This is the manuscript of the sermon preached at Christ Church Sunday April 21, 2024.
Hebrews 9:15-28 NIV [15] For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. [16] In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, [17] because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living. [18] This is why even the first covenant was not put into effect without blood. [19] When Moses had proclaimed every command of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves, together with water, scarlet wool and branches of hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people. [20] He said, “This is the blood of the covenant, which God has commanded you to keep.” [21] In the same way, he sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. [22] In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. [23] It was necessary, then, for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. [24] For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. [25] Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own. [26] Otherwise Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But he has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. [27] Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, [28] so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
Text:
Hebrews 7:25 NIV Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Introduction
Two weeks ago we celebrated Jesus' resurrection and the fact that He is alive. The words of our text today declare again that Jesus Christ is alive. The NLT paraphrases the content of this verse as
Hebrews 7:25 NLT Therefore he is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.
We meet today at Christ Church dedicated to worship because of our faith that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, conquering death, sin, and the grave. Christianity is the one faith that claims a living founder. Not one who founded something and then died, like Mohammad, or Confucius.
Some time ago a Christian was talking to a Muslim. In his witness the Christian man said, “We believe that God has revealed himself through the book that is called theBible.” The Muslim replied, “We believe that God has revealed himself through the book that is called the Koran.”
The Christian said, “We believe that God has revealed himself throughJesus Christ.”
The Muslim said, “We believe too that God revealed himself through a man. His name is Mohammed.”
The Christian said, “We believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.”
The Muslim said, “We believe that Mohammed died for the benefit of his followers.”
The Christian said, “We believe that Jesus Christ rose from the grave on the third day.”
The Muslim bowed his head for a moment and thought seriously. Then he raised his eyes and said, “We do not know what happened to our religious leader after his death.”
Jesus Christ is the only founder of a world religion who died and rose from the grave.
Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem and died on a cross outside the walls of Jerusalem. Jesus Christ conquered death and the grave and ascended back to the Father.
By his Spirit he is present everywhere in the hearts of those who trust him and love him. Christianity is good news about the Son of God, who came, lived, died, and conquered death, and continues to live.
Revelation 1:17-18 NIV When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Our great salvation is made possible and certain by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. The single most crucial piece of the gospel is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Many people have performed good deeds, and many people have even died doing those deeds. But Jesus Christ is the only one in history to live a perfect life and then brutally die for his undeserving enemies.
The Apostle Paul explains in
Romans 5:7-8 NIV Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
But the gospel does not stop there. Jesus was then buried (temporarily) in what was supposed to be a permanent tomb, and then he powerfully defeated death, hell, and the grave and rose again.
After Jesus’ resurrection, he ascended back to the Father so that he may forever offer a way of salvation for all people that believe in him.
Look at our text again
Hebrews 7:25 NIV Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
A pastor once said "if Christ is not raised, the church has no message for the world; the Christian has nothing to believe; Christian witnesses are telling falsehoods about God; our individual faith is an empty, lifeless shell; and tragedy of tragedies, we are still in our sins."
Paul declared that our salvation is based on our belief in the fact that Christ died for our sins, that he was buried, and that he was raised from the dead on the third day according to the Scriptures.
1 Corinthians 15:3-8 NIV For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.
The resurrection is a fact. It’s not a myth, it's not conjecture, an opinion or conclusion formed on the basis of incomplete information. It is a fact proven by eyewitnesses.
Paul later wrote later in that same chapter;
1 Corinthians 15:20 NIV But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Christianity is based on the fact that, as I just read, Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead as the firstfruits from among the dead.
The concept of firstfruits comes from the Old Testament. At harvest times, Israel was instructed to offer the firstfruits of their crops to the Lord. .
Leviticus 23:10 NIV “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you and you reap its harvest, bring to the priest a sheaf of the first grain you harvest.
These firstfruits were simply the first portion of their much larger harvest. They would withhold that first portion and reserve it for God. The same is true with Jesus. He rose from the dead, but that resurrection was just the beginning. When He returns, all who “belong to him” will also be raised from the dead.
Let's go back to verse 20 but this time keep reading traverse 23
1 Corinthians 15:20-23 NIV But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.
Jesus' resurrection is not a myth, it is not fiction. He was seen by many people, giving indisputable proof of his living presence.
I. The resurrection proved that Jesus of Nazareth was God’s Son.
During his life and ministry, Jesus revealed that He was a unique person, not only by the marvelous words that He spoke but also by the miraculous works that came from his hands. No one had ever talked about life and God as He did.
His disciples came to believe that he was more than just a man and more than just a prophet. Peter spoke for them in his remarkable confession of faith in which he expressed his belief that Jesus was the Messiah the Son of God.
Matthew 16:13-16 NIV When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
It was the resurrection of Jesus Christ that dramatically declared Jesus to be the unique Son of God.
II. The resurrection of Christ declares the crucifixion to be a revelation of divine love for sinners rather than just a horrible execution.
For the apostles the death of Jesus was a personal catastrophe, a public disgrace, and a political disappointment. For God it was the revealing of his love and his redeeming power to save sinners from the consequences of their sins.
Romans 5:6-8 NIV You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Had there been no resurrection, the death of Jesus Christ would never have been understood as a revelation of the great love of God for sinners.
The death of Jesus Christ for sin was a once-for-all substitutionary sacrifice that covers our sin debts.
1 Peter 3:18 NIV For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.
III. The resurrection gives us an intercessor in the presence of God.
An intercessor is someone who intervenes on behalf of someone else.
Jesus Christ, our great High Priest, has entered into the Most Holy Place with his own sacrificial death as an atonement for our sins.
Hebrews 10:8-10 NIV First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
John, in his first epistle, wrote to encourage believers not to live a life of sin.
1 John 2:1-2 NIV My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
All of us need the ministry of this divine Advocate. Jesus is in heaven intervening for us.
IV. The resurrection gave to us the believers not just a living Lord the resurrection also gave us a companion.
A. Jesus began his ministry by saying, “Follow me.”
Matthew 4:18-20 NIV As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him.
He continues to extend that invitation to follow Him.
John 12:23-26 NIV Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me; and where I am, my servant also will be. My Father will honor the one who serves me.
B. This living Lord walked and talked with his disciples. Jesus instructed his disciples that they were to teach new disciples to obey his commandments and to follow his example. Jesus Christ, the living Lord, continues this same ministry and enables us as we seek to help others.
He taught His disciples and showed them how they could become makers of new disciples. He continues to lead us in helping others to become disciples.
Matthew 28:16-20 NIV Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Conclusion
The resurrected Christ gives victory in the midst of struggle. He gives hope in the world of darkness. He gives meaning to life. He takes the sting out of death and gives confidence in the face of death.
Yes, Jesus Christ is alive. Jesus himself described the effect of his own resurrection in
John 14:19 NIV Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.
Like the words from the song "Because He Lives" say:
Because He lives, I can face tomorrow Because He lives, all fear is gone" Because I know He holds the future And life is worth the living just because He lives.
May each of us trust Christ and experience the results of his promises.
Let's pray
Lord, how can we ever thank You enough? You endured more pain, more shame, more sorrow, more grief than we can possibly fathom. Help us remember why You gave Your life. Because of love. Because of mercy. Because we desperately need them both.
Almighty Lord, thank you for the empty tomb and Jesus' victory over the grave. Just as Jesus' death pardoned my sin, his resurrection assures my future. Thank you for your grace and glory. Thank you for your constant intercession. May my life today be lived by the power of resurrection.
In Jesus' name, I pray. Amen.
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