The following is a sermon transcript from our Sunday Service at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey. Each week, we gather to worship, learn from God’s Word, and grow together. This transcript is provided as a free resource to encourage and equip you in your walk with Christ. While you’re welcome to read and share this content for personal use, we kindly ask that it not be redistributed or published elsewhere without prior written consent from The Rock Church.
Introduction
After the way I treated him, how could he leave all this to me? It’s the story of a young man whose father had loved him faithfully all his life. His father provided for him, listened to him, showed up when he needed help. The son loved his father, but there were calls that he didn’t return. Advice he resented, words that he wished he could have taken back. He always assumed there would be more time.
And then his father died. Along with the grief came regret. Now he would have gladly answered one more call. He would have wished he could sit across from the table to see his father and tell him how grateful he was. Later, as his father’s affairs were settled, he learned that his father had left him a generous inheritance, far more than he could have ever imagined. His name was there. His father’s wishes were clear. As he listened to what his father left him, he kept remembering how he had treated him. How could he leave all of this to me?
Maybe you recognize something of that struggle when you hear the promises of God. You hear about his forgiveness and you remember that sin that you wish you could undo. You hear that God welcomes his people and think about how often you have taken his kindness for granted. You believe that these are wonderful promises, but receiving them personally, man, that can be pretty hard. After what I’ve done, could this really be mine?
And that’s where the passage meets us this morning. Of course, our guilt before God requires more than reassurance that we are loved. We’ve sinned against him. That guilt must be dealt with. And Hebrews tells us that Jesus has done precisely that. Verse 15 says this: his death redeems his people from their transgressions so that they may receive the promised eternal inheritance. So we work through these verses. We’ll see what he has secured for his people and why his death gives us such confidence in his promise.
Here’s the big idea we’ll see this morning: By his death and shed blood, Jesus secures our forgiveness and our eternal inheritance.
We see that unfold. There’s four ways. The first is that Jesus obviously died to secure our eternal inheritance. Second, our inheritance required his death. Third, the first covenant foreshadows his shed blood. And the last, our forgiveness depends entirely on his shed blood.
1. Jesus Died to Secure Our Eternal Inheritance
(Hebrews 9:15)
So we begin by considering all the riches of verse 15. Jesus died to secure our eternal inheritance. Let’s read that again. Hebrews chapter 9, verse 15 says,
“Therefore” — so we’re pointing backwards because of what we just said in the prior verses — “Therefore, he is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since the death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.”
You see clearly, verse 15 begins by saying that Jesus is the mediator of this new covenant. The covenant is that solemn bond between God and his people with promises and obligations that he establishes, that he sets in place. The preceding verse explains to us why he is the mediator. Because his blood cleanses our conscience from dead works that we might serve the living God. You recall these works stained by sin. Those dead works that cannot give us life. And no amount of good works can remove our guilt or earn God’s favor. And that is the beauty of the gospel. We are cleansed from sin. And then we’re made fit for fellowship with the living God. We are set free to serve and worship him with joy in our hearts.
Through our great high priest, through his sacrificial death, our great high priest secures the blessings of the new covenant for his people. As our mediator, he acts on our behalf before God. He deals with our sin. He brings us into fellowship with the living God. Christ alone has restored what was broken, our relationship with God. He’s brought peace by the blood of his cross.
And we remember all of those rich promises from Hebrews 8. What does he say then? God writes his law on our hearts. We belong to him. We have the privilege of knowing him. We have the forgiveness of sins. Jesus secures all these promises by his death.
You see, an obstacle stood before God’s people. Their sins. All the ways that they broke God’s commands. Verse 15 says, a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. You see, the law required that. Repeated sacrifices. But animal blood could not itself take away their sins. Old Testament believers were truly forgiven, but their forgiveness depended on the sacrifice Christ would offer. Their salvation rested entirely on him, even though they could not yet see his finished work as we clearly see it now.
And that’s what brings us to that beautiful, wonderful word of redemption. What does it mean to redeem? Well, in the simplest terms, it’s to set someone free by paying a price. But why? Why is this redemption so necessary? Why? Because we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We’ve broken his holy law. The guilt is ours and we cannot remove it ourselves. Only the death of the spotless Lamb of God can satisfy that death. He alone satisfies God’s wrath, his holy anger against sin. We deserve that wrath. But Jesus bore it on our behalf.
Ephesians 1:7 reminds us of this: “In Him, we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace.” Redemption through Christ’s blood means forgiveness of our sins. The gift is free for us because Jesus bore the cost.
And now, what then is that purpose of his mediation? You see that at the end of verse 15: so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance.
Earlier in Hebrews 3:1, the writer addressed these believers as those who shared in a heavenly calling. These are the very ones who are called to receive the promised eternal inheritance that Jesus secures. Now I want you to notice who takes the initiative in this effort. It’s God who calls. It’s God who freely gives us everything in Christ. We don’t earn it. We receive it entirely by grace.
And consider that, how the writer describes this inheritance. He says it’s promised. Its certainty rests on the faithfulness of God. Our God will accomplish everything that He’s promised. And it’s eternal. There’s no expiration date on it. Our confidence rests in Christ’s finished work. And He sustains us as we hold fast to Him.
So what does that inheritance include? We know already something of its blessings. We know God is our Father. We know forgiveness of sins. We have access to God in prayer. But we have yet to experience the fullness of everything that Christ has secured for us. We will enjoy that fullness when Christ returns, raises his people to everlasting life.
Later in Hebrews, the writer describes this as the better country, a heavenly one, and says that God has prepared a city for his people. He speaks of this kingdom that cannot be shaken. Think about how much of life here can be shaken. Your health can change with one appointment. A relationship that you treasured oh so much becomes strained. You can spend years building your life and then find yourself facing circumstances that you just didn’t expect. But the inheritance that Christ has secured will never fall apart. His people will have a lasting home with him.
And the greatest joy of that inheritance is that we will be with our Savior. We will see the one who has loved us and gave himself for us. We will enjoy his presence, and be completely free from this body of sin and death, this corruption that lies within. I’m tired of the corruption. Maybe you know the weariness of confessing that same sin again and again. And part of you is grieving. There’s this impatience. You wish you had held your tongue. You wonder why your heart is so slow to trust the Lord after all of His kindness toward you.
Listen, one day that struggle will be over. You will love him with a completely undivided heart. You will worship him without any distraction, care, worry, anxiety. You will serve him without growing weary or turning aside. And there will be no last day of enjoying him. So many things that we treasure in this life can be lost. But there, here is this treasure, this inheritance forever. I don’t know how to emphasize it more to you. You will never have to say goodbye to your Savior. You will never lose your place among His people. That is what Jesus died to secure for us. His death removes all of the guilt, all of that stained conscience, and brings us into everlasting enjoyment of life with the Lord forever.
So when you hear those two words, eternal inheritance, think about what awaits you. A lasting home. Freedom from sin, and the joy of being with Christ forever. Jesus died to secure our eternal inheritance.
2. Our Inheritance Required His Death
(Hebrews 9:16–17)
All this comes to us through the death of Christ, we just said. And in verses 16 and 17, the author helps us understand why that death was so necessary. It’s the second: our inheritance required his death. Let’s read again verses 16 to 17.
“For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive.”
Most of us are pretty familiar with how a will works. Do I have to go into the details? A will names the people who receive the inheritance and specifies exactly what they will receive. But the inheritance is not distributed under the will until the person who made it dies. Remember the young man in the opening illustration? His father’s will said what he wanted his son to receive. When his father died, that inheritance became his.
That’s the connection that the author wants us to see. Receiving the inheritance requires a death. And this is what’s so wonderful about Christ. He came to secure that inheritance for us through his death. This is the blessing of the new covenant that he mediates on our behalf. The price has been paid in full. And one day, we will enjoy that inheritance in its fullness. The death that was required has taken place.
Think about that for a moment. The future we have just described is ours because Jesus willingly went to his death. Our everlasting joy came at the cost of his suffering. As we consider that what awaits us, we also remember the Savior who gave himself to bring us there. It’s done. It’s finished. Can you say with me, hallelujah, what a Savior? Yeah, man.
But what about those days when you struggle to feel sure that this promise is yours? Listen, faith receives what Christ secured. Some days you will feel the comfort of that promise. Other days, your heart is going to leave you unsettled, and distracted, and doubting. But Christ’s death is an accomplished, objective fact on both of those days. Your feelings will change. I got the feelings wheel. They will change from morning to evening. But what Jesus accomplished does not change. Faith takes Him at His word, even when the comfort of that word does not come right away, even though you don’t feel it. You can still say, my Savior did it all.
And our response then is what? Thankfulness, worship, joyful heart. It clings to Christ. Our inheritance required the death of Jesus. But was this connection between covenant and blood something new?
3. The First Covenant Foreshadowed His Shed Blood
(Hebrews 9:18–21)
Look at how God established the first covenant. It’s our third point: the first covenant foreshadowed his shed blood. And that’s what we see in detail here.
“Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.’ In the same way, sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship.”
Take a deep breath. God has made it clear that even the first covenant was established through the shedding of blood. By first covenant, be clear here, he means God’s covenant with Israel at Sinai. He’s comparing it with the new covenant established through Christ’s blood.
Now what the author does is he takes us to Exodus chapter 24. And it’s right here in verse 3 of that chapter that Moses declares all the Lord’s words and rules to the people. And isn’t it amazing that they respond together, promising to do everything the Lord has commanded? That’s what the author is describing at the beginning of verse 19. God has declared His commandments to His people. And then according to Exodus 24:5, they do what? They offer burnt offerings and peace offerings to the Lord. So God speaks His word and His people offer sacrifices. Hebrews adds that Moses takes the blood and the water and the scarlet wool and the hyssop and sprinkles both the book and the people.
I’m not going to go into all of the imagery here. I just want to give you a high level. You may wonder about scarlet wool and hyssop. Hyssop was a plant whose branches were used to apply blood or sprinkle water in Israel’s ceremonies. You see, that was offered to Jesus, of course. Similar, the scarlet wool was that wool that was dyed red. All these materials appear together in the cleansing rituals God gave his people in Leviticus. Of course, our blood, our sin is like scarlet. Isaiah talks about this.
But why sprinkle both the book and the people? Seems a bit odd. The book contained the words of the covenant, the terms that God gave Israel. The people were those whom God was bringing into this covenant relationship with himself. So the blood marked both the covenant document and the covenant people. I want you to see that. The blood in the book, it doesn’t mean that God’s words were sinful or needed atonement. It showed that this covenant, with its promises and obligations, was being put into effect through the shedding of blood. That’s what we see. The blood sprinkled on the people marked them as belonging to that covenant. They were being set apart to live as God’s people under his word.
So I want you to picture for a moment what they just experienced. Here we are, the people of God. We have heard the commands. We have promised oh so hard that we will obey. And Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrificed animals upon them. Their promise to obey was certainly serious. There’s no evidence that they were disingenuous or leading a lie. None at all. But even that promise, even that desire, didn’t remove the need for the sacrifice.
Moses explains what this means. Look at Hebrews 9:20: “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” Blood is what established the covenant. And blood was also used to cleanse what Israel used in worship. Look at verse 21. Moses also sprinkled the tabernacle and the vessels used in worship with blood. The whole place where they approached God, the objects used in his service, all required cleansing. You see that? God was teaching his people that sinners could only draw near to him through the provision that he alone had made.
Does that sound familiar? The blood of the covenant? You remember what Jesus said at the Last Supper when he speaks of his own blood as the blood of the covenant, the new covenant? He points to his approaching death. Moses sprinkled the blood of sacrificed animals. Jesus would give his own blood to establish this new covenant. The first covenant pointed to the sacrifice our Savior would offer.
I want you to think about what we do when we gather here on a Sunday. We sing to God. We bring our needs before Him in prayer. We hear His word. We confess our sins together. These are all familiar things. These are all very good things. But have you considered what it costs for us to draw near to God like this? The blood sprinkled throughout Israel’s place of worship, that taught them something very clear, that drawing near required some serious cleansing. We gather today because Christ has provided that cleansing. Every time that we gather, every time that we encourage and pray and proclaim, we depend on what Jesus did for us.
Maybe you came this morning carrying something you’re ashamed of. You’ve greeted people, then you went to find your seat, you opened your Bible, but when we begin to sing, you wonder… How can I pray? How can I praise God after the week that I’ve had or the things that I’ve done or the disappointments that I’ve faced? Maybe the service has become familiar. So familiar that you hardly think about the privilege of drawing near to God, to a holy God, through Christ. You know when to stand, you know when to sit, you know when to bow your head. But you can move through the motions, stopping to marvel that you have been brought near to God through Christ.
We all need to remember this. Christ gave himself to bring us near to God. So that means that we can confess our sins honestly when we pray honestly. We can bring that burden before our Father. When we sing of Christ’s mercy, we have every reason to join in and worship. You are coming through the Savior who shed His blood for you. I want you to let that give weight and also great, great joy to your worship. What a privilege it is to draw near to the living God with God’s people together.
The book, the people, the tabernacle, even the vessels used in worship were sprinkled with blood. And all of this, all of that just incredible display, pointed forward to an even greater display of the cross of Christ. Verse 22 states the reason plainly: without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. And that’s where we find ourselves at the last point here.
4. Our Forgiveness Depends Entirely on His Shed Blood
(Hebrews 9:22)
Our forgiveness depends entirely on His shed blood. We read verse 22 together.
“Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.”
The first thing we notice is that word almost. Some ceremonial cleansing involved washing with water. Some objects were purified with both fire and water. But blood, at its very core, stood at the center of that entire sacrificial system. We have to ask why blood was so central. Leviticus 17:11 tells us — where’s the life? The life of the flesh is in the blood. And that God gave it on the altar to deal with their guilt, the sins of the people. The shedding of blood meant a life was given in death. Sin deserves death. The wages of sin are death. And God, in His grace, provides a sacrifice, our Savior, to die in our place. That’s why the author says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.
But sometimes it is our natural instinct to minimize our own sin. We say things like, man, I wasn’t that bad. Everybody seems to be doing it. Look how much of the world is in the church. That was so long ago. What’s the big deal? And we begin to think God just overlooks some of these things.
And when we hear about all of these sacrifices, I mean, this might be your first time, and you’re like, this is weird to me. That we’re talking about blood so much. I understand. But you may wonder why they’re so necessary. Why all this blood? If sin can just be ignored. Listen, we have sinned against the Holy God. That reality is far deeper than we care to acknowledge. And the reality is our God is a God of justice. He will and always does judge rightly. He doesn’t cast that aside. He doesn’t look the other way. He cannot treat evil as though it doesn’t even matter. Sacrifices to the Israelites, man, that taught them how serious their guilt was. And perhaps that’s the intended purpose of us going back there, so that we can see how serious it was for our Savior to suffer and die for us.
God will deal justly with every sin. All sin. The only question before us is, will you face his judgment in your own sin and guilt? Or will you be found in Christ? If you’ve not trusted him, this passage is calling you right now to turn to Christ, to turn to God through Christ. Forgiveness is found in the Savior who shed his blood for sinners.
So how can God forgive us while still dealing justly with our sin? Well, God himself provides the answer. We know it. He sent his son. Jesus willingly gave his life. He did it as a substitute. He did it voluntarily. At the cross, Jesus bore the full weight of the wrath of God, the judgment of our sin that we deserve. He fully satisfied God’s justice on our behalf. God can forgive those who trust in Jesus because God will forgive because their sins have been dealt with through his death.
I hope you don’t get tired of hearing the gospel. Good. Our confession puts it this way in chapter 11, paragraph 3: “Christ, by his obedience and death, did fully” — and I want you to notice that word fully — “discharge the debt of all those that are justified.” Fully. Fully. Fully discharge the debt. That means that Jesus paid it all.
And what does this mean for us, for those of us who believe? Well, we have an option. We can become casual about the very sins that Jesus died to forgive. We know we struggle with sin. And then we’ll just say, well, this is just my frame. This is just how it is. I’m just going to sin. And just make excuses. But I want you to look at what our forgiveness cost our Savior. He willingly gave himself for us. It’s his love that compels us to turn from sin. To turn from the very thing that he suffered and died to pay for.
We’re tempted to excuse it. We’ve got to remember His sacrifice will humble us and make us, will cause us to treasure Him more and more. Because you’re going to see that sin nature more and more as you walk with the Lord. And you’re going to see His kindness and His grace more, deeper, richer. Because you see, man, I am a wretch. That’s why we hold out Christ to weary sinners. All of us are weary sinners. If you’re not, you’re proud.
And when we do sin, we come honestly before him because there is no unpaid balance for you to settle. Your sin is serious, but his sacrifice is sufficient. And you can confess what you’ve done without making excuses. You can do it and trust him and know that it is forgiven.
Well, maybe you know God forgives you, but then you think about someone you hurt. You remember what you said. You can still see the damage and you wonder, how can I have peace when what I did was so wrong? The cross shows us that God knows exactly how serious our sin is. Our forgiveness cost the Son of God, the Eternal One who took on flesh, His very life. You can acknowledge what you did fully and honestly. You can ask the person you hurt for forgiveness. You can seek to make things right. There still may be consequences for your sin. Trust may take time to rebuild. But here’s what you don’t need to keep doing. I want you to stop condemning yourself to prove that you’re truly sorry. Jesus has borne your condemnation. You can grieve what you’ve done and you can still thank him that you’re forgiven, because we live before the face of God. It’s all laid bare.
And that brings us back to the promise in verse 15. Jesus died so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. Our sins stood in the way. His death dealt with those very sins. We know that the Savior who secured our forgiveness has secured our inheritance. That’s our hope. Not how sorry you are, how hard you want to try, or how obedient you are one day, not the other. The Savior secured your inheritance. It’s not going anywhere. You can look forward to everything God has promised you. Jesus has paid the full cost.
Conclusion
So as we close, remember the young man at the beginning. The son who struggled to receive his father’s inheritance because he knew how often he had failed him. And he kept thinking, after the way that I treated him, how could this be mine? And that might be your question today. You’ve heard what Christ has promised, but you know how often that you’ve failed him.
Listen clearly. There’s a big difference between feeling unworthy and having an uncertain inheritance. Your unworthiness is the very reason that you need a mediator. If you’re trusting in Christ, he has dealt with your guilt that has stood against you. His death is the very reason that you can receive the promise that God has for you. God knows every one of your sins. Every sin that I’ve committed and will commit and am committing. And Christ’s sacrifice is sufficient to cleanse you completely.
So if you’ve been keeping distance from Christ, I want you just to come back. Jesus says, come, come to me. If you’re weary, if you’re heavy laden, I’ll give you rest. I promise, he says. Bring those sins that you can’t undo and the guilt that’s just gripping your conscience. Bring that to the Savior. Bring that to the one who rose, who died and rose again, and trust him to meet you in that place.
If you belong to him, receive his promise with thanksgiving, even though you may not feel like it. Just give thanks. Because you can confess your sins honestly. You can turn from them. You can worship with joy and face the future with hope, a hope that is certain, the certain inheritance. Because one day, we will stand before the presence of the Savior and see the beauty on full display of how he gave himself for us. The inheritance he purchased will be yours to enjoy forever. The Savior who secured your forgiveness has also secured your inheritance.
So I want us to respond to what we’ve just said by confessing our sins, and we do it together. But as we pray, I want you to remember, asking our Father to forgive us does not mean we’re asking him to save us all over again. We come as his children, we confess how we’ve sinned against our Father, and we can still ask for forgiveness. Because we know our standing as his children is secure, but our sins do grieve him. So we ask him to forgive us and restore that joy of fellowship with him. Even Jesus taught us to pray this. Our Father, and then he says, forgive us our debts, our sins. We confess with confidence because Christ has already provided everything we need to come to him. So let’s pray together as we confess our sins.
Closing Prayer
Our gracious Father, You are holy, holy, holy, holy. We tremble at Your presence and at the reality that You have brought us near. Oh Lord, all Your judgments are right. And we confess, we confess all the sin that’s in our hearts, in our minds, in our words.
We’ve made excuses, Lord, for our disobedience. We’ve treated our sin lightly and treated Your mercy for granted. Lord, we have hurt others and we have been slow to seek their forgiveness. We have harbored resentment and bitterness. We also confess that we have often trusted our promises to do better, to work harder, more than the finished work of Jesus. We’ve carried the guilt as if Jesus has left a part of the debt unpaid.
And so Lord, would You forgive us afresh? In the name of Jesus.
Lord, we thank You so much that You sent Your only Son to bear the full weight of the judgment of the holy God that we deserve. Your sacrifice is sufficient. So by Your Spirit, help us to turn from the sins that we’ve excused, the things that we’ve suppressed, the things that we’ve walked right past. Give us boldness, Lord, to acknowledge the harm we’ve done, to seek to make things right. Teach us to receive Your forgiveness with grateful hearts.
Lord, fix our eyes on Jesus. Strengthen our hope, God, in this wonderful eternal inheritance that You have promised. And we pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Ready to Take Your Next Steps at The Rock Church in Mount Laurel?
The Rock Church in Mount Laurel, New Jersey exists to help people know God, follow Jesus, and make disciples who multiply. Whether you’re new or already part of our church family, we’re here to help you stay connected! Plan your visit to experience a Sunday with us, or download the Church Center App to stay updated, join a group, register for events, and more.
