Friday, December 11, 2015

BOOK BY BOOK BIBLE STUDY
larrydalexanderbiblestudies.blogspot.com

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 inritual.
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





                                 
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