One Sacrifice Does It All!
Don't Stop Now!
A study of the NT book of Hebrews
by Pastor Frank Rice
Hebrews 9:23-28
Have you ever tuned in to those infomercials with their extravagant claims to be marketing a tool or product that does it all? And if you call right away you can get two for the price of one; “wait a minute, there’s more!” Some of you have been persuaded (duped) into purchasing those tools or products only to experience the disappointment of fine print disclaimers! You have determined to never let it happen again! Those are the claims of mere men who have much to gain from your naiveté! The Word of God makes a fantastic claim that the sacrifice of Christ was once for all and takes care of the sin problem for good!
I. The Whole Purpose for Blood Sacrifice Is Purification (Vv. 23-24).
v A blood sacrifice was necessary under the old covenant system in order to provide purification (v. 23).
1. The point is not that the earthly, man-made copies were somehow defiled or dirty! This is the holy of holies!
2. The point is that to gain access the barrier created by man’s sin had to be addressed!
3. So the high priest by himself took the blood of animals, to provide temporary purification, and applied it repeatedly.
v A blood sacrifice was also necessary under the new covenant system in order to provide purification (v. 24).
1. The point is not that the heavenly, not man-made prototype, the true or original was somehow defiled or dirty! This is a reference to heaven itself! “By portraying the old sanctuary as ‘the pattern of the things in the heavens’ he affirms both its inferior status and typological relationship to the Sanctuary now entered by Christ.” (Cockerill)
2. The point is that to gain access the barrier created by man’s sin had to be dealt with! “If sin erected a barrier forbidding entrance into the sanctuary that was a ‘pattern,’ how much more did it bar the way into the ‘true’ Sanctuary in which God dwells.” (Cockerill)
3. So this High Priest by Himself accomplished, through the blood of His sacrifice, permanent purification. And it was accomplished fully, finally, and totally in one act.
4. He now appears in God’s presence for us, as our advocate!
5. The plural “better sacrifices” sets up an analogy with the OT system. The text affirms the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ! “Since the ‘pattern’ was cleansed by animal sacrifices, then the far greater ‘heavenly things’ must be cleansed by proportionately and therefore definitively ‘better sacrifices.’” (Cockerill)
II. The Whole System of Blood Sacrifice Was Temporary (Vv. 25-26).
v The system of offering a blood sacrifice was a temporary solution to the sin problem under the old covenant (v. 25b)!
1. Only the high priest enjoyed access into the presence of God, and that only under strict guidelines!
2. When he entered into the Holy Place he’d better have clean hands & a pure heart! (He’d made sacrifice for his own sin.)
3. He was invited for a brief visit and only once every year!
v The system of offering a blood sacrifice was terminated by the better sacrifice of Christ, a permanent solution to the sin problem under the new covenant (vv. 25a & 26)!
1. He had no intention or need to offer Himself, to suffer, and to sacrifice Himself repeatedly (vv. 25a & 26a)! How utterly absurd that would be! “Every expression in this statement underscores the definitive nature and continuing effectiveness of Christ’s sacrifice.” (Cockerill)
2. He had every intention to appear once at the selected time!
3. He had every intention to appear to sacrifice Himself!
4. He had every intention to abolish sin by means of that one sacrifice! Hallelujah, what a Savior! “With obvious appropriateness and intentionality the pastor has used the perfect tense ‘He has appeared’ to affirm the lasting effect of Christ’s definitive self-offering accomplished at His first coming.” (Cockerill)
III. The Whole System of Blood Sacrifice Has Culminated (Vv. 27-28).
v The blood sacrifice of Christ was utterly unique & unrepeatable (v. 28a)! (“Christ was offered once” is the main clause.)
1. Christ was offered by God the Father once. (Why the super-emphasis on the once-for-all-time sacrifice of the Savior!?)
2. Christ sacrificed Himself voluntarily, consciously, totally, and purposefully once. “There is no other way of dealing with sin than Christ’s own offering of Himself.” (Morris)
3. “Some have ignored the truth of Scripture and have instituted in the celebration of the Eucharist a repeated reenactment here on earth. How utterly contradictory to our text – and misleading. The sacrifice was so monumental and efficacious that it could only be once-for-all.” (Hughes)
v The blood sacrifice of Christ has epic and universal implications (vv. 27 & 28b). (There are no exemptions from these realities!)
1. Every person has an appointment with death, no exceptions!
2. Every person will immediately be held accountable for his or her response to the gospel, no exceptions!
3. Those who have responded positively to the gospel message eagerly await His next appearance. He will come again. “Christ’s ‘once-for-all,’ finished work has provided for both the present condition and future destiny of humanity, it is the perfect antidote for the universal human predicament.” (Cockerill)
4. Make no mistake; His sacrifice for sin took care of the sin issue fully, finally, and totally. That’s not the issue anymore; the issue is what have you done about it?