The Finished Work: From Shadow to Substance Text: Hebrews 10:1-18
Introduction: The Inadequacy of Repetition
We live in an age that is allergic to finality. Our culture is one of endless upgrades, perpetual beta testing, and constant reinvention. Nothing is ever settled, nothing is ever finished. This mindset has seeped into the church, creating a kind of spiritual restlessness, a sense that we must always be doing something more to secure our position with God. We are constantly looking for the next spiritual technique, the next emotional experience, the next conference that will finally make us feel acceptable. We are, in short, trying to live in the Old Covenant.
The entire system of the Old Covenant was built on the principle of repetition. The sacrifices were offered year by year, day by day, time after time. It was a constant, bloody reminder of sin. It was a treadmill of atonement that never actually arrived anywhere. The writer to the Hebrews is making a stark and glorious contrast. He is showing these Jewish Christians, who were being tempted to go back to the temple system, that to do so would be to trade the finished reality for the inadequate shadow. It would be like a man, having been married to the most beautiful woman in the world, deciding to go back to looking at her high school yearbook photo instead.
The argument of this chapter is a sledgehammer to the conscience that is still trying to earn its own salvation. The old system was a shadow, a sketch, a placeholder. It was designed by God to be inadequate. It was a divinely constructed pointer to the reality that was to come. That reality is the person and work of Jesus Christ. His sacrifice was not another in a long line of sacrifices. It was the sacrifice that ended the need for all other sacrifices. It was once for all. This is not just a quantitative difference; it is a qualitative, eternal, universe-altering difference. If we do not grasp this, we do not grasp the gospel.
The central point here is one of absolute finality. The work is done. The debt is paid. The sacrifice is complete. To go back to the old way is not just a nostalgic mistake; it is an insult to the finished work of Christ. It is to say that His body, His blood, His death, and His resurrection were somehow not enough. And that is a damnable lie.
The Text
For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, “SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME; IN BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE TAKEN NO PLEASURE. THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME, IN THE SCROLL OF THE BOOK IT IS WRITTEN OF ME, TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’ ” After saying above, “SACRIFICES AND OFFERINGS AND BURNT OFFERINGS AND sacrifices FOR SIN YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, NOR HAVE YOU TAKEN PLEASURE in them” (which are offered according to the Law), then He said, “BEHOLD, I HAVE COME TO DO YOUR WILL.” He takes away the first in order to establish the second. By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us, for after saying, “THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,” He then says, “AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.” Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin.
(Hebrews 10:1-18 LSB)
Shadows and Reminders (vv. 1-4)
The writer begins by exposing the built-in obsolescence of the Levitical system.
"For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near." (Hebrews 10:1)
The Law was a shadow. A shadow is a real thing, but it is not the substance. It is cast by the substance. If you see the shadow of a man, you know a man is coming. But you would be a fool to try and shake the shadow's hand. The entire ceremonial law was a shadow cast into the Old Testament by the cross of Christ, which stood in the future. The law had "good things to come," but it did not have the good things themselves. It was a promissory note, not the payment.
Because it was a shadow, it could never "make perfect" those who drew near. The word "perfect" here means to complete, to bring to the intended goal. The goal is full, unhindered fellowship with God, with a clean conscience. The Old Covenant sacrifices could never accomplish this. They were a temporary covering, a ritual cleansing, but they could not touch the deep stain of sin on the human heart. The proof of this inadequacy is in their repetition.
"Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshipers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have consciousness of sins? But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." (Hebrews 10:2-4)
The logic is airtight. If a medicine actually cures a disease, you stop taking it. The fact that the sacrifices had to be offered "continually" was the ultimate proof of their ineffectiveness. Instead of removing the consciousness of sin, they were an annual "reminder" of sin. The Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, was not a day of final victory; it was a day of remembering just how deep the problem was. It was God's way of saying, "Your sin is still here. This animal's blood cannot solve this problem. You need a better sacrifice."
Verse 4 states the principle plainly: "it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins." There is no moral equivalence. An animal cannot substitute for a man, an image-bearer of God. The entire system was designed to create a hunger for the true Lamb of God, who alone could bear the sin of the world.
The Prepared Body and the Perfect Will (vv. 5-10)
The writer now brings in the Messiah Himself, speaking through the Psalmist, to declare the transition from the old to the new.
"Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, 'SACRIFICE AND OFFERING YOU HAVE NOT DESIRED, BUT A BODY YOU HAVE PREPARED FOR ME... THEN I SAID, ‘BEHOLD, I HAVE COME... TO DO YOUR WILL, O GOD.’'" (Hebrews 10:5, 7)
This is a quotation from Psalm 40. The writer of Hebrews applies these words directly to Christ at His incarnation. The coming of Jesus into the world marks the end of the animal sacrifices. God never "desired" them for their own sake. They were a temporary lesson plan. What God truly desired was perfect obedience, a perfect will submitted to His own. And this is what Christ came to offer.
Notice the key phrase: "a body you have prepared for me." This is where the solution to the problem of verse 4 is found. The blood of bulls and goats is insufficient, so God prepared a human body for His Son. The incarnation was a necessary prerequisite for the atonement. The eternal Word had to become flesh so that He could have a body to offer, blood to shed. This body was not tainted by Adam's sin. It was a holy, perfect, prepared body, fit for a perfect sacrifice.
The writer then drives the point home in verses 8 through 10. Christ's coming establishes a new principle. He "takes away the first," that is, the entire system of repeated animal sacrifices, "in order to establish the second," which is the principle of doing God's will. And what is that will? "By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." (v. 10). God's will was not for us to try harder. God's will was for His Son to be offered. Our sanctification, our being set apart as holy, is not accomplished by our efforts but by that one, singular, unrepeatable event: the offering of Christ's body on the cross. It is finished. Once for all.
The Priest Who Sat Down (vv. 11-14)
The contrast is now drawn between the posture of the old priests and the posture of our great High Priest, Jesus.
"And every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD" (Hebrews 10:11-12)
This is a glorious picture. The Old Testament priests were always standing. There were no chairs in the Tabernacle or the Temple. Why? Because their work was never done. They stood daily, offering the "same sacrifices" over and over, sacrifices that could "never take away sins." Theirs was a ministry of perpetual, unfinished business.
But Christ, after His one sacrifice, "sat down." This is the posture of finished work. It is the posture of victory and authority. He sat down "at the right hand of God," the place of supreme honor and power. His work of atonement is complete. There is nothing to add. He is not pacing in heaven, wondering if it will work. He sat down.
And what is He doing now that He is seated? He is "waiting from that time UNTIL HIS ENEMIES ARE PUT AS A FOOTSTOOL FOR HIS FEET." (v. 13). This is a quote from Psalm 110. This is not passive waiting. This is the confident waiting of a king who has already won the decisive battle and is now overseeing the mopping-up operations. The outcome is not in doubt. Through the preaching of the gospel, through the work of His church in the world, Christ is progressively putting all things under His feet. His kingdom is advancing, and it will continue to do so until every enemy, including the last enemy, death, is vanquished. This is the engine of our postmillennial hope. Christ is reigning now, and His enemies are being subdued now.
Verse 14 summarizes the glorious effect of this one offering: "For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." Notice the two tenses. We "have been perfected for all time." That is our legal status in Christ. It is a completed reality. We are perfect in Him. At the same time, we "are being sanctified." That is our practical, ongoing experience. We are being made holy in our daily lives. The foundation of our ongoing sanctification is our once-for-all perfection in Christ. We do not strive in order to be perfected; we strive because we have been perfected.
The Spirit's Testimony (vv. 15-18)
Finally, the writer calls the Holy Spirit as his witness, quoting from the great New Covenant promise in Jeremiah 31.
"And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us... 'THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THEM... I WILL PUT MY LAWS UPON THEIR HEART, AND ON THEIR MIND I WILL WRITE THEM,' He then says, 'AND THEIR SINS AND THEIR LAWLESS DEEDS I WILL REMEMBER NO MORE.'" (Hebrews 10:15-17)
The New Covenant, established by Christ's blood, is superior in two fundamental ways. First, it is internal. The law is no longer on tablets of stone, external to us, but is written on our hearts and minds by the Spirit. God gives us a new nature that desires to obey Him. Second, it provides total and final forgiveness. "Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." This is not divine amnesia. It is a legal declaration. God chooses not to hold our sins against us. They have been dealt with, paid for, and cast into the depths of the sea.
This leads to the triumphant conclusion in verse 18: "Now where there is forgiveness of these things, there is no longer any offering for sin." This is the final nail in the coffin of the sacrificial system. If sins are forgiven and forgotten, remembered no more, then what need is there for another sacrifice? To offer another sacrifice would be to deny that the first one worked. It would be to say that God is a liar when He says He remembers our sins no more. This is why the Roman Catholic mass, with its re-presenting of the sacrifice of Christ, is a profound theological error. It forces the priest to stand, when Christ has sat down. It implies that the work is not finished, when God has declared that it is.
Conclusion: Sit Down in Christ
The message of this passage is a call to rest. It is a call to stop standing, to stop striving in your own strength, to stop trying to add your filthy rags to the perfect righteousness of Christ. The work is done. The sacrifice has been made. The victory has been won. Christ has sat down.
Your conscience can be clean, not because you have stopped sinning perfectly, but because Christ has been offered perfectly. Your future is secure, not because you hold on to Him, but because He holds on to you. Your task is not to win the war; it is to fight in a war that has already been won by your King.
Therefore, cease from your own labors. Stop trying to appease God with the spiritual equivalent of bulls and goats. Look to the prepared body of Jesus Christ, offered once for all. See your High Priest, seated at the right hand of Majesty. Hear the testimony of the Holy Spirit that your sins are remembered no more. And in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, sit down. Rest in the finished work of Jesus Christ.