In the New Testament, Part 2

Look at Hebrews 10. We are going to walk through some verses very carefully to help you understand. Verse 1 — ‘For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.‘ Remember that we are looking at how God sees things. God says the law does not make men right with God. He plainly says that the sacrifices offered every year never made the people perfect, right with God. Every year, the Old Testament priest on the Day of Atonement would have to offer the same sacrifice again. Why? Because that sacrifice never took away the people’s sin.

Verse 2 — ‘For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins.’ Doesn’t it make sense that the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement couldn’t take away sin? If it could take away sins, why would the high priest offer the sacrifice again next year? If the sins are gone, they are gone. So if he keeps on offering it, it is because it didn’t take care of the sin problem.

Look at verse 4 — ‘For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.’ It was not possible that the blood of animals could take away sin because the blood of bulls and goats, as verse one said, was nothing more than a shadow. It was nothing more than a picture.

Look at verse 10 — ‘By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.’ How many times did Jesus die? Once. Why once? Because that was all that was needed. One time paid for all the sin. If Jesus had to keep on dying over and over again, it would be because He wasn’t able to pay for the sins. He would just be a picture like all the Old Testament sacrifices were. But Jesus died one time because His death was enough to pay for all the sins of the entire world.

Look at verses 11 and 12— ‘And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God.’ Jesus only had to die one time. Once He died on the cross and paid for our sins.

That is the good news, remember? The Gospel — the good news that Jesus died for our sins, according to the Scriptures, He was buried and rose again from the dead on the third day, according to the Scriptures. The good news is that Jesus died once and forever paid for the sin of mankind.