Jesus is Our Better Sacrifice

(from 3/25/18 sermon - Spencer Teal)

I. OPEN

See if there is anyone who wants to share a short testimony, or if there are there specific praise updates to begin CG.

II. PRAY

III. READ

Hebrews 9:11-12 & 22-28 - 11 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) 12 he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God……...22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. 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, 28so 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.

Q - Sermon takeaways from those who were in attendance?

IV. REFLECT

This past Sunday we looked at the cross. Having been around the church most of our lives, many of us have become somewhat numb to just how horrific that cruxification on the cross actually was. Torture and eventual death by means of the cross was brutal beyond compare. The Romans used this tool to inflict horrific pain, but to also bring great fear to others. But it was indeed the cross that was the tool was used for Christ to suffer and eventually die in order that we might have forgiveness. In the Old Testament the Passover Feast was used to remind of the time that the death angel passed by those homes who had the blood of lamb painted across their doorway. However, death would come to all of the other homes. We understand that this was pointed to Christ who would one day be THE Lamb of God. The cross is that moment.

Q - Why do we call this Friday Good Friday? Go back to the passage. Discuss how that which is so horrific is now declared worldwide to be “Good.”

The Old Covenant required sacrifices to be made over and over again because, as Heb 9:22 reminds us, “...without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Sins are committed...even “unintentional” ones (v. 7)...and therefore a sacrifice had to be made. Blood must now be shed in order to pay for these sins. And this sacrificial system happened over and over and over again. But the cross puts an end to this sacrificial system.

Read slowly v.12 and verses 25-28. Notice in v.12 that our redemption is secured through the cross. Q - Why do you think the author wants and needs us to understand that the cross only had to happen “once?” Even as I type these words, a dear brother just confessed to me his disappointment with his own heart and the frequency of his ongoing sins. Q - How can these verses help this brother? How can they help you and me? What implications do these verses have for our future sins as well?

Spencer painted such a graphic picture of the cross on Sunday that at times it was actually hard to hear. The details associated with painful torture are hard enough to stomach, but the fact that this torture was happening to someone completely innocent, well, that’s even harder. And the fact that the innocent One is actually the very One who created us and gives us life, then it makes no sense and is harsh beyond belief.

Christ could have called down 10 thousand angels to rescue him from the agony of the cross, but He did not. Q - Why didn’t He? If you answered that He had to suffer in order to pay for our sins then of course that is true, but it’s not what I’m fishing for. WHY did He come to this earth and choose to bear the pain and agony of the cross? Why? To find the answer, look up Rom 5:8, John 3:16, and 1 John 3:16. Take your time working through and meditating on these passages as you let the LOVE of God sink in. He loves us. He loves you. He bore the cross for love. Amazing! The cross shows that we truly have no adequacy to come before Him on our own, but because of His love for us He came to us and He died innocently ONCE and for all for us. Q - What do we do with these truths? We worship HIm!

V. FURTHER APPLICATION -

We oftentimes struggle with this concept of Jesus’ death actually securing our salvation. For some reason, in our humanity we find ourselves wanting to contribute to our own salvation, but we can’t. Why? Because He is the only perfect sacrifice, thus His statement “It is finished.” “Finished...past tense. The transaction is complete. He can’t and doesn’t need to sacrifice again. What he did (past tense) has secured forgiveness for all of our past, present, and future sins if we believe in Him. But when we struggle it’s good to go back to passages like Heb 9 to be reminded that “once” is enough. Two other verses to read, meditate on, and commit to memory are that speak of the finality of the cross are Rom 5:1 and Rom 8:1. It’s good to commit verses like these to our memory bank so that we can go to them often to remind us that a) He paid for our sins (past tense) and b) it’s all about Him and not about us.

VI. CLOSE -

Groups are encouraged to sing Nothing But the Blood of Jesus togetherWhat can wash away my sin?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus;

What can make me whole again?

Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh! precious is the flow

That makes me white as snow;

No other fount I know,

Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

For my cleansing this I see—