Jesus-Our Only Hope
Hebrews 9:23-28
Part of Home Group Study Guides - Hebrews
September 28, 2023

Sermon Date: October 1st, 2023

Reflections on Sunday’s Sermon

Below is a reference to the section of the New City Catechism that we went over on Sunday:

The New City Catechism

Lord’s Day 40

What Should We Pray?
The whole Word of God directs and inspires us in what we should pray, including the prayer Jesus himself taught us. (Ephesians 3:14-21)

Scripture

Hebrews 9:23-28 - (English Standard Version)

    23 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. 24 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. 25 Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, 26 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. 27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, 28 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.

Understanding and Applying

  1. Necessary: What was necessary in order for the Israelites to approach God through the copies of the heavenly things or what does purification with blood signify (v. 21-23)?

      2. • Evangelism: When communicating the gospel, why is it necessary that we speak of Jesus’ death as a substitutionary atonement?

  2. Typology: What has Jesus done that the earthly high priest could only point to (v. 24-26)?


    3. • Plan of Redemption: Why are we in a better position in the history of salvation than the saints who lived prior to Jesus’ coming (Matthew 11:11; Hebrews 1:1-2)?




3. Efficacious: How do you know that Jesus’ sacrifice was sufficient for past, present, and future saints and past, present, and future sins (vv. 25-26)?


4. Second Coming: Why should Jesus’ second coming be a source of delight for the saint and dread for the unbeliever (vv. 24, 26-28)?


    • Fear: Has church culture, or yourself, ever made Jesus’ second coming a source of dread for the saint and if so, how and why?