now perfects the New-Covenant worshipper. We are, by JESUS’
vicarious sacrifice, purified once and for all time.
The old system of sacrifice really served as more of an annual reminder of
sin, than anything else it represented. GOD
wishes for us to worship HIM with the minds, hearts, and bodies, which HE has given us, and not with the blood of dead animals, nor with grain offerings. GOD wants us to worship HIM in “spirit and in truth”, not in “ritual”.
Like CHRIST JESUS, we must all
come to do GOD’s will with our whole bodies. JESUS CHRIST, through HIS vicarious
sacrifice, has canceled the Old Covenant and put into effect, HIS New Covenant. “Eis to dienekes” is the Greek
phrase that the writer of Hebrews uses repeatedly regarding JESUS’ continuing sacrificial effect on human destiny during the course of his argument in chapters
7-10. This phrase means “forever”, or, “continuously and uninterruptedly”. JESUS CHRIST continuously and uninterruptedly
guarantees the New Covenant promise.
JESUS came to usher in a New
Covenant from GOD. It is a Covenant that is far superior to any before, or since that time. It is now the duty of
the Christian to build his or her foundation on the
“Most-High Faith” of the MOST HIGH PRIEST. We have to learn to pray in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, and to
remember the conditions of that New Covenant,
under which the love of GOD has called us. And after we have done all that we can, we are still at the mercy of
JESUS CHRIST unto eternal life.
No one goes the FATHER, but by
JESUS. HE alone, is THE WAY to GOD. In HIM, we see exactly what GOD is like, and only HE can
usher us into GOD’s OWN glorious presence, without fear, without
guilt, and, without shame.
The Old Covenant imagery of the
curtain, in the Holy Place, that, once served as a barrier to man has been erased by the sacrificial death of JESUS CHRIST.
JESUS now symbolizes in the New Covenant, what the curtain
represented in the Old Covenant. The rending of the
curtain at the exact time of JESUS’ death, that is written about by the Apostle
Matthew in
Matthew 27:51, lets us know that now, only JESUS stands between man and
GOD.
Now, only through JESUS, can a
person hope to come into the presence of the LIVING GOD in
Heaven. HIS death gives believers the much-needed access to GOD that had been missing since the fall of Adam and Eve way back during the infancy of creation. We now have a great HIGH PRIEST in Heaven, WHO, can enable us to enter into the
presence of GOD, with pure and true hearts, fully
and confidently trusting in HIM. Our evil consciences have been sprinkled by
the blood of CHRIST to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water.
With unwavering confidence, we can hold tightly to the “Christian Hope”, and know that GOD can be
trusted to keep HIS promise. What we most need to concentrate on now is assembling together, finding ways to encourage each other to love, and seeking to do good deeds for one another whenever possible.
In the New Testament Greek, the
word used for “patience” is “hypomeno”, and it involves an overcoming of difficulties, and withstanding the pressures
of life. It is in fact, a “patient endurance”, or, perseverance. In verses 19-39, the author of GOD is calling on us to persevere as
we walk in the newness of life that we find in CHRIST JESUS. We must stand strong for CHRIST, and we must also, both, encourage, and warn each other that the second coming of JESUS in
drawing near, and will occur unexpectedly.
He also tells us that if we
continue on living sinful lives, after we have received the full knowledge of GOD’s word, there is no other sacrifice that can
be rendered to cover such sins. The defiant
sinner has nothing to look forward to, except the sting of GOD’s judgment and the terrible, raging fires of hell that will
ultimately consume them. For that is the price one
must pay for insulting and grieving the HOLY SPIRIT, WHO brings GOD’s mercy to HIS people.
We must try and never forget the
early days of our Christianity, and how we were determined to remain faithful through the persecutions and
pressures of satan, who tried mightily, to get us to turn
back to the ways of the world. We must stay focused on GOD, eagerly awaiting the good things that are waiting for us
in GOD’s promised “Place of Rest”, and we must maintain the faith in CHRIST that assures us our salvation through HIM.
A Sunday school lesson by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
