His Death Has Eternal Significance!

Don't Stop Now!

A study of the NT book of Hebrews

by Pastor Frank Rice

Hebrews 9:15-22

Let’s admit it; most of what happens around us, and to us, is of minimal significance. But what we may assume to be insignificant may turn out to be much more significant than we think. We forget to turn off the front burner, to close the car windows, to get gasoline, to shut the door. We take a bite of peanut brittle and,… we have a regular check up only to find out,..! What we deem insignificant may not be! Time will tell. The death of Christ seems like such an inconsequential, obscure, and irrelevant event. But if the author of Hebrews is correct, it does have universal and eternal significance. Yet so many fail to consider!

 

v     Evidence indicates that we’re considering OT believers, those who had put their faith in the character and promises of God.

1.      The phrase “under the first covenant” is convincing; sins had not been fully, finally, and adequately dealt with in the past!

 

2.      The sacrifice of Christ effectively wiped out the sins of men committed under the old covenant (v. 15). “By His death Christ… took upon Himself the penalty due His people for breach of covenant.” (Cockerill)

 

3.      The sacrifice of Christ inaugurated the fellowship promised under the new covenant (vv. 16-22). Apart from His sacrifice there is no fellowship with God!

 

v     Evidence indicates that the Old Covenant was more than mere religious ritual (Ex 24:3-8). Observe the “contract signing.”

1.      There was a full awareness of the terms of the contract.

 

2.      There was full agreement to abide by the covenant’s terms.

 

3.      There was a detailed contract sealed / validated by blood.

 

v     The evidence indicates that every devout OT worshiper came to sacrifice with a deep awareness of certain significant realities.

1.      Sin required death (Ezek 18:4). Sacrifice required a spirit of repentance and forgiveness required the mercy of God.

 

2.      A great sin-bearer was coming! OT believers were saved on credit! NT believers’ sin-debt was prepaid! The benefits of Christ’s death were effectively retroactive (Rom3:24-25).

 

4.      Even the sin of Adam and Eve was not fully, finally, and adequately dealt with until the Savior cried “it is finished.”

 

v     A death has to occur in order to activate a will. We know that!

1.      Context indicates that diatheke can be variously translated. In verse 15 the covenant is emphasized.

2.      Here diatheke has the idea of a will. Four legal terms support this reasoning; necessity, force, power, and testator. But a will is of nobenefit until the testator dies!

 

3.      Your wealthy Uncle Herb may bequeath the totality of his estate to you. But it does you no good while he’s alive!

 

v     A death had to occur in order to activate God’s “will!”

1.      Had Christ stopped short of the cross, those who believed in the past would’ve been lost and God’s New Covenant promises valueless. (God would’ve reneged on His promise!)

 

2.      Christ alone is the only One who ever filled the roles of both testator and executor!

(a)    Christ had to die in order to become the priestly mediator of a new covenant.

 

(b)   The ratification of a covenant required the presentation of sacrificial blood.

 

(c)    Such blood is obtained only by means of death.

 

(d)   Christ’s death was the means of providing the blood of the new covenant.

 

(e)    Christ’s sacrificial death ratified or “made legally valid” the promised new covenant (Jer 31:31-34). (from Lane)

 

v     Blood is an indispensable factor in covenant signing (vv. 18-21)!

1.      The OT covenant was dedicated by symbolically cleansing all of its components. The author rehearses the OT scene.

 

2.      OT sacrifices were never a means of salvation! They were an evidence of salvation offered in faith by those who walked in obedience to God’s Covenant.

 

v     Blood is absolutely essential for the forgiveness of sin (v. 22).

1.      God cannot and does not forgive sin by sighing and saying, “It’s all right. I love you so much I’ll overlook your sin.” His righteousness and holiness won’t allow Him to do so.

 

2.      Sin demands payment by death. Only one death qualifies for payment for all mankind’s sins – that of His Son. His love provided payment for our sin (Jn3:16).

 

3.      God cannot ignore our sins; but He will forgive if we trust in the death of His Son for that forgiveness.

 

4.      His blood frees us from sin by cleansing our hearts from its stain & reign and by releasing us from its condemnation.

 

5.      His blood emphasizes the gravity of sin and the costliness of forgiveness.

 

6.      His death does have universal & eternal significance. It must also have personal and temporal significance.

 

7.      Every promise God made in the New Covenant is inconsequential apart from the death and resurrection of His Son, our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.