SCRIPTURE: HEBREWS 10
MEMORY VERSE:
“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” (Hebrews 10:23)
CHRIST’S SACRIFICE ONCE FOR ALL (vs. 1-18)
The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming – not the realities themselves. For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship. If it could, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshippers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins, because it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
When Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am – it is written about me in the scroll – I have come to do your wills, O God.”
Christ made us holy through the sacrifice of his body once for all. 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. But when Jesus had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.
The Holy Spirit testifies to us about this: 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.” Their sins and lawless acts, I will remember no more. And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin.
A CALL TO PERSEVERE (vs. 19-39)
Since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, what must we do?
- Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. (v. 22)
- Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. (v. 23)
- Let us consider how we may spur one another toward love and good deeds. (v. 24)
- Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching. (v. 25)
- Do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. (v. 35)
- You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. (v. 36)
If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think a man deserved to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has 8oinsulted the Spirit of grace? For we know him who said, “It is mine to avenge’; I will repay” and “The Lord will judge his people. It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Sometimes you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution; at other times you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized with those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property, because you knew that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions. In just a little while. “He who is coming will come and will not delay. But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him” (v. 37). But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who believe and are saved.
THOUGHTS:
The costly sacrifice of an animal’s life impressed upon the sinner the seriousness of his own sin before God. How much more when we think of Jesus who shed his own blood on the cross for us. His sacrifice is infinitely greater than the sacrifice of an animal. So, we should treasure his immeasurable gift and respond by giving Him our devotion and service.
The Most Holy Place in the temple was sealed by a curtain. Only the high priest could enter it once a year to offer the sacrifice for the nation’s sins. But Jesus’s death removed the curtain and all believers may come into God’s presence at any time. When we confess our sins, he will remember our sins no more. All believers can be confident that all confessed sins have been forgiven and forgotten.
After we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we have significant privileges to enjoy with our new life in Christ:
- We can draw near to him anytime.
- We can seek forgiveness of our sins.
- We have the hope of eternal life.
- We can grow our faith by having a close relationship with Him through prayer and reading His Word.
- We can show love with deeds to everyone.
- We can have fellowship with believers to encourage one another.
- We are confident to have a faithful God to guide us.