Jesus, Our Perfect Sacrifice

All right, well, we are going to go into the Word here. And so if you have your Bibles, I’m going to ask that you turn to Hebrews chapter 10 this morning. Hebrews chapter 10. Isn’t the Lord wonderful? And we are going to be talking about “Jesus, Our Perfect Sacrifice.” Can we say that together? “Jesus, our perfect sacrifice.” My cadence is terrible. Let’s do this: “Jesus, our perfect sacrifice.” There we go.

And we’re going to start in verse 1 this morning, Hebrews chapter 10, starting at verse 1. It says, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.”

Repeating the one thing worth repeating

Now, we’ve been in a study in the book of Hebrews, and if you are paying attention, and maybe you’ve been here, you’re like, “Man, it seems like the author is being a little bit repetitive here.” And I don’t blame you for that, because the author is repeating these themes. He’s repeating these statements because, remember, this book was written to people who were questioning their decision to follow Jesus. They were wondering, “Did I make the right choice? Because honestly, since I’ve been following Him, there’s more persecution. I’m dealing with things that I didn’t have to deal with. And I remember before, when I was just practicing this Jewish law, it was a lot easier.” And they were beginning to second-guess.

But the author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, is continuing to bring this before them: that Jesus is not only better; He is necessary. The work of Jesus, the perfect sacrifice for sins — He is the once-and-for-all sacrifice for sins. And so this is the theme: the complete and glorious work of Jesus on behalf of His people. Now, if there’s something that I was going to say over and over and over, if I’m going to have to live my life being repetitive about something, let it be about the complete work of Jesus. Somebody say amen. Amen.

And so through the book of Hebrews, this is being contrasted with the imperfect work of the sacrifices that were made under the old covenant. It says in chapter 10, verse 1, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come …” In other words, the law, the rituals, the sacrifices of the old covenant — they were merely a shadow of the things to come in Jesus.

You see, this sacrifice in the Old Testament was needed. It served a purpose. It wasn’t without hope. No, there was a covering and atonement for sins that would take place, but it had to happen over and over and over again. And it was just a type, or a shadow, of the perfect sacrifice of Jesus.

A covering, but not a cure

And so let’s look at the work of Jesus on our behalf. It says, “The law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered?” In other words, there was a flaw with these sacrifices. They didn’t fix the root of the problem. If they had fixed the root of this sin issue, they could have made the sacrifices and been done. But they had to do it continually, over and over and over. “For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.” Verse 3: “But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year.”

And what this is referring to is how the people would bring their sacrifice. They would travel to Jerusalem, to the priest in the tabernacle, and they would present their sacrifice — usually a ram or a goat or some sort of animal — and they would give it to the priest. And I can only imagine what it was like. Maybe they were walking with their family, and they would travel days to make this sacrifice to get right with God. And as they were walking, the kids would ask, “Dad, why are we going to the temple and sacrificing the best of our cattle? Why do we do this?” “Well, son, we’re sinners.” Right? There was this constant reminder and reality of the shortcoming, the guilt, and the shame, and they lived under that continually, as they had to make continual sacrifice.

You see, the sin was covered, but there was this constant reminder, instead of the reminder of the once-and-for-all solution to our sin: Jesus. And so the sin was covered, but the problem wasn’t fixed. And I feel like this is something the Lord wants to bring to us today. There is no solution to your sin outside of Jesus. Don’t believe anything else that anybody else tells you. Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” There is no solution outside of Jesus to your sin.

You can’t earn your salvation, right? Maybe you’ve heard somebody say before, “I’m a pretty good person. I mean, I’m better than most, so that should get me somewhere pretty good once I’m in heaven.” But how many of you know there is no other solution besides Jesus? He’s the only way. He’s the only sacrifice that is worthy enough to wash our sins, to make us righteous in God’s eyes. There is no other sacrifice. There is no other atonement greater than the sacrifice of Jesus.

Verse 4 says, “For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Now, as I just said, there was a place for those sacrifices. Scripture says atonement cannot be made without the shedding of blood. Blood had to be shed. But it wasn’t good enough. They did serve a purpose; those sacrifices were good for a time. But it was like, if you were in a home, sweeping the dirt underneath the rug. But when Jesus came as our perfect sacrifice and He died on the cross, not only did He remove the dirt out of the house — He remodeled the whole house. Do you see how much better, how much greater, the sacrifice of Jesus is?

“A body You have prepared for Me”

And then in verse 5, the author begins to quote Psalm chapter 40. Oh, this gets so good. You guys picked a good Sunday to be here. We’re going to receive Communion here in just a moment. But in verse 5, the author begins to quote the psalmist, out of Psalm chapter 40. It says, “Therefore, when He came into the world” — talking about Jesus — “when He came into the world, He said: ‘Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, but a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. Then I said, “Behold, I have come — in the volume of the book it is written of Me — to do Your will, O God.”’ Previously saying, ‘Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them’ (which are according to the law), then He said” — Jesus said; so He’s looking to the Father, He says — “‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’” And then it says, “He takes away the first that He may establish the second.”

Jesus not only was the perfect sacrifice; He did away with the old, and He brought about a new way of walking with Him. Verse 10 says, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”

Now, there is so much to unpack here. This is so good, and it’s remarkable, because the author takes us to before Jesus’ earthly ministry. For those of you that aren’t familiar, Scripture is really divided into two sections. There’s the Old Testament, then there’s the New Testament, right? And the Old Testament is before Jesus. It’s creation and the fall and sin entering the world, and then God’s plan to bring about a Savior, or a Messiah. And then the New Testament starts, and it’s about the earthly ministry of Jesus and how He is the perfect sacrifice who redeems people from their sin. Okay?

And so Scripture is split into these two parts. But this chapter in Psalms, as the author quotes Psalm 40 — this is before Jesus was even around. But the author was prophetically speaking, that these are the words that Jesus would speak. This is what He would bring about. And so, for those of you that don’t know, Jesus did not begin in a manger, right? The beginning of Jesus was not in a manger in Bethlehem. He has been before the creation of the world. In fact, it is by His words that all things were created, and all things are held together. Okay? So before Jesus came as a baby in Bethlehem, He was already there.

Right? Not only is Jesus God’s Son — I’m sorry, the Son of God — He is God the Son. Do you see the difference? Jesus is God, and He has been before the creation of the world. And so here is this connecting work, where the author of Hebrews takes us back to God’s original plan to bring about redemption to humanity. And even though humanity hadn’t been created, God the Son presented Himself to God the Father, saying, “Here I am to do Your will.” That’s why we were singing those lyrics, right? The Lamb who was slain before the foundation. This was God’s plan all along.

And Jesus came to the Father and said, “This is not going to do it. These sacrifices aren’t cutting it.” It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a severe wound. There needs to be a fix. There needs to be a Savior. “Here I am, God, to do Your will.”

And so verse 5 says, “Sacrifice and offering You did not desire” — in other words, it wasn’t working — “but a body You have prepared for Me.” This body that was given to Jesus, that appeared as a baby in Bethlehem; this body that died on a cross at Calvary; this body that has been raised to life and has ascended into glory and is seated at the right hand of the Father — it was specifically prepared to be the body that would house the God-man. It is the incarnation, when God became man: fully God, fully man.

But not only was the body prepared. Verse 9 says, “Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.” Jesus is saying, “This is why I have come. This is My purpose: to be born fully God, fully man, and to give My life as a perfect sacrifice.” And when He came into this earth, He had to live a sinless life. If there was any flaw in Him, any flaw in this sacrifice, it would not have been good enough to give you eternal life. It would not have been good enough to cover your sin. But He came to this earth and lived a perfect life without sin, and He perfectly performed the will of God, living a sinless life and dying on a cross. Somebody say amen.

And He did all of that willingly. “Here I am, O God.” Scripture says that it was for the joy that was set before Him that He gave His life. And I think I mentioned this a couple weeks ago: that joy that was before Him was you. But the joy was also to do the will of the Father. “Here I am, O Lord, to do Your will. You have prepared a body for Me.” And Jesus is saying, “This is why I came,” as our perfect sacrifice, that in Him we would have redemption.

And verse 10 says, “By that will.” Everybody say, “That will.” Whose will? It’s the will of God. It was the will of Jesus. It says, “By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ,” notice, “once for all.” How many of you know Jesus doesn’t have to die on the cross again and again and again? It was the perfect sacrifice. It’s done. We don’t need to work to earn it. We don’t need to perform. It’s freely given because of His great love for us. And it is by that will, through the offering of the body of Jesus, that we have been sanctified once for all. By that will, the will of Jesus. How many of you are thankful for Jesus’ love? By that will we have been sanctified.

Sanctified: becoming more like Jesus

What does it mean to be sanctified? Sanctification is a washing. It is a cleansing. It is being made right. But I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again: if you want to know God’s plan for your life, if you want to know the perfect will of God for your life, it is this. It can all be summed up in this: to become more like Jesus. The Holy Spirit’s number one goal for your life is to make you more like Jesus.

And the way that we become more like Jesus is by beholding Him, by abiding with Him, by being with Him. Every time you get into Scripture in the morning, you are abiding with Him, and you are seeing Him, and you’re becoming more like Him. That’s the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. Every time you come into worship and you lift your hands, and you’re like, “I may look stupid, it doesn’t matter, but I’m lifting my hands” — why? Because it’s a sacrifice to the Lord, and He’s worthy of it all. When you do that, you begin to see the Lord, and you see Him in His glory, and you become more like Him. His goal for your life is for you to become more like Jesus.

And you may be hearing this and you’re like, “Man, I’ve got a long way to go.” That’s okay. Most of the time, when someone gives their life to the Lord, they’re not instantly changed. There’s not this instant transformation where now they are a perfect Christian, or they behave perfectly, or they’re not struggling with the things that they walked in with. How many of you know, you give your life to Jesus and there are still things that you are going to be struggling with? But that is what it means to walk with Him. He gave His life as a perfect sacrifice so that we could be with Him, so that we could behold Him, so that we could spend time in His presence and be transformed into His image by the sanctification of the Holy Spirit. This is what it means to follow Jesus.

Full surrender is required

But it requires faith in the perfect sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. And it requires full surrender. Too many times we say, “Lord, I give You my life,” but we hold on to so many things that we don’t give Him access to. “Lord, I’ll follow You, but when it comes to what I want to do with my life, I’m just going to do my thing.” “Lord, I’ll follow You, but I don’t need to be at church every Sunday.” “Lord, I’ll follow You, but I’m only going to come to church on Sundays; the rest of the week is mine.” Or, “I’ll follow You, but Friday — that’s mine.”

Full surrender is required. That’s why Jesus said, “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ but you don’t do what I say?” Meaning, if you are just giving lip service, but there’s no change in you, are you really walking with Me in the first place? If you said the salvation prayer, and you believed it in your heart, and maybe you gave your life to Jesus, but five years later you’re worse off, or you’ve made no progress in looking more like Jesus, the question is: are you actually even following Him?

The Christian life is more than just a prayer. That’s just the beginning. The Christian life is full surrender to the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave everything for you. And when we surrender all to Him, He reveals Himself to us, and we become more like Him by the work of the Holy Spirit, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is not something that you can even conjure. Did you know that?

It is the grace of God that you are able to love others. It is the grace of God that you are able to be moved with compassion when you see people on the street hurting, and you see people with addiction, and there’s something in you that wants to just lay hands on them and begin praying. What is that? That is the Lord working in you. That’s not natural. That’s the sanctification process. But it starts with a heart that is fully surrendered to Him.

You cannot follow Jesus without a surrendered heart. You will get frustrated, you will quit, and you will find other things to just soothe you over, that will bring some level of happiness. But let me tell you, friends: nothing in this world will satisfy but Jesus. Nothing. Are you hearing this? Is this making sense? Yeah. Surrender. Everybody say, “Surrender.” The surrendered life.

I was talking with Pastor David, and I was like, “Why is it that when I’m sick I feel closer to the Lord?” Every time I’m sick and I’m at my weakest — and I’m an adult man-child when it comes to being sick. I am a baby. All the memes that you see about husbands getting sick and they’re slain in bed — that’s me. That’s a hundred percent me. Okay? When I’m sick, I’m sick, and I’m a baby about it. But there is something in me that knows when I am weak, He is strong. When I’m at my weakest.

That’s why a lot of times we’ll fast. Why? Because man shall not live by bread alone, but by the very word of God. And when I am weak in my flesh, He’s made strong. Does that make sense? There is this making room for Him. And so there is this process of sanctification, of becoming more like Jesus, but it comes when we’re fully surrendered to Him. Because when we’re weak, we desire more of Him, we spend more time with Him, and then all of a sudden things start burning, and that first love starts happening again. And I’m like, man, I hope I get to the point where it doesn’t require me to get sick in order to be more in love with Jesus. Can we just make the decision? “I’m just going to love Jesus. I’m just going to love Him and be with Him.” Amen? Is this okay? Yeah. I’m getting a lot of blank stares, but that can be good or bad, right? It can be like, “Okay, I’m hearing the Lord,” or it can be like, “Okay …”

Verse 11 says this. Listen now. “Jesus, our perfect sacrifice” — let’s say that: “Jesus, our perfect sacrifice.” Thank You, Jesus. You don’t earn your sanctification. I just have to say that. Your sanctification is defined by what Jesus accomplished on the cross. And when you are with Him, He will make you more like Him. And maybe you’re here and you’re like, “I keep making the same bad decisions over and over and over.” Look to Jesus. Look to Jesus, because you will become more like Him, and He will break that in your life. Do you get it? Okay.

The priest who sat down

Okay, verse 11: “And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices.” So this is talking about the old sacrifices again. They stand. Everybody say, “Stand.” They’re standing, “ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins.” There was no seat in the Old Testament temple, because there was no rest for the priests. They were to stand and to constantly make sacrifice after sacrifice, because the work was never over. People continued to sin.

But look at verse 12. It says, “But this Man” — everybody say, “This Man” — this God-man, “after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever” — what did He do? — “sat down at the right hand of God.” Not only is this seating of Jesus at the right hand of God a sign of His full authority, that He is the name above every name; it speaks that the work is finished. It’s done. It doesn’t get any better than that. The work of Jesus is done. He is seated at the right hand of God, “from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool.”

This looks forward to the future work, or the consummation of the work of Jesus, when all His enemies will be made a footstool. This is talking about the end, the day that is approaching, when Jesus will come from heaven and return to earth and gather all who are His back to Him. It’s called the Rapture, right? Maybe you’ve seen movies about it. Read Scripture, okay? There are a lot of creative liberties in those movies. Just read Scripture. But this is talking about the future consummation of the work of Jesus, when everything in heaven and everything on earth is reconciled back to Him.

And we see in this portion the continuity of the work of Jesus: that before time began, God the Son existed, and He created all things. And then He took on human flesh, and He added human flesh to His divinity. I think we forget that God the Son did not always have human flesh. He put it on, and He has it on forever. In fact, He is seated at the right hand of God right now in the flesh.

He took on human flesh; He added that to His divine nature. And His incarnation leads to a sinless life, and His sinless life leads to His death on a cross. His death on a cross leads to His resurrection. His resurrection leads to His ascension. His ascension leads to His glorification at the right hand of the Father. And now He will remain there until His glorious return, and He brings all things under His authority. This is all a part of His connected work.

I just summed up the Bible, by the way. We think it’s a bunch of isolated stories. Everything in Scripture speaks of Jesus. That’s why Jesus said all Scripture speaks of Me. We like to read our Bibles every day — I would encourage you, read your Bible every day. I don’t know about you, but when I don’t read my Bible on a day, I feel it. His Word is life. But every time you read the Word, whether you’re in the Old Testament or the New Testament, look for Jesus. You will find Him. You will see Him, and you will become more like Him. Somebody say amen.

Coming to the table

And so Jesus is our perfect sacrifice, the one who died on the cross, who shed His blood, that we could be made clean — that we would be washed clean, anyone who believes in Him and receives Him as the Lord of their life. And that’s what we’re celebrating today when we receive Communion.

We have the body, which is the matzah, the cracker, the bread, which was His body, which was broken for us. His body was broken so that you could be made whole. Aren’t you thankful that He makes you whole? Everything that’s broken in you, bring it to the feet of Jesus. Bring it to the one who was broken for you. Let Him take your brokenness. Amen. And then we have the juice, which is the blood of Jesus. In His blood we have the forgiveness of sins, the redemption from sin, and we are made clean.

And so this is what I would like to do. We’re going to come, and we’re going to receive this, and we’re just going to keep this in an atmosphere of worship. I love how our services are always just all worship. Somebody say amen to that. I need my coffee, and then I’m going to take Communion. Hold on. Dry mouth. Caffeine is probably the worst thing for that, honestly. I don’t know what I’m doing.

We’re going to keep this in an atmosphere of worship. Our keyboard player is going to just play lightly on the keys. And what we do is, we’ll come forward and we’ll receive the body, the cracker, and the blood, the juice. And Jesus said this. He said, “This is My body, which was broken for you. This is My blood that was shed for you.” Jesus is saying, “I am the perfect sacrifice, once for all. You don’t need to earn this. It is a free gift.”

And if you’re here today and you’re in a place where you’re saying, “I want to know God, I want to be closer to Him, I want to give my life to Him” — number one, we’ll do that right now. But number two, if you want more of Him, you can receive Communion. This is open to you. We’re going to come forward and receive that. I’m going to ask that you take the elements back to your seat and that you begin to pray over one another.

And you might be saying, “I don’t know how to pray.” We need to learn. If you are here and you’re like, “I don’t know how to pray. I don’t sound like you when I pray” — you shouldn’t sound like me, first of all. You should sound like you. The way you learn how to pray is to pray. But Jesus did give us a model.

In fact, why don’t we close our eyes, and let’s just say that right now. Just lift your hands to the Lord. If you know this, great. If you don’t, take it in. Let’s just say the Lord’s Prayer. This is what the disciples said: “Lord, would You teach us how to pray?” And this is what Jesus said. He said, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Yours is the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.”

Lord Jesus — let’s just lift, everybody lift your hands to the Lord. Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your Word. Lord, we thank You that Your Word is life, and it’s not dead, that when we open Your Word we see You more clearly. Lord, there is something in my heart that You’ve put in me, Lord, that I just knew You wanted every person here to see You so clearly today, not just in our time of worship, but, Lord, through Your Word: the perfect love that You have for us, the love that was given, the body that You laid down, the humility that You showed — that God the Son, who took on flesh, gave His life for us, that by that perfect sacrifice we could be made whole, that by His perfect sacrifice we might become the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

And now, heavenly Father, when You look at the people who have called on Jesus, who have given their all to Him, who have received that by faith — when You look at them, You see them as righteous. Lord, I thank You that those who give their life to You are a new creation, that the old is gone, that the new has come. Lord, that we don’t need to wallow in our sins anymore, but, Lord, that we can come boldly before the throne of grace by the blood of Jesus. Lord, You are every answer. You are the answer to our addiction. You are the answer to our sins. You are the answer to our pain and our hurting. You are the answer, Lord, for the marriages that are hurting. You are the answer for peace in our homes. You’re everything, Lord Jesus.

Lord, I pray over every person, Lord, that as we come and receive the body and the blood of Jesus, Lord, that You would break addictions in this place. Lord, that as people come and they receive the body and the blood, Lord, that You would heal bodies, that You would remove sickness. Lord, as we receive of You today, You are inviting us to Your table. And, Lord, You are looking at us and You’re saying, “Just come. Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy. My yoke is easy, My burden is light. Come and taste of My love.” Lord, that we would know Your love, that we would know the power of the blood and the body. Touch us today. Touch us, Lord. We love You.

Just tell Him how much you love Him right now. Just tell Him, “Lord, I love You.” Come on, tell Him. “I love You, Lord. There is none like You. Without You I’d be nothing. Without You I have nothing. You’re everything. You’re everything.”

Whatever you are holding, give it to Him

Whatever it is you are holding today, as you come to the table of the Lord, give it to Him. If you’re holding on to fear, give it to the Lord, because He’s your peace. If there’s pain in your heart, in your body, give it to the Lord. He’s the Healer. If there’s a desire in your heart to see more fruitfulness, and there’s just dryness, give it to the Lord. He’s the baptizer with the Holy Spirit. But whatever you do when you receive from this table, look to Jesus. Do not take this lightly. And let Him fill you with Himself. He is the one who fills all.

And so, Lord, we receive these elements today by faith, remembering what You’ve done, remembering Your love. May we never forget. May our love never grow cold. But, Lord, would You put a fire in us, Lord Jesus, for more of You? Would You take us today, and, Lord, would You thrust us into more of Yourself? We’ve tried again and again, and nothing works, but You have finished the work. We love You, Lord. We love You, Lord. We love You, Lord. Just say it: “Lord, I love You. I need You.”

The Lord’s inviting you today. He’s inviting you into relationship. He’s inviting you to a walk with Him. This is not a Sunday thing. This isn’t a church thing. This is a forever thing. And the Lord is saying, “I have a plan for your life. I’ve called you by name. When you forgot about Me, I never forgot about you. My eye is on you, and I have you in My hand, and I will lift you up and take you and help you become the person I’ve called you to be. Come to Me.”

Surrender. Full surrender. Full surrender is required. You give everything. You give it. Lord, we hold nothing back. Lord, if there are things, Lord, we lay them down. We lay it down. Let it be gone. Let it be broken. We lay it down. Jesus, You’re wonderful. There’s no one like the Lord. I said there’s no one like the Lord. Come on, I said there’s no one like the Lord.

Let’s receive. We can come into a line, take the elements, go to your seat, pray for one another, pray the Lord’s blessing. If you’re here by yourself, I just encourage you, don’t take it by yourself. Just find someone. There are a lot of people here; someone would love to just pray for you. If you don’t know what to pray: “Lord, I pray that Your perfect will would be done in their life.” Sound like a deal? Sound like a deal. Okay, let’s come forward. Let’s receive from the Lord. Come on forward. This is the body that was broken and the blood that was shed.

Thank You, Lord. You can continue to pray for one another. But, Lord Jesus, we thank You for Your body, for Your precious blood, Lord, that in You we have our redemption. In You we have life. In You we have healing. Lord, You are everything, Lord Jesus. And so we give You the praise, we give You the glory, Lord. We give You full surrender today, in Jesus’ name. Lord, I pray for a fresh work of surrender in this place, Lord — that anything that we have held, anything that we hold on to, that for whatever reason we’ve not been able to trust You with, Lord, we commit in our hearts, Lord, that we will be a people who walk in full surrender to Your Spirit, full surrender to who You are, Lord Jesus. You are worthy. We give You praise. We give You glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen. Amen.

Transcribed from the message recording and lightly edited for reading.