Bible Text: Hebrews 9:15-10:18 | Pastor: Eric Danielson | Series: Hebrews – Glory of Christ | God gives his people many blessings to enjoy in this life. He wants us to use them to enjoy and glorify Christ. But instead of having a supporting role, they often take center stage. What does God want us to do with them?

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Honorable Discharge
Hebrews 9:15-10:18

We are nearing the end of a lengthy theological section in the middle of the book of Hebrews that compares Jesus and his role as our great high priest to the former high priests who served under the old covenant in the Old Testament. A major part of that covenant was the annual sacrifice of atonement that was designated by God to temporarily cover over their sins so he could dwell in their midst in the Most Holy Place in the tabernacle and they wouldn’t die because of his holiness and their sin. But that sacrifice and the whole old covenant had limitations. It could never make anyone perfect. It couldn’t forgive sins or make them holy. So even though they could be near God on earth, they couldn’t be directly in his presence or they would die. That meant the old covenant couldn’t save them and if they depended on it, they would never be able to stand in the presence of God in heaven. Their guilt would remain and they would be condemned.

So the author has been showing them in great detail why they should no longer depend on the old covenant and high priests, but on Christ instead. He’s shown them that he’s superior in his person (Ch. 7), his position (Ch. 8), and his sacrifice (Ch. 9). And he’s shown them that the primary purpose behind the old covenant was to give them a preview of what Jesus would do and point them to him so that when he came they would put their faith in him for salvation and put the old covenant to rest. If you’re familiar with the military you’ve probably heard about an “honorable discharge.” According to MilitaryBenefits.info: “An honorable discharge is the highest discharge a military member can receive. It indicates the service member performed duties well, faithfully executed the mission, and was an asset to the branch of the military where the member served.”

As I studied our passage for today, I saw that the author is finishing up this section of Hebrews by telling his readers that it was time for them to give the old covenant an honorable discharge. It had served its purpose well. It had faithfully executed its mission. It had been an asset to prepare them for Jesus, and now it’s time to respectfully put it to rest. It was becoming a distraction that was pulling them from Christ and they needed to put it to aside. They needed to focus on Jesus at the center and put the old covenant in its proper place.

We don’t have the same problem with the old covenant today, but as I thought about how this could apply to our lives I could see that I have a similar problem when it comes to the blessings God gives. God gives us many blessings to enjoy that are intended to point us to Christ. It might be marriage or children; it can be meaningful work; or hobbies like hunting, fishing, or crafting. It can also include our homes, money and material possessions. C.S. Lewis compares these things to sunbeams in an old woodshed shining down through holes in the roof and meant to draw our gaze back up to marvel at their source. But we often stop short and put all our attention on the sunbeams themselves. We focus on God’s blessings instead of Christ. And it may be that what God wants us to see today is that we need to give them an honorable discharge from being central to our lives and put them back in their proper place.

So I want to work through our passage of Scripture for today to see what it meant for them and how it applies to us. He begins by telling them why a new covenant had to be put in place and why Jesus is the mediator, or high priest, of a new covenant and not the old one.

Read Hebrews 9:15-22.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. 16 For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

His main point in these verses is that God sent Jesus to be the mediator of a new covenant because that was the only way that anyone could receive the eternal inheritance God promised to give people of faith. Under the old covenant he points out that people of faith had a major problem – they had committed transgressions – they had disobeyed God’s commands. And according to God’s law they owed a penalty and that was death. As long as they owed that penalty, they couldn’t receive the eternal inheritance God promised them. The penalty had to be paid. They thought it could be paid through the sacrifices in the old covenant, but it couldn’t. Under that covenant their sins could only be temporarily covered by the sacrifice of atonement, but not forgiven. So they needed another payment to redeem them.

That’s where Jesus comes in. The author says in verse 15 that God sent his Son to be the mediator of a new covenant and under that covenant Jesus would die in their place to redeem or pay the penalty for their transgressions. Jesus had to die in order for them to receive the promised eternal inheritance. So the author compares the new covenant to a will. In a will, the promised inheritance isn’t received until the one who made the will dies. And that’s what had to happen for us to receive the promised eternal inheritance from God. The one who made the promise – Jesus, the Son of God, would have to die. The author points out that even in the old covenant everything had to be sprinkled with blood to point that out to the people. Sprinkling things with blood seems really strange, but God required for it to happen so that the people would be aware that Jesus’ blood would have to be shed or there would be no forgiveness of sins, and no eternal inheritance.

A new covenant had to be put in place and Jesus had to die, so that people of faith could be forgiven and receive the promised eternal inheritance. And the author goes on to explain how Jesus’ death accomplished that.

Read Hebrews 9:23-28.
23 Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

He compares Jesus’ sacrifice with the old covenant sacrifices to show why they couldn’t effectively deal with sin, but Jesus could. A lot of this we’ve already covered in previous weeks. Jesus didn’t bring his sacrifice into an earthly tabernacle because that was just a copy of the true things; he brought his into heaven itself to appear directly in the presence of God on our behalf. He went straight to the top. And he didn’t bring the blood of bulls and goats like the other priests that could only temporarily cover sins, because that too was only a copy of the true things. He brought his own blood and because he was our sinlessly perfect human representative and the eternal Son of God, God accepted his blood as fitting to completely put away our sins. Therefore, he only had to offer himself once for all, not repeatedly like the other priests.

So by his death Jesus was able to put away our sins. And because of that, the author writes that when he comes back the second time he won’t have to deal with sin again – he already died once to bear our sins and doesn’t have to do it again for “it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.” Instead he will be able to save those who are eagerly waiting for him, and we will be able to receive our promised eternal inheritance. Jesus death is the key for people of faith to be able to receive the promised eternal inheritance. Old covenant sacrifices couldn’t do it; only Jesus can. Now for the people Hebrews was written to, that brings up the important question: What is to become of the old covenant? And the author goes on to tell them in chapter 10.

Read Hebrews 10:1-4.
1 For since the law has but a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities, it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near. 2 Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have any consciousness of sins? 3 But in these sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4 For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Here he reminds them again of the inability of the old covenant and the laws and sacrifices to take away sins. They are a shadow of Christs’ perfect high priestly ministry (the good things to come) and a reminder of sins every year, but they can never make anyone perfect. The old covenant had a purpose and it fulfilled its purpose well. But when Christ came, its purpose was complete and it was time to put it to rest. Therefore when Christ came, that’s what he did and the author goes on to point that out.

Read Hebrews 10:5-10.
5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” 8 When he said above, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings” (these are offered according to the law), 9 then he added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first in order to establish the second. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Here the author quotes Psalm 40, which was a prophecy about the Messiah, to show that when Jesus came, his will was to put the old covenant to rest because he knew those sacrifices were not the answer – it was his body that would be offered as the final and perfect sacrifice that would purify sinners. And because he was determined to offer himself, we have been sanctified or purified through him. His single sacrifice was all we needed.

Read Hebrews 10:11-14.
11 And every priest stands daily at his service, offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.

All the sacrifices under the old covenant never took away a single sin. But Christ’s single sacrifice wiped away every sin and made us perfect in the sight of God.

Read Hebrews 10:15-18.
15 And the Holy Spirit also bears witness to us; for after saying, 16 “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws on their hearts, and write them on their minds,” 17 then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” 18 Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.

The fact that Jesus was going to put away the old covenant and establish a second that would result in forgiveness of sin was witnessed to by the Holy Spirit long before it happened through this prophecy in Jeremiah 31. And because forgiveness was possible in the new covenant, there is no longer any need to make sacrifices and offerings under the old one.

So for the people that Hebrews was written to, this passage is telling them that it was time to give the old covenant an honorable discharge. It fulfilled its duty – it pointed people to Christ, but now that Christ has come, it’s time to move on.

What I think we can take away from this today is that we may need to do the same thing with some of the blessings in this life that God has given us to point us to Christ, but have become our center of attention instead. We need to give them an honorable discharge from being at the center and put them in their proper place. This might include the blessings of family, work, hobbies, money, material possessions – anything that captures our attention and becomes our source of joy and purpose. These things were given to us as gifts from God to enjoy for the purpose of giving honor and glory to Jesus. But they often become and end in themselves.

I remember going through this struggle several years ago when it came to bowhunting. I enjoyed it so much and it was distracting me from Christ. What was I supposed to do? If it was an idol I would have to put it to death. And what about all the other things I enjoyed in this life? Was it ok to find enjoyment in my wife and kids and home and work? How could Christ be at the center with all these other things that seemed so much more tangible to enjoy? And then I came to realize that God hadn’t given me these gifts to be in competition with Christ; he gave them to bring glory to Christ. And rather than just getting whatever joy and fulfillment out of them that I could and leaving it at that, I needed to learn how to use them to enhance my joy in Christ and to bring glory to Christ.

So, like the old covenant that was given to point people to Christ, the blessings we’ve received are meant to do the same. And we need to keep them in their proper place. We may need to give them and honorable discharge from being the center of our attention and begin to ask God how we can use them to increase our joy in Christ and bring glory to him.