ARCC Sermons

The great irony of redemption is played out as those dead in their sins boast of being free and those who are redeemed by Christ boast of being slaves.

The writer begins to make the case for Christ by considering how the tabernacle and all it represented points to Christ. All of this coincides with the holiness of God helping us understand the insufficiency of the earthly priests and their ceremonies.

We celebrate the resurrection for many great reasons. Because He lives we have salvation. In this passage Jesus shows us what it looks like to live out a resurrection theology right here and now. What does it mean for us today that we celebrate a risen Savior?

The new covenant brought on by the blood of Christ is superior to the old because it was enacted on better promises. How does it effect the way we think about Christianity and salvation when we think about it through the lens of God’s resolve to make a certain people “His people”?

In order to have a great appreciation of the New Covenant under which we reside we will look at the covenant that God made with Moses on Mt. Sinai. In the process we will see that God has always been in gracious, merciful pursuit of relationship with His people.

There are things that are true and then there is the truth about things. Jesus gives us a category for the truth that genuinely sets free and a frame of reference for walking through this broken world of half truths and illusions of grandeur.

What does it mean to draw near to God? There is a reason why the good news isn’t good to everyone. In fact, in and of ourselves we don’t know what to do with actual goodness. When confronted with Jesus we will respond fully aware of our wretchedness. The question is: How will we respond?

Hebrews continues to help us understand how Jesus is the substance behind the shadow. He has a better priesthood, an eternal one, that descended not from the sin-stained Levitical Priesthood, but from a fatherless line in the order of Melchizedek.

“The exalted Christ is like a person who stands before the sun and casts a shadow upon earth. Those who look at the shadow can discern in it the contours of the one who made it. Similarly, Hebrews considers Melchizedek to be an earthly shadow that the risen Christ casts back on the page of OT Scripture, and the author will speak about Melchizedek in order to bear witness to the Son of God whom he represents” - Koester

The writer concludes this discourse with incredible gentleness, care, and concern. There is no greater way to follow such sobering warnings than with the beauty and majesty of our God who makes and keeps His promises. We will see what it takes to have “full assurance of hope until the end.”