Hebrews 9:11-14
Securing for Us an Eternal Redemption
In the Book of Revelation we see a most majestic and awe-inspiring scene: The Lion of the tribe of Judah who is a Lamb looking as if it had been slain approaches the throne to take from the hand of the One sitting thereupon a scroll that no one else in the world was worthy to receive. Upon that seeming insignificant transfer, the whole heavenly court, indeed all creation, bursts into a song of praise: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (Revelation 5:1-14).
Here in Hebrews we see why our Lord is accorded such praise: His priesthood was not that of the former age—the age passing away; he was a high priest of “the good things that have come.” And he did not enter behind the veil of that earthly tent which purpose had come to an end; he entered the “perfect tent not made with hands”—the heavenly one, the true holy place which no earthly semblance can equal. And he entered not with the blood goats and calves but with his own blood and thus “secur[ed] an eternal redemption.” From this, the Preacher furnishes an argument from the “lesser to the greater”: If the blood of goats and ashes of a heifer can sanctify the flesh under the old order, then how much more can the blood of Christ, the spotless of Lamb of God—not spotless by appearance but by sinlessness and righteousness—how much more will the sacrifice of the Son who offered himself through the eternal Spirit purify the consciences of believers from dead works “to serve the living God?” The question is, of course, rhetorical, the answer being, “Eminently more!” (In passing we might note the beautiful representation of the Triune God in these few verses; that is, the Son offering himself through the Holy Spirit—through whom the Son performed all his acts in his incarnate state—to the Father.)
The copies served their purpose; let us now embrace the realities they foreshadowed. But why should “Gentile” believers living almost two millennia after this letter care about this “Jewish” argument? Because it applies equally to us. In a real way, this whole world is a shadow. The Professor said in C. S. Lewis’, The Magician’s Nephew, “It’s all in Plato.” Well, it’s all in the Bible. The Apostle Paul said, “The present form of this world is passing away” (1 Corinthians 7:31). And our worship in our churches will likewise pass away before our being caught up together to that glorious worship service of which ours is a sad imitation. In the meantime, let everything on earth foreshadow heaven for you—use it to His glory.
