He is the High Priest we need to permanently and sufficiently atone for our sin.
I had no sooner finished typing those words when my husband laid his hand on my shoulder to tell me a friend of ours passed away. A young wife and mother of six succumbed to leukemia. After a moment of reflection, I looked back at my screen and heard the words, “She has passed through the curtain.” My friend knew Jesus’ sacrifice covered her sin. She was a testament to His grace and the power of a relationship with Him up until the end.
The author of Hebrews began last week’s section with those two opening statements. We considered a possible response to Jesus’ sacrifice… to draw near to Him, to hold on to the confession of our hope, and to be concerned about one another. That's the life my friend lived.
Another response exists, as well. It’s, well, let’s just say that God didn’t sugar coat the message on this one. To begin, I encourage you to read Hebrews 10:26-39.
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| Click picture for a printable handout for this section |
Deliberate Sin (10:26)
If a person hears the message of Jesus’ sacrifice, they may choose a different response than the one we considered in the last section. They may choose to reject it. The author of Hebrews classifies this response as a deliberate sin.
The Law classifies two other sins as deliberate sins – premeditated murder (Exodus 21:14) and rejection of the Word of God (Numbers 15:30). If we deliberately reject Jesus’ message of truth, then we likewise reject the Word of God as He is the Word made Flesh. Our rejection arrogantly declares that Jesus’ death wasn’t an atoning sacrifice but was only another premeditated murder; a murder for which the guilt lies upon us because it was for our sin that He died. If we hear and reject Jesus’ gospel message, then we are guilty of both of these deliberate sins and Scripture guarantees the outcome.
Guaranteed Outcome (10:27-31)
During the era of the Old Testament and the Law, if someone heard the message of the Law and disregarded it, then the punishment was death without mercy. The gospel message is superior to the Law. How much worse, then, is it to disregard the gospel message of Jesus?
If we disregard His message, we don’t only turn His sacrifice of love into a barbaric, premeditated murder. We also…
- Trample upon Him. Jesus will make a footstool of His enemies of sin and death but when we reject Him, we conceitedly try to make a footstool of Him. Pride didn’t work out too well for Satan and it won’t for us either.
- Regard Jesus’ blood as common, profane, or ordinary. Remembering the first century Jewish context of this book, our rejection of Jesus’ sacrifice arrogantly declares the blood of bulls and goats to be more precious than the blood of Jesus sprinkled before the throne of Holy God in the true sanctuary.
- Insult the spirit of grace. We insolently decide the Law was a superior message than the message of grace we have available to us through Jesus.
Yet, God guarantees the outcome for those who choose this option over the option to draw near to Him as we considered in the last section. The outcome for those who choose to reject Jesus’ sacrifice is vengeance and judgment at the hands of the Living God. Like I said, no sugar coating on this message.
When Times get Hard (10:32-34)
Difficult times will come as a follower of Christ. We all experience times of doubt as we wonder if the struggles are worth it. We all question if the foundation of our faith is secure. In His Word, God often asks us to remember how He worked in the past – to pause and reflect on where we have been in our journey – in order to find comfort and encouragement to continue.
He does so here; “Remember the earlier days when…” (Hebrews 10:32). Remember how your friends and family persecuted you because you accepted Jesus’ message. They rejected you because you accepted Him. Remember the time you were willing to go to prison rather than deny your faith. Not just you, but you saw your loved ones suffer in their prison cells, as well. Remember the time when the government took away all your stuff. Even then, you knew it was ok because your treasures are in heaven, not here on earth. Those were rough times and yet, Jesus sustained you through them. You were so confident in your faith that no persecution of this earth could stop you. You clung so tightly to the hope before you that the cares of this world drifted far beneath you. Remember those days now.
Why? (10:35-39)
No one ever promised this journey is going to be easy. Leukemia takes young moms away from their children. Governments confiscate the belongings of those who follow Jesus; they imprison those who preach His Name. Loved ones abandon, ridicule, and harass us for believing the truth of God’s Word. Any of these – and more – can happen to any of us. Even here in America.
We can’t give up now. We can’t throw away our confidence. We must endure. Jesus is coming and we want to be found faithful.
Don’t throw away the confidence and boldness we have because Jesus made a way through the curtain. Our confidence comes with a great reward – restored access to the Father. “Hold on to the courage and the confidence of our hope” (Hebrews 3:6).
God created us for a purpose – His will for us to accomplish in our time on earth. Strong’s describes it as a “deliberate purpose” which I find interesting because we began this section by considering “deliberate sin.” We see our choice here once again; we either deliberately sin by rejecting Jesus and His message or we choose a deliberate purpose for which God created us. As we follow through in that purpose, we have to endure. The battle is long, the persecution intense. The journey isn’t easy. We won’t be able to make it until the end unless we develop the ability to endure through the struggle. Then, in the end, when the purpose is done, we’ll receive the promise.
Jesus is coming and we aren’t quitters! It’s been a long wait from our human perspective but each day brings us that much closer to His imminent arrival. Until that moment, our call is to endure and persevere by faith. God says of those who won’t step forward in faith, “If he draws back, I have no pleasure in him” (Hebrews 10:38). Those who draw back are destroyed but that’s not us. We are the ones called to move forward in faith – despite the struggle – and find the life which God intended for us.
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