Sermon Idea: The New Covenant of grace is fulfilled by the sacrificial death of Christ, purifying the people of God for the presence of God once and for all.
Introduction: One of the most beautiful pictures of God’s redemptive plan in the New Testament is the temple curtain being torn in two when Jesus dies on the cross.
37 And Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. 38 And the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 39 And when the centurion, who stood facing him, saw that in this way he breathed his last, he said, “Truly this man was the Son of God!” (Mk 15:37–39)
The crisis of the biblical story, and thus the crisis of human history, is the separation that sin has brought between God and those created in His image. The most significant consequence of Adam’s sin was being exiled from the garden. How is it that sinful people can enter again into the presence of God?
The Bible is the true story of God restoring a people to dwell, live, and worship in his very presence. It is a story about God’s kingdom, where He rules and reigns over His people through covenant.
The people of God dwelling in the presence of God was the fundamental purpose of the covenants that God made with Abraham, Israel, and David, through which God could fulfill his promise to deliver the promised seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15) who would crush the head of the serpent, establish a New Covenant, and open a way into God’s presence once again.
This journey back into God’s presence was sewn into the very fabric of Israel’s worship. When God instructs Israel to build the tabernacle, he commands that cherubim be sewn into the curtain that separates the holy place from the Most Holy Place. When Solomon builds the temple, cherubim are sewn once again into the curtain which hangs before the Most Holy Place.
This is so fascinating because God set cherubim to guard the garden. The presence of cherubim in Genesis 3 signals that the presence of God is not accessible to the sinner.
24 He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life. (Ge 3:23–24, garden)
“And you shall make a veil of blue and purple and scarlet yarns and fine twined linen. It shall be made with cherubim skillfully worked into it. (Ex 26:31, tabernacle)
And he made the veil of blue and purple and crimson fabrics and fine linen, and he worked cherubim on it. (2 Ch 3:14, temple)
Both the tabernacle and the temple curtain represent God’s work in restoring a people to His presence. Every year on the Day of Atonement, the High Priest would enter into the Most Holy Place, atone for the sins of the people by shedding the blood of a spotless sacrificial lamb.
The curtain represented the work of God in restoring His presence among the people, but it also represented the separation that was still a reality. Only the High Priest could enter through the curtain, and while that cherubim-marked curtain remains, it signifies that the holy presence of God is not accessible to the sinner. The Old Covenant was good and gracious in many respects, but it could not bring the people of God into the presence of God.
This is why the tearing of the curtain is so significant. Through the sacrificial death of the spotless lamb, Jesus Christ, the way has now been made open. The tearing of the curtain symbolizes the removal of the cherubim from the entrance to the garden. The angels no longer guard the presence of God, because a way is now open through the Son of God, whose death establishes a New Covenant of grace.
In Hebrews 9, the author demonstrates how the New Covenant, established by the death of Jesus Christ, fulfills all that the Old Covenant anticipated through the types and shadows of the sacrificial system.
The New Covenant of grace is fulfilled by the sacrificial death of Christ, purifying the people of God for the presence of God once and for all.
As we consider this passage together, I want you to hear how God has brought us into His presence through the death of Jesus Christ. When we gather on the Lord’s Day, we are not a people at whom God looks from a distance. He invites us again to be in his presence through our Lord Jesus Christ, to hear his Word, and to commune with us. We experience that not through Word and Spirit, and one day we’ll experience it in full.
If you’re here this morning and you’re not a Christian, I invite you to consider that access to God is possible through faith in Jesus Christ. It is the only way by which our sins can be forgiven and the only way we can become like the God in whose image we have been created.
I.) The earthly, preparatory nature of the Old Covenant (Hebrews 9:1-10)
Everything about the Old Covenant—the tabernacle, temple, and the sacrificial system—was given as a grace to life in the promised land. It pointed forward through types and shadows to greater realities, but everything about it concerned earthly things. Notice how the author of Hebrews described the Old Covenant in Hebrews 9:1.
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. (Heb 9:1)
The earthly place of holiness refers to the tabernacle. To call it earthly is not derogatory, but to say that the tabernacle was a holy place on the earth. As such, it is pointed forward and prepares us for a greater reality, a better sanctuary: not one of the earth, but of heaven.
The author of Hebrews summarized the structure and furniture of the tabernacle. The key here is to note the two sections of the tabernacle: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place.
2 For a tent was prepared, the first section, in which were the lampstand and the table and the bread of the Presence. It is called the Holy Place. 3 Behind the second curtain was a second section called the Most Holy Place, 4 having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant. 5 Above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail. (Heb 9:2–5)
What the author then does in verses 6-10 is show how the priestly service of the Old Covenant cannot bring the people into the presence of God. This is achieved by highlighting the repetitive nature of the priestly work in the tabernacle and noting that only the High Priest could enter the Most Holy Place.
6 These preparations having thus been made, the priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties, 7 but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the unintentional sins of the people. (Heb 9:6–7)
Notice the language that emphasizes the priests’ never-ending service. The priests go regularly into the first section, performing their ritual duties. The High Priest enters the Most Holy Place once a year to offer the sacrifice of atonement. All of these things—the earthly nature of the tabernacle, the repetitive service of the priests, the division of the two holy places—indicate its inability to bring people into the presence of God truly.
8 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing 9 (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, 10 but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. (Heb 9:8–10)
There is a lot to note, but I want to highlight two primary points.
The first is the way the author of Hebrews identifies the Holy Spirit as the one who indicates the temporary and preparatory nature of the Old Covenant. God, by His Spirit, intended for the Old Covenant to point forward and foreshadow the new.
The second is that the primary problem with the sacrificial system was that it could not purify the worshipper, and so it could not bring people into God’s presence. They were good sacrifices for the purpose that God instituted them, for life in the land, but they could not purify the worshipper, finally deal with sin, and usher people into the presence of God.
In all these ways, the Old Covenant points forward to the New. When God fulfills his promises, a sacrifice will be made once; it will purify the worshipper and bring them into the presence of God.
II.) The heavenly, permanent nature of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:11-22)
The death of Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, and the shedding of his blood established a New Covenant of grace, fulfilling all that the Old Covenant merely pointed to.
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 (Heb 9:11–12)
To highlight the superiority of Christ’s sacrifice, his priestly work, and the New Covenant he establishes, the author of Hebrews identifies three things that Jesus does.
1.) He entered once into the holy places. Unlike the priests who served regularly, and unlike the High Priest who entered the temple only once a year, Jesus entered the temple only once. The New Covenant of grace not only has a heavenly sanctuary, but a permanent sacrifice.
2.) He entered not by the blood of bulls and goats, but by his blood! He is the atoning sacrifice! The author of Hebrews reflects later on the sufficiency of Christ’s sacrifice in 10:12-14.
12 But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. 14 For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. (Heb 10:12–14)
3.) His sufficient sacrifice through which he enters into the heavenly sanctuary secures eternal redemption! The result is that Jesus does what the Old Covenant priests and sacrifices could not do: purify the worshipper and bring them into the presence of God!
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. (Heb 9:12–14)
The New Covenant promises made in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel regarding the forgiveness of sin and the purification of the sinner are fulfilled in the substitutionary death of Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant sacrifices could make one ceremonially clean by purifying the flesh, but the sacrifice of Christ purifies the whole person.
When I was in High School, I was required, as I am sure many of you were, to read Macbeth by William Shakesphere. There is a scene in this famous play that captures the effect of guilt on the human conscience more effectively than any other I have seen or read.
In short, Lady Macbeth conspired with her husband to kill King Duncan with the hope that her husband, a general in Scotland, would become king. Spoiler alert: They kill King Duncan. They both suffer from guilt for this, and Lady Macbeth in particular begins to sleepwalk.
She imagines she is trying to wash Duncan’s blood off her hands, saying:
“Out, damned spot! Out, I say!” She believes she still sees Duncan’s blood on her hands and cannot cleanse herself of the guilt. No matter what she does, the guilt remains, and no matter how much she tries, her conscience remains stained.
The gospel of Jesus Christ, and only the gospel of Jesus Christ, is the remedy for the guilt-ridden conscience. It is the remedy for the power of sin in our lives. It is freedom from the guilt and condemnation that our sin has brought upon us. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ and his shed blood, we are purified, forgiven, and freed to serve the living God.
Since Christ is the better and greater sacrifice for sin, since he is the great High Priest who has entered into the heavenly sanctuary, he is the mediator of the New Covenant.
15 Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. (Heb 9:15)
God fulfills his covenant promises in Jesus Christ, the mediator of the New Covenant of grace. The inheritance promised to Israel in the land pointed forward to an eternal inheritance, life in God’s presence as the people of God in the New Heavens and New Earth (Hebrews 11:10; Rev. 21)
Peter also makes the connection between the New Covenant and the promise of inheritance.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, (1 Pe 1:3–4)
The New Covenant of grace, although first promised in Genesis 3:15 and then preached to Abraham in Genesis 15, was further revealed through types and shadows of the sacrificial system and was not formally established until the death of Jesus Christ. Just as the shedding of blood ratified the Old Covenant, the shedding of blood was needed to ratify the New Covenant.
18 Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. 19 For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 20 saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded 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. (Heb 9:18–22)
The point is straightforward. The death of Jesus and the shedding of his blood establish the New Covenant. His blood is superior to lambs, bulls, and goats, because he is the very Son of God in human flesh. The blood of Christ has been shed, the New Covenant of grace has been established, and the forgiveness of sins is available through faith in Christ.
This is why many hymns frequently mention blood in their lyrics. It is the blood of the New Covenant, shed in the death of Jesus Christ, that purifies us, forgives our sins, so that we might enter into the presence of God.
III.) The present and future grace of the New Covenant (Hebrews 9:23-28)
These truths about the heavenly and permanent nature of the New Covenant have numerous implications for the Christian life and the church’s worship as we gather each Lord’s Day. As a church and as individual believers, we live with the blessing of present grace and have the promise of future grace. What is the present grace of the New Covenant? If we consider all that the New Testament teaches, it encompasses all the blessings of salvation; however, we can be more specific.
For the author of Hebrews, the present grace of the New Covenant is taught in reference to Christ as our great High Priest who has entered into heaven on our behalf.
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 (Heb 9:24)
For Christ to appear in the presence of God on our behalf means that those whom Christ represents are accepted into God’s presence. Through Jesus Christ, we are not only saved from God’s wrath, but we are invited into his presence. This is the truth we sing about when we sing Before the Throne of God Above.
Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea:
A great High Priest whose name is Love,
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on his hands,
My name is written on his heart.
I know that while in Heav’n he stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart,
Christ has entered into the very presence of God on our behalf. We are not only accepted but also invited, through faith in Christ, to draw near to God. This is why the immediate application given by the author of Hebrews is to draw near to God.
21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. (Heb 10:21–22)
It is why the encouragement in the Epistle of James is genuine and not theoretical. In Christ Jesus, believers can draw near to the presence of God.
7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. (Jas 4:6–8)
Beloved, do you live your life this way? Are you someone who draws near to God by listening to His Word and responding in prayer? Is the gathering on the Lord’s Day a priority, so that you can draw near to God’s presence? It is no surprise that the immediate application of “draw near” in Hebrews 10 is a command to be committed to gathering to the local church.
24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. (Heb 10:24–25)
That is the present grace of the New Covenant. Jesus Christ is our great High Priest who brings us into the very presence of God. What is the future grace?
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, 28 so 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. (Heb 9:26–28)
The future grace of the New Covenant is that those who are in Jesus Christ only await salvation at the return of Jesus Christ. In Jesus, our sin has already been judged. In Baptism, our sins have been buried in the grave, and we’ve been resurrected with Christ to new life. For the Christian, what we await is not judgment, but salvation—the completion and the consummation of all that God is doing.
so 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. (Heb. 9:28)
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ was so sufficient in dealing with sin and the New Covenant so gracious, that the second coming of Jesus has no reference to sin at all—only the salvation of those who await him and the judgement of those who reject him.
The New Covenant of grace is fulfilled by the sacrificial death of Christ, purifying the people of God for the presence of God once and for all.
For so many of us, that is our story: we have been brought into the presence of God through our great mediator, Jesus Christ.
If you’re here this morning and you’re not a Christian, or you’re here and not you’ve been merely pretending to be one, listen to the inescapable reality of verse 27, And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…
Death is the result of sin, and sin separates people from the very presence of God. Sin can only be forgiven, separation from God can only be restored, and death can only be defeated through faith in Jesus Christ. Please don’t carry your sins with you to the deathbed, don’t carry them into judgement.
Trust in Jesus Christ through faith, bury your sins in the waters of baptism, and be raised anew with an invitation into God’s presence. Be among those Christ comes to save who are eagerly waiting for him.
Let’s pray.
Nathaniel R. Martin 