Worshipping The Shadow Or The Reality

INTRO

As we dig into the Word of God, it’s always good to remember how Scripture came to us through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it’s important for us as we study to also be inspired by the Holy Spirit. Hebrews 10 is really an extension or continuation of chapters 8—9. Chapter 10 focuses on the fact that Jesus is better than, and superior to, the Law.

TEACHING

Hebrews 10:1-4: The author describes the Law as “only a shadow of the good things to come, and not the actual form of those realities” (v. 1). A shadow is created by light or something that gets in the way of the light. A shadow cannot happen if something doesn’t create the shadow. When the priests took part every day in the daily sacrifices, that’s all they saw—a shadow of what was real. All the offerings that took place were a shadow of what was to come. They never saw what was creating the shadow—Jesus Christ.

The Law is just a model of the real thing. It has power only because of the power of the real thing. By observing the law, they offered sacrifices for their sin, and temporary atonement was given. It was powerful, but not as powerful as what Christ did on the cross. Sometimes we see the shadows of Christ in our lives, and we worship the shadows rather than worshipping the reality.

For example, a church experiencing great growth needed to redo its facility to create a larger worship area. The architect wanted to put the children’s area in the place where the altar had originally stood. The people in the church would not allow that to happen because that was the place in which they had accepted Christ’s salvation. The place became an idol to them because they weren’t saved by the place but only through Jesus. Sadly, the people there won. There may be something that is a shadow to you that represents when you met Christ—such as a special hymn—that keeps you from worshipping through any other type of worship music.

Consider this: How long ago was your last testimony of what God did in your life? Are you going back to the original testimony and worshipping that?

Hebrews 10:5-18: These verses show Jesus as both the High Priest and the one who was sacrificed. After His sacrifice, the once and for all sacrifice that was so complete that it never needed to be offered again, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God. When Jesus died, an earthquake caused the veil in the temple to be split in two from the top down. I believe God was shaking the very foundation of the temple and the beliefs and practices that were tied to it. The destruction of the old started then, and the Jews repaired or replaced the veil and kept going on with their sacrifices every day as before, probably even on the day Jesus rose from the dead, and every day after that.

Hebrews 10:19-25: The section begins with the word “therefore”. There are actually fifteen times in Hebrews the word therefore is used. Each is important.

Hebrews 3:1: Fix your eyes on Christ so you don’t drift away. Hebrews 4:1: Don’t miss God’s promises to find rest in Him.

Hebrews 4:7: Using “again”, God has set the date, so do not harden your hearts against Him. Hebrews 4:11: Using “then”, make every effort to rest in God.

After going through all fifteen, I found two themes that used therefore (or again or then). First, the exhortation was to stay focused on Jesus. Second, be careful you don’t fall short. There was either a warning or a focus in all fifteen.

In verse 19 the “therefore” calls the readers to focus on Jesus and then leads to the warning that because of what Jesus has done for us, we should do certain things. These things always began with “let us” (v. 22, 23, 24:

1. Let us draw near to God in complete assurance of our faith (v. 22). We can go into the presence of God without any barriers.
2. Let us unwaveringly hold on to our hope in Christ (v. 23).
3. Let us spur on one another in love and good works (v. 24). This third one can’t be done if the first two are not a part of our lives first.
4. Let us meet together in fellowship and worship (v. 25a).
5. Let us keep encouraging each other (v. 25b).

If we neglect these things, we lose the power of the gospel.

Hebrews 10:26-39: This section holds a strong warning, possibly the strongest warning in Scripture: “For if we deliberately sin after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a terrifying expectation of judgment and the fury of a fire about to consume the adversaries” (vv. 26-27). These verses mean if you reject the salvation offering Christ has made for you, that you turn from it and don’t live a life for Him, judgment will come.

Sadly, in the United States today, we’ve seen people who have stood for Christ, who have preached and taught His salvation and God’s Word, but who are now rejecting everything they have stood for.

This knowledge that has been received from God is an intimate knowledge. It’s a powerful knowledge. The warning here is that if you mess around with religion, if you mess around with the shadow, the shadow cannot destroy you. There’s no power in the shadow. But, if you’re talking about the one sacrifice of Christ, you’re no longer talking about a tent (or temple) but of the Son of God— which is major power. If you draw near to Him, hold on to Him, and spur on each other in meetings and worship and if THEN you deliberately reject it all, that’s a dangerous place to be in.

This can seem scary, but what if we deliberately draw near to Him and hold on to Him? What if we deliberately meet with other believers even when we don’t want to meet with them? If we do these things, we will experience God’s incredible power in our lives. It’s the flip side of the warning. There is no power in the shadow. The shadow only points to the real work Jesus did for us on the cross.

CLOSING

Are you holding on to shadows? Are you holding on to worshipping Him in places or through songs or through certain pastors that are more important than the worship itself? I want to encourage you to tap into the power of Jesus today, and let His power in your life bring a new testimony to you.