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11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! ~ Hebrews 9:11-14
We return to Hebrews 9 where the writer of Hebrews has used the Old Testament Tabernacle to lead us to the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the point of the whole Bible, to usher us to the Lord Jesus because He is the fulfillment of all things Bible.
In v.11 of today's passage we read, "But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation."
In Acts 7:48 we read, "The Most High does not live in houses made by human hands." Then in Acts 17:24 we read, "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands." And here in Hebrews the Lord Jesus is pictured as One who has a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. God's tabernacle or temple is in heaven.
In Ephesians 2:1-6 we read, "As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. 3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. 4 But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, 5 made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. 6 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus."
When we trusted Christ to be our Savior, we were transferred from the control of this world's fallen way of thinking into God's way of thinking and living. We were placed in a process whereby we are being taught God's culture. It's a process. And, God is not in a hurry. And, right now, we, having believed that Christ's death and resurrection procured God's forgiveness for us, are positionally in Christ, seated at the right hand of God. We are not one moment without the presence of God, because we have the perfection of Christ applied to us, right now.
Spiritually speaking we do not even live in this world, and now, we are alive to God and to His culture. Christ's death and resurrection granted us entrance into God's heaven. This is justification. Now that we are guaranteed heaven, God wants to get heaven into us, now. This is sanctification, the process whereby He is delivering us from this fallen world's way of thinking and living.
In v.12 of today's passage we read, "He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption."
The Lord Jesus has taken us into the very presence of God through the shedding of His own blood. He accomplished this with His own sinless blood, not the blood of any animal. And, He entered once into the Holy of Holies to wipe our sin slate clean before God. And, He did this once and for eternity, never to be repeated again.
In v.13-14 of today's passage we read, "The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!"
As long as the Law of Moses was around, the people were reminded that they were sinful and they were failures. And that was good, because the good news of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not good news if we do not know about the bad news. The Law had to crush us to the point of seeing our need for a Savior. The Law had to be fulfilled and removed as a means of judgment. So, Christ through His sacrifice, accomplished for us a complete work. We are no longer the recipients of God's wrath.
Christ not only made us acceptable before God, He also, is clearing our conscience free of guilt. The Levitical priests only addressed our outside but the Lord Jesus addresses our inside. In Christ, we are a new creation. Completely clean inside and out through Christ's righteousness. Our consciences are now being made free to think God's thoughts and walk in His ways.
Nothing so impedes our access to God and our walk with Him as a guilty conscience. We can not draw near to God boldly unless our hearts are cleansed. And, if we are to overcome this world's false way of thinking, we must accept the fact that the blood of Christ has completely satisfied God on our behalf. We can not improve on Christ's perfection which He has given to us. God welcomes us into His presence not on the basis of our Christian progress or our good behavior, but on the basis of the perfection of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
