Hebrews 10:1-7: a reflection

1For the law, having a shadow of the good to come, not the very image of the things, can never with the same sacrifices year by year, which they offer continually, make perfect those who draw near. 2Or else wouldn’t they have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having been once cleansed, would have had no more consciousness of sins? 3But in those sacrifices there is a yearly reminder of sins. 4For it is impossible that the blood of bulls and goats should take away sins. 5Therefore when he comes into the world, he says, “You didn’t desire sacrifice and offering, but you prepared a body for me. 6You had no pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin. 7Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come (in the scroll of the book it is written of me) to do your will, O God.’”

The writer to the Hebrews explains why the old sacrifices could never take away sin: they were only a shadow of the good to come, and the blood of bulls and goats could not truly cleanse. But then he shows what God truly desired, and what Christ came to do. Quoting Scripture, he has Christ say: Sacrifice and offering you didn't desire, but you prepared a body for me. Then I said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God. Christ came not with the sacrifices that could not take away sin, but to do God's will, offering himself.

Notice what Christ came to do: the will of God, accomplishing what the sacrifices could not. The old sacrifices could not take away sin; they were only shadows, endlessly repeated. But Christ came into the world to do God's will, offering not the blood of animals but himself, his own prepared body, in obedience to God. What the sacrifices could only foreshadow, Christ accomplished by doing God's will and offering himself. He came to do the will of God, and by that will, and his offering of himself, our sins are taken away, as no animal sacrifice could take them.

That is the heart of the gospel, and worth resting in: that Christ came to do God's will and accomplish what the sacrifices could not. We can imagine that our sin must be dealt with by our own efforts, our own sacrifices; but the old sacrifices could not take away sin, and neither can ours. Christ came to do God's will, offering himself, and by that offering our sins are taken away. Rest not in your own efforts or sacrifices to deal with your sin, which cannot take it away, but in Christ, who came to do God's will and accomplished what no sacrifice could. Receive the salvation Christ accomplished by coming to do God's will and offering himself, rather than trusting your own efforts, which cannot take away sin, as Christ said, I have come to do your will, O God; for what the sacrifices could not do, Christ accomplished, taking away our sin by doing God's will and offering himself once for all.

Lord, the writer to the Hebrews explains why the old sacrifices could never take away sin: they were only a shadow of the good to come, and the blood of bulls and goats could not truly cleanse. But then he shows what you truly desired, and what Christ came to do. Quoting Scripture, he has Christ say: sacrifice and offering you didn't desire, but you prepared a body for me; then I said, behold, I have come to do your will, O God. Christ came not with the sacrifices that could not take away sin, but to do your will, offering himself. Show me what Christ came to do: your will, accomplishing what the sacrifices could not. The old sacrifices could not take away sin; they were only shadows, endlessly repeated. But Christ came into the world to do your will, offering not the blood of animals but himself, in obedience to you. What the sacrifices could only foreshadow, Christ accomplished. He came to do your will, and by that will, and his offering of himself, my sins are taken away. That is the heart of the gospel, and worth resting in: that Christ came to do your will and accomplish what the sacrifices could not. I can imagine that my sin must be dealt with by my own efforts, my own sacrifices; but the old sacrifices could not take away sin, and neither can mine. Christ came to do your will, offering himself, and by that offering my sins are taken away. Keep me from resting in my own efforts or sacrifices to deal with my sin; help me rest in Christ, Lord, who came to do your will and accomplished what no sacrifice could. Thank you that Christ has taken away my sin by doing your will and offering himself once for all.