In our study of Hebrews chapter nine, we look at the fact that Christ's blood paid for our salvation once and for all. In chapter eight, we saw that Jesus is a superior High Priest and now we see that the sacrifice that He offered was far superior to that of the Levitical priesthood.
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Now the first covenant had both regulations for worship and a Holy Place here on earth. A tent was set up, the outer one, which was called the Holy Place; in it were the menorah, the table and the Bread of the Presence. Behind the second parokhet was a tent called the Holiest Place, which had the golden altar for burning incense and the Ark of the Covenant, entirely covered with gold. In the Ark were the gold jar containing the man, Aharon's rod that sprouted and the stone Tablets of the Covenant; and above it were the k'ruvim representing the Sh'khinah, casting their shadow on the lid of the Ark - but now is not the time to discuss these things in detail.
Paul begins by explaining the general setup of the earthly tabernacle of the Mosaic Law. He describes the physical tabernacle and its separate rooms and what they contained. We notice that in the Most Holy Place was the ark of the covenant. The word ark refers to a coffin and over this coffin was where God met with the high priest. The altar of incense was the prayer altar and it was here that the prayers were lifted up to God.
With things so arranged, the cohanim go into the outer tent all the time to discharge their duties; but only the cohen hagadol enters the inner one; and he goes in only once a year, and he must always bring blood, which he offers both for himself and for the sins committed in ignorance by the people. By this arrangement, the Ruach HaKodesh showed that so long as the first Tent had standing, the way into the Holiest Place was still closed.
All the priests were allowed to enter the outer room to perform their service to God but only the high priest could enter the inner room and only once each year. This Day of Atonement required much preparation with blood to cover the sins of the high priest as well as the people. These regulations were showing that it was just a temporary way of entering the presence of God and that a better way was yet to come.
This symbolizes the present age and indicates that the conscience of the person performing the service cannot be brought to the goal by the gifts and sacrifices he offers. For they involve only food and drink and various ceremonial washings - regulations concerning the outward life, imposed until the time for God to reshape the whole structure.
The sacrifices and rituals were required to be performed but they were outward things and could not clean man's conscience. The conscience is a God-given mechanism which lets us know basic truths such as right from wrong. No matter what ritual man went through, deep down they knew that they were still the same. Even today, there is a spirit of religion that attempts to place people back under a similar type of system of rituals and outward actions. This has entered the church (body of Christ) and has brought in people that really do not have a relationship with Him. As Paul described here, they have some rituals but deep down inside they do not have a clear conscience with God and continue to walk in bondage instead of the freedom of Christ.
But when the Messiah appeared as cohen gadol of the good things that are happening already, then, through the greater and more perfect Tent which is not man-made (that is, it is not of this created world), he entered the Holiest Place once and for all. And he entered not by means of the blood of goats and calves, but by means of his own blood, thus setting people free forever.
The "good things that are already here" speaks of the Law of Moses and Christ came to us as the High Priest of the law. Unlike the high priests before Him, Jesus went into the tabernacle of heaven where He offered Himself as the perfect sacrifice. The Law demanded payment for sin and Jesus presented the payment in Himself.
For if sprinkling ceremonially unclean persons with the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer restores their outward purity; then how much more the blood of the Messiah, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself to God as a sacrifice without blemish, will purify our conscience from works that lead to death, so that we can serve the living God!
The sacrifices at the temple made a man clean on the outside but could not remove the guilt from our consciences. Jesus presented himself as a perfect sacrifice that can clean the conscience as well as the outside.
It is because of this death that he is mediator of a new covenant [or will].g Because a death has occurred which sets people free from the transgressions committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Only the blood of Jesus Christ can pay the price for our sins. He is the bridge (mediator) that guarantees our right relationship with God for eternity. He cleans us on the inside as well as the outside and makes us acceptable to God.
For where there is a will, there must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker's death, since a will goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its maker is still alive.
A will is a contract (covenant) that distributes a person's belongings and goes into affect once a person dies. A person is appointed to carry out the wishes of the one that has passed and is called an executor (mediator). One of the first responsibilities of the mediator is to present evidence that the person has passed away and this is usually done by providing a death certificate signed by a doctor. In the same manner, Jesus was appointed by God to execute His will in bringing men into a right relationship with their Maker. He was killed on the cross for everyone to see and, when the soldier pierced His side, it was like a doctor signing a death certificate.
This is why the first covenant too was inaugurated with blood. After Moshe had proclaimed every command of the Torah to all the people, he took the blood of the calves with some water and used scarlet wool and hyssop to sprinkle both the scroll itself and all the people; and he said, "This is the blood of the covenant which God has ordained for you."h Likewise, he sprinkled with the blood both the Tent and all the things used in its ceremonies. In fact, according to the Torah, almost everything is purified with blood; indeed, without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
In the same way, covenants under the law required the shedding of blood. Like a will, this blood was required for the contract to take effect.
Now this is how the copies of the heavenly things had to be purified, but the heavenly things themselves require better sacrifices than these. For the Messiah has entered a Holiest Place which is not man-made and merely a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, in order to appear now on our behalf in the very presence of God.
The animal sacrifices were sufficient for the earthly temple but a better sacrifice was required to enter heaven itself.
Further, he did not enter heaven to offer himself over and over again, like the cohen hagadol who enters the Holiest Place year after year with blood that is not his own; for then he would have had to suffer death many times - from the founding of the universe on. But as it is, he has appeared once at the end of the ages in order to do away with sin through the sacrifice of himself.
The high priest had to enter every year to atone for the sins of the people and he could never say it is finished like Jesus did on the cross. He presented Himself once and for all; for all people and for all time.
Just as human beings have to die once, but after this comes judgment, so also the Messiah, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, i will appear a second time, not to deal with sin, but to deliver those who are eagerly waiting for him.
Just as we do not normally die over and over again, Jesus does not have to go back to the cross over and over again to pay for our sins. He has paid the penalty for sin once and for all but He is coming back to get those who are His. Are you waiting for His return?
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