The Superiority of Christ, continued

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His Sanctuary, the Old
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These verses describe the old sanctuary, the Temple, and the duties of the Priests and the nature of their sacrifices. The Temple was made up of two chambers. This was symbolic of the two natures of Christ, human and divine, and the two states of the church, earthly and heavenly. We are told what was placed in each chamber. In the outer chamber, the Holy Place, there was the candlestick that served two functions, it gave light and the light that it gave was symbolic of the small amount of understanding that was given to this dispensation, one candle compared to the understanding that we have in Christ Jesus.
Secondly, there was a table upon which was put 12 loves of bread, one for each of the 12 tribes of Israel. The bread remained there from one Sabbath to the next. It was symbolic of the "bread of Life". For us, Christ is the "bread of life".
The second chamber was called the Holy of Holies and it was separated from the first by a veil. In the Holy of Holies there was an alter and the Ark of the Covenant. Over the Ark was the "Mercy Seat", which was a covering like a canopy. Over this, on either side of the Ark, were Cherubims, symbolic of the Holy Angels of God. This was an abbreviated description of the Temple and it's furnishings.
Next we will look at the services there. Ordinary priests were allowed only in the outer chamber. It would have been fatal for them to have gone into the Holy of Holies. Only the High Priest could go there. Only the Levites were allowed to enter any part of the Temple or to be involved in the maintenance of it. This teaches us that we are all called to a certain place in life, to presume to add or take away from that place is to take away from the prerogatives of Christ.
The entrance of the Chief Priest into the Holy of Holies was symbolic of Christ's entrance to the Thrown Room of God by means of the renting of His flesh just as the veil was rented at the moment of Christ's death on the cross. The High Priest could not enter the Holy of Holies without the shedding of blood, an animal sacrifice, symbolic of the shedding of the blood of Christ for the remission of our sins.
The sacrifices in the Old Testament were but carnal sacrifices imposed upon man, as a sign of his obedience, until the coming of the real High Priest who would make the perfect sacrifice. Their imperfection lay in three things:

Their nature. They were carnal earthly things, even though the best of those things were offered, they still fell short. Meat, grain and liquids were used and they became a bodily exercise the meant very little.
They afforded little comfort. They were originally designed to make the people long for the coming of the Messiah who would make the final sacrifice for all men. They offered their sacrifices but did not feel cleansed of their sins.
They were only temporary. They were never designed to be a one time thing that would provide forgiveness for all sins past, present and future. They did, however, provide a means of forgiveness, if the were properly made, until the true sacrifice was made by the Messiah.

Thus the Old Tabernacle (Temple) and the services that took place there as well as the Priests that performed those services, were but carnal exercises, offering little comfort and only, at best, temporary.

His Sanctuary, the New

The New Sanctuary is described by the Author in these verses and continued over into the first 18 verses of Chapter 10. Verses 11 thru 14 of Chapter 9 undertake to tell the work of the Holy Spirit in the New Sanctuary. To do this, the Author gives five why the New Sanctuary, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, is better than the old.

Enlightenment, the initial work of the Holy Spirit. Salvation, yes even the knowledge of life after death, was not made clear under the Levitican Law. With the coming of Christ, came the understanding of the "way", the way to receive forgiveness and eternal life. So the first and foremost work of the Holy Spirit is to reveal to the sinner the way to eternal life, the way of access to God.
Understanding, concerning the nature of the Tabernacle. The old Tabernacle was limited in its work and had only a short life span. The old Tabernacle would be replaced by the body of the believer. The presence of God left the old Tabernacle when the veil was rent at the moment of the death of Christ. He now dwells in the body of the believer. The understanding of this is made possible by the work of the Holy Spirit.
Assurance. The old sacrifices could not give to the people the assurance of their salvation. They could not take away the desire to sin, therefore, they could not take away the doubts that forever plagued them. The Holy Spirit can give to the believer the assurance of his salvation.
Transformation. The Holy Spirit can transform the sinner, the extent of that transformation depends upon the gifts of the Spirit and the will of the believer. The Law only showed the people their sins and mandated this punishment. Escape came by way of animal sacrifices but there was no transformation of the sinner.
Access to the thrown of Grace. This access is purchased by the superiority of the sacrifice and the Priesthood of Christ. The Holy Spirit leads us into a realization of this access and into the use of it.

Also in these verses, the Author has five things to say about Christ's Priesthood, all of which is made real and understandable by the Holy Spirit.

Christ, as High Priest, makes available to man all the good things that were only promised in the Old Testament. All spiritual and eternal blessings are available to the believer, by faith, through Christ. All spiritual blessings, in this world, and eternal blessings, in the world to come, are ours in Christ.
The "Tabernacle", of which Christ is High Priest, is a more perfect dwelling place for God because it is not made by human hands, it is eternal and without blemish, conceived and created by God.
The "sacrifice" of which Christ is the High Priest, is a more perfect sacrifice, offered voluntarily, without blemish, purified by His own blood not by the blood of bulls and goats.
The "redemption", of which Christ is High Priest, was purchased was purchased by a perfect sacrifice, not for just a year, as was the case in the old dispensation, but for eternity. We are "redeemed" forever, once and for all.
The "salvation", of which Christ is High Priest, was purchased by a perfect sacrifice which brought a perfect redemption and was provided for by the offering of "perfect flesh". The Old Testament sacrifice excused the sins of the people for a while, but Christ's sacrifice purified the soul for eternity.

Thus Christ's sacrifice was superior because He sacrificed Himself, because His sacrifice was Holy and because His sacrifice was without blemish.

Thus because Christ's sacrifice was superior, it will purge away the guilt of sin, it will sanctify and renew the soul, thus enabling us to serve the Living God, and by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, made us a useful tool in God's hands. All this is possible because our High Priest lives in a "new" and "superior" sanctuary.

Verses 15 thru 22 of this chapter, establishes the "last will and testament" of Jesus Christ and shows how the blood of Christ makes this will valid and effectual. You might ask, "What is the last will and testament of Jesus Christ?" It is the Gospel. Man, sense Moses, has had a covenant with God. Under Moses, it was the Covenant of the Law, a "testament" given to God's chosen people through Moses. With the coming of Christ and His death and resurrection, we have a new covenant, the Covenant of Grace, called the Gospel.

A "testament" is a voluntary act of a person, duly executed and witnessed to. To bestows certain legacies to the legatees and can only take effect upon the death of the person making the testament. Let us apply this to the "testament" of Christ.

First, we must accept and note that Christ did voluntarily and duly execute a testament called the Gospel of Grace, and that His death and resurrection did duly put this testament into effect.
Secondly, we must accept and note the purpose of this testament.
1. It is to redeem people from their sins.
2. It is to qualify those who are redeemed to receive an eternal inheritance.

So we see that Christ fulfilled all the requirements of the Law to make and execute this testament, called the Gospel of Grace.

Now lets see what makes it an effectual instrument.

As we saw in the definition of the word, it is necessary for the author of the testament or will, to die before it can become effective. This is established in verse 16 and 17, "For a will takes effect only at death." Christ died on cross, this was attested to by those who witnessed it.
To make this testament legal, there needed to be the "shedding" of blood. This too was attested to by those who witnessed His crucifixion.

In comparison, relative to the old will and testament, Matthew Henry, in his commentary, says, "All men, by sin, became guilty before God and forfeited their inheritance, their liberties and their very lives into the hands of divine justice, but God, being willing to show the greatness of His mercy, proclaimed a covenant of Law and ordered it to be typically administered under the Old Testament, by the shedding of the blood of an animal." "God accepted the blood of bulls and goats as typifying the blood of Christ, and by this means, the covenant was ratified under the dispensation of the Law."

This covenant of Law was established after Moses declared to the people every commandment of the Law. Notice what these commandments were to accomplish. They told the people the nature of the covenant, the duties required of them, the rewards promised for obedience, the punishment for disobedience and asked for their understanding.

Then Moses too the blood of claves and goats, with water, scarlet wool and hyssop and applied the blood by sprinkling. The blood and water was symbolic of the blood and water that would flow from the side of Jesus on the cross when His side was pierced by the soldier' sword. The flowing of the blood was for the justification of the sinner and the forgiveness of God. Under the Law, the Priest sprinkled the Tabernacle and all the utensils to show that that which was used in the worship of God was made acceptable by the shedding of blood

Verse 22 sums it up, "Indeed, under the Law almost every thing was purified with blood and indeed, without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins." From the beginning, God's covenant with man was signed and sealed with blood, under the covenant of the Law, with the blood of animals and under the covenant of Grace, with the blood of Christ.

Continuing on with the comparison of the two sanctuaries, we see in verses 23 thru 28, that the old covenant "trappings" were but "shadows" of the heavenly things, the R.S.V. calls them "copies", the K.J. calls them "patterns". Still speaking of the old covenant, verse 23 says, "Thus it was necessary for these copies of heavenly things to be purified with these rites."

Question. What are the "copies" that he is talking about? The "earthly" Tabernacle and everything that was in it. These were earthly copies of things in Heaven and they needed to be purified to be acceptable in the worship of God.

Question. What about us, do we need to be purified for those "heavenly" things? Yes, but not with the blood of bulls and goats. We needed a more perfect sacrifice, we needed the shed blood of God Himself, the Messiah. Then the Author gives four reasons why this sacrifice was superior to the animal sacrifice.

The place of the sacrifice. The old was made in a "tent", made by human hands. Christ's sacrifice was made on a hill, and carried, by Angels, up into the very thrown room of God.
The Sacrifice it's self. The sacrifice of the Son of God was infinitely better than the sacrifice of animals.
The "warrantee". Animal sacrifice was good for one year and then it had to be done again. Christ's sacrifice is for all, once and for all.
The "efficiency". The animal sacrifice could not do away with sin, it only obtained a temporary pardon, but Christ's sacrifice put an end to the dominion of sin and bought forgiveness once and for all.

Verses 27 and 28 deals with God's appointed laws governing man and God.

It is appointed but once for man to die. Death is a reality. It is troublesome because we know nothing about it. It represents separation from all that we have come to know. A place from which there is no return. However, knowing that it is inevitable, we should be prepared for it.
In the preparation, we should know that immediately after death there will come a "judgment". The Soul returns to God, it's creator and judge, to be delivered to it's eternal state. Those who are in Christ, to Heaven, and those who are not, to Hell. These are God's appointed laws for mankind.
God appointed that His Son, Jesus, at His first coming, had to be offered up to bear the sins of all those whom He called. Those who would believe on His name. God laid upon Him the sins of them all.
Then God appointed that His Son, at His second coming, would call unto Himself all those believers who had died and those who were alive, and they would be caught up with Him into Heaven and there live with Him for eternity.

It is a distinguishing characteristic of believers that they are looking for His return. They look for Him, by faith, they look for Him by desire, by their work, by their observance of the sacraments, they look for Him in every experience of life, they expect His Second Coming and are prepared for it, for it will literally be Heaven for them, an eternity with Christ. THATS THE NEW SANCTUARY, WE GET ENTRANCE THROUGH JESUS CHRIST.

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