Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 9:16-28. He taught that sin leads to death, but each death reminds us that death will overcome sin. Lector: Kristen Gilles
Pastor Jonah Sage preached Hebrews 9:16-28. He taught that sin leads to death, but each death reminds us that death will overcome sin.
Lector: Kristen Gilles
Two promises hold the entire story of the Bible together, both given in the beginning
The first was the promise that breaking trust results in death.
“If you eat from that tree, you WILL DIE.” That tree was not for you. It was God’s.
If you break trust, you will experience death.
And who among us does not know this to be true?
Paul will later put it simply: the wages of sin is death. We know this.
Breaking trust leads to death.
If you lie at work, you get fired. If you lie to a spouse, the relationship strains.
If you keep lying, the relationship may die.
If you lie to yourself, you grow anxious and detached and float through life.
Breaking trust leads to death.
The second promise was that, one day, someone would come to kill death.
A savior would come to crush death’s head. Life would win. Trust would be restored.
The promise that sin leads to death, but that life would ultimately crush death, is the main storyline of our scriptures, and our very lives.
This is the underlying context of the argument before us this morning. V. 16:
When someone leaves a will, it is necessary to prove that the person who made it is dead.
-Hebrews 9:16
“Will” here is an important word. It’s a wordplay/pun, of the word “covenant.”
A “will” is a promise, but it’s a promise that requires death.
A will is just a piece of paper until someone dies. The blessing of a will requires death.
Death is what holds the two original promises together.
It is a promise that death follows when we break trust, and a promise that death will be used to defeat death.
That is why even the first covenant was put into effect with the blood of an animal.
-Hebrews 9:18
Maybe you’ve wondered about sacrifices. Why does God care so much about blood?
The sacrifices were visceral, loud, messy reminders of the first promises
Sin leads to death, death will overcome sin.
This references Ex. 24, the first covenant at Mt. Sinai.
Moses sprinkled animal blood on a scroll, the tent, the implements of worship, and the people.
Under the Sinai covenant, almost every purification ritual demands death, sacrifice, blood. Why?
To rehearse the promise that sin leads to death but soon death will overcome sin.
The Preacher ends this section quoting a famous proverb from their day:
Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.
-Hebrews 9:22
Because sin leads to death…but each death reminds us that death will overcome sin.
And this next line is incredibly important. This is the game changer:
The Tabernacle and everything in it, which were copies of things in heaven, had to be purified by the blood of animals. But the real things in heaven had to be purified with far better sacrifices than the blood of animals.
-Hebrews 9:23
We’ve repeated this many times in previous weeks, and it’s worth repeating again.
The old covenant was insufficient because the old priests with their old sacrifices were INEFFECTIVE.
They were the OT drama ministry, meant to prepare us for something to come.
The OT houses of worship were mere shadows, copies of the real thing.
Animal blood had to be spilled over and over and over again, yet we kept sinning, priests kept dying, and more sacrifices were required.
The wages of sin is death, and the death of animals is not sufficient to put sin to death.
Christ did not enter into a holy place made with human hands…he entered into heaven itself to appear now before God on our behalf. And he did not enter heaven to offer himself again and again, like the high priest here on earth…if that had been necessary, Christ would have had to die again and again, ever since the world began. But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice.
-Hebrews 9:24-26
The wages of sin is death, but through the death of Christ, sin has been overcome.
He is the PERFECT priest, who offers a PERFECT sacrifice, and seals a PERFECT COVENANT.
His blood is sufficient, his sacrifice perfect, his covenant eternal.
Consider this with me now…imagine that promise back in the garden of Eden that a Son would come and crush death’s head. Think of that like a written will.
It’s a promise, and it’s written down.
But a will is only a piece of paper.
The promise was only a promise until Christ came.
What can you do to earn a will? Nothing. It’s given to you.
I am in my father’s will. Why? Because he’s my father and he loves me.
He chooses what to do with his possessions. It’s HIS CHOICE.
And it has pleased him to make me a promise, to write it on paper, to seal it with lawyers and keep it somewhere safe until the time is fulfilled.
A will is only a piece of paper until someone dies, and the promise that death would be overcome was only a promise until Christ died.
What could we do to make sure the will holds? Nothing! What could we do to make sure God keeps his promises? Nothing! He chooses what to do with his grace and his mercy, and he chose to offer himself as a perfect sacrifice for us.
But now, once for all time, he has appeared at the end of the age to remove sin by his own death as a sacrifice…Christ was offered once for all time as a sacrifice to take away the sins of many people.
-Hebrews 9:26, 28
His blood is sufficient. His sacrifice is perfect. His covenant is eternal. He is enough. The will was written centuries ago in Eden and it became effective on the hill of Golgotha.
Sin leads to death, but the death of Jesus destroyed the power of sin.
The old covenant was filled with rules of preparation, and we twisted those rules into performative spirituality. Looking good, doing the right thing, to receive our reward.
Oh the uncertainty of a life of religious performance! Do you know that anxiety?
Do you know the fear of living under the old covenant that says “do this and live”?
Listen to verse 28, a very familiar idea to nearly everyone who has lived:
Each person is destined to die once and after that comes judgment
-Hebrews 9:27
Weigh your heart on a scale, compare your good deeds to your bad, measure your acts of valor…every nation, tribe, and tongue has had variations of this same idea
We die, and then we face judgment. Have you known the fear of that day?
What will you say before the God who spoke in the garden, “if you break my trust you will die.” What will you say?
The old covenant crushed us under the weight of perfection. Do this, perfectly, and we’ll see how judgment day goes for you.
But that is not what was written in our father’s will, and that is not what is going to happen.
Three realities we must embrace at the end of chapter 9, end of verse 28
He will come again…
-Hebrews 9:28
Jesus is coming back. He is returning. So it is written, so it shall be.
We were promised he would come long ago, and so he did.
Now, we find ourselves waiting. And perhaps you think his second coming will be his time to bring the righteous hammer of God down on us. Listen next:
Not to deal with our sins…
-Hebrews 9:28
NOT TO DEAL WITH OUR SINS! Why not? BECAUSE HE DID IT ALREADY.
He does not have to come to deal with sin because it is dealt with.
His was a once-for-all sacrifice. No more penance required, no paybacks or do-overs
It’s finished, it’s over. You are forgiven, you have been purified, and Jesus has secured your place in the Most Holy place with God.
He comes back not to deal with our sins, but…
To bring salvation to all who are eagerly waiting for him.
-Hebrews 9:28
Not to those who do enough, or try enough, or sacrifice enough…those who are eager for his return and thus wait for him.
Try to imagine you received a letter after church.
Turns out your great uncle Herbert in California has just left you, his sole heir, a 100 billion dollar inheritance.
It’s in Vancouver CA, go pick it up.
You aren’t sure your car can make the drive, not sure how long you’ll be gone…but 100 billion! So you Get in the car and start driving.
Car breaks down in Chicago…100 billion.
Your suitcase gets stolen at a cheap hotel in MT…100 billion
You fall and break a leg…100 billion…do you see?
When you know your inheritance is secure, and you see the great value of it…the weights of life pale in comparison.
The wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.
We are under a new covenant, established by a new priest, secured through his perfect sacrifice, and he is coming back to fulfill all he has promised.
Let’s pray.