It is correct to say that it was not the four rings that accomplished redemption. The burning for the accomplishment of redemption took place on the grating. The grating signifies Christ, and the rings signify the Spirit. Christ, not the Spirit, was the One who accomplished redemption. We have absolutely no doubt concerning this. But where does the grating stand? Is it supported by its own strength? Apart from the four rings, the grating had no support. Both when the altar was at rest and when it was carried, the grating was upheld by the rings. There was no other support, no other upholding power. To repeat, the grating was upheld by the four rings. Yes, the burning was accomplished by the grating. But the upholding power is in the rings, not in the grating itself. Hebrews 9:14 speaks concerning this: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.” It was through the eternal Spirit Christ offered Himself to God as our sin offering.
During the years I was with the Brethren, I was never told that Christ offered Himself by the Spirit and through the Spirit. Have you ever heard a message on Christ offering Himself to God by and through the eternal Spirit? Christians do not ordinarily speak this way, for not many have this knowledge. Because they do not have the knowledge, they do not use the language of Hebrews 9:14. Nevertheless, such a word is found in Hebrews 9:14.
The all-inclusive Christ died an all-inclusive death through the eternal Spirit. He died through the Spirit who is eternal, the Spirit who is without beginning or ending. Such a mysterious event actually took place in human history, but it is neglected by unbelieving historians. No history book will ever tell you that the all-inclusive Christ offered Himself through the eternal Spirit.
I first came to know Hebrews 9:14 many years ago. However, I did not understand the meaning of this verse. What does it mean to say that Christ offered Himself to God as a sin offering through the eternal Spirit? This is not easy to understand.
What is the significance of the phrase “through the eternal Spirit”? Why was it necessary for Christ to die on the cross through the Spirit? Was Christ not almighty, and was He not able to do everything necessary to accomplish redemption? Why then did He need the eternal Spirit in order to die on the cross? My burden in this message is to present a picture concerning this matter. This picture will lead to a conclusion, and the conclusion will then become the answer to the question of why Christ offered Himself through the eternal Spirit.
Christ is both God and man. Christ did not become a man suddenly. Rather, He became a man according to the normal process of conception and delivery. He was conceived in the womb of Mary, and nine months later He was born. Then for thirty-three and a half years the Lord Jesus lived on earth as a man. Eventually He went to the cross and died there as a man. But although He lived and died as a man, He was also God; hence, He was a God-man. According to Isaiah 9:6, the Lord as the child born to us in a manger was called the mighty God. But although He was God, He lived on earth not as God, but as a man. Furthermore, He was conceived by the Holy Spirit. According to Matthew 1 and Luke 2, the man Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. When He came forth to minister as a man from Nazareth, He was anointed by the Spirit. At the time of His baptism, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him (Matt. 3:16). In all His life He was full of the Spirit and continually under the leading of the Spirit (Luke 4:1). He lived, moved, acted, worked, and ministered altogether under the leading of the Spirit. He did not do anything apart from this leading Spirit.
Elsewhere I have pointed out that the Lord Jesus lived a crucified life. Now we must see that He lived such a crucified life according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Moreover, in Matthew 12 we see that He cast out demons by the power of the Spirit. Therefore, the Lord was a man who did everything under the leading of the Spirit and by the power of the Spirit. He did not act according to His own will, wishes, or desires. He lived, moved, and acted according to the Spirit.
When the time came for the Lord Jesus to die on the cross, He did not go to the cross according to His own wishes or desire. Rather, His going to the cross was according to the leading of the Holy Spirit. His entire life had been lived according to the Spirit. Thus, His going to the cross was also according to the Spirit’s leading. On the cross the Lord Jesus died an all-inclusive death, a death that took away the sin of the world, destroyed Satan, judged the world, terminated the old creation, and abolished the handwriting of the law. Such an all-inclusive death was accomplished through the eternal Spirit.
During His life on earth, the Lord would not do even a small thing apart from the Spirit. Even His going to the wilderness was under the leading of the Spirit. Certainly when He died an all-inclusive death on Calvary, He would not do this apart from the leading of the Holy Spirit. Thus, when Christ died on the cross, He died through the Spirit.
In Hebrews 9 there is a comparison between the animal sacrifices offered by the priests in the Old Testament and the unique sacrifice of Christ offered to God through the eternal Spirit. When the priests offered the sacrifices, they did not offer them through the Holy Spirit. On the contrary, they did it by themselves. Therefore, what they did was of little effect; it could not be powerful. This was the reason the sacrifices needed to be offered again and again each year on the day of atonement. But Christ as the High Priest offered Himself to God as the sin offering through the eternal Spirit once for all, through One who is without beginning or ending. Therefore, what Christ offered is powerful and efficacious.
Now we have an answer to the question of why Christ needed to offer Himself through the eternal Spirit. We have seen that as a man He did not do anything on His own. Everything He did was under the leading of the Spirit and by the power of the eternal Spirit. This is signified by the four rings on the grating. The full weight of the grating was borne by the rings. Therefore, what is accomplished by the grating is powerful and efficacious. This means that the power, the strength, and the efficacy of the redemption accomplished by the grating depends on the four rings. The power of Christ’s redemption depends on the eternal Spirit.