“CrossFit” Series (Week 2 – The Cross Makes You Different)Various PassagesREVIEW So last week we began a new message series called CrossFit (title slide). And if you missed last week it was awesome…we were doing push ups and running laps, people were getting sick…I mean it was an intense workout. But I thought we’d step it up today and introduce burpees. Ha, ok, so maybe we didn’t really do one of those popular CrossFit workouts, but we did seriously start a message series called CrossFit b/c even though physical exercise is good, if we really want to be fit for life in 2022 it has everything to do with the CROSS!The apostle Paul in 1 Cor. said this msg of the cross…does “sound foolish to some people & can be a real stumbling block in their lives, but the truth is that it is a message of wisdom/power. It is the only way that people can really experience lasting change in their lives & overcome the problems we have in this world.And so that is why Paul said, “we preach Christ crucified.” The central core of everything He taught centered on the cross (the full work of Jesus’ substitutionary death, burial, resurrection, ascension, & sending of the Spirit)! And this is why it is so important then for us to be CrossFit… And so today, I just want to expand on what we began talking about last week through the lens of the author of Hebrews (don’t know who author is)…But one thing is for sure, whoever the author is focused on the finished work of the cross if you go back and read all the way through it, and we’ll see that even here in ch. 10…GOD The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves. A shadow of course is not the real thing. It’s a reflection of the real thing, but it’s not the reality. The author here in Hebrews mentions that the O.T. law was only a shadow of the real thing…In other words, even though the law came from God and is good, it was never meant to be the ultimate way of living…What it was meant to do was to show the holiness of God and the sin of humanity and our inability to live up to God’s standard. And b/c of that, b/c of our inability to live out the law, God knew there would be sin…He knew that there would be failure in our ability to live out His commandments & meet His standards…And since God knew that, there were blood sacrifices required in the law to cover the sins of people as they tried to live out the law & failed.But the author says that this was never meant to be the ultimate way of life, it was simply a shadow of something better that was coming. And that is why he says what he says next… For this reason it can never, by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year, make perfect those who draw near to worship.2 Otherwise, would they not have stopped being offered? For the worshipers would have been cleansed once for all, and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins. 3 But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins. 4 It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Ok so the author tells us here that sacrifices were having to be made ALL of the time in the temple… b/c these sacrifices couldn’t deal with the root of the problem. They couldn’t make people “perfect” as it says in v. 1. The Greek word there is “Teleioo” (tell-E-O) which means to make perfect in the moral sense…and carries the idea of being made complete or whole. So all of these sacrifices that were being made year after year for people’s sins couldn’t make them complete… perfect in a moral sense…But it wasn’t supposed to! B/C “the law was only a shadow of the good things that were coming…not the realities themselves” (the author said in v. 1) So instead of making them perfect, it just “reminded them of their sins” (v.3). It just reminded people that they were not perfect like God, they were not holy like him…they were guilty before Him over and over again. V. 55 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.’ ”This is a quote from Ps. 40, but the author of Heb. here is saying that this is what Jesus was thinking (his mindset) as He came into this world… That God was not ultimately pleased (completely satisfied) w/sacrifices people were making …and that makes sense B/C they were only “a shadow of the things to come.” So that’s why God gave Jesus a body (v. 5) & sent Him here to earth to fulfill the moral law as a human being make the ultimate sacrifice that would do what the other sacrifices could not do. He goes on in V8…8 First he said…referring to Jesus…this is what Jesus was saying/thinking as he was coming into this world…8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law.We just talked about that…even though the law is good and was given by God, it was never meant to be permanent…so there was no way they would ultimately please God. V9…9 Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.”And then he tells us exactly was that will was…What God sent Jesus to earth to do. Here it is…you ready???He sets aside the first to establish the second. What’s he talking about here? Covenants. The 1st covenant is the “Old Covenant” or what we see in the O.T. of our Bibles and the 2nd covenant is the “New Covenant” or what we see in the N.T. of our Bibles…which is a little confusing b/c technically the N.C. doesn’t start until Jesus’ death, not his birth. We know this b/c of what the author of Hebrews said one chapter earlier in 9:16…16 In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it, 17 because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living.The word, “will” here is also translated in “testament” or “covenant” in some other bible translations. And the author here says that those go into effect not at someone’s birth but someone’s death.So the new covenant didn’t begin at Jesus’ birth, it began at his death…this is why the cross is such a big deal. This is why we are talking about being CrossFit…understanding and ordering our lives around the finished work of Jesus on the cross.So the N.C. starts at Jesus’ death, which can be kind of confusing sometimes when Jesus was teaching during His earthly ministry…b/c Jesus was teaching under the 1st covenant…So some of what Jesus was teaching was with the intent of what the 1st covenant was supposed to do…highlight sin…convict of sin and show the need for a Savior, the need for a new covenant, which is what Hebrews 10:9 is making clear… that the “will of God” for Jesus was to “set aside the first or old covenant and to establish the second or new covenant.”But what does that mean “to set aside?” Well the Greek word that is used here is “anaireo” (an-I-ray-O) which means not just to set aside but to abolish, to destroy…it is associated with murder…and it translated in other translations here in this verse “abolishes…takes away…cancels…does away with.” In other words, Jesus’ mission from God was to cancel or do away with the “old covenant” that God had with His people and establish a new covenant…and we’ve already been told why in verse 1… B/C the old covenant could not make people perfect (moral sense) and do away with sin forever so Jesus came to do that, and according to verse 10 (the next verse), he has…He has done that b/c He fulfilled the law…in both the moral sense and through making the sacrifice that would end all sacrifices!10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, He fulfilled the law…He didn’t just set it aside as if it didn’t matter. It did matter and had to be fulfilled, and when it was then it could be “set aside.” Why? B/C the author says we have been made holy…this sacrifice did it’s job (made us perfect in a moral sense)…a lot of translations say “sanctified,” but that means “to cause someone to have the quality of holiness.”…The sacrifices before, the ones in the old covenant couldn’t do that but Jesus’ sacrifice did…it MADE YOU holy. Jesus, through the cross, made you into something new and different forever-Paul says it this way in 2 Cor. 5:1717 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Cor 5:17)4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. (Romans 6:4)20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. (Galatians 2:20)And Peter, another one of Jesus’ disciples who experienced the same thing in his life says it this way…3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3)Through the finished work of Jesus on the cross, Peter says we are given a new birth…Paul says a new creation. The point is we are made into something new, someone different…and at the very core of our new self the author of Hebrews tells us here is perfection, holiness. You are complete, You are made perfect, You are made holy through the cross.And listen… it just took Jesus ONE sacrifice to accomplish that, unlike the many sacrifices made under the old covenant that could never accomplish this…Look at v. 11…11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, 13 and since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool.So apparently a forbidden piece of furniture in the tabernacle in the O.T. was a chair. It was forbidden b/c a priest was never allowed to sit down. I mean when you sit down, it means that you aren’t working any longer…and there was always work to be done…always sacrifices to be made b/c sins just kept coming…they couldn’t make people perfect. But when Jesus made His sacrifice as the ultimate priest, He sat down…He sat down b/c His work was finished! He even cried that out on the cross as He was dying, “It is finished.” (Lazy-Boy)There was no more work that needed to be done to offer complete forgiveness to people…or to make people completely holy. Look at the way the author sums it up in verse 14…14 For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. One sacrifice of Jesus on the cross has made us perfect forever…something the old sacrifices couldn’t do. Now the language here can be a little confusing b/c he says “made perfect forever THOSE WHO ARE BEING MADE HOLY.” And so we can be like, “well how can that be? And didn’t He say in v. 10 that I was already made holy? So why is he saying here “I’m being made holy?” Am I holy or am I being made holy? YES!So I’ve shown this diagram before and many of you studied it this past fall in your Wednesday night study of “The Rest of the Gospel,” but I think it is just a great way for us to see this visually. It’s the line. Now there is really no such thing as a line, but it’s just a way for us to think of and differentiate between the eternal or unseen realm and the temporal or seen realm. And of course in the eternal realm things are timeless, changeless, it’s the place of ultimate reality. Now in the unseen world, we operate by time, things do change, and this is a realm of appearance (things don’t always appear to be what they really are). The eternal realm is also the place of spirit (can’t see spirit), wholeness, and completeness…but in the temporal realm this is a realm of matter, there are needs that must be met, and things are in process. The eternal is the realm of “I AM” while the temporal is the realm of “I am becoming.”So keep visualizing this and look back at what the author of Hebrews has said in Heb. 10:14, “for by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.” IN other words, you live in both realms. Spiritually, you are already seated in heaven and united to Jesus in the eternal realm where you have been made holy, perfect (Hebrews says, which btw-same root Greek as v1). But you also live in the seen and temporal realm at the same time and are in the process of being made holy. And here is an important point about Heb. 10:14… it’s a passive participle…passive, meaning that you aren’t in charge of making yourself holy here on earth…God does the work of having already made you holy in the eternal realm and He is the One who is bringing that holiness into reality in this temporal realm…you are just a passive participant in the process.WHAT’S OUR ROLE?So if He is going to do all of it, then what is your role in it? I mean, if Jesus makes you into this new creation and then is ultimately responsible for making this a reality in your life in this world you live in, then what role do you have?That’s a great question. Do you know how the author of Hebrews answers it? Faith…Your role is faith/trust/dependence…keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus. I mean, listen, right after the author of Hebrews finishes this section (doctrinal) we are in now, He begins the practical section. And here are a few things he says in the practical section that comes next…22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings, (Heb. 10:22) And then in the very next chapter he defines what faith is…Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. (Heb. 11:1)Which realm do we not see things? Eternal realm right? So faith is trusting not in what we see in the temporal realm…not in what we feel or think about ourselves…but in the unseen, eternal realm (which is ultimate reality). He says it this way in 12:1-2…Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. (Heb. 12:1-2)Our job is to fix our eyes on Jesus…trust what He says is true about you, and as you live by faith, trusting Him, depending upon Him…He will make you into what you already are. Dan Stone put is this way… In God’s economy, in the seen realm we become because in the unseen realm we already are. As we know and rest in the unseen and eternal truth, God manifests that truth in the visible realm. In the unseen and eternal realm, God has already perfected us. In the seen and temporal realm, God is bringing that perfection, or completion into view.YOUSo if we are going to be CrossFit, then it means we have to come to the place where we trust in Jesus’ finished work of the cross to forgive our sins and make us inwardly into a holy, new creation through salvation and then manifest that outwardly into this world.The opposite of that is trusting in ourselves to do that…to make ourselves into something new…and that is attempted in the opposite way…outside in. We attempt through our performance and good behavior to fix what is inwardly broken, and that just won’t work…You can clean yourself up on the outside and look great to everyone around you and have absolute inner turmoil in your life and be filled with judgement towards others and just a darkness inside.And so that starts with you turning away from yourself and to Jesus and taking a step of faith by trusting in Him to save you instead of you trying to save yourself. And when you receive His grace into your life then He does what we looked at today…He applies what He accomplished through the cross to your life and makes you inwardly into a holy, new creation.And then once you’ve taken that step of salvation, the 1st thing we do in becoming CrossFit is TO TRUST THAT HE HAS ALREADY MADE US INTO A HOLY, COMPLETE, PERFECT NEW CREATION IN CHRIST. Even if you don’t feel like that is true or SEE the evidence of that yet, you will never move forward without trusting that it is true. The author of Heb. said, “faith is confidence in what we don’t necessarily see.” So begin to trust it and walk by faith this is true about you…Then… the second step is keeping your eyes fixed on Jesus and living by faith that He will take what is true of you on the inside and conform you into His image outwardly…and you’ll just experience Him and His joy and the deep inner rest that you will find, b/c the results are up to Him (it’s not your job to do the work…it’s His)Now trusting that God is up to doing this in your life means that you’ll be looking for the work He is doing. So in becoming CrossFit, we expect Him to reveal behaviors, speech, and actions that don’t line up with who we are in Christ now…and then entrust those things to Him to clean those things up to begin to live out who we now are.Being CrossFit is a moment by moment walk of faith…trusting in what He has done to make you different already and trusting Him to work that out through you in your behavior, speech, and actions.Finally (???), one of the take aways from this passage of Scripture is understanding the difference between the Old and New Covenant and how Jesus set aside the Old. We still study the Old and it’s all used, but we don’t try to live out the Old Covenant b/c Jesus has already fulfilled it and done what it could never do!Will you begin to walk by faith in the finished work of the cross today? I hope you will