The Valley Church of Christ

The Valley Church of Christ

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The Valley Church of Christ episodes

  • Hebrews 9, Jesus Has Redeemed Us from All Sin

    Series: Hebrews (Cling to Jesus in the Wilderness)

    Service: Sun AM (2)

    Type: Sermon

    Speaker: Scott Kercheville

    How much confidence do you have? I don’t mean self-confidence — but how much confidence do you have in Jesus, and what he has done and is doing for you? How much confidence do you have…

     

    • That Jesus entered the true, heavenly Most Holy Place to appear before God on our behalf?
    • That Jesus’ blood has indeed cleansed you of past sins, and continues to cleanse you of all sin?
    • That Jesus’ cleansing empowers us to not merely be forgiven, but to now serve the living God?
    • That through Jesus’ blood, we have a covenant with God and an eternal inheritance waiting for us?
    • That Jesus’ sacrifice is so effective, no other sacrifice is needed to deal with sin.

     

    I think the Christians in Hebrews knew this, but life and Satan has a way of weakening our confidence in what we once knew to be true. In the midst of enduring trials and battling temptations, some of these Christians were weak, tired, afraid, distracted, losing their way, and bored with dull, sleepy ears — unable to even hear the careful theology that could renew their confidence in Jesus. We all at times can be like them: in danger of not clinging to God’s promises as our only hope, of neglecting our salvation, and of throwing away our confidence. Hebrews encourages us to endure by pointing us to Jesus. Specifically, chapter 9 captures our imagination with a vision of what Jesus has done and is doing so that we will be confident that Jesus’ sacrifice puts away our sins.

     

    A) The earthly tabernacle showed the way to God was not open (9:1-10).

     

    We want to live with God, and God wants to live with us. But, we have unclean, dying bodies, and unclean, wicked hearts. And Psalm 15 says that only those with blameless lives and hearts can dwell in God’s tent. But, God wanted to demonstrate both that he intends to dwell with us but that sin and uncleanness prevents this — so, he told Moses to build a copy of his heavenly throne — the tabernacle. It had a very restricted guest list. Priests — the sons of Aaron — could daily perform rituals in the tabernacle that facilitated some access to God — the people could bring various gifts and sacrifices that basically said to God, “Thank you,” or “I’m all yours,” or “Your peace is better than life,” or “I’m so sorry.”

     

    How amazing that God chose to set up his throne in the middle of Israel’s camp?! Such an honor. But access to God was from a great distance — not just for worshippers, but even for the priests. Just like there was a cherubim with a flaming sword guarding the way into Eden, there was a big, thick curtain with cherubim embroidered. Behind this curtain was the Most Holy Place where God was enthroned above the cherubim on the ark of the covenant. But the curtain was basically saying, “Keep out.” Once per year, God permitted the High Priest to enter the Most Holy Place to sprinkle the blood of a bull and of a goat to atone for — to cleanse away — the sins of the priest and the sins of the people. There was a real fear that, because of God’s holiness and his sin, he might die while he was in there, so he probably got in and out very quickly. Only with this blood and only once per year was the High Priest, and the High Priest alone, permitted to briefly enter the fullness of God’s presence on behalf of the people.

     

    This reminds me of the Covid-19 pandemic. At first, we didn’t even see each other. Then, after 6-8 weeks or so, when we did see each other, it was with this mask on our face, six feet of distance (no hugs!), and with this looming feeling that we might still get sick and die. But after having no contact with people for two months, it was a blessing to even be with people at all. So, we took it. But, at the same time, it was not enough, and we eventually had to remind each other that this was only ever supposed to be a temporary provision.

    That’s what the tabernacle was like. It was a temporary reminder that God wants to live with us, but because of our sin, we can’t go live in his real tent — not yet. And just like wearing those masks never cured us of sickness, after all those sacrifices, no one ever came out of the tabernacle and said, “Guys, have you suddenly noticed that things have changed in Israel this year? Like, right around the Day of Atonement, our nation just completely turned around. It’s almost like we have new hearts. Everyone has destroyed their idols. I don’t even think we’ll need the Day of Atonement next year. In fact, the curtain that blocks the way to God’s throne fell down… and I have spent every day in the Most Holy Place since then.” No: no one ever said that because animal sacrifices could not purify their consciences. Well, nobody said anything like that… until Jesus.

     

    B) Christ entered the perfect tent with his own blood to secure our eternal redemption (9:11-14).

     

    The Son became a human and he lived blamelessly in life and heart. And when Jesus died, God tore the curtain-barrier that separated God and his people. Forty days after Jesus was resurrected, he ascended into heaven, into the perfect heavenly tent, into the holy places of heaven itself with his own blood. And when he did that, he secured for us an eternal redemption.

     

    Eternal redemption: that means Jesus’ sacrifice is so effective, you are forever freed from your sins. They have actually been washed away and God doesn’t remember them. If and when you sin again, this sacrifice is still available and still effective. And here’s how you can know that: those Israelites were a real mess, weren’t they? And yet, Hebrews says the blood of bulls and goats and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer really did sanctify for the purification of the flesh. While it was only “skin-deep,” God provided this way of cleansing, it was actually effective, and God allowed himself to be sought at the tabernacle and at the temple until Israel cemented their rebellion against God. So, if animal sacrifices were effective — the Hebrew writer says in 9:14, “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.” (ESV) What is the result of this?

     

    C) Christ’s death both established a covenant and activated a will with an inheritance (9:15-22).

     

    Here’s the result of that for you and me. If Jesus has secured an eternal redemption for us, and if he has indeed purified our conscience from dead works:

     

    First, Jesus’ cleansing death has established a covenant with God. Young people — a covenant with God is basically the best news ever. God isn’t just saying, “Let’s go on a date,” or even “Let’s be boyfriend and girlfriend, maybe this will work out” — he’s saying, “Let’s get married.” See, today, we are used to contracts — which basically means I am committed to you temporarily as long as it is in my best interests. But marriage, which is a covenant, says, “I am committed to you till death even if this turns out not for the better, but for the worse.” When God makes a covenant with us through the death of his Son, he’s saying that he does not want a temporary hook up, but a permanent marriage.

     

    The problem with us having a marriage covenant with God is that we are unclean. It’s as if we have muddy hair, muddy hands, muddy shoes, and muddy hearts, and we get everything around us dirty. Or, rather, we are sinful and unclean inside and out, and that must be washed away if we’re going to live around or live in God’s tent. The first covenant began with the death of animals, because the blood of a clean animal represents the clean life of that clean animal. God provided the clean-life-and-blood of the animal as the way for all the mud — or rather, sin and it’s defilements — to be washed away. The blood of the covenant God made with Israel cleansed them and God’s earthly tent of our “mud” — sin and uncleanness — so they could have a covenant with God. But they broke that covenant! Jesus’ death and Jesus’ blood frees us and cleanses us from all sins — including the sins in that ended the first covenant.

    What is the end or goal of this new covenant? Well, we inherit an eternal place with God.

     

    Second, Jesus death has activated a will so that we receive an eternal inheritance (a place with God in his heavenly tent). Let’s say your parents have land, but they want to give you that land when they die — they must establish a will. The will is not active and you do not receive that land until they die. In a similar way, when Jesus died, not only did his death provide blood that cleanses us from sin so that we can have a covenant with God — his death activated a will so that we can receive the eternal inheritance. And guess what? The eternal inheritance is what God and his people have always been dreaming about: we inherit a place with God in his holy place, his heavenly tent, on his mountain in the new creation. Jesus’ death activated a will and a covenant so we could be set free from our sins and inherit a place with God in his house forever more.

     

    D) Christ has entered God's presence and dealt decisively with sin (9:23-28).

     

    When God lived with Israel in the wilderness tent, they kept getting God’s temporary house dirty through their sin and general unclean nature. God gave the animal blood to cleanse us and his tent of our mess, but now God is going to invite humans to draw near to and live in his real heavenly tent??? You and I feel this — can I really draw near now? Will he ever let me live with him in the future? He has made a way: Jesus is a blameless human, so God let him ascend into his true heavenly tent to offer his blood before God’s throne to cleanse both us inside out and the heavenly things of all our defilement.

     

    And Jesus’ sacrifice is so effective, he only had to suffer once. So, now, unlike Israel, we are not waiting for God to set us free from our sins. We are waiting for his Son to come back from heaven to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.

     

    Consider what we have seen:

     

    Restricted access, earthly copy → Opened access, heavenly reality

    External purification (flesh) → Internal purification (conscience)

    Stuck in dead works → Serving the living God

    Repeated, temporary cleansing → One, eternal cleansing

    Waiting for atonement → Waiting for salvation

     

    What would God have us to do because of this? Hebrews will go on to tell us, but here’s a brief preview: “How much more will the blood of Christ… purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” (Heb. 9:14 ESV) “We have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus” (Heb. 10:19 ESV). “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1 ESV).

     

    Have faith, confidence, and assurance in the work of Jesus — past, current, future — so that…

     

    1. You will draw near for help in times of need.

    2. You can leave behind dead works to serve the living God.

    3. You can endure and inherit the promised eternal place with God.

     

    It is easy to read a text like this — which is such good news — and still not have the sort of confidence this text is calling for. In fact, it is easy to live with little confidence in God at all — that he is really this gracious, that Jesus has really accomplished this much, that we should “have confidence” and “assurance.” But consider this reality: the Hebrews writer used Israel as a negative example earlier in the book of unbelief (a lack of confidence in God, a lack of assurance). Israel’s insecurity over whether God loved them, was faithful, and could bring them into the promised inheritance is exactly what lead to their unbelief, rebellion, and loss of the promised land in the first place. (Go read Deuteronomy 1:26-33)

     

    Certainly, properly understanding God’s grace should not lead to us becoming dull, sleepy, or careless. But properly understanding and receiving God’s grace should not lead to panic, anxiety, or despair either. Not having confidence in Jesus’ work does not motivate us to serve God better; this is precisely what will discourage us, keep us away from drawing near to God’s throne to get help, cause us to seek comfort and hope in other things of this world, and to lose the inheritance! In other words, despair (lack of confidence in God and the work of Jesus) leads to more dead works, but faith (confidence, assurance in God and the work of Jesus) leads to better fruit that honors God.

     

    Why has the Hebrew writer has taken great pains to carefully explain how Jesus’ sacrifice works if not for this reason: that we will better appreciate and have confidence in Jesus work? We cannot see Jesus’ work, we just have to trust it based on the evidence we have. He has written this careful account to help us have that faith — that assurance, that confidence.

     

    I remember during the pandemic seeing people wearing masks while riding alone in their car. We even saw this in our neighbors, who we knew to be in good health. And for some, this continued quite some time after the pandemic was actually over. I don't say this to mock anyone (the pandemic really was serious business for some segments of the population), but to illustrate for us -- I wonder what this lack of confidence -- what this panic and fear -- did to their relationships? And I wonder what a lack of confidence in Jesus' work will do to our relationship with God? And even with one another?

     

    So, in your trials and temptations today — what will you choose? Shrink back, convinced that God hates you? (Deut. 1:27) Or, draw near with faith and assurance in the kindness of God — confidently looking forward to the inheritance we have awaiting us?

    34 min
  • Exodus: Set Free for Sabbath Rest

    Series: Exodus Theme: Why God Sets Us Free

    Service: Sun AM (2)

    Type: Sermon

    Speaker: Scott Kercheville

    If following Jesus does not feel like "rest for our souls," but rather a great burden, some questions we can ask ourselves: 

    1. Luke 13:10-17. Have we confused human burdens with God’s commands?

    2. Matthew 23:4-5a. Have we confused pleasing humans with pleasing God?

    3. Ecclesiastes 4:4-6. Are we resting? Do we have two hands full of toil?

    4. Romans 4:1-8. Are we trying to earn what God gives as a gift?

    5. Matthew 19:16-22. Has another master captured our heart?

    33 min

About The Valley Church of Christ

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The Valley Church of Christ in Glendale, AZ