Think about this for a moment, on The Day of Atonement (Lev. 16) the most faithful priest would obey God’s word and secure the blessing for his people. However, when the happy worshipper would return home they would remember that they were counting down to the next year. They were looking forward to another atonement. This atonement was not able to provide perfect and eternal salvation (Heb. 10:14). It looked forward in anticipation to one that would.
In contrast, Christians look back to a perfect atonement! We look back to the work of Christ on Good Friday and remember that the perfect priest offered perfection perfectly!
Why was this sacrifice superior? It is because Christ is perfectly holy. The merits of his sacrifice are infinite therefore the value of his atonement is infinite. He is able to save (Heb. 7:26, 9:12-14, 10:11-14).
(Heb 9.25-26) 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.
As the better priest and the better sacrifice Jesus Christ brings better atonement! It is the blood of Christ that is a divine bath for the soul. He takes our sin, like a flaming torch of rebellion and dunks it in the ocean of his love where it is extinguished. When your conscience besieges you do not run to find another scapegoat.
Jesus is the scapegoat who alone has successfully carried our sins outside the camp.
Jesus is the propitiation who has gone into the holy place with his own blood to make atonement, to adorn the holy place with his sacred blood.
He is able to save completely (Heb. 7:25-26)! He ‘put away sin by the sacrifice of himself’ (Heb. 9:26).
This is intended to make Christians marvel at Christ. It is to cause us to delight in his beautiful supremacy!
