 |  |
come to do all that burnt offering and sacrifice for sins typified". By so doing the first
Covenant was taken away and the second established (10: 9):
"For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought
for the second" (8: 7).
The first Covenant was faulty because it was a shadow, it was weak because of the
flesh. It was impossible because its sacrifices were of bulls and goats; it was a failure
because it did not touch the conscience. All this has found rectification in Christ. His
blood has ratified the New Covenant, His Offering touches the conscience and makes a
way into the true holiest of all:
"By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ
once for all" (Heb. 10: 10).
It will help us if we carefully analyse the statements of this verse:
(1)
What is the will of God intended by--"The which will?"
(2)
What is the meaning of the consequence?--"We are sanctified".
(3)
What means were used to accomplish this will?--"The offering of the body".
(4)
What constitutes its eternal efficacy?--"Once for all".
The strange expression "by the which will" must mean the "done will" accomplished
by Christ. This will done by Christ cannot be confined to the earthly life and perfect
obedience of those sinless years, for the very accomplishment of that will is found in "the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ" and that as a sacrifice which involved:
(1)
Suffering (Heb. 9: 26; 13: 12).
(2)
Crucifixion (Heb. 6: 6; 12: 2).
(3)
Shedding of blood (Heb. 9: 14; 10: 19).
(4)
Death (Heb. 2: 9; 9: 15).
(5)
An Altar (Heb. 13: 10).
(6)
A Priest (Heb. 13: 1; 9: 11).
(7)
A Sanctuary (Heb. 9: 24; 10: 19).
It is utterly impossible to avoid the sacrificial character of the work of Christ when
thinking of His accomplishment of the Divine will. That was the will of God in its
essence. The purpose of this will is "sanctification". Sanctification involves a complete
heart dedication to God and His service, set forth typically by the sprinkling of the blood
of the Covenant, the people, and the vessels of ministry (Heb. 9: 18-22). Sanctification
involves cleansing from both external and internal defilement, set forth typically in the
"divers washings" "the ashes of the heifer sprinkling the unclean" (Heb. 9: 10, 13).
Sanctification involves access, and sonship (Heb. 10: 22; 2: 11-13). Sanctification is the
will of God for all His children irrespective of the differences of dispensations under
which they have been called.
"Will of God."
This is seen in Eph. 1: 4: