Hebrews Sermon Notes _________________________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ ________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________________________ Hebrews Study Guide Hebrews 9:15-28 “Eternal inheritance, judgment day and reverse engineering your life” Jesus is a better sacrifice! 1. Read Genesis 2:17, Ezekiel 18:4, and Romans 6:23. What fearsome truth is repeated in each of these verses? Since the penalty for sin is death, nothing but death, symbolized by shedding of blood, can atone for sin. We cannot enter into God’s presence by self-effort to be righteous. If we, on our own, could be good, we would not need atonement. Nor can we enter His presence by being model citizens or even by being religious. We cannot enter His presence by reading the Bible, by going to church, by giving generously to the Lord’s work, or even by praying. We cannot enter His presence by thinking good thoughts about Him. The only way we can enter into God’s presence, the only way we can participate in the New Covenant, is through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, made effective for us when we trust in Him as saving Lord. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Hebrews (pp. 237–238). Chicago: Moody Press. 2. Hebrews 9:15 describes the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. What promised blessing do “those who are called” receive according to this verse? According to 9:12, what else is eternal?
Hebrews 9:15-28 “Eternal inheritance, judgment day and reverse engineering your life” Jesus is a better sacrifice! 1. Read Genesis 2:17, Ezekiel 18:4, and Romans 6:23. What fearsome truth is repeated in each of these verses?
Since the penalty for sin is death, nothing but death, symbolized by shedding of blood, can atone for sin. We cannot enter into God’s presence by self-effort to be righteous. If we, on our own, could be good, we would not need atonement. Nor can we enter His presence by being model citizens or even by being religious. We cannot enter His presence by reading the Bible, by going to church, by giving generously to the Lord’s work, or even by praying. We cannot enter His presence by thinking good thoughts about Him. The only way we can enter into God’s presence, the only way we can participate in the New Covenant, is through the atoning death of Jesus Christ, made effective for us when we trust in Him as saving Lord. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Hebrews (pp. 237–238). Chicago: Moody Press.
2. Hebrews 9:15 describes the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. What promised blessing do “those who are called” receive according to this verse? According to 9:12, what else is eternal?
The quote below, from Ray Stedman’s commentary on Hebrews, explains Hebrews 9:8-9. Read it carefully and answer question 3 below.
A better translation makes it all clear. The Greek phrase eti tēs prōtēs skēnēs echousēs stasin should not be rendered, “while the first tabernacle is still standing,” but “while the first tabernacle still has any standing!” That indicates the writer is saying that the repeated sacrifices of the old covenant were meant by the Holy Spirit to predict a perfect sacrifice that was yet to come, but it could not be apprehended while still relying on the old way of access to God! In other words, the truth of the reality could not be grasped while one was yet clinging to the shadows. The first tabernacle had to lose its standing before the reality it prefigured could be apprehended. This meaning is confirmed by the opening words of verse 9, This is an illustration for the present time. The old arrangement pictured the new, but the old proved ineffective, for it could not touch the inner, but only the outer, life. The veil that stood before the Most Holy Place constituted a barrier to the presence of God. All Israelites, who knew of that barrier, must have felt a continuing deep sense of personal uncleanness until the next year’s Day of Atonement. Their consciences would know no relief, for they must feel separated from God until the yearly sacrifice could be repeated. Stedman, R. C. (1992). Hebrews (Heb 9:6). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
3. Read Matthew 27:50-51a and describe the symbolic event that occurred at Jesus’ death. How is Jesus’ sacrifice (blood and flesh) better according to Hebrews 10:19-20?
4. The entrance of Jesus into the spirit of a believer gives them continuous access to the heavenly reality which corresponds to the earthly Holy of Holies. Because of the New Covenant in his blood Jesus makes magnificent promises in John 14:20, 23! What are they?
5. Read Hebrews 9:28 and explain why Jesus will not deal with sin at his second coming. Hebrews 9:25-27 will help with your answer. What repeated assurances do you find in Hebrews 8:12 and 10:17?
6. What Jesus has done in the past gives us confidence in the promises he has made regarding our future. Read Hebrews 6:19-20 and the quote below. Write a statement of gratitude to Jesus for taking your place!
At the end of that eventful Passover week when Jesus was finishing His ministry, the Romans had prepared three crosses for three criminals. On two of the crosses, thieves were to hang. The third cross was for an insurrectionist named Barabbas, who had been found guilty of treason against the empire. But Barabbas never made it to the cross. He was guilty and condemned, but he was not executed—because someone took his place. On the middle cross that day hung not a violent, profane rebel, but the sinless Son of God. Barabbas went free not because he was innocent, but because Jesus took his place. Jesus was crucified not because He was guilty, but so that He could take Barabbas’s place—and the place of every other sinner. MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1983). Hebrews (p. 243). Chicago: Moody Press.
