From Dead Works to Serving a Living God

 

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. (Hebrews 9:11-14 ESV).

 

We have seen that Jesus has brought the new kingdom into existence. This is why the new time period—where we live—is relevant. This is what the new period is about: God has done something in history—not in some timeless realm of ideas—that solves the deepest problem we have in the modern world. The old period—the old covenant—only pointed to the solution, but didn't solve the problem. The differences between the old "present time" and "the time of reformation" are incredible as we understand our reading today.

 

§  First, the inauguration of the “time of reformation” began when Christ appeared (v. 11). The literal translation of this verb is “now Christ having become high priest”. It is a bit unusual in that it speaks to the actual appearance in physical form of Jesus. Where He arrived is as important as when. He came to the Temple, replacing the old things with Himself.

 

§  Second this was accomplished with His death and resurrection (v. 12). He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. There is no longer a need for annual sacrifices.  

 

§  Third, Jesus’ blood is more efficacious (v. 13-14). For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled, sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh [that is, ceremonial cleansing, but not real moral, spiritual cleansing], how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

 

In the old period of history, the high priest went into the Holy of Holies once a year, taking the blood of animals (v. 7). Why did he have to do that? Because the blood stood for the death of an animal and the death was in the place of the death of the priest and the people. God counted the blood of the animal as sufficient for cleansing the flesh, the ceremonial uncleanness.

 

But what about the guilty conscience of the priest and the people? No animal blood could cleanse that. They knew it (cf. Isaiah 53 and Psalm 51). And we know it. So, in "the time of reformation" a new high priest comes—Jesus the Son of God—with a better sacrifice, the sacrifice of himself. The whole Trinity—Father, Son and Holy Spirit—were involved: "Through the eternal Spirit [the Holy Spirit] he offered himself [the Son] without blemish to God [the Father]" (v. 14). The result is that all the sins of his people in the Old Covenant were covered by the blood of Jesus. The animal sacrifices foreshadowed the final sacrifice of God's Son, and the death of the Son reaches back to cover all the sins of God's people in the old time period, and forward to cover all the sins of God's people in the new time period.

 

Jesus is greater! That is the Gospel!