Introduction

Christians are under assault today. No, we are not being attacked by soldiers; there are no bombing attacks on United States soil. We are being attacked with lies and harmful ideologies. White Christian males are constantly being told they are racists for the color of their skin. Christianity is called bigoted, harmful, and dangerous. We are told not to believe our lying eyes when it comes to men pretending to be women or vice versa. The salvation the world offers is to be an ally for the things the Bible calls an abomination. Voddie Baucham shows in his book that “wokeism” is the new religion the culture is trying to push on us.[1] Its original sin is whiteness, and racism.[2] The only way for white people to overcome this sin is through antiracism and continual penance through supporting Marxist and anti-biblical groups.[3] It is continual work with no hope of forgiveness.

Yet, we are being threatened our jobs, education, and families if we do not give into these lies. Many Christians are wondering if one should compromise with this new religion to survive in society. I am here to tell you today is Christ’s atonement is far superior than the religion of wokeness and anti-racism.

Thesis

Christ’s atonement is permanent, final, and superior due to His office as high priest, the place He entered to atone us, and his work He did on the cross. All other systems are inferior to Christ’s work.

Text

Let us read our passage. Turn to Hebrews 9:23 – 28,

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (ESV).

Context

This passage is astounding as the audience is not too dissimilar to us today. It was written to Jewish Christians who were being tempted to leave the Christian faith and return to Judaism.[4] It was hard for Jewish Christians to lose their families, jobs, and sometimes their lives for the truth of the gospel of Christ, as can be seen in the stoning of Steven (Acts 7: 54 – 60). What is tempting for any one of us to do is to hide one’s faith and pretend to not be a follower of Christ, or worse abandon the faith completely. The author wanted his audience to know Christ was far superior to their old system of living. This section shows Christ’s atonement is far superior to the Old Covenant’s sacrificial system.

Outline

We are going to see the supremacy of Christ’s atonement in three movements. One, Christ’s atonement is superior because of His office. Two, Christ’s atonement is superior because of the place He performed it. Three, Christ’s atonement is superior because of the work itself.

Christ’s Atonement is Superior Because of His Office

While this is not directly in our passage we read, it is the greater context the author is trying to prove. Read verses 11 – 14,

 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God (Hebrews 9: 11 – 14, ESV).

Jesus Christ is far superior to the priests in Jerusalem in the earthly temple, which would be destroyed in 70 A. D. He is the supreme High priest. The reason for this is when He died, He went to the heavenly temple, where priests cannot enter, to pay for our sin. Since the heavenly temple cannot be destroyed and is eternal, then those who Jesus made atonement for have an eternal salvation (v. 12).

No earthly high priest can do that. This is even true of earthly “normal” priests. No Catholic priest can forgive your sin. He cannot die to give you salvation. He is just an earthly sinful man. The same is true of the Pope. He is just a plain sinful man who has not entered into heaven to intercede for you. No celebrity, politician, businessman, etc. can enter into heaven to intercede to God for you. Christ is far superior. His heavenly office guarantees your salvation. His office, who He is, guarantees his sacrifice for your sin, so you can grow in holiness, is far, far superior to confessions, sacrifices, or works, all of which cannot please God (vv. 13 – 14).

Christ’s Atonement is Superior Because of the Place He Performed It.

Let’s consider verses 23 – 24,

Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.  For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf (vv. 23 – 24, ESV).

The author is comparing the objects of the tabernacle, mentioned in verses 1 – 5, to the heavenly temple (v. 23). These objects had to be purified for service with the inferior blood of bulls and sheep, representing the blood of Christ (vv. 9 – 22). These objects are inferior to the heavenly objects because they are merely pictures of Christ and heaven.

I can have a picture of a 2023 Chevy Corvette, or even a model. Yet, I cannot get near the joy or benefit from a picture of model as the real thing. The real thing is far superior to the picture. How much more so God and heaven? These pictures of being with God is not near as great as our maker and savior as well as His dwelling place.

When Christ made atonement for us, he did not use the inferior pictures of heaven and himself. He entered heaven itself, where we are barred from. He approached the Father to pay our debt. To demonstrate this let us use the words of Psalm 24,

Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to what is false and does not swear deceitfully. He will receive blessing from the Lord and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob. Lift up your heads, O gates! And be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord, strong and mighty, the Lord, mighty in battle! Lift up your heads, O gates! And lift them up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in. Who is this King of glory? The Lord of hosts, he is the King of glory! (Psalm 24: 3 – 10, ESV).

If David can say this of the Ark of the Covenant entering into Jerusalem, what a spectacle it must have been for Jesus entering into heaven itself. No mere man can enter into heaven. They are tainted by sin. Yet, the King of Glory came in on our behalf. He entered into paradise so us captives of sin can be ushered in and freed from the captivity of sin.

Where can these lesser saviors get us? High paying jobs? You lose those when you die! Exclusive clubs? You leave those clubs when you lose your life! Cool places with lots of stuff? You cannot take it with you! They get us nowhere in the end. They do not deserve our allegiance. Only Christ, our King of Glory, does.

Christ’s Atonement is Superior Because of the Work Itself

Let us consider the last section,

Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him (Hebrews 9: 25 – 28, ESV).

            Christ’s sacrifice is permanent. This passage also shows Catholic Mass is unbiblical. Christ does not have to be continually sacrificed to atone for our sin in communion. Christ put sin away one for all by his atonement (vv. 25 – 26). Because of who Christ is and where he did it, Jesus’s sacrifice only had to be done once to pay for the sin of all people for all time who would repent and trust in Him.

Other priests and inferior saviors cannot do this. They have to keep having you confess your sin to them or continually apologize on behalf of your race. Ever notice when a celebrity apologizes for racism, they continually have to apologize for white people and racism.

That is not so with Jesus. Jesus died once for all so we would not have to face God’s wrath. Jesus died for the sin of racism, hate, pride, sexual immorality, and every other sin which incurs God’s just wrath. We do not have to continually apologize for sins we did not commit, like systemic racism, or sins of our past because Jesus already paid the price for them.

Death is a permanent thing. Jesus’s death permanently sealed our forgiveness and salvation from judgement (v. 27). Just as we only die once, then we are judged by God, so it is with Christ’s death (v. 27). We also have the hope of eternal life in Christ and future bodily salvation in Christ’s future return to save us from the presence of sin (v. 28).

Conclusion

We do not have to give into the temptation to submit to any false religion, like Catholicism, or any new religion; whether it be, wokeism, anti-racism, or any other -ism. Christ’s atonement is more than sufficient, it is superior to all of them; because of His office, the place He performed the atonement, and the act itself.

If you are white, you do not have to feel guilty for societal racism for two reasons. First, it is not your fault. You are not guilty for the sins of people who have your skin shade (Ezekiel 18: 20). Second, if you repent of your sins, even ones that are targeting others who have a different skin shade of brown, Jesus has already made an eternal atonement for you in heaven by His blood. You do not have to become a cultural Marxist to atone for your sin. Christ already paid for your sin. Trust in Him

The same goes if you are a different skin shade of brown, sex, or ethnicity. Christ provided eternal payment for all who repent and trust in Him. Though we are guilty before God in being lying, thieving, blasphemous, adulterous, murderers at heart, Christ has paid the eternal payment for your sin if you turn from your sin and trust in Him. Keep true to the faith.

If you want more biblical resources on studying the Scriptures, check out the store at strivingforeternity.org/store. There are also a lot of other articles on the website to encourage you to dive deeper into God’s Word. Please also check out Apologetics Live at ApologeticsLive.com, where Andrew Rappaport, Anthony Silvestro, and Justin Pierce answer your questions and teach you how to defend the faith. It is on from 8pm – 10pm EST. Also, do not forget to check out the Rapp Report, where you can hear the teaching of Andrew Rappaport and the Christian Podcast Community. Lord bless you.

[1] Voddie Baucham, Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Undoing (Washington, D. C.: Salem Books, 2021), 67 – 85.

[2] Ibid., 69 – 79.

[3] Ibid., 83 – 85.

[4] David L. Allen, Hebrews, The New American Commentary (Nashville, TN: B & H Publishing Group, 2010), 79.