The Will Of The Father

Hebrews Chapter 10

The Father’s Goal and the Steps to Achieve It

What is the main goal of the Father, and what steps must be taken to achieve it? Who participates in this process? Hebrews 10 answers these questions directly.

God did not want sacrifices previously. God does not want sacrifices now. God wants His end objective, the New Covenant established, opening the road for all mankind to share in eternal life.

A sacrifice for a past action is retrospective. God wants a proactive people dealing with sin before it happens rather than continually patching things up afterwards only to repeat the process.

The New Covenant when implemented is designed to overcome this cycle. The people are given a new heart to forestall the action and consequences of sin before it happens.

Hebrews 10

1 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. 2 For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. 3 But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. 4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.  Heb 10:1

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament would never achieve the goal the Father intends.

5 Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: 6 In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. 7 Then said I, Lo, I come(in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. 8 Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law;  Hebrews 10:5-8

The concept of the body relies on two fundamental truths for proper understanding.

First, Christ was appointed as the sacrifice before creation itself (Revelation 13:8). 

Second, the body was also predestinated before creation (Ephesians 1:5).

If Christ agreed to lay down His life for mankind before the universe existed, then creation itself was designed with this purpose in mind. The universe is not random. It was built around a master plan. Christ is described as the builder of the house. This makes Him greater than the sum of the universe itself.

The author of Hebrews makes it clear: he body refers not to Christ’s physical sacrifice but to the collective of the Saints (Hebrews 13:3). The Father’s requirement is not simply the death of His Son (Hebrews 10:10) but the result of that sacrifice: a body joined to Christ. This body, sanctified, perfected, and unified, becomes one with the Son and one with the Father (John 17). However, there are no magic wands. Those who were prechosen do not have a charmed life. They need to understand their role, accept the conditions, and then follow through with the utmost dedication. If this were not so, then the many warnings found in the entire book of Hebrews would be superfluous. We have strong words delivered in this chapter.

The central theme of Hebrews is the Melchizedek Order. Christ is the High Priest appointed by the Father as His Son, and those who are perfected join Him in that priesthood. Together they form the complete body, one family, described as the marriage to the Lamb.

This is the Father’s will. Christ declared it as His imperative mission: the creation was brought into being so that through Him and those joined to Him, the Father would have a family. In simple terms, the Father’s aim is to establish a household, which we understand as a family. In precise terms, it is the establishment of the Melchizedek Order, Christ and His body united forever to carry out the Father’s purpose.

Revelation 12 makes one point unmissable: Christ alone will not establish the New Covenant. From before creation, the Father intended a body, a people through whom His will would be carried out. That plan at first looks impossible. Only through Christ’s intervention, His willingness to lay down His life for those called, did it become possible for men and women to operate at a level directly connected to God. Sanctification was the start, but it was not the end.

4 According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love: 5 Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, 11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: 22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.  Eph 1:4,11, 22-23

History shows a repeating pattern of rejecting clear scriptural instructions. Eden marked the first refusal to follow God. Israel promised obedience at Sinai, yet within weeks they fashioned a golden calf. The early Church born at Pentecost soon chose its own path. Alongside political motives to satisfy Constantine’s desire for power, it replaced the Sabbath with Sunday, incorporated pagan festivals such as Easter and Christmas, and over the centuries Christian nations fought among themselves, unleashing unspeakable horrors on themselves. In modern times World War 1 and World War 2 saw devout Christians slaughtering fellow devout Christians.

This demonstrates their failure to fulfill the command to love one another, a fundamental requirement defining any true Christian.

At some point humanity must show God that it will truly obey, that it wants the life He intends. Tragically, God must bring about this change through the devastating events of the end times that once again they bring on themselves. Such is the depth of human ignorance and stubbornness in rejecting the One whose only intention is to offer us more than we could possibly imagine.

The body representing Christ’s disciples exists to show a different spirit. However, that alone is insufficient. The body must also inspire a transformation of heart within a segment of the Israelite nations, demonstrating that humanity has truly turned back to God. Only then will the New Covenant be extended not to isolated individuals but to entire nations. 

18 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world. 19 And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. John 17:18

And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. 29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.  Rom 8:29

A Body is Required to Carry Out the Will of the Father

Hebrews 10:10 is critical for the Saints to understand. Christ states He has come to perform the will of the Father, that He takes away the first sacrificial system, replacing it with the second. By that same will, the Father’s will that Christ came to perform, we are sanctified to participate in that identical purpose. We are not given a different objective. We are joined to the same project. Furthermore, the meaning is amplified and clarified by adding that Christ is waiting for His enemies to be made His footstool, referring principally to Satan, since He has perfected them to carry out the mission. Note: perfection has been a keyword in Hebrews and is directly involved with bringing about the New Covenant.

9 Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. 10 By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11 And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: 12 But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God; 13 From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool. 14 For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified.  Heb 10:9

Israel Being Prepared For The New Covenant

The objective that must be achieved is witnessed by the Holy Spirit.

15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; 17 And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. 18 Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.  Heb 10:15

A Witness

Here is a notification that we are being told something. In line with the context of Hebrews 10, Christ and the Saints are carrying out the will of the Father.

We are given a not-so-subtle clue as to what is required. This is the covenant I will make with them in those days. The ‘them’ is Israel, this being a quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34. This New Covenant will be made ‘after those days’ that are applicable to Israel qualifying.

Therefore, Having Boldness, Let Us Hold to the Profession of Our Faith

Once the Melchizedek Order is understood, the entire objective becomes clear. The Firstfruits are not in the New Covenant, and the New Covenant is not the Melchizedek Order. The saints are not striving to enter the New Covenant; they are preparing to establish it with Christ. To seek only a place within the New Covenant would not be success, but failure to reach the position for which they were called.

That is, it is not possible that a lay person (Israelite) within the New Covenant has any automatic access to the Melchizedek Order. One exists physically on earth while the other is spiritual in heaven.

The ‘profession of our faith’ signifies a clear understanding of our assignment. If we understand that the will of the Father is to bring about the New Covenant, then we can clearly understand what the ‘profession’ of our faith is. With that, we should have the boldness to ask for the help we need. This is the essence of any prayer being answered, if it is ‘according to His will’.

19 Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20 By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; 21 And having an high priest over the house of God; 22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Heb 10:19

The End Time

Hebrews chapter 10 mainly focuses on the end times, containing several references or allusions to that period. While it also has a duality related to a broader timeframe, there is a clear emphasis on the end time.

Verse 13: From henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool.

Verse 16: This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days.

Verse 23: Let us hold fast the profession of our faith. Delivering the woman (Israel) is our profession or intention.

Verse 25: So much the more as ye see the day approaching.

Verse 29: And hath counted the blood of the covenant. (Covenant not there until Christ returns.)

Verse 36: After ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. (When it has been accomplished)

Verse 37: He that shall come will come and will not tarry. Christ’s return is imminent, at the applicable time when this gospel is being delivered.

Especially As You See The Day Approaching

24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. 26 For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, 27 But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. Heb 10:24

There are no indications of how many people will make up the core of the Philadelphian Church. The patterns in scripture suggest a very small number. There is a high possibility they will not be a Church at all in the sense of a congregation. They are likely widely dispersed and formed of very small groups across many countries. The term translated assembling (episynagōgē) does not describe a formal congregation or routine meeting but a deliberate coming together under pressure, a word otherwise used only of an end-time gathering (2 Thessalonians 2:1). The warning is not against leaving institutions but against isolation once separation has occurred, as the Day approaches.

Christ only gathered twelve disciples prior to His death. Christianity is a result of the actions of those twelve people. There were only one hundred and twenty later at Pentecost. There were seventy-two chosen to go ahead of Him to the villages that He would later visit. Gideon’s army was cut from some thirty thousand down to three hundred suitably qualified warriors. The pattern is that God does not need numbers. He needs quality. Whatever the number, they are instructed to encourage one another, stay in contact, especially as the end is obviously approaching.

One clear qualification is that they have received the truth due to their zeal and dedication. God permitted them to move forward (Hebrews 6:3). That dedication must remain constant. There is no turning back. These people acting on God’s behalf are given privileges not seen since the time Christ and the original twelve disciples were active. Obviously, deliberately misusing their positions (Judas Iscariot) is not tolerated, but the instruction goes a bit further than a lapse in judgment.

17 Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin. James 4:17

Hebrews chapter 10 ends with a word of warning and encouragement in one breath. This mention of faith leads us straight into chapter 11.