Hebrews 1:3, Part 5 –

Hebrews 1:3

Part V

By Himself

Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

   I am going to examine the fourth point in our outline, “when he had by himself purged our sins,”

• • • Without sin, Hebrews 4:15
    • Who did no sin, 1 Peter 2:22-24
    • Who knew no sin, 2 Corinthians 5:21
    • In Him is no sin, 1 John 3:5
    • And has nothing in me, John 14:30
    • Even as He is pure, 1 John 3:3
    • Not redeemed with corruptible things, 1 Peter 1:18-20

   By Himself, no other could or would die for my sin. What a profound thought for one to contemplate. Yet, in His own body on the tree, He bore the sins of the whole world. The perfect lamb of God not having spot nor blemish, and a sweet savor unto God the Father, “This is my beloved Son,” the Son of His love. Genesis 22:7-8. “My Father, and he said, here am I my son, and he said, behold the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering? God will provide HIMSELF a lamb for the burnt offering.”  And so it was on that day, the day the Lord of Glory died on the cross at Calvary at the place of the skull, the one perfect sacrifice in all time and eternity, ordained of God before the foundation of the world. 

   Who did not sin, neither was guile found in his mouth. His life was pure and faultless as His Holy Righteousness and His impenetrable glory. As He passed through this world from the manger to the cross, there was nothing in Him to respond to sin, for sin was not a part of Him. 1 John 4:10. Adam brought sin into the world and became sin in his nature. No one could say of Adam, (in him was no sin) for that matter, all the descendants of Adam have the same DNA of sin in them. (Romans 3:23) But not the Lord Jesus, for 1 John 3:5 confirms “in him was no sin.” Through the years of his life on earth, as the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world, each footstep led Him closer to Mount Moriah, yet without sin. Was He not tempted? Yes, but without sin. Hebrews 4:15, “the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53. “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

   For this life, the light of glory sent for above, blessed of the Father, nourished in His bosom with unquestionable and unfathomable love. The Lord Jesus starts his life set apart in a manger, so great was His coming that all heaven rejoiced over His presence on earth. (Luke 2:7-18) The angels of God and the host of heaven proclaimed His birth and this babe that was wrapped in swaddling clothes was Christ the Lord. And the child grew and waxed strong in spirit, filled with wisdom and the grace of God was upon Him. (Luke 2:40) He was taken down into Egypt because the prince of darkness had put into Herod’s heart to destroy Him. (Matthew 2:14) So now, we have the opposition of darkness against God’s Christ. The world of darkness cannot stand the light of the truth and righteousness. As the bat returns to his cave before first light, for his flight is in darkness, so an evil and ungodly world loves spiritual darkness rather than the light of Christ. (John 1:10-11; I John 1:5) Remember this one, by Himself, paid our debt that we owed. He called us out of darkness and destroyed the works of the Devil. But when Christ was a young boy, He was still the opposition of darkness. God is light and love, and in Him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:5; 1 John 4:16-19) Later in the years of His ministry, He could say to His disciples, if the world hate me it will hate you also. (John 15:18,19) Remember, Joseph had to take the Son of God down into Egypt away from Herod. God is using all things to protect His Son, for His hour had not yet come. This is the Son of His love, and He brings Him down into Egypt. What flashes through the mind of God at this point in time? This can only be speculation on our part, does He remember the long years that the sons of Jacob were slaves to the Egyptians, and the darkness that was in the land of Ham? Yet, He puts His Son in Egypt and not in Israel, the land of promise. He came unto His own and they received Him not. Then we are told by the Spirit of God when Herod was dead that God called His Son up out of Egypt. He was God the Son, yet He learned obedience, (Hebrews 5:8) in the things He suffered. (Hebrews 5:9) And being made perfect He became the Author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey Him. “Lo I come in the volume of the book it is written of me to do thy will, O God.” Hebrews 10:7. The perfect sacrifice, the Son of God, learned obedience in the things He suffered. Things that were not of Him, with His power, He could have ended them at any time, but in submission He came to do the will of God. He would humble himself and become obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philippians 2:5-8. He who could say, “I have the power to lay down my life, and the power to take it again.” (John 10:17-18) He walked among men, supped with them, did great miracles that showed forth His glory, and told them who He was, John 10:36, yet He was rejected of men because men loved darkness and rejected the light of God in the Person of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. So too today, as He was rejected then, He is rejected now. And how subtle is the prince of darkness today? Satan presents a false gospel, and another Jesus, one who the world can love and receive, but without truth, just a mere man like unto themselves. They know this false Jesus but have no knowledge of the Lord of Glory, the Lord Jesus Christ. Satan has made himself an angel of light to deceive the world into a deeper darkness; still using the same line of deception as he used in Genesis 3:1, “yea, hath God said?”

    There are three deceptions in this scripture of Genesis 3:1. First, he lies about what God has said; secondly, he insinuates that God has said something else, ye shall not surely die; and thirdly, he lies to them concerning the outcome of their disobedience, that they shall be as gods. Satan is in this world with the object to deceive. The temptation of the Lord Jesus Christ in Matthew, chapter 4 when the Devil comes to Him to tempt Him; first it is food for the body, and the Devil says to the Lord, if thou be the son of God then cause this stone to be made bread. Show your power. Yet, the Lord of Glory rebukes the Devil with “men does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” The old lie will not work with Him, for He is God manifest in the flesh. Then once more he tempts the Lord, and this with higher things, by using the very Word of God. He takes Christ up, what submissiveness to the will of His Father, just to be in the presence of the old serpent, the Devil, or the prince of darkness. This must have upset the Lord’s Spirit, yet it was needful that He be tempted in all parts, as we are, yet apart from sin. Now, Satan tempts God with God’s own words, yet with his old deception. Hebrews 4:13 reminds us that every creature including Satan is naked and open in God’s sight. Therefore, the Lord of Glory rebukes Satan once more, “thou shalt not tempt the Lord (THY) God.” Notice, that it is THY God, the One who was power, even over the Devil. God will destroy him and all his evil works. Then, once more, the Devil tries his work on the Son of the Highest. With vanity and guile, Satan takes the Lord Jesus up into an exceedingly high mountain and shows Christ all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, not just the present kingdom but those to come, but the Lord Jesus is steadfast, “for the earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof, the world, and they that dwell therein.” Psalm 24:1,2. This lie will not work with the Sovreign God. The Lord of Glory will not bow down to Satan but again rebukes him, “thou shalt worship the lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” Satan knew it was in the Son of God’s power to set up kingdoms and to take them down, to give kings and to take them away. (Daniel 4:25-32) Oh fools, both man and the Devil, your eyes are blinded by your own deceptions. The Holy Son of God is before the world, and the Devil, and man and the Satan cannot see beyond their own sinful minds. Man would say later at the trial of the Lord Jesus, “we will not have this man to rule over us.” Therefore, there was no kingdom for them, they would be ruled by Rome, and destroyed by Rome, and as they were destroyed; so, Christ on the cross of Calvary has destroyed the works of the devil all the way back to Adam. And with Power and Majesty, He will cast them into the bottomless pit, where that old serpent the Devil will be tormented forever. His “I wills” will not stand in that day or any other. (Isaiah 14:12-20)

“By Himself”

   We have discussed the sinless life of the Lord Jesus. Let us now look at Leviticus and consider the five offerings which portray His death and sacrifice on Calvary’s cross. We will consider these offerings in reverse order than it is given in Scripture. For we must approach God concerning our need as sinners first.

1. The Trespass Offering

2. The Sin Offering

3. The Peace Offering

4. The Meat Offering or the Gift Offering

5. The Burnt Offering or the Burnt Sacrifice

 Trespass Offering

   In the presence of a Holy and Righteous God we must first deal with our trespasses. We are the unholy thing before God, “all we like sheep have gone astray.” We need to be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ. We look up at the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, but God the Father looked down from heaven on the depths of the sufferings of Christ for our transgressions. For the first step, as a transgressor, is to realize that we need forgiveness, and that forgiveness must come from another. It is God alone who can remove our transgressions or trespasses. 1 Peter 2:24. We look to Christ for the sins we have committed and rejoice in His forgiveness. God, the Father, looks at the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus and from heaven above is satisfied. This is the forgiveness of our sins that we have committed but is there not a greater need as the children of Adam. We need the removal of sin itself! We have a sin nature, or dna of sin within all men. So now, we must have a sin offering.

Sin Offering

   The sin offering is found in Leviticus 4. In this offering we are seen as sin, not what I have committed but what I am! I must bring myself before God with the nature of sin. Only God can remove it and take it out of the way! So how do I accomplish this? by looking to the sin offering and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, by being born of God and not with the corruptible seed of man. God must become my Father, not of blood, nor the will of the flesh, nor the will of man, but of the Holy Ghost, I must be born again! (John 1: 13; John 3:3) My state of sin can only be removed by the sin offering. What a price I must pay or can I? The answer is NO! It must come from another and my sin demands that this sacrifice must die. But the sacrifice must be pure within and without: pure as the righteousness and the Holiness of God’s demand. It is my need, but God’s demand. And the sin offering satisfies this great demand. I, as a sinner, cannot meet God’s demands; so, I look to Christ and see with the eyes of my heart that Christ has satisfied the demands of the Father on my account. God will provide HIMSELF for the offering and be satisfied in His Beloved Son. We are looked on as dead before God, it is this offering that gives us life and acceptance before a Holy and Righteous God. We must identify with this sin offering, just as the Israelite approached the outer door or gate of the tabernacle. He came with a young bullock or a goat or a lamb, this was his guilty soul bringing the animal to his death. The man believed in his heart that the sentence of death was upon him. He must not only fulfill his own need but the needs and demands of Jehovah. “The soul that sinneth shall surely die.” Here in Leviticus 4, the sacrifice has to be pure both inwardly and outwardly, as well as having no blemish. So, Christ was pure without sin, in His walk and in His being. Therefore, the Israelite takes his sacrifice and meets with the priest, he must tell him why he is bringing a sin offering, his heart must be laid bare before Jehovah, all must come out. Then with his hand placed on the sacrifice he confesses his sin, with a knife in his other hand his eyes meet the eyes of the guiltless victim. Then, he the sinner, must kill the lamb – this must enter into his heart – he has caused the death of the victim by his own hand. Now, let us look into our own heart, down to the darkest depths. Christ died for our sin, our being, our soul, and our spirit. Figuratively, our hand was upon His head, our sin was the spear that pierced His side. It was His blood that covered our sin, so that when God looks on the redeemed, the blood of Christ cleanses that soul from all sin. And God the Father sees the child of God without sin because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross of Calvary. Now remember that I am only looking at our need before a Holy and Righteous God, but God has His side of redemption as well. It was His Beloved Son, His spotless lamb, His King of kings, and so much more. But we in this small space of time must stick with the need of our own soul before God. So, God the Father has cast our sin as far as the east is from the west. Gone forever is our sin in Christ our Lord, we are no longer children of Adam, but children of God, yea, sons of God and joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8) God willing, in time to come, I will do an in-depth study on the five offering in Leviticus, but now, I must be brief. So, moving on, we come to the peace offering in Leviticus 3.

Peace Offering

   Remember, we are looking at these offerings as man’s need as a sinner coming to God and growing in the knowledge of God through Jesus Christ. The peace offering can also be found in John 14:27 where the Lord Jesus said unto His disciples, “my peace I give unto you.” God’s peace is the only peace one can have in a world with no peace. Nation against nation, man against man, and so in my lifetime, the country I reside in has been at war continually. Young men and old have died bravely and devotedly for a freedom, and a peace that man cannot have. It is a peace that is out of reach without God in this present world of sin. It is an allusion that no man can have outside of being a child of God in Jesus Christ – “and the truth shall set you free.” But we are not dealing with nations and people of now – but our peace with God. When we are born, we come into the world as a child of Adam, we are at conflict with God, and peace with God must be gained – it will not come naturally – it has to come supernaturally by faith of the Son of God, Jesus Christ. I must trust Him for complete peace. This means a clean conscience from all my sin. I am a new being, old things are passed away, and behold, all things are made new. Now, the rags of my sin are replaced with garments of the priest. I can stand in the presence of God and God sees me spotless because of Christ my Lord. Remember the hand of the sinner on the head of the lamb that was slain – is this not my sin? and the Lamb that taketh away the sin of the world, the Lord of Glory. His peace I have, because He made it for me. (Philippians 4:7; Romans 5:1; Ephesians 2:14-15; John 16: 33; Colossians 1:20) Let us now consider the meat offering.

Meat Offering

   The meat offering or gift offering in Leviticus 2 is different from the prior offerings in that the offeror now must prepare the offering by fire before he brings it to the priest. “What think ye of Christ, whose son is he?” Is this not our part in adoring Him, worshipping Him, loving Him? Is not this redemption we possess because of Him? This offering was made of fine flour with no leaven, does this not speak of His sinless life, “he did no sin.” And yet, to get fine flour, one must grind it with a heavy stone and sift it and maybe even grind it again till it is ready for the fire. The Son of God walked a pure life although He was tempted, yet He yielded Himself not to temptation. Now the Spirit of God must descend on Him to witness that He is the Son of God, so in Leviticus 2 we have the pouring on of oil on the pure flour. In Hebrews 1:9 we have our blessed Lord anointed with oil of gladness above his fellows. The Holy Lamb is now on the throne of Righteousness but that is not all in this offering. Now the frankincense is the sweet smell of His glorious presence. Those of you who have opened the door know what I am speaking about – a moment when His presence is known, and His love is poured out to your soul. All your being is stayed on Him – not another voice can you hear, not another presence can you feel, just Him and Him alone – the frankincense is poured out in Him. We also see the frankincense in His death, a sweet savor ascending to God the Father. (Ephesians 5:2) The travail of His soul was satisfied. (Isaiah 53) But to us that we may be found in Christ as a sweet savor unto Him, (2 Corinthians 2:15), not having spot or wrinkle. Now after the oil and the frankincense, the Israelite bakes the cake – it is made with fire. Remember, it was the fire of Jehovah that fell on Christ our Lord. There is no human mind that can ever imagine the depths that His soul traveled and travailed for us. So now, the offering is taken to the priest. The priest takes a portion and burns it on the altar as a sweet savor to God, and now God is satisfied. It is finished were the words of the Lord Jesus Christ on the cross. It is finished – the completion of all God’s grace and the finality of the work of redemption. Lastly, let us look at the burnt offering in Leviticus 1.

Burnt Offering

   This offering was commonly called the Burnt Offering, but in Leviticus 1 it is called the burnt sacrifice as well. It is the Spirit of God mingling the Son of God and the son of man – the perfect sacrifice. So close are the words of the Spirit that though we see Son of God and Son of man, we cannot divide them. So is the divine nature of Christ. He is both God and Man. He is both Lamb and sacrifice. When Christ was on the cross Pilate had written over the Lord’s head, “the King of the Jews.” The Lord Jesus told Pilate “to this end was I born.” Then, as the Son of God, He spoke, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.“ As the Son of man we hear He say “I thirst,” and as the perfect servant he said, ” It is finished.” The mingling of all the characteristics of an excellent and Divine sacrifice in the Person of Jesus Christ. By Himself, He purged our sins.

“when he had by himself purged our sins“

By Himself

 By Himself He paid the debt I could not pay.

 By Himself He removed a load I could not bare.

By Himself He opened the door and set me free.

By Himself He finished the work I could not do.

By Himself He is sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on High.

 © Copyright 2014, Michael C. Haigh

Article may be used, but not for gain. “Freely ye have received, freely give.”

All Scripture references from the King James Bible (KJB).