The Faith Beyond Trauma Podcast

FBT Daily Devotional: Hebrews 9

• Pastor Reggie

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We walk through Hebrews 9 to show how the old covenant’s rituals pointed to Jesus’ once-for-all sacrifice that opens direct access to God. We press the practical questions: how a cleansed conscience changes daily life, how hope of His return shapes priorities, and how to live ready.

• the tabernacle’s layout and what it taught about distance from God
• limits of repeated rituals and ceremonial purity
• Jesus as the perfect high priest entering the better tabernacle
• the necessity of blood and the finality of Christ’s sacrifice
• open access to God and a cleansed conscience
• hope of His return and faithful readiness
• questions for reflection on prayer, worship, and guilt

SPEAKER_00:

Well, good evening again, everyone. We're going to be taking a look at Hebrews chapter 9 this evening. And you may have noticed something, at least I did, as I was going through the chapter again for this evening, and that is that this book tends to have a lot of repetitive themes. Now, I'll talk about the picture that's on the screen in just a second, but I want you to kind of look it over. Thank you so much. I want to give you a visual. If you're a visual learner like me, it just makes things a little bit easier to understand. Anyway, getting back to those repetitive themes. One of the repetitive themes is reinforcement for a struggling audience. And you may remember last week we talked about Jewish Christians who were under a lot of pressure and persecution, and they were being tempted to return to the old covenant system. So there's some key truths that continue to resurface, such as Christ's superiority, his priesthood, and the finality of the sacrifice. And this was all to remind these Christians, as it does us in 2025, that our faith needs to be strengthened and that we can gain strength from reading these scriptures so that we don't put ourselves in a position where we could potentially drift back. There was also an emphasis on Christ's supremacy. We know that Jesus is better than the angels and Moses, the Levitical priesthood, and the old covenant. And by continuing to come back to this idea, we can begin to grasp the full significance of the idea that Jesus is better. Jesus is the language of God. There is teaching through contrast. Hebrews contrast the old and the new covenants. I'm sure you've seen that as we continue to go throughout this book. And of course, as a teacher, um, I know and I like repetition, it helps the readers kind of see the progression, if you will, from temporary rituals to Christ once and for all sacrifice. And of course, that's going to layer and deepen our understanding. There's this oral traditional style. If you take a look at Hebrews, I think it reads sort of like a sermon. And so in other times, right, repetition was a tool that would have been used to aid memory and to drive home key points, just like I'm doing now. You all are hearing it. So there's an auditory teaching that goes on, but there's a picture also for you to be able to look at. But read aloud, read over, uh, repetition is going to ensure some sort of clarity. Then there was spiritual urgency that seems to be a reoccurring theme in the book of Hebrews. And so, of course, we know that turning back means that we would reject Christ Jesus. And so repetition gives us an opportunity to be warned. It gives us an opportunity for encouragement, urging them as well as us to continue persevering, to continue in the faith. Glory to God. So again, this audience was wavering and they were under pressure, right? But we want to get the idea that repetition is being used to teach them hey, don't turn back. Remember who you are, remember what's been done for you. All right, got to move along. As I like to do, I'd like to give you a quick breakdown of the chapter itself. Verses one through five talks about the description of the old covenant tabernacle, right? It begins by describing the earthly sanctuary and its furnishings. It talks about the holy place and then the most holy place. And this sets the stage for comparing the old system with the new. Verses six through ten talk about the limitations of the old covenant. And you all know the story, the ritual. The priest enters the holy place regularly, but the high priest entered the most holy place once a year on the Day of Atonement. And these symbols or rituals symbolize that the way to God was not yet fully open, right? There was um external kinds of things that had to be dealt with, like ceremonial purity, not inner transformation. But verses 11 through 14 talk about Jesus as our perfect high priest, right? He enters the greater and more perfect tabernacle, heavenly tabernacle, if you will, not one that is man-made. And we know, praise the Lord, that his sacrifice was once and for all and does not have to be repeated each year. We know that he offered his own blood, securing our eternal redemption. His blood cleanses the conscience. Glory to God. Hallelujah. Verses 15 to 22, we talks about the new covenant and the necessity of blood. Christ mediates the new covenant, enabling believers to receive the promised eternal inheritance. The death of Christ was necessary to redeem us from sins committed under the first covenant. And the old covenant was inaugurated with blood. Likewise, the new covenant required Jesus' blood. Verses 23 to 28 talk about Christ's once and for all sacrifice, right? Earthly things were purified with the blood of animals, but heavenly realities required a better sacrifice. Jesus entered heaven itself to appear before God on our behalf. I think one of the pastors just this Sunday said, when we look into the mirror, we should see Jesus. And when God looks at us, he sees Jesus. Now Jesus didn't offer himself repeatedly like the old priest did. So takeaways, contrast, that's old covenant rituals versus Jesus' perfect sacrifice. Access. We now have access, direct access to God through Jesus. Finality is another takeaway. Christ's death was sufficient and complete. There was no repetition, repetition needed. And finally, hope, his second coming will bring full salvation. Glory to God. What you see on the screen is a mind map. And if you will allow me, it has four main sections. Take a look there, if you will. There's the old covenant tabernacle, which was the earthly sanctuary. And again, you've got the holy place and the most holy place. There were limitations of the old covenant, it was limited to rituals, and atonement was incomplete. And as I already said, there were some kinds of external regulations that had to be met. On the other side, you see Jesus Christ as our perfect high priest. There's a greater tabernacle involved here. We know that he shed his own blood and gained our eternal redemption. There's a once and for all sacrifice below that, meaning he entered into heaven, appeared before God, and we await his second coming. Alrighty. Now I want to talk a little bit for just a second. I don't have a lot of time, but um a deeper meaning for believers today from Hebrews chapter 9. I kind of like to bring it forward just a little bit to see what there is that we can glean from all that. Glory to God. So, first of all, access is open to God, right? Again, under the old covenant, only the high priest could enter, but now we have direct access to God. So, you know, I want to ask you a question in that. Let me just check my time here. Do we live as if we truly have direct access to God, or do we still feel distant? And if we do feel distant, what's keeping us from God? We know it's not God. What's keeping us, or what's going between us, if you will? First of all, secondly, excuse me, there was complete forgiveness. The animal sacrifices, as we know, could only cover sins temporarily. But we know that the blood of Jesus cleanses our conscience, not just our outward actions. This means that believers are truly forgiven and we can live free from guilt. So I want to ask the question: what would it look like to live fully free from guilt because of Jesus' sacrifice? I believe that's why we're here and beyond, so that we can get free of some of these things that have hindered us for so long. Maybe uh knowingly and unknowingly, they've been there. Eternal redemption. Again, Christ's sacrifice was once for all, and it never needs repeating. We know that Jesus paid the full price for our eternal inheritance. So I would ask the question: how does the promise of eternal redemption influence our priorities today? There is hope of his return. Hebrews 9 ends with the promise that Jesus will appear to get, not to deal with sin because we know that sin has already been dealt with, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him. This gives believers hope and motivation to live faithfully. Glory to God. So my question is if Jesus came back today, what would we want him to find us doing? And we know that he's coming back for a church without spot, blemish, or wrinkle, and he's also told us to occupy until he comes. Are our lamps filled with oil? Will the bridegroom knock at the door and find us ready to receive him? There is a hope of his return. Glory to God. I'm sorry, a new covenant relationship. We know that the old covenant was based on laws and rituals. The new covenant is based on grace and the finished work of Jesus Christ. So as believers, we are to live in a relationship with God, not under the fear of some kind of judgment. Glory to God. So the question that I would ask is where is my question? Pardon me. Hallelujah. Do I have it? I do not see it. Well, I'll ask this one. How does knowing that Christ opened the way into God's presence change the way we approach prayer and worship? Because we know that Jesus has done everything that we need to have done for us. Amen. Why do you think God required blood for forgiveness? What does this teach us about the seriousness of sin? But I like this part even better and the depth of Christ's love. Glory to God. And with that, I think we may be ready for the breakout rooms.