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The Bible comes to us in the form of two testaments:
1. The Old Testament
2. The New Testament
Is this significant?
Yes, as a matter of fact, it is.
While contrasting the New Testament with the Old Testament, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews said the following:
Hebrews chapter 9
[13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh:
[14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
[15] And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
[16] For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
[17] For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.
[18] Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
[19] For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
[20] Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined unto you.
[21] Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
[22] And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
[23] It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
[24] For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
[25] Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
[26] For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[27] And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
[28] So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Under “the first testament” (vss. 15 & 18) or under the Old Testament, a system of animal sacrifices was instituted by God as a means of atoning for one’s sins.
Why the need for sacrifices?
As the writer of this epistle rightly noted, “where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator lives” (vss. 16-17).
In other words, if you or I write a last will and testament, then it doesn’t go into effect until the time comes that we die, and there are no beneficiaries of our testaments until that time comes.
And so it is with both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Under the Old Testament, God gave us his commandments (Exod. 20:1-17, Deut. 5:1-22) which rightfully condemn each and every one of us because we have all violated them a vast multitude of times over the courses of our lifetimes. In fact, the Apostle Paul called the Old Testament “the ministration of condemnation” (II Cor. 3:9) in that one of the purposes for which it was given was “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).
For example, who among us can honestly say that we’ve never borne false witness (Exod. 20:16, Deut. 5:20) or lied?
Who among us can honestly say that we’ve never stolen anything (Exod. 20:15, Deut. 5:19), irrespective of its value?
Who among us can honestly say that we’ve never looked upon another person lustfully, which Jesus Christ equated with committing adultery (Exod. 20:14, Deut. 5:18) in one’s heart (Matt. 5:27-29)?
Worse still, who among us can honestly say that we’ve always loved God with our whole heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5) while also always loving our neighbors as ourselves (Lev. 19:18)?
Friend, it is upon these two commandments that Jesus Christ said all of the commandments written in the law of Moses and the prophets hang (Matt. 22:35-40).
With such being the case, the list of indictments against us is innumerable as our sins against God and our neighbors are stacked up to the highest heaven.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that, even under the Old Testament, God implemented a system in which an innocent animal was sacrificed for the sins of guilty men, women, and children, and the death of that innocent animal is what made that testament of force, or put it into effect, or made individuals beneficiaries of that testament. Again, a testament is of no value whatsoever until a death occurs.
However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, those sacrifices could never truly purge the consciences of those who had violated God’s law, even as the writer of this same epistle went on to explain:
Hebrews chapter 10
[1] For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
[2] For then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins?
[3] But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
[4] For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
[5] Wherefore when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
[6] In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
[7] Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
[8] Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
[9] Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.
As we just read, the law was only “a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things” (vs. 1).
In other words, all of the animal sacrifices under the Old Testament foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice which was yet to come:
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Friend, THIS is the only sacrifice which can truly “purge your conscience from dead works” in order that you might be able “to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14) without a guilty conscience because Christ has sacrificially borne your guilt and shame.
Hear what the prophet Isaiah prophesied in relation to Christ’s sacrificial atonement on our behalves:
Isaiah chapter 53
[1] Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
[2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
[3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[4] Surely, he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
[5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Friend, if Christ hasn’t borne your guilt and shame on your behalf, then you are yet in your sins, and you have no eternal inheritance. And you ought to initially be ashamed of your sins against both God and your neighbors (Rom. 6:21) because it is only godly sorrow which truly leads to repentance and salvation:
“For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.” (II Corinthians 7:10)
Again, as we read earlier:
“And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15)
You desperately need redemption for all of the sins you’ve committed “under the first testament” or in accordance with God’s 10 Commandments. Without the same, you have no “promise of eternal inheritance”, and, again, one only receives their inheritance in relation to a testament after the testator dies.
1. The Old Testament
2. The New Testament
Is this significant?
Yes, as a matter of fact, it is.
While contrasting the New Testament with the Old Testament, the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews said the following:
Hebrews chapter 9
[13] For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh:
[14] How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
[15] And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.
[16] For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.
[17] For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator lives.
[18] Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood.
[19] For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people,
[20] Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God has enjoined unto you.
[21] Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry.
[22] And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.
[23] It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
[24] For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
[25] Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest enters into the holy place every year with blood of others;
[26] For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world has he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
[27] And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:
[28] So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.
Under “the first testament” (vss. 15 & 18) or under the Old Testament, a system of animal sacrifices was instituted by God as a means of atoning for one’s sins.
Why the need for sacrifices?
As the writer of this epistle rightly noted, “where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator, for a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise, it is of no strength at all while the testator lives” (vss. 16-17).
In other words, if you or I write a last will and testament, then it doesn’t go into effect until the time comes that we die, and there are no beneficiaries of our testaments until that time comes.
And so it is with both the Old Testament and the New Testament.
Under the Old Testament, God gave us his commandments (Exod. 20:1-17, Deut. 5:1-22) which rightfully condemn each and every one of us because we have all violated them a vast multitude of times over the courses of our lifetimes. In fact, the Apostle Paul called the Old Testament “the ministration of condemnation” (II Cor. 3:9) in that one of the purposes for which it was given was “that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God” (Rom. 3:19).
For example, who among us can honestly say that we’ve never borne false witness (Exod. 20:16, Deut. 5:20) or lied?
Who among us can honestly say that we’ve never stolen anything (Exod. 20:15, Deut. 5:19), irrespective of its value?
Who among us can honestly say that we’ve never looked upon another person lustfully, which Jesus Christ equated with committing adultery (Exod. 20:14, Deut. 5:18) in one’s heart (Matt. 5:27-29)?
Worse still, who among us can honestly say that we’ve always loved God with our whole heart, soul, and strength (Deut. 6:5) while also always loving our neighbors as ourselves (Lev. 19:18)?
Friend, it is upon these two commandments that Jesus Christ said all of the commandments written in the law of Moses and the prophets hang (Matt. 22:35-40).
With such being the case, the list of indictments against us is innumerable as our sins against God and our neighbors are stacked up to the highest heaven.
That’s the bad news.
The good news is that, even under the Old Testament, God implemented a system in which an innocent animal was sacrificed for the sins of guilty men, women, and children, and the death of that innocent animal is what made that testament of force, or put it into effect, or made individuals beneficiaries of that testament. Again, a testament is of no value whatsoever until a death occurs.
However, and this is a BIG HOWEVER, those sacrifices could never truly purge the consciences of those who had violated God’s law, even as the writer of this same epistle went on to explain:
Hebrews chapter 10
[1] For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
[2] For then would they not have ceased to be offered because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins?
[3] But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year.
[4] For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
[5] Wherefore when he came into the world, he said, Sacrifice and offering you would not, but a body have you prepared me:
[6] In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin you have had no pleasure.
[7] Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do your will, O God.
[8] Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin you would not, neither had pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;
[9] Then said he, Lo, I come to do your will, O God. He takes away the first, that he may establish the second.
As we just read, the law was only “a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things” (vs. 1).
In other words, all of the animal sacrifices under the Old Testament foreshadowed the ultimate sacrifice which was yet to come:
The sacrifice of Jesus Christ, “the Lamb of God which takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).
Friend, THIS is the only sacrifice which can truly “purge your conscience from dead works” in order that you might be able “to serve the living God” (Heb. 9:14) without a guilty conscience because Christ has sacrificially borne your guilt and shame.
Hear what the prophet Isaiah prophesied in relation to Christ’s sacrificial atonement on our behalves:
Isaiah chapter 53
[1] Who has believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed?
[2] For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he has no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him.
[3] He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
[4] Surely, he has borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
[5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.
[6] All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned everyone to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Friend, if Christ hasn’t borne your guilt and shame on your behalf, then you are yet in your sins, and you have no eternal inheritance. And you ought to initially be ashamed of your sins against both God and your neighbors (Rom. 6:21) because it is only godly sorrow which truly leads to repentance and salvation:
“For godly sorrow works repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world works death.” (II Corinthians 7:10)
Again, as we read earlier:
“And for this cause, he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.” (Heb. 9:15)
You desperately need redemption for all of the sins you’ve committed “under the first testament” or in accordance with God’s 10 Commandments. Without the same, you have no “promise of eternal inheritance”, and, again, one only receives their inheritance in relation to a testament after the testator dies.
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