This
week, we continued the “Oil & Water” series. We continued looking at the
major contrasts between Old Covenant or law living and New Covenant or grace
living. In this part we discussed the following:
5)
OLD COVENANT – The blood of animals provided temporary atonement.
NEW
COVENANT – Jesus’ blood removed sins – past, present and future.
To
illustrate this contrast, we read Hebrews 10. One of the things we may struggle
with in the forgiveness of sins is that it was past, present and future. We
probably have no difficulty believing the past sins were forgiven and that
today we are forgiven, but we have a hard time believing my future sins are
forgiven. Do not misunderstand me: we still must ask for forgiveness in order to be
forgiven. Forgiveness has already been supplied for even your future sins.
Think about it: when Jesus was on the cross, ALL of your sins were in the
future. I want to emphasize that we do
no put Jesus back on the cross when we sin. Maybe we’ve been told that to make
us feel guilty for sinning, and maybe it was effective, but it is simply
untrue. His sacrifice was ONCE AND FOR ALL. In fact, we are not supposed to
walk around feeling guilty for our sins.
Hebrews
10:2 actually says that. The goal of Christ’s sacrifice was for you to no
longer feel guilty. The ONLY time you should feel guilty is from the moment you
realize you have sinned to the moment you ask for forgiveness. God is faithful
and just to forgive. He does not forgive like man does. When we ask someone to
forgive us for hurting them, they may say that they forgive us, but we
certainly don’t feel as though we can immediately move forward as though
nothing had ever happened. Isn’t there
some unwritten and vague rule about how long we have to wallow in our shame
before we’re allowed to move on? Maybe with man, but not with God! Forgiven
means forgiven. Leave the guilt behind. Are you going to sin again? Yep. God
knows that. He loves you anyway and wants nothing hindering your relationship
with him – especially guilt that Jesus already paid for.
In
Hebrews 10:5-7 it talks about how the Old Covenant offerings did not please
God. Doesn’t that seem unfair? God told them to make the sin offerings, but He
says they were not pleasing. Why? Well, it was not the act of the offering or
the one making the offering that He was not pleased with. It was that the
offerings, though necessary until Christ came, were ineffective in forgiving
sin, guilt and condemnation. They could not change the heart of man. They were
simply a band-aid fix until the true offering (Christ) could be made. In verse 9, it says that Jesus came to do
God’s will – and that will was to put aside the Old Covenant and establish the
New. That is WHY Jesus came. That was God’s will. We must also learn to put
aside the old so that the new can be established. The principles of the law do produce good
fruit, but no righteousness.
That
means that, as long as we still try to operate by law and works in order to
obtain righteousness, we have not put that old way aside. Until we do so, we
cannot even ESTABLISH the new. That is because they don’t mix. God doesn’t work
by a little of both. If you want forgiveness and freedom from guilt and
condemnation you MUST put aside the old so that the new will be established in you.
Then,
in verses 12-13 it tells is what Jesus is doing now that He finished the work.
He is sitting at the right hand of God (not getting back on the cross when we
sin). It says He is waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool. So, who,
or what, are His enemies? It is not THE enemy, Satan, because this is a plural
noun. It is also not people. God wishes that none perish, but all come to the
saving knowledge of grace. Those enemies are the law – law meant to instruct us
in right living that ended up bringing death and condemnation – and all its
requirements. Every one of them hangs over us until we take hold of
righteousness in Christ and put them all under Jesus’ feet. We must cease from our works to gain
righteousness and put all of them under Jesus’ feet and live in His righteous rest.
To
listen to the entire sermon go to http://ahwatukeechurch.com/media.php. To learn more about Living Word Ahwatukee,
visit http://ahwatukeechurch.com/.
