Obsolete: To cause (a product or idea) to be or become obsolete by replacing it with something new.
Intro: Talk about the changes in cell phone technology! -- i.e., lots of products have and will continue to become obsolete through the years.
Remember when... [But, now all these things have become obsolete.]
- 8-Track tapes were the rage?
- When internet access was only dial-up?
- When phones all had cords?
- When diapers weren’t disposable?
- When keeping in touch meant mailing a letter at the Post Office?
- When there was no such thing as air-conditioning?
- When the bathroom was outside?
- When cataracts meant you were going to be blind?
The Law of Jewish sacrifices has also been made obsolete by the death/resurrection of Jesus Christ.
One major difference exists between what Christ has done and the advancement of products that made their predecessor obsolete: Nothing will ever replace His perfect payment for our sins. His sacrifice can never be made obsolete by something/someone newer or better.
Christ made the sacrificial system obsolete by providing...
- A Perfect Substitute
- The primary event referenced in Hebrews 10 concerns The Day of Atonement, though the rest of the sacrificial system may also be in view (10:8; cf. Leviticus 1-6).
- THE DAY of ATONEMENT: (10th day of the seventh month on the Jewish calendar -- during our Sept/Oct.)
- So important was this day that, “In later times, at least, the high priest underwent a special preparation for this service. Seven days before, he had left his own home and taken up his residence in the Temple chambers. A substitute was provided, lest the high priest should die or become Levitically unclean. During this week he practiced the various priestly duties, such as sprinkling the blood, burning incense, lighting the lamps, offering the daily sacrifices, etc.; for every part of the service on Atonement Day depended upon the high priest, and he could make no mistake.” --Unger’s Bible Dictionary
- “...The ceremony began with the sacrifice of a young bull as a sin offering for the priest and his family (Lev. 16:3, 6). After burning incense before the mercy seat in the inner sanctuary, the high priest sprinkled the blood from the bull on and in front of the mercy seat (16:14). The priest cast lots over two goats. One was offered as a sin offering. The other was presented alive as a scapegoat (16:5, 7–10, 20–22). The blood of the goat used as the sin offering was sprinkled like that of the bull to make atonement for the sanctuary (16:15). The mixed blood of the bull and goat were applied to the horns of the altar to make atonement for it (16:18). The high priest confessed all of the people’s sins over the head of the live goat which was led away and then released in the wilderness (16:21–22). Following the ceremony, the priest again bathed and put on his usual garments (16:23–24). The priest then offered a burnt offering for the priest and the people (16:24). The bodies of the bull and goat used in the day’s ritual were burnt outside the camp (16:27–28).” --Holman Bible Dictionary
- The blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin (10:4), if it could have done so there would have been no need for Christ’s sacrifice (10:2).
- Someone had to come like mankind and that One was Jesus Christ.
- There had to be a perfect sacrifice (10:4)!
- Someone has said, “The blood of animals cannot cleanse from sin because it is non-moral. The blood of sinning man cannot cleanse because it is immoral. The blood of Christ alone can cleanse because it is moral.” --Author Unknown
- The sacrificial system, including The Day of Atonement, was referred to as merely a “shadow” that foreshadowed the “substance” to come (10:1). The sacrificial system was never intended to be permanent, but preparatory for Christ’s coming.
- cf. 10:4-10
Illus: If you think of the Law as a cookbook; A cookbook represents something far greater than itself. Cookbooks don’t satisfy the taste, fill the stomach, or nourish the body. Instead, they point to something beyond themselves – the food!
What the meal is to the cookbook; Jesus Christ is to the law! The Law was only "a shadow of good things to come" and not the reality itself.
Christ made the sacrificial system obsolete by providing...
- A Permanent Solution
- There is a strong contrast between the continual sacrifices (10:1, 11) and the “once for all” sacrifice of Christ (9:26, 28; 10:12, 14).
- He satisfied the justice/holiness of God for all mankind for all time by His sacrifice on Calvary.
- He is the “propitiation” for our sins.
“And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.” (1 John 2:2)
“The word expiation begins with the prefix ex, which means ‘out of’ or ‘from.’ Expiation means to remove something. In biblical theology it has to do with taking away or removing guilt by means of paying a ransom or offering an atonement. It means to pay the penalty for something. Thus, the act of expiation removes the problem by paying for it in some way, in order to satisfy some demand. Christ's expiation of our sin means that He paid the penalty for it and removed it from consideration against us.
On the other hand, propitiation has to do with the object of the expiation.
“The prefix in this case is pro, which means ‘for.’ Propitiation has to do with what brings about a change in God's attitude toward us, so that we are restored to the fellowship and favor of God. In a sense, propitiation points to God being appeased. If I am angry because you have offended me, but you then appease me, the problem will be removed. Thus propitiation brings in the personal element and stresses that God is no longer angry with us. Propitiation is the result of expiation. The expiation is the act that results in God's changing His attitude toward us. Expiation is what Christ did on the cross. The result of Christ's act of expiation is that God is propitiated. It is the difference between the ransom that is paid and the attitude of the One receiving the ransom.” --Tabletalk, June 13, 1990.
- His sacrifice is “forever” (10:12, 14)...it is permanent!
Christ made the sacrificial system obsolete by providing...
- A Powerful Salvation
- Salvation = deliverance from the penalty of our sins! He brought us FORGIVENESS!
- With the OT sacrificial system there was the constant reminder of the presence of personal sins (10:3) because the sacrifices could not “take away sins” (10:4, 11).
- The sacrificial system could not definitively deal with our sins!.
- But through Christ’s death He has “perfected forever” (10:14) those who receive Him. This refers to our permanent standing of completeness before God because of our regeneration/conversion.
- What the sacrifices could not do in removing the “consciousness of sins” (10:2 - i.e., the moral reproof/conviction for sin), Jesus by HIs perfect sacrifice accomplished forever (10:17-18).
- Consequently, He makes the provision of forgiveness/salvation available to all that will receive Him!
- No wonder John could say he wasn't "ashamed of the Gospel" that was the "power of God" to salvation (John 1:16).
- This all explains why the sacrifice of Christ is so much better than the OT sacrificial system.
Illus: During the late 1800’s an English evangelist by the name of Henry Moorhouse made several trips to preach in America. On one of those occasions he was walking through a poor section of town when he noticed a young boy coming out of a store with a pitcher of milk in his hands. Just then, he slipped and fell breaking the pitcher and spilling the milk all over the ground. Moorhouse rushed to the child's side and found him unhurt. Terrified, the little boy kept crying, "My mama's gonna whip me." So Moorhouse picked up the boy and carried him back into the store where the preacher purchased a new pitcher. He had it washed and filled with milk and then carried the boy and the pitcher home.
He put the youngster down on his front porch, handed him the
pitcher and asked, "Will your mama whip you now?"
A wide smile spread across the boys tear stained face, "No sir, cause
this is a lot better pitcher than the one we had before."
Application:
1. Unbeliever: Stop trying to save yourself and let Christ be your Savior!
2. Believer: Stop living with the guilt of sin and live in the forgiveness of sins!
- Don’t ask Christ a thousand times to forgive your sins...thank HIm a thousand times that your sins are already forgiven.
