Why Did Christ Come?

Hebrews 10:1-4

The most amazing thing in all the world is the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, should condescend to become a man that he might live and die in the place of sinful men as our Substitute upon the cursed tree. I hope I never get over the wonder of redeeming love.

“Could we with ink the oceans fill, And were the skies of parchment made,

Were every stalk on earth a quill, And every man a scribe by trade, --

To write the love of God above Would drain the oceans dry,

Nor could the scroll contain the whole, Though stretched from sky to sky!”

Yet, when I meditate upon this great, stupendous fact, the fact that the Lord of glory came here to live and die for me, to be made sin for me, to bring in everlasting righteousness for me, to put away my sin by being made sin, to give me life by laying down his own life, that he came here to save me, I am compelled to ask, with reverent astonishment – Why? Why did Christ come?

This question is answered in many ways and in many places in Holy Scripture. But it is not answered more fully or more clearly in any single passage than it is in Hebrews chapter ten. Here, the Holy Spirit tells us specifically why the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and died in our room and stead at Calvary.

No Other Way

Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came here to put away sin because there was no other way for sin to be put away (vv. 1-4). -- "For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."

Good Things To Come

The law of God given by Moses, with all its rituals, sacrifices, and ceremonies, was a shadow, type, or picture of the good things to come in Christ. Among those “good things” pictured and typified in the law are: -- The Forgiveness of Sin, -- Justification with God, -- Peace with God, -- Rest in Christ, -- Fellowship with the Holy Lord God, -- Preservation by Grace, -- Salvation and Eternal Life in Christ, -- and the blessed Assurance of Faith.

Pictures of Christ

The tabernacle, the priesthood and the law were not given to put away sin, but only to serve as a pattern, a blueprint, a picture of the true Tabernacle and true Sacrifice, which is Christ himself (Col. 2:16-17; Heb. 8:4-5). Those Old Testament sacrifices could never put away sin (v. 2). Be sure you do not miss the argument given in verse two. If those sacrifices could put away sin, they would have ceased to be offered! If I bring a sacrifice of any kind that could make atonement for my sin, then there would be no need of offering another sacrifice (Heb. 10:12-14).

Once sin has been put away the sinner is discharged. Guilt is gone. Condemnation is impossible (Rom. 5:1; 8:1-4; 8:33-34). This is the reason we have assurance and confidence in Christ (Rom. 8:33-34). Our Lord Jesus Christ has offered one sacrifice, and believing him we have complete, total confidence and assurance that our sins are gone (Heb. 10:17; Isa. 53:4-6).

“Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain,

Could give the guilty conscience peace, Or wash away the stain.

But Christ, the heavenly Lamb, Takes all our sins away:

A Sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they.

Believing, we rejoice To see the curse remove:

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, And sing redeeming love!”

Remembrance Made

In verse 3 the Holy Spirit tells us that those carnal, legal sacrifices of the Old Testament only reminded the worshippers of God that someone must yet come to put sin away. Those sacrifices offered on a regular basis and by divine appointment gave a fresh remembrance of sin. The sin for which the sacrifices were made was not put away. They were still there. The sacrifices themselves only reminded the people of their sins. The sacrifices must and did continue until the Christ came, who put an end to them and to sin by his sacrifice.

Not Possible

In verse four we are told, “it is not possible” for such carnal sacrifices to put away sin. It is not possible for an animal’s blood to take away sin. Let me give you four reasons why sin could never be put away by such sacrifices.

Sin is the transgression of God’s moral law. These sacrifices belonged to the ceremonial law. Christ was born under and obeyed the moral and the ceremonial law (Gal. 4:4-5).

The blood is not the same blood. It is not from the same kind of person who sinned. But Christ is bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh (Heb. 2:16-18).

Sin deals with the mind, the heart, the soul, and conscience, to which no animal can relate. Christ made his soul an offering for sin. He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:10-11).

If sin could be put away by some other means, then Christ died in vain (Gal. 2:21).