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Articles 2021-2023
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.
Notice that when the writer penned these words, the temple was still standing, the sacrifices were being offered year by year, and the worshipers, while trusting in them, were not being cleansed from their sins. In fact, instead of taking their iniquities away, the offerings had the opposite effect – they served to remind the people of their failures. God’s intent was that the worshipers, in being reminded, would see ever more clearly how much they needed a redeemer, someone to pay the price and free them once and for all from their transgressions.
But once Christ had shed His blood and rose from the dead, the price to take sin away was now fully paid. And since animal sacrifices reminded worshipers of their sins, their continued use actually produced the opposite effect of what God now wanted. So, they had to cease.
For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
The shedding of animal blood pointed the worshipers to Christ, Heaven’s one perfect sacrifice. So, the Father fashioned a body for His Son in the womb of Mary. And the writer wanted to be quite clear – God had never taken pleasure in the death of sacrificial animals. And having now sent His Son, that practice would stop. In its place was the reality of Christ’s having perfectly accomplished the will of His Father. As a result, the Hebrew believers were now sanctified, made holy through the offering of Jesus’ body once for all (Hebrews 10:5 - 10). There was nothing that could be added to that one perfect act.
Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time onward UNTIL HIS ENEMIES BE MADE A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET.
Church history is the account of Heaven’s work of bringing Christ’s enemies under His feet. Jesus announced this plan when He said that if He were lifted up on the cross, He would then draw all men to Himself (John 12: 20 - 33). Obviously, not all would respond appropriately. But it was at this point that the judgment of the world commenced. The great turning point of history had arrived. Now the ruler of the world would be cast out (Greek, EKBALLO – the same term that the Scriptures use for exorcising a demon).
Now that the price was paid for all sin, and all people were being drawn, everyone had to now choose – specifically concerning the person of Jesus Christ. They had to choose to no longer stay in alignment with the one who was influencing humanity to rebel against God’s King. In other words, they had to cease being squatters in God’s world, weeds in His wheatfield (Matthew 13:24 - 30). Otherwise, the end result for them would be the same as their leader. They would be EKBALLO – cast out. He had been cast out of heaven (Isaiah 14:12 - 15). And with the incarnation and ministry of the King, the process of removing him from the earth and its atmosphere was inaugurated.
Today, as powerful and as permeating as darkness in our nation seems to us, we must receive and believe God’s perspective. The men of Israel saw themselves as grasshoppers in light of the Canaanites, their walled cities, and their armies. And they were pretty much correct. But the Lord God of heaven and earth had an agenda and the necessary power to see it fulfilled. So, where would the trust and confidence of his people reside, in themselves or in Him? That is the question that faces every generation. And it now faces us.
You might think of yourself and your local fellowship as somewhat unimpressive in the eyes of the world. That actually then makes you and those with you pretty good candidates to be in His army. Think of what qualifies us.
and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing (Greek, KATARGEO – to render inoperative or powerless, to abolish, to nullify) the things that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence.
(1Corinthians 1:28 - 29 NKJV)
Those things that the world defines as strong and normal have a God–defined future. They are being brought to nothing. Which is pretty much Paul’s way of saying in the above verse that God is bringing all of Christ’s enemies under His feet.
Humanity has two choices – to be God’s friend or His enemy. To remain a friend of the world is to make oneself the enemy of God (James 4:4). On the other hand, to bend the knee to Heaven’s King is to have birthed in us an eternally rooted hope for a destined glorious future.
The worldlings are trying their best to guarantee for themselves a future. And they can never seem to get where they want to go. Political, economic, and environmental movements continue to hold out for many the false hope that the glory of man will one day be realized across the whole earth. But the reality is otherwise. God Himself is opposing them as His glory is irrevocably emerging from heaven to fill the earth.
Calvary has cut the ground out from under the feet of Heaven’s enemy. The forgiveness and cleansing by God of our sin has destroyed the hold that Satan had on humanity.
For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
The ongoing realization of the once–for–all finished work of Christ at the cross guarantees the ultimate destruction of all that is opposed to Him. Think of our own lives. It was when we were enemies that He died for us. And now we have been brought under His feet; we have repented for our rebellion and submitted to His rule. As a result, we are now His children. And this salvation is available to everyone; all must choose – life or death.
And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying, “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,”
Whereas He previously said that He would put His laws into our minds and then write them on our hearts (Hebrews 8:10), here He reverses the order. He will put His laws upon our heart and then write them on our mind. Why switch the order? Glorious promise! He is permanently changing the way we think because of the deep work He is doing in our hearts. In doing so, He is bringing to completion the process He started in Hebrews 8:10.
And in the outworking of this activity, He will never call to mind our previous sins.
He then says, “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.”
Notice that He does not forget our sins. Forgetting is a mark of growing old, of losing cognitive function. On the other hand, choosing to not remember is an active choice on His part; He has committed Himself to never bring up in our presence the sins of our past. He will never hold against us those transgressions for which we have repented. But we can still talk with Him about them.
Here is an important distinction. If He forgets, then we cannot bring up to Him our past failures. We cannot mourn over them because He would not know what we are talking about. But the Church needs to mourn over her sins from the position of having been totally cleansed. Yes, there is a godly sorrow that precedes/that leads to repentance. But it is not a sorrow where we wallow in grief to somehow make ourselves more worthy to repent. No. Repentance must be swift when we fail. But there is an expressed sorrow as we then sit before Him seeking to more deeply learn from Him why we failed in the way that we did. God has a depth of insight into our hearts that He wants to reveal. But if He has forgotten what we did then we cannot even broach the subject.
But thank God that He wants to go to the depths of our hearts and then show us root causes of sinful activity in us. This process is not for condemnation but to bring deep healing. How great is his mercy; how complete and unreserved is His forgiveness.
Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Nothing can be added to the finished work of Christ at Calvary. In the first century, continued animal sacrifices at the temple contributed nothing to the cleansing of sinful souls. And the same principle holds true today. Someone once said, “The only thing of my very own that I contributed to my redemption was the sins from which I needed to be redeemed.” How true. Our choice is to simply repent of our sins and then receive the cleansing power of Christ’s once–for–all sacrifice for our salvation.
Donald Rumble – May 2021
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