The New Covenant's Sacrifice - Sunday School Lesson, 2

Sunday School Lesson, Cont.

Examination of Scripture

11 But when Christ came as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation), 12 he entered once for all into the Holy Place, not with the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of goats and bulls, with the sprinkling of the ashes of a heifer, sanctifies those who have been defiled so that their flesh is purified, 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 worship the living God!

A new day has come.  Christ is now the high priest, and the human constructed temple has been replaced by a heavenly sanctuary – “the greater and more perfect meeting tent.”  Christ’s sacrifice was only once and was for all time – unlike that of the former high priests, who had to repeat their visit to the Holy of Holies every year on the Day of Atonement.  It is his own blood that is used in the sacrifice.  The word redemption is lytrosis – it comes from the root word lytron, which means ransom.  It means to set free – to redeem.  I like this quote from the material: “Because of his sacrifice in the more perfect temple, Christ took us from the tent’s Holy place to the Holy of Holies.”   Think back to the Gospel description of the crucifixion of Christ.  In Mark, when Jesus died, what happened in the temple?  In Mark 15:38:  “And the curtain of temple was torn in two, from top to bottom.”  Access to God.

15 For this reason he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, because a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant. 16 Where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. 17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. 

I work at the Foundation, where we help people with bequest gifts in the will for ministry. This part of the passage is actually a pun – its hard to tell, because we don’t read or understand Greek, but the Greek word for covenant is diatheke – and the same word can be translated as “will.”  When does your “will” become realized?  “With ones’ death, his or her will comes into effect…. Therefore, the new covenant (will) mediated by
Christ could only come into effect at Christ’s death.”

18 Hence not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment had been told to all the people by Moses in accordance with the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has ordained for you.” 21 And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. 22 Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.

Just like my box story at the beginning of this lesson, we cannot solve the problem of sin without Christ.  In Christ’s actions, there is forgiveness.  It was Christ’s one-time action –and it brings us into the presence of God.  We couldn’t do it by ourselves – the rituals of the Hebrew bible were not enough.