Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

The text for today’s meditation is from the epistle lesson Hebrews 10:5

Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. ⁷ Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" ⁸ When he said above, "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings" (these are offered according to the law), ⁹ then he added, "Behold, I have come to do your will." He does away with the first in order to establish the second. ¹⁰ And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

In today’s technological age things become obsolete almost as soon as they leave the store. It almost seems like when you get something home from the store and turn on the TV you see an ad for an updated version. That is kind of a deflating feeling isn’t it? Who wants obsolete stuff? Can you think of anything that once it was replaced you didn’t go back to the old way or item? The typewriter comes to mind. For years and years people used the manual typewriter. I wasn’t very good with one, the hammers jammed all the time. I could never get the timing just right. When it jammed you would have to reach up and separate the keys and put them back down. Once the electric typewriter came out and an office switched to electric they never went back to the manual typewriter. The electric typewriter was faster, it took less effort to press the keys, and it never jammed. It was the ultimate upgrade so we thought. Then came personal computers and printers. When was the last time you saw a typewriter in an office? With a computer you can save, correct, modify, and print your document as many times as you want without typing it again and again and again. The typewriter got the job done but the computer is much superior to the typewriter and it adds so many more options. The computer truly is the ultimate upgrade to the typewriter. I don’t think we will ever go back to the typewriter. The typewriter has been rendered obsolete.

In the letter to the Hebrews, the author says Christ "does away with the first in order to establish the second." What he is saying is the first sacrifices of the Old Testament which God established are now obsolete. They are obsolete because Christ sacrificed Himself once and for all. Just like the difference between the manual typewriter and the computer the Old Testament sacrifices got the job done that they were meant for. But now the second sacrifice is much superior and does so much more. It truly is the ultimate upgrade. Our text demonstrates several ways Christ’s sacrifice is far superior to the sacrifices of the Old Testament.

Christ’s sacrifice is voluntary. God the Father commissioned Christ from eternity to suffer death and hell for your sins as we see in verse 7 "as it is written of me in the scroll of the book." Although God knew from the beginning of time that Christ’s sacrifice would be necessary Christ is not the "fall guy" for all humanity, He volunteered as we see in verses 7 & 9; "Behold, I have come to do your will." He enthusiastically and obediently came to be sacrificed. He was eager to voluntarily make a sacrifice for you whereas the sacrifices of the Old Testament were mandatory.

Christ had a choice, after all He is God. He didn’t have to withstand Satan’s’ temptation. He could have stopped the beatings. He could have removed himself from the cross. But He didn’t, He voluntarily came to die for you.

Christ’s sacrifice is incarnational. In order to make the sacrifice for you, Christ who was a spirit, assumed a human body as it says in verse 5 "but a body have you prepared for me." He assumed a human body capable of carrying out God’s commandments. He assumed a human body capable of experiencing pain and death. This is the part we celebrate during the Christmas observance, the incarnation of God as a baby born of Mary. As special and amazing as it is that Christ dwelt among us the text quickly focuses on the fact that He was born as a human in order to die. Even the word prepared used in verse 5 portrays the idea that by giving Christ a body He was being prepared for His appointed sacrifice.

Christ’s sacrifice is effective. The old system of animal sacrifices was good but not good enough for the task of salvation. Our text expresses this idea four times; verse 5 "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired Verse 6 ⁶ in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure" verse 8 "You have neither desired nor taken pleasure in sacrifices and offerings and burnt offerings and sin offerings (these are offered according to the law)" Verse 9 "He does away with the first in order to establish the second." The old merely restored the relationship with God. The new or second that Christ established actually makes you holy in God’s sight. It establishes the state of grace in which we live. The old had to be repeated daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly. With the new sacrifice it is done as it says in verse 10 "once for all." The new is clearly far superior to the old. Not only does one sacrifice satisfy more than all the old sacrifices combined but it is also for everyone’s salvation not just one person or one nation, everyone!

Christ’s sacrifice is acceptable. We see in the text over and over that God clearly does not like sacrifices yet He sends His Son for the expressed purpose to be sacrificed and He likes it. This is quite a paradox. Actually God’s displeasure with sacrifices is not with the institution of sacrifices but with the quality of the sacrifice. Sacrifices are not unsatisfactory to God, just the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament. It is in those "burnt offerings and sin offerings" that God has taken no pleasure. There is one sacrifice that stands out that He took immense pleasure; the sacrifice of His Son on a Roman Cross. Repeatedly, God said of Jesus, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The ultimate stamp of approval for Christ’s sacrifice is Christ’s resurrection. The resurrection of Jesus is God’s way of expressing His pleasure at the sacrifice just made. It enabled God to implement another pleasure. He was able to implement His will that all people be saved and His Joy in even the one sinner that repents.

Unlike the typewriter, which has had several upgrades, replacements and the computers seem to be upgraded daily; Jesus’ sacrifice stands for all time and for all people. It will never again be upgraded. You will never see an ad for an upgrade on TV. It will never become obsolete because it satisfies God. Through Jesus’ sacrifice you are no longer unholy; He made you holy in God’s eyes. Let me be sure you fully understand what I just said. Jesus made you HOLY. Not just good, exceptional, fantastic, or even perfect, no, He made you HOLY in the sight of God. You now live in His state of grace and mercy. Christ’s sacrifice truly is the ultimate upgrade.

Amen.