Hello everyone and welcome back. It seems like a lot of readers were busy over the weekend to my pleasure in visiting Deeper Waters. Welcome aboard if we have several new visitors. I’m delighted to have you along. I have had a great weekend and I ask for your continued prayers in what I’m working on and learning to be more of the person the situation requires I be. Tonight, we are going to continue our Trinitarian Commentary and we’re going to be in the book of Hebrews looking at chapter 9 and verses 11-14.
11When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. 12He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. 13The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. 14How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
The overarching theme of Hebrews relies on the superiority of Christ. We are taught first of his superiority to angels, then to Moses, then to the high priest, and finally to Melchizedek. The author is not done however. The next point he wishes to bring to the forefront is the superiority of the Christian system over all other systems.
So the writer tells us that Christ came and entered a tabernacle that was not man-made. The normal high priest always did that, but Christ entered into the heavenly tabernacle rather than the earthly one. He went before God himself rather than a place that was designated where God would come to.
Having paid the price for our sins then, Jesus did not enter the new sanctuary by the blood of bulls and goats. These were finite beings who could never cover the price. Instead, he entered by his own blood and offered that up to God as payment for the debt of sin that we owe to him.
This makes his the most effective. Noteworthy is how he offers this sacrifice by the eternal Spirit. Now it could be that this refers to the spirit of Jesus, but it seems the eternal Spirit is something that is other than Jesus, to which it is likely the Holy Spirit is in mind. If this is the case, then we have a clear reference to the Spirit being eternal, which is something that must be for his deity.
It is because there is an eternal Spirit behind the offering that the Hebrews could be sure of their eternal redemption. If the topics of discussion are not eternal, then one cannot be sure that Christ is the great mediator. He becomes simply a mediator. The Hebrews writer wants his listeners to know the truth. Christ is superior and once again, it is not because of the actions so much as the nature of the actions. He offered himself eternally, which no other could do, as a perfect sacrifice. The price is paid. We are free.
And yes, The Trinity is essential for that.
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