Hebrews 9:11-28

Hebrews 9:11-28 … This is the longer and more important reading in Hebrews 9 … much theology is proclaimed in these verses that is vital to know. You’ll note that the passage has a lot to say about the “blood of Christ,” and, let’s admit; a lot of people are uncomfortable talking about blood. So we need to grasp just a bit of why this is so important. (I say “just a bit” because whole books have been written on the Blood of Christ.) One key is understanding that God is just. He doesn’t just wink at sin and say, “forget it” – He is righteous and holy and sin cannot come into His presence. Sin has a penalty (we should never forget that!) and the penalty must be paid before any can be saved. That’s what God did for us in Christ. He paid our penalty (read 2 Corinthians 5:19 for example).

The Old Testament looks forward to the coming of Christ and it provided a foreshadowing of His sacrifice for our sins. In the Old Testament prescription, the people would bring an animal to be sacrificed as a substitute penalty for sins. The substitute only provided outward and temporary cleansing (9:13). Another sin meant another sacrifice. But, in Christ, God provided inward and outward cleansing continually available to those who receive Him as Savior and who receive eternal salvation (9:15). The foundational principle is in 9:22 … “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness,” which simply says again for us that sin has a terrible penalty. The balance of Hebrews 9 points out the supremacy of Christ and what He has done in our behalf: He entered heaven to appear in the presence of God for us (9:24), as our advocate and mediator. He has dealt with sin once for all time and so we learn (9:27) that the judgment of believers is a judgment, not of fear but of confidence in salvation that has been secured for us by the blood of Christ.