The Way into the Presence of God

Hebrews 9

Introduction

Have you ever been in the same room with someone after you knew you had hurt them? You may be sitting only a few feet apart, but it feels like there is a great distance between you. Nobody built a wall. Nobody locked a door. But something has come between you, and both of you know it. You want to be with them and enjoy your time together but you need to first resolve that which is separating you.

That gives us a small picture of what sin does in our relationship with God. Sin is rebellion against the God who made us and loves us. It separates us from Him. Something needs to be resolved between us and God so we can enjoy fellowship with him.

1. God Wanted to Live Among His People

Hebrews 9 begins by describing the place where Israel worshiped. The writer is looking back to the tabernacle, the portable sanctuary God instructed Moses to build while Israel traveled through the wilderness.

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Imagine walking toward it. You would first enter the courtyard. There stood the bronze altar, where sacrifices were offered, and the basin, where the priests washed. Then came the tent itself. In the first room, called the Holy Place, were the lampstand, the table, the sacred bread, and the incense associated with prayer and worship.

Beyond that room was the veil. Behind the veil was the Most Holy Place. There was the Ark of the Covenant, covered by the mercy seat and overshadowed by the cherubim. The ark was connected with the tablets of the covenant, the jar of manna, and Aaron's staff. It represented the throne and presence of God among His people.

a.this earthly sanctuary was a copy and an illustration of a heavenly reality. That does not mean it was an exact scale model of heaven. It means that everything was pointing beyond itself. The mercy seat pointed to the throne of God. The cherubim around it reflected the heavenly beings around His throne. Even the angels woven into the curtains reminded Israel that worship on earth was connected with the unseen throne room of heaven.

Hebrews 9:6–7 (NLT)

⁶ When these things were all in place, the priests regularly entered the first room as they performed their religious duties. ⁷ But only the high priest ever entered the Most Holy Place, and only once a year. And he always offered blood for his own sins and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.

The tabernacle was not church where people gathered to worship God freely. The regular priest entered daily to put new bread on the table and new oil in the lamps and offer prayers on the altar of incense. But once a year 1 man only went into the most holy place. had to make a sacrifice for his own sins and then he had to bring a sacrifice for the sins of Israel. They had bells sewn into his robe and a rope around his foot. So, when he went in to the Most Holy place the bells stopped jingling. They knew he had been struck dead, and they would pull him out. So This guy was going into God’s presence with fear and trembling,

The idea here is that we couldn’t just have open access to God.

2. Sin Kept People at a Distance

The sacrificial system can seem archaic and strange to modern people. But it made sense within the world in which the Israelites lived. Sacrifice was familiar throughout the ancient world. God took something they understood and used it to teach them about holiness, sin and the real cost involved.

The sacrifices emphasized the seriousness of sin. That word “sin” is so trivialized in our culture. It’s even joked about. but only by those who have no understanding of the damage it does. Sin enslaves you on the inside. You make think you’re free but that’s a deception. And it eventually leads to death and an eternity separated from God. Its no laughing matter and the Israelites saw that there was a cost because it was played out before their very eyes.

Hebrews 9:8–10 (NLT)

⁸ By these regulations the Holy Spirit revealed that the entrance to the Most Holy Place was not freely open as long as the Tabernacle and the system it represented were still in use.⁹ This is an illustration pointing to the present time. For the gifts and sacrifices that the priests offer are not able to cleanse the consciences of the people who bring them. ¹⁰ For that old system deals only with food and drink and various cleansing ceremonies—physical regulations that were in effect only until a better system could be established.

those gifts and sacrifices could not cleanse the conscience of the people who brought them. They engaged in religious ceremonies and understood their obligations. They understood God was Holy. But these sacrifices did not change them from the inside out. It didn’t transform their hearts and free them from the guilt of sin. It was a temporary system pointing to the one who could change their lives.

We also can live a religious life, attending church, make our offering, listen to the message but not experience that fellowship with God. It shouldn’t take difficult things happening in our lives to make us realize what we have available to us in Christ. Notice the next verse.

3 Jesus Opened the Way Once for All

Verse 11 begins with a wonderful change:

Hebrews 9:11–12 (NLT)

¹¹ So Christ has now become the High Priest over all the good things that have come. He has entered that greater, more perfect Tabernacle in heaven, which was not made by human hands and is not part of this created world. ¹² With his own blood—not the blood of goats and calves—he entered the Most Holy Place once for all time and secured our redemption forever.

Jesus is both the Priest who represents us and the sacrifice offered for us. He did not take the life of another. He willingly gave Himself. He carried our rebellion, our guilt, and our judgment. At the cross, He did for us what we could never do for ourselves.

Later in the chapter, verse 24 says that Christ entered heaven itself to appear before God on our behalf. The earthly tabernacle was a picture. Jesus entered the reality. He stands before the Father for us, and His sacrifice does not need to be repeated.

Jesus removed the barrier of sin so we can live in the presence of God

We do not come near because we have had a good week. We do not stay away because we have had a bad one. We come through Jesus. Our confidence is not in the strength of our performance but in the sufficiency of His sacrifice.

Hebrews 9 is not merely explaining an ancient worship system. It is telling us why we can draw near to God today. The way is open because Jesus opened it.

4 God Dwells in Us and Sends Us to Serve

Hebrews 9:13–14 (NLT)

¹³ Under the old system, the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer could cleanse people’s bodies from ceremonial impurity. ¹⁴ Just think how much more the blood of Christ will purify our consciences from sinful deeds so that we can worship the living God. For by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins.

The word translated worship can also carry the idea of serving Him. Jesus does not only change our standing before God. He frees us to live in relationship with God.

“A cleansed conscience does not mean that we forget everything we have done. It means that the memory is no longer the final verdict over our life. Jesus has answered the charge against us.”

So where is the dwelling place of God today? If you go to Jerusalem, you will not find the tabernacle from the wilderness or the temple described in the Old Testament.

The New Testament tells us that God's people are now His temple. The Holy Spirit lives in those who belong to Christ, and together the church is being built into a dwelling place for God.

That means our everyday lives matter. God's presence is not limited to one hour on Sunday. He is with us at home, at work, in the car, in a hospital room, and when we serve someone who is hurting. We are invited to participate with Him in a real relationship and to carry His love into the places He sends us.