If you have a Bible with you, open up to the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 10. And as you’re tuning in there, if I have not met you, my name is Aaron, and I’m the preaching pastor here at Red Village. I’m glad that you’re with us today. There’s some seasonal sickness going around our church right now, and so I’m glad that everyone here is healthy enough to be here.
So Hebrews 10 is our text to study today. We’re going to be working through verses 1 through 18, but I’m just going to read verses 11 through 18 at this time, and then I’m going to pray, and then we’ll get to work. So Hebrews 10:11. If you don’t have a Bible with you, there are pew Bibles kind of scattered throughout, and it’s on page 584. The words should also be on the screen on my side if you want to follow along that way. This morning, I’ll be reading, per usual, out of the ESV version of the Bible.
So the Bible says in verse 11, “And every priest stands daily at his service, often repeatedly, the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering, he perfected for all time those who were being sanctified.” The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds.” Then he adds, “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.” Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.
Okay, so that’s God’s word for us this morning. Would you please pray along with me?
Lord, thank you for gathering us together today. I pray that this time here, this sermon here would be helpful and encouraging. Please help me to rightly divide your word of truth. We pray that your Holy Spirit would be at work in our hearts in ways that not only encourage us and give us hope, but ultimately to set our eyes on Jesus. In his name, Amen.
So this morning, as we start off this time here, let me share with you a passage that I’ve actually been thinking a lot about recently. There’s actually a passage also from Hebrews, a passage we’ve used the last few weeks as a doxology to close our service, which we should be using again today.
So this is from Hebrews 13. It says this: “So may the God of peace who brought you again from the dead, our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to him be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
In this passage, what I’ve been thinking most about is a little phrase that describes the crucified and risen Christ, which is the phrase “the great shepherd of the sheep.”
Now, in the New Testament, we see that one of the gifts that God has given to the church is the role of a pastor to be a shepherd. Pastors are gifts to be used in ways that help encourage the church, helping the church to grow in God. Honoring ways, pastors are to care for the church, to help the church to live in ways that honor the Lord by giving good, godly examples to follow after. Pastors, shepherds, are to care for the church in ways that they’re watching over the souls of God’s people, for whom we’ll have to give an account as we pilgrimage through life to the eternal life that is to come.
These are all things we’re actually working more about as we get to Hebrews 13, which speaks towards leaders of the church. This actually is part of the context of the passage I just read to you that I’ve been chewing on.
In the New Testament, the role of pastors and shepherds is an important role—one that comes with great responsibility, great privilege, and great accountability—where pastors are to shepherd the flock that is among them, knowing that God often cares for his people through pastors.
However, with all that being said, as important as the role of a pastor can be in the life of the church, in the end, there’s only one true pastor. There is only one true chief shepherd and overseer of souls. There is only one true head of the body, that is, the church. There is only one who shed his blood to purchase the church: the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the great shepherd of the sheep.
There are multiple reasons why this little phrase, “the great shepherd of the sheep,” has been on my mind recently. But the primary reason why I’ve continued to chew on this relates to all the stuff that we’ve covered in our study of Hebrews, particularly the last few weeks, and actually the stuff we’ll be covering more again today. This is information surrounding Jesus being our great High Priest, who shed his blood for his sheep to bring in a new covenant for his people, which is information that the writer of Hebrews stresses over and over again in this letter, particularly in the section of Hebrews that we’ve been in now for several weeks.
To help set the context of our passage today, let me remind you of some of the things we’ve processed already in our study of Hebrews that only speaks to Jesus being our great High Priest, but within that, that Jesus is the great shepherd of the sheep.
In chapter two, we looked at this: “Therefore Jesus, the truest shepherd, had to be like his brothers, made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become the merciful and high priest in the service of God to make propitiation for the sins of his people. For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted.”
Then Chapter four expands on what I just read to you from chapter two. It starts this section that we’ve been in. It says, “This is Jesus, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, who can sympathize with us in all of our weaknesses, being tempted in every way as we have been tempted, yet without sin.”
Jesus Christ. He is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who allows us to draw near to him with confidence so he might pour out his mercy and grace on us in our times of need.
In chapter five, Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who deals gently with his people. In chapter five, Jesus, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who identifies with his people by praying with loud cries and tears.
Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who is the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him.
In chapter six, Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who is the sure and steady anchor of our soul, who gives his people hope because he has entered into the inner place.
In chapter seven, which we already looked at, Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who came from the order of Melchizedek, which makes him not just an eternal high priest but also an eternal king, the one who is filled with righteousness and peace.
We also looked at Jesus Christ as the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, who is the guarantor of a better covenant—one that rests solely on the promises that he has given to us, promises that he will never break because God cannot lie.
Jesus Christ is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who saves to the uttermost those who draw near to God. Jesus Christ is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who lives to make intercession for his people.
In chapter eight, Jesus Christ, the great High Priest, the truest shepherd, is the one who ministers to his people through the better covenant that he mediates, which is a covenant where the Lord writes His laws on our minds and hearts, where in this new covenant, He promises to be our God, that we will always be his people because we will know him through the forgiveness of sin.
We’ll continue to talk more about this today in chapter nine, which we already looked at in our last few sermons. Jesus Christ is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who satisfies our conscience, the longings of our hearts. Jesus Christ, he is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who shed his own blood to secure eternal redemption because it’s through the shedding of his blood where Jesus Christ died in the place of his people. That’s how forgiveness of sin was purchased.
Jesus Christ is the great High Priest, the truest shepherd who promises to come again, but this time not to deal with sin, because he already dealt with that in his death and resurrection. But this time, as our great High Priest, the truest shepherd, he comes again to bring his people to himself, all those who eagerly wait for him.
So the last few weeks, that is a bit of where we have been, where we learn time and time again just how great of a shepherd Jesus is to his sheep.
Now, today, as we get to chapter 10, we’re coming kind of to the end of this section of Hebrews, where in this section, the author continues to go over some of the same information that we’ve had in the last few details, which I think is important for us to see and continue to see just how great of a High Priest, just how great of a shepherd that Jesus is to his people.
So that is a little bit of an introduction, a little bit of a reminder. Please look back at me starting in verse one as we go through this. I’m just going to say this again. There’s a lot of information that we’re going through today. It’s stuff that we already went through in the last few weeks. As you go through all this, follow the theme that I just gave you in the introduction. Let me invite you to process this similar information today in light of the fact that Jesus Christ is the great shepherd of his sheep.
Okay, so verse one says this: “For since the law, the Old Covenant, has but a shadow of the good things to come,” meaning the Old Covenant, while good in itself, is a shadow—it is a picture, a pointer to something that was better to come. If you’ve been with us in our study of Hebrews or perhaps read through the book of Hebrews in the past, you know the shadow of good things to come is a concept that the author of Hebrews has talked about a few times already, where he’s trying to stress this point.
In chapter eight, very similarly, the writer wrote that these things are like copies of better things to come. Likewise, in chapter nine, these things were copies of heavenly things to come. As mentioned today in verse one, these things are shadows pointing us to that which is greater.
In our text, the law was a shadow because it was not the true form of reality; the true form of reality is the reality that the shadow was actually pointing us to, which is all found in Jesus Christ—the new covenant that he brings, which is mentioned in the intro.
This new covenant, where the great shepherd has written God’s law on the hearts and minds of his people, ensures that God would be their God, that they would be his people, where their sins would be forgiven by him.
So the law that was not the true reality, Jesus Christ, he’s the true reality. This new covenant that he has brought, that’s the true reality, which is a better, a superior reality that our great shepherd has given to his people of faith.
In the text, the law, the Old Covenant, including the entire sacrificial system, could never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered up every year, make perfect those who are drawing near. Some of the things we’ve talked about multiple times in our study.
The law, the Old Covenant, the sacrificial system, while used by God, was not without faults; rather, it had faults. But perhaps the most important fault is that the law cannot make one perfect. Because of our sinful nature that we inherited from our first parents, we can’t perfectly keep the law. Thus, the law will never make us perfect. Like somehow, by obeying the law, we can become perfect through the law.
We can’t draw near to God on our own. That’s why the New Testament tells us that the law kills; it brings death. It does not provide a road for us to draw near to God for salvation.
Verse 2, we see that otherwise, if the law, the Old Covenant, the entire sacrificial system was able to accomplish that—if through obedience to the law we could come to God on our own—in the text, why would they not have ceased to be offered then? Since the worshipers would have once been cleansed, they would no longer have any consciousness of sin.
This, of course, is a rhetorical question with an obvious logical answer. The writer is further stressing this point about the law: that it wasn’t enough. It was not able to save God’s people. The law was not able to bring about full forgiveness of our sin, to deal with sin completely. Because if it was enough, there would have been no need for a new covenant to come. If that was enough, there actually would have been no need for Christ to come—no need for Jesus to have to shed his own blood. There’d be no need for Jesus to be our great shepherd, to guide us to himself.
If the law was without fault, we could simply guide ourselves.
Verse 3. But in these sacrifices—the sacrifices given in the Old Covenant—they’re not there to be our guide, to make us less sinful, by which we could draw near. Rather, the text tells us with those sacrifices, there’s a reminder tied to them—a reminder of sins every year. A reminder in verse 4 that it’s impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
Now, while the sacrificial system was given by God and used by God, it was not given or used in a way where they would be an end in themselves.
Or to say it again, like the law would somehow become our great shepherd.
Now back to verse one. They’re a shadow; they’re pointing God’s people forward to a better sacrifice—the great shepherd that is Christ, the only one who can take away our sin.
Which is verse 5. Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he did so by saying, “Sacrifices and offerings, God has not desired.” They are not the end in themselves. Rather, in the text, “A body you have prepared for me,” which is the body of the Lord Jesus Christ—the great high priest, the great shepherd who laid down his body and was nailed to a cross in the place of his people.
In verse 6, “Burnt offerings and sin offerings you take no pleasure in.” Right? I keep saying it. They were not an end in themselves. If they were, God would have been pleased with them alone, but he’s not pleased with them in our text.
Then he said, “Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.”
Now let me pull back and mention verses 5 through 7. This is a quote from the book of Psalms, Psalm 40, which is a psalm written by King David during a time of suffering, where David felt like he was in a pit of destruction, trapped in a miry bog, which certainly had application to David’s life.
But we know what Jesus tells us about the Scriptures: that in the end, all of God’s word has its application ultimately in him. Where we are to read God’s word in light of Christ, who is to come.
Even the opening passage of Hebrews 1, Jesus Christ, God’s eternal Son, is the final definitive word by which God has spoken.
So in our text today, after the author of Hebrews quotes Psalm 40, he helps us see how we’re to read Psalm 40 in light of Christ, who is to come. We see that study in verse 8 of our text.
You take your eyes there when he said above in Psalm 40, “You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings,” which the writer of Hebrews reminds us were offered according to the law.
In verse 9, he, meaning David in Psalm 40, but ultimately he, meaning Christ, who has come to fulfill this passage, then added, “Behold, I have come to do your will.”
Psalm 40 wrote that he, ultimately Jesus Christ, came to fulfill the will of God. He did so by putting away the first covenant in order to establish the second, which once again is the better covenant.
A covenant that Christ has come and brought—one without fault, one that not only can provide forgiveness of sin, but one that can bring us to God.
Verse 10, if you want to take your eyes there: “And by that will,” the second, the better covenant that Christ has brought us, “we have been sanctified,” made holy before God.
Friends, the law cannot do that. On our own, we cannot do that. We cannot make ourselves holy. But friends, take heart. This is exactly what the great shepherd does for his people. He sanctifies us in a way in which he draws us near to God—all because in our text our great shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, offered up his body once for all.
As mentioned, Jesus Christ dies in place of his people to be the propitiation for our sins, where on the cross, the great shepherd became the great Lamb of God who takes away the sins of his people. Friends, that’s how we find forgiveness: through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That’s how we draw near to God. That’s why our great shepherd came.
Bulls and goats, they can’t do what Jesus did. The old covenant, the law, can’t do what the new covenant that Jesus ushered in can do. On our own, we cannot do what Christ came to do.
But all praise to God! Through the offering of Jesus Christ, through his obedience—even unto death on the cross—our Lord Jesus fulfilled the will of God. We are sanctified. We are sanctified by our faith in him, brought near to God, made holy in his sight. That’s what the great shepherd has done for his sheep.
Even though we all, like sheep, have gone astray, the great shepherd has come to bring his people back to himself.
Keep going, verse 11, if you want to take your eyes there. Further, the comparison and contrast between the Old Covenant priest and that of Jesus, which is something the author of Hebrews has done a good number of times in this letter.
In the Old Covenant, we see that every priest stands daily at his service. Whereas he stood at his service over and over again, often repeatedly, the same sacrifices, which never can take away sin on their own. Rather, these sacrifices are a reminder of actually how sinful mankind is.
But in verse 12, in contrast, when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. Did you see that in the comparison? In contrast, there, the Old Covenant priests must stand daily, while there’s a daily reminder of sin. In contrast, the great High Priest, the one who shed his own blood, rather than standing, we see that he now sits eternally at the right hand of God, where there’s an eternal reminder of forgiveness of sins for his people.
As Christ sits at the right hand of God, he does so in verse 13, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet.
Now, if you’re wondering, like, who are the enemies of Christ? The enemies of God include all those who oppose Christ, who do not turn to him by faith and find forgiveness— all those who reject Jesus as the great shepherd. But the enemies of God also include all sin, all sickness, all death, as well as Satan and all his demons.
In our text, at the right time, the time appointed from all eternity past, all the enemies of Christ will be defeated. As they’re defeated, they will be made a footstool for his feet, which is a great picture of submission—complete, utter defeat for the enemies of God, with the complete, resounding victory for a crucified and risen Savior.
By the way, as a reminder of the context of this letter, remember how the first readers were suffering with persecution? It’s actually in the following passage, starting in verse 32. If you want to take your eyes there, you see they included like a hard struggle with suffering. These early Christians, at times, were publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, where some were even thrown into prison for being Christians, where others even had their properties plundered.
No doubt, with all the things that are happening, not only were they wondering if Christ was worth all this suffering, but perhaps even wondering if those who were committing these evil deeds against them were actually getting away with it without consequences.
So, here in our text, the enemies being made a footstool to Christ had to be a real comfort to the first readers. Not as Christians, we relish in God’s judgment of others. Luke 9 tells us we actually don’t pray for fire from heaven to come down on others. But friends, we do find comfort in knowing that in the end, all the enemies of God—whatever they might be—will be put in submission to him.
Keep going. Verse 14: “For by a single offering, Christ the great shepherd has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Keep saying it: the law, the sacrificial system made no one perfect. But through the one-time death and resurrection, that’s exactly what Jesus does, where when he returns, as he defeats all of his enemies, his people will be ushered into a state of perfection for all time, where there will be no more sickness, no more death, no more sin, no being captured by Satan to do his will.
All those enemies that, I say again, will be defeated as God’s people are brought forever into a state of perfection, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, sanctified for all time.
Verse 15: “The Holy Spirit also bears witness to us, for after saying, ‘This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days,’ declares the Lord, ‘I will put my laws in their hearts and write them on their minds.'”
Which is from Jeremiah 31, something I’ve mentioned a few times already in the sermon. In the text, the author adds verse 17: “The Lord said, ‘In this new covenant I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.'”
What?! You say it again. Back to the comparison and contrast: this is so radically different than the old covenant and the repeated sacrifices that reminded everyone of sins. Now, through this new covenant that Christ brings with his one-time sacrifice, God will remember our sins and our iniquities no more.
They will be forgiven forever and ever, removed from God’s people as far as the east is from the west. Where never again will sin hang over us, or mock us, or define us, or condemn us, or trouble us.
Finally, we end this morning with verse 18: “Where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.” And why would there be? It’s just mentioned that through Jesus Christ, sin has been forgiven fully and eternally for all those who by faith turn to him.
Jesus pays it all in full—the debt of sin completely removed. No more offering for sin needed.
Since we’re going to end our text today, before we end the sermon, I do want to give us some thoughts that relate to Jesus Christ being the great shepherd of the sheep.
As I give you these thoughts, I don’t want this to come across in ways that you’re not seeking care from pastors. I should start. One of the ways God cares for his people is through under-shepherds, like myself and the other elders here at Red Village.
But my hope as we go through these thoughts is for all of us to always remember who our true shepherd is, so at the end, we’re always running to seek care from him, which is the care that we need.
So let me give you a list of things here just concerning our great shepherd—why he’s so great.
First, our great shepherd is so great because he is the one who is able to forgive us of our sins—something we’ve talked about many times already today. This is something we all have, right? We all have many sins.
Yet the good news is by faith, as we run to the great shepherd, we find forgiveness of our sins in ways that sins do not define us in ways that it did in the old covenant, where year after year after year, the high priest would have to stand and offer up sacrifices—a reminder to mankind of how sinful we are.
But now, through Jesus Christ, the great shepherd who shed his blood, we have true, full forgiveness—full atonement of sin. All this forgiveness of sin that Christ alone can offer has been a theme that we’ve had in the last few chapters.
But here, let me just stick with the verses. What we see in our verses today speaks towards us. Verse 10, if you want to take your eyes there: “We have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.”
What’s the sanctification that only comes through forgiveness?
Verse 14: “For by a single offering, his one-time death on the cross, our great shepherd has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Verse 17, which is a quote from Jeremiah 31, the Hebrew author continues to pick up on: “I will remember their sins and their lawless deeds no more.”
Verse 18: “Where there is forgiveness, there is no longer an offering for sins.”
Friends, that’s such good news for us that through our great shepherd, who laid down his life for his people, there is forgiveness of sin. All we need to do is by faith confess our sin, turn from them in ways that we’re forsaking them. Nail them to the cross and run to Jesus Christ by faith, drawing near to him.
It’s the good news we see in Scripture. It’s a promise that he gives that he is faithful and just to forgive us all our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
Second, our great shepherd is great. Why? Because he accomplishes all that he sets out to accomplish, which is such an incredible comfort to us. All that the Lord Jesus Christ sets out to accomplish, he accomplishes; he will fulfill, he will do—it will be completed.
There will be no failing on his part. With our great shepherd, there’s no kind of “but not really” executions that he does. He never over-promises but under-delivers to us. He doesn’t somehow get our hopes up only for the rug to be pulled out from underneath us.
All that the Lord Jesus Christ sets out to accomplish, he perfectly fulfills. Friends, that’s why we can count on him. That’s why we can trust in him. In Jesus Christ, in our text, verses 7 and 9: “Behold, I have come to do your will.”
As Christ came to do the will of God, including laying down his life as a sacrifice, he picked it up three days later. That one-time act was enough to accomplish all that he set out to accomplish in terms of forgiving of sin.
That’s what our text tells us. Verse 12: “After Christ offered up his single offering of sin, he sat down at the right hand of God.” It was accomplished.
Verse 14: “In a single offering, he accomplished all that he set out to accomplish as perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”
Listen, we know this—in life, we are met with ongoing disappointment, often involving some type of failing—some people failing us for all these different reasons. We know how this disappointment can make us angry, cynical, bitter, and frustrated.
Or it can leave us feeling hopeless, defeated, discouraged. But friends, take heart; have hope. The Lord Jesus Christ is one who will not fail you. He will never disappoint you. He is faithful to do all that he sets out to accomplish, which includes even working all things together for our good, for those who love him and are called according to his purpose, as he is lovingly shepherding us to green pastures by still waters, which leads to the next thing.
The great shepherd is great. Why? Because he always brings that which is better. By the way, we should want that which is better. I think God actually designed us to want that which is better. Because ultimately, that desire for better should take us to him—the one who is always better.
Like the Lord Jesus Christ, he’s the pinnacle where all of our desires for better are finally fulfilled and satisfied. Over and over in the book of Hebrews, we’ve learned how much better Christ is.
Christ is better than the Old Testament prophets. Christ is better than the angels—more superior than them. Christ is better—more superior than Moses, the great hero of the Old Testament.
Christ is better and more superior to all the pictures of rest that we see in the Old Testament. Christ is the better, the superior high priest. In our text today, Christ is the better, the superior sacrifice.
Christ is the one who ushers in a better, a superior covenant for us. This is so important for us to see this—that Christ is always bringing that which is better. He’s always shepherding his people to that which is better because he shepherds his people to himself.
This really is at the core of so many of our theological beliefs that we have as Christians: simply that Jesus is better; he is superior.
It’s important for us to remember this—to believe that Christ is better—not just because it’s true, but it’s also so important because we know that at times, we look at life—the circumstances, the situations that we might find ourselves in—they’re not labeled as better.
In fact, we know in life, it can be hard—so hard at times, it’s a struggle to find hope where we can doubt that anything good can come out of some situation or circumstance.
Once again, friend, in these moments, take heart; have hope. In his time, according to his will, for his people, Christ is always leading, always shepherding his people to that which is better, which they keep saying is Himself, by the way.
Friends, don’t settle for anything less than that which is better. Pursue the great shepherd with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength. He will not disappoint.
Fourth, the great shepherd is great because he brings justice. One of the reasons why, in the moment, it can be so hard for us to see or believe that God is working something for our good is that that good situation or not good situation, or not good circumstance that we find ourselves in, can feel maybe unjust—so unjust.
We may start to feel like that which is not good is actually going to win out once again. We know how discouraged that can be. But friends, take heart. In our text, at the right time, in verse 13, as the great and true shepherd returns for his people, he comes with his justice, where all of his enemies will be made a footstool for his feet—all the enemies, all the things that can plague us in this life, including sickness and death.
In the end, at the right time, God’s justice will be made known. His justice will prove to be the victor over all things.
One more: the great shepherd is great. Why? Because he loves his sheep. I actually think that may be one of the hardest things that we can maybe understand or perhaps even receive.
It might be easy for us to understand the call that we are to love God, but sometimes it’s almost harder, I think, to understand that he loves us—his people. He loves his sheep with full, perfect love—a love that his sheep will never be separated from.
A love that is so full, so satisfying, so perfect, like there’s nothing that can compare to it. Scripture tells us the steadfast love of the Lord is better than even life itself.
How do we know that he loves his sheep? Well, the Bible tells us over and over again that Jesus loves his people, including what we see in our text today—over and over again, the great shepherd loves his sheep.
He loves all those who hear his voice and draw near to him. In our text, in love, in verse 5, Christ prepared his body as an offering. In love, in verse 9, Christ came to do away with the first covenant in order to establish the second.
In love, in verse 10, Christ sanctifies his people through his body that was sacrificed once for all. In love, in verse 12, Christ offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins before he sat down at the right hand of God.
In love, in verse 13, all of our enemies were made a footstool for his feet. In love, in verse 14, by his single offering, Christ perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.
In love, in verse 16, the new covenant that Christ brings is one that he puts his law on our minds and hearts. In love, in verse 17, Christ declares he will remember the sins of his people, their lawless deeds, no more.
In love, in verse 18, because of his forgiveness, there is no longer an offering needed for sin.
And church, may we never miss this—how much the Lord Jesus Christ loves his sheep. May we never miss it. Rather, by faith, may we receive that love that God has for us through Christ.
Mentioned, this is something that can be very difficult for us to do. Perhaps maybe we feel we have to somehow earn his love, as if we’re still operating on the first covenant—that which has faults.
Or maybe we feel like we’re just too far gone to ever be loved, as if the blood of Jesus is not able to forgive you. Neither of those thoughts are true. What is true? By faith, we simply receive this love that the shepherd has given for us—a love that is greater than all of our sin.
But Israel’s Church, as we receive and continue to receive God’s love, may we walk in that love as we seek to obey him and all the good commands he’s given to us, knowing that all of his commands are birthed out of his heart of love.
As we walk in that love, may we also share that love with others. One last time, just the verse I started out with in chapter 13 says this: “So may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with every good thing that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight through the Lord Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.”
It’s equipping for the good that we’re to do according to his will, where Christ is working within us. It’s equipping to share his love with others—something we’re talking about more next week. We share it with each other.
As a church, we’re to love each other in ways we continue to meet and stir each other up by caring and serving one another. There’s also love we’re to share for those who are not yet Christians—those who have yet to hear the voice of the great shepherd in ways that they’re following to him.
Later on in Hebrews, it tells us we’re even to go outside of our camp, even if that means approach with the hope that others might be sanctified as well—where we share the love of Jesus with those who are yet to be called his sheep.
By the way, if you’re struggling with that—to know how to share the love of Jesus with others—not only confess that but as a way, as a reminder, there’s a Sunday school class offered to you right after church today that’s helping equip and encourage you to go outside the camp with this great love of the shepherd to declare that love to others, with the hope that others will trust in Jesus and join our little camp here at church.
May our hearts and minds always be set towards the one true great shepherd—the one who purchased this little church family here with his blood. May we trust in Jesus. May we run to Jesus. May we obey Jesus. May we serve Jesus. May we declare Jesus all of our days.
Let’s pray.
Lord, thank you for your holy word. Thank you that the incredible truth in your holy word is that you sent your son to die for your people—to be our great shepherd. And Lord, I do pray that you would continue to guide and shepherd this flock here.
Lord, please help us to trust in you as the great shepherd. Please fill our hearts with your love today. Please give us hope. Praise God. In Jesus’ name, Amen.