Hebrews 9:12-14 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. (13) For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: (14) How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"
I realize much of this book of Hebrews has seemed dry reading; yet, it is so
very important in the entire plan of God's salvation to His people that He
followed His own legal requirements. When sin entered the world by Adam, death
was the requirement. For legal atonement to be achieved, there had to be a
mediator to go between God and man. Man lost his sinless nature and
therefore was/is unworthy to approach God without redemption. The price had to
be paid. God had told Adam, "for in the day that thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17) He could not go back on that
declaration and remain holy. God does not, nor cannot, lie.
He gave to man His divine law. The problem with that law did not lie within the
set of commandments; rather, the deficit was in man's ability to keep the law.
We could not and even if from this day forward, we could perfectly keep the
law, it would not atone for our past sins. God is Just. He is Holy. He demands
perfection. We are imperfect. Even the blood of goats and calves and the
other animals sacrificed could not cleanse the sin nature of man. They served
as a reminder of that imperfect nature and pointed to the fact we need a
Saviour. Yes, that blood served its purpose, but its purpose was never to
cleanse us from the sin nature that we inherited by birth.
God is Just and Holy. He would not go against His own decree. But even before
the foundation of the world, He had in place the perfect plan whereby He
remained Just and we received perfect atonement. Let us look at some passages
of Scripture that point us toward perfect redemption. The angel spoke
assurance to Joseph concerning the child Mary was to give birth to: "And
she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall
save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21) When John the Baptist was
baptizing in the River Jordan, he declared, "Behold the Lamb of God, which
taketh away the sin of the world." (John 1:29) Then we read in
Revelation 13:8, Jesus is described as "the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world."
We have seen in the book of Hebrews that Jesus is the Son of God. He is the
Great High Priest. Now we see Him as that perfect Lamb that was slain to save
His people from their sins. Under the law, the high priest would make the
sacrificial offering on behalf of the people unto God. God would show His
acceptance of that offering and the people felt relief for another year that
God had accepted their offering. There is much talk concerning to whom the
offering of Jesus was made and who is to accept that offering. Hebrews 9:14
tells us specifically that Jesus, our Great High Priest, made the sacrificial
offering (His own righteous blood) unto God on our behalf. The Father accepted
that substitutionary offering of Jesus' righteous blood as payment in full for
the decree of death that was against us. Therefore God is both Just and
Justifier. Jesus died in our place. We are given His life by the sovereign
grace of God.
How do we know God accepted that offering? Under the law, when God
accepted the people's offering, the high priest would walk back out of the
Holiest of Holies and show himself to the people. What did Jesus do after three
days and nights? Did He not walk out and show Himself to the people? We can be
assured the Father accepted Jesus' offering on our behalf!