Christ's Once-for-All Sacrifice

April 6, 2025 Background Scripture: Hebrews 9:23 - 10:25 Lesson Passage: Hebrews 9:23 28; 10:1 -4, 11 - 14, 19-25 God gave Israel a system of sacrifices and ordinances that specified all the details associated with it. They were told what, when, how, and who. This was part of the code we refer to as the Law. God specified who was allowed to participate, what they must wear, and every move they were allowed to make. Then God specified exactly when certain rituals could be done and how often. This was specified so the participants and beneficiaries of the rituals would be aware of and respect the holiness of God. When everything was done as God specified, then God forgave sins and restored peace between His people and Him. The people of Israel believed that the rituals and obedience to the laws and ordinances made them holy. What was not understood then is that all those things were an earthly example of heavenly realities. What they repeated every year on earth foreshadowed what was to be done one time in heaven for eternity. When Jesus began His earthly ministry, He was challenged continuously by the Jewish religious authority concerning His adherence, or lack thereof, to the Law given to Israel through Moses. Their actions show that they thought they were holier than Jesus. They wanted Him to live by a standard they would judge according to the tradition of their elders. They stated emphatically on several occasions that Jesus was trying to destroy the traditions of the elders by violating the Law. Jesus' response was clear, He did not come to destroy the Law but to fulfill it. Jesus' fulfillment of the Law could only happen by doing in heaven what was being foreshadowed on earth. On earth, the High Priest was required to enter the Most Holy Place with blood as the price for the sins of the people. This process began inside the tents that were referred to as the tabernacle that was in the middle of Israel's encampment in the desert. God allowed Israel to see a visible representation of His presence resting upon the tent known as the Most Holy Place. The tent was replaced by a building constructed under the leadership of King Solomon. This building, the temple, also contained a room referred to as the Most Holy Place. After the destruction of that temple, another temple was erected many years later. If a tabernacle or temple was available, the High Priest of Israel continued the rituals specified by the Law. On one occasion Jesus told them that the temple in use at that time (the third one) would be destroyed as the previous two had been destroyed. The religious leaders were offended and accused Jesus of not respecting the Law. It was only after Jesus' death, burial, and resurrection that His followers were truly enlightened about Jesus' mission to this world. The followers of Jesus, led by the Holy Ghost, learned that Jesus came into the world as God's once-for-all sacrifice for sin. What the High Priest repeated annually, foreshadowed a single act by Jesus. When Jesus was nailed to the tree, He became accursed of God, or sin. Through death, Jesus shed His sinless blood as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of many. On the third day, God raised Jesus to life that He could present His own blood in the absolute Most Holy Place, heaven. As both the sacrifice for our sins and the High Priest of our souls, Jesus entered the presence of God to offer Himself as the once-for-all sacrifice for the sins of the world. With that, God tore the curtain in the Jerusalem temple that separated the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place. This signified that access to God's presence was now made available through Jesus Christ. This is the good news proclaimed by the servants of God. The writer of the Hebrew epistle sent this information to the Jewish Christians. With this they could now be fully assured that Jesus had indeed fulfilled God's Law. Robert C. Hudson March 21, 2025