Hebrews 10

One of the great conflicts in the 1st century church was the question of the place of the Old Testament ceremonial law in the new Christian life. Did new converts who were Gentiles have to be circumcised and become Jews before they could follow the Jewish Messiah? Was the way of the Law of Moses the final Word for those who were seeking to grow in the obedience that comes through faith, or had certain aspects of that covenantal system been superseded by a new way of approaching God in the simplicity of a new spiritual worship?

The testimony of the Old Testament and the New Testament is very clear on this question. New and different times would one day come. The prophets of Israel spoke of another age of blessing beyond the days of the Law. The word “shadow” is used to talk about the time of the Law. Shadows become less prominent and eventually disappear as the light shines more brightly. The coming of Christ, His death and resurrection, and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit were events of the greatest revelatory light. The Law as a covenantal system would have to recede. The new age of the ascended Messiah had come. With His gift of His Holy Spirit to the church, New Covenant worship became the prominent expression of true religious faith in Israel's God. There would be many who would resist this change in those early generations. They might even be so defiant in their dedication to a way of worship that was fading away that they would seek to persuade others to turn away from any worship that was distinctively Christian.

New Covenant worship was very different from the temple worship in Jerusalem, which was so heavily dependent upon animal sacrifice and the other features of the Jewish system of offerings. The new way of the church was much more like the devotional activities of the Jewish synagogues, with two very important additions. First, the new church services culminated in the Lord Supper. This was the addition of an entirely new element of worship in response to the Lord's command that His disciples perform this new ritual in remembrance of Him. The second change had an impact on the entire service. Even when the worshipers sang, preached from the Scriptures, and prayed as Jews did in all their synagogues, these familiar elements of worship were thoroughly transformed by the new light of the revelation of Jesus Christ in the message of peace with God through our Substitute.

Of course there were some who did not like this emphasis and who were ashamed of the Savior. They would have been happy to shrink away from the distinctively Christian aspects of the faith, returning to the more acceptable and established way of life represented in Jewish synagogue worship. But what a loss it would be to turn away from Jesus just to avoid the attacks of those who despise Him!

If the new system of worship was infused with the light of Christ, the old system of synagogue life was thoroughly informed by the regulations of the ceremonial Law as they were understood by the Pharisees. The importance of circumcision, the regulations of clean and unclean, the celebration of the Old Testament calender, the strong connection with the events of temple life in Jerusalem were inseparable from the life and worship of the Jewish synagogues. To return to that worship was to return to the old system of ceremonial Law, and that Law could not bring about the true forgiveness of sins.

If forgiveness could have been achieved for mankind through the old way, then the priests could have given up offering their daily sacrifices long ago. True cleansing comes through Christ and the Holy Spirit. It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.

Psalm 40 prepares us for the Lord's provision of One who would come with a physical ear to hear the will of the Lord and a body to obey that Law. This coming One would be so far superior to the ways of the shadows, that in comparison, it was said of God, “Sacrifices and offerings You have not desired.” We are declared holy not through the old ceremonies, but through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all time. His work was successful, requiring no daily repetition. Therefore, He has taken His place at the right hand of the Father, until his enemies will be made a footstool for his feet.

When God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about the coming resurrection age, He said, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” An age was coming when the time of preparatory sacrifices would be completed through the offering of one final sacrifice that brought about the true forgiveness of sins. This time has come.

We still have ceremonies. We have been ceremonially cleansed in baptism. We partake in a ceremonial meal. But we have something more. Our hearts have been sprinkled by the blood of the final sacrifice, and streams of living water have been poured out from heaven upon the church.

We must not give up the good habit of meeting together in covenant assembly in worship that is thoroughly Christian. Where else can we go for the true declaration of the forgiveness of sins? The old ways of the shadows are over. The God of grace will not consider it a light offense if we turn away from His Son.

The heritage of the church is better than that. It is a record of standing together through persecution, continuing in the faith, hope, and love of Christ who reigns from heaven. Christ will come again. Until then, let us not be those who shrink back from Jesus to save our flesh from persecution. Let us press forward in faith in the way of Christ, for the just shall live by faith.