Hebrews 8 - "Out With the Old, In With the New!"
Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 8
The High Priest of a New Covenant
8 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
There were four covenants in the Old Testament. The Noachic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and the Davidic Covenant. In each covenant God made promises to the Israelites, which were to be reminders to them of His faithfulness. Each covenant came with an earthly thing as a reminder of God's promises. I.e. Rainbow (Noah), Circumcision (Abraham), Ten Commandments on a tablets of stone (Moses), and a Crown for a King (David).
Within the Mosaic Law there were the Ten Commandments, but also all of the prescribed sacrifices for the high priest to come into the Holy of Holies in the Tabernacle one time per year to make a sacrifice for the people. This was a foreshadowing of Jesus. The word "tabernacle" means to "dwell in", or "make your home in:. Jesus uses this in John 8 when he says,
"If any one loves me," replied Jesus, "he will obey my teaching; and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him." - John 14:23
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
In the Old Covenant, God gave Moses and the Levites very specific instructions on how to enter the tabernacle. Pics of the Tabernacle.
The new covenant was better than the old one, because Jesus gave the ultimate and final sacrifice to atone for our sins. It was a once and for all sacrifice. Also, the covenant depended on God, not man. It was not subject to human error. The new covenant depends on Jesus, which Paul said, "Every one of God's promises are "yes" in Christ Jesus!" - 2 Corinthians 1:20
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said:
“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
9 It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
11 No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
12 For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”
The problem with the Old Covenant was that the Mosaic covenant was conditional. God told the Israelites that if they obeyed the terms of God's covenant they would be blessed. And, if they disobeyed it, they would be cursed. And you know how that went.
In the Davidic covenant, God promised that there would always be a king in the line of David, which led to Jesus, the King of kings. But Israel and Judah's kings were not faithful either. Even King David fell mightily in his sin with Bathsheba. Eventually God judged the Israelites, because of their unfaithfulness. The Northern Kingdom, whose capital was Samaria, fell in 722 B.C. with the invasion of the Assyrians. The Southern Kingdom located in Judah, feel in 586 B.C. with the invasion of the Babylonians.
King Cyrus of the Persians defeated the Babylonians, and the Israelites temporarily came back to start to build a second temple in 538 B.C. There are different events in the last 500 years before Jesus was born but the author tells of the coming of new covenant.
In this new covenant the "Law of God" would be "written on their hearts". The author of Hebrews is quoting from Jeremiah 31-33, where the prophet talks about the coming of the Holy Spirit, which we now know was on Pentecost. Importantly, it says, "They will all know the Lord from the least to greatest."
Instead of Tablets, Crowns, Rainbows, and the rite of Circumcision, God would create in us new hearts through the Holy Spirit. In this new covenant, it was possible to obey God's law because of the regeneration of our hearts. We call this being "born again". We are born again by the Spirit and become a new Creation in Christ. See 2 Corinthians 5:17.
Importantly, God would remember their sins NO MORE. That's right God has completely forgotten about our sins. He doesn't remember them. We are set free. If we choose to dwell on our past that is our own fault. The apostle Paul, who is quite the sinner says this,
"Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." Philippians 3:12-14
13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
So in the Old Covenant that we could never live up to became obsolete. It didn't apply anymore. It was worthless. But the Jewish people, especially the rulers of the temple, who pridefully enforced the Mosaic Law resisted Jesus and even put him to death. They did so because they did not think he was enforcing the Mosaic law.
The worst legalists, the Pharisees, laid heavy burdens on them, which they could never carry. This is the context in which Jesus says in Matthew 11:28-30,
28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Do you hear the Good News today? You could never measure up to the Old Covenant with its many commandments, as summarized by the Ten Commandments. Though God was merciful and provided forgiveness for the Israelites, it was only temporary. Through Jesus our sins are forgiven once and for all.
We are set free from the law of sin and death, and we can live a new life in the power of the Holy Spirit. So how should we respond?
This is my life verse, and I think it summarizes how we should respond to the grace of God in Christ Jesus,
12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
As we give our lives back to God in view of his mercy, we are giving him a LIVING SACRIFICE. That's right our lives are an act of worship, and God promises that as we give our lives back to him we will discover his good, pleasing, and perfect will.
As we give our bodies and minds back to God, we will live the greatest life available to all mankind!
Comments
Post a Comment