The Embodied Presence of the People of God

The Superiority of Jesus:

·      Chapters 1-2 – Superior to Angels and the Torah

·      Chapters 3-4 – Superior to Moses and the Promise Land

·      Chapters 5-7 – Superior to Melchizedek and the Priests

·      Chapters 8-10 – Superior to Sacrifices and Covenants

Hebrews 9:1-14 – “The OT Tabernacle”

Hebrews 9:11-12 - But Christ has appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come. In the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands (that is, not of this creation), ¹² he entered the most holy place once for all time, not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.

Hebrews 10:1-18 – “The sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice”

Hebrews 10:10-14 - By this will, we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. ¹¹ Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. ¹² But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. ¹³ He is now waiting until his enemies are made his footstool. ¹⁴ For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are sanctified.

“Offering” – Jesus himself

“Perfected” – Completed the work

“Those who are sanctified” – Present tense but also speaks of an ongoing process

“The Embodied Presence of the People of God”

Hebrews 10:19-25 - Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have boldness to enter the sanctuary through the blood of Jesus— ²⁰ he has inaugurated for us a new and living way through the curtain (that is, through his flesh)— ²¹ and since we have a great high priest over the house of God, ²² let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. ²³ Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, since he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider one another in order to provoke love and good works, ²⁵ not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

“Boldness to enter” - eisodon - a reception or welcoming. The idea being that one has been granted access to a special place where others have also been granted access.

Let us draw near…

·      Ephesians 2:18 - For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father.

·      1 Peter 3:18 - For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God.

Let us hold on…

·      James 1:2-4 - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Let us consider one another…

·      Galatians 6:9 - And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.

Gordon Fee - “To be saved… means to become part of the people of God, who by the Spirit are born into God’s family and therefore joined to one another as one body, whose gatherings in the Spirit form them into God’s temple. God is not simply saving diverse individuals and preparing them for heaven; rather he is creating a people for his name, among whom God can dwell and who in their life together will reproduce God’s life and character in all its unity and diversity.”

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Let Us Keep Gathering Together…

Question – Why do we gather?

·      To Worship God

·      To Grow in the Ways of God

·      To Join the Mission of God

·      To Fight Off the Spirit of the Age -> The obsession of self and radical individualism

C.S. Lewis – “Look for yourself, and you will find in the long run only hatred, loneliness, despair, rage, ruin, and decay. But look for Christ and you will find Him, and with Him everything else thrown in.”

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