Better by Far - 8
The Excellency of Christ in the Book of Hebrews
There is only one way to get the best out of your Christian faith, you must keep your eyes on Jesus Christ. The Hebrew converts to Christianity had allowed their eyes to wander from Jesus and they were considering going back to their Jewish roots and beliefs. Doing this would be like going from the car to the bicycle! They were going from the superior to the inferior. Paul has already shown in Ch 7 how Jesus Christ is better by far than the priesthood of Aaron. In this eighth Ch, that we're looking at today He shows how Christians belong to better covenant.
Paul begins where he left off in Ch seven. He refers to Jesus as the perfect high priest. He has already spoken of the glory of Christ's priesthood and how it perfectly meets the spiritual needs of men and women. He says in Ch 8 v 1, "We do have such a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven". This being the case, it's obvious that if the priest is superior then the covenant must of necessity be better. A famous pianist wouldn't play before a refined audience on an old, out of tune piano! The new covenant is better than the old because it's founded on the finished work of Jesus Christ. Remember, Christ is 'sat down'. There were no chairs in the Old Testament Tabernacle. That's because the priest never finished the work of atoning for sin. Jesus' priestly work dealt with sin fully, finally, and completely. In Hebrews Ch 10 v 12 we read, "this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins He say down at the right hand of God". Not only did Jesus Christ sit down but He sat on a throne! He could do this as a priest after the order of Melchizedek who was both king and priest. More importantly Christ is the well beloved Son of the King of heaven.
The new covenant in Christ is superior because of where it's ministered. Our great high priest is in heaven. He's active for us in a better place than the tabernacle that was on earth. How can we be sure that Jesus Christ is ministering in heaven? Some might argue that we cannot see Him so can we be certain? Since Christ is both alive and a priest then He must be somewhere. Verse three says, "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". Now, the priest would enter the sanctuary with his offering. Jesus' human ancestry would not allow Him to be a priest because it was necessary that the priest was from the tribe of Levi. As Verse 4 says, "If He were on earth, He would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the law". We saw in Chapter 7 that the legitimacy of Christ's priesthood is that He belongs to the priesthood of Melchizedek. Christ is priest not on the grounds of ancestry like Aaron, but by the divine oath. God said in Psalm 110 Verse 4, "The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, you are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek". The sanctuary in which Aaron ministered is described for us in Verse 5 where we read, "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven". Later on in the verse Paul reminds us of what God said to Moses. We read, "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 in the mountain". The true sanctuary has always been in heaven. Just as the sun shines in all its power and casts a shadow on the earth. Aaron's ministry was a copy of the true. The Old Testament sanctuary was an imitation of the true. Christ's priesthood and sanctuary are the original. Why then go back to the copies? Stay with the original. So Paul is saying, to return to the old ritual of Judaism is to go back into dark shadows. To follow Jesus Christ is to live in the bright sunshine. Paul said in Colossians Chapter 2 Verse 17, "These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ". Are you looking for reality? You will not find it in outward form, ceremony, or ritual whether Jewish or Christian, Reality is found in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You must come to Him in your need. As your great high priest He has atoned for your sin. Forgiveness is found in Christ. You must repent of your sin. Be sorry for your sin and ask God to forgive you. Jesus Christ died to reconcile you to God, and to bring in all the benefits of belonging to the better covenant.
A final reason is given why this new covenant is better than the old. We read in Verse 6, "But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises". When God says that the new covenant is better than the old, He isn't suggesting that the old was a mistake. Paul contrasts the glory of the new over the old in 2 Corinthians Chapter 3. He does state that the old did have glory. We read in verse 7, "Now if the ministry that brought death, which was engraved in letters on stone, came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look in the face of Moses because of its glory, fading though it was, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious?" In Hebrews Chapter 8 God is simply saying that the old has fulfilled its purpose and is now redundant. We read in Verse 7, "For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another". What was wrong with the old? It was weak and imperfect. The new covenant did what the old failed to do, it provides a full and perfect remedy for sin.
We are told that the new covenant is founded on better promises. The promises are based on grace. God says in Verse 8, "The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel". The words 'I will' are found five times in Verses 8 - 13. This is the 'I will' of divine initiative. God will work in matchless grace toward men and women. This new covenant was established by Jesus Christ. When Jesus instituted the Lord's supper, and after He took the cup, He said in Matthew Chapter 26 Verse 28, "This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins". We can always be assured of the certainty of God's promises. There is also the promise of an inward change. The old covenant could never reach into the hearts of men and women. It could demand but motivate the heart into action. God describes the glory of the impact of the new covenant in Verse 10. This is a quotation from Jeremiah Chapter 31 Verse 31-34 where He says, "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord, I will put my laws in their minds and write then on their hearts". God puts within the believers heart the inner disposition toward spiritual things and the desire to please God. Paul said in Philippians Chapter 2 Verse 13, "For it is who works in you to will and to act according to His good pleasure". We work out what God has worked in. We fulfil the Law not out of a sense of fear or mere duty but out of delight, God has become real to us in Christ. Paul says in Verse 11, again quoting from Jeremiah Chapter 31, "No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord', because they will all know me from the least to the greatest". The joy of being a Christian is to know God personally. We also discover the promise of forgiveness. Verse 12 says, "I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more". The law couldn't give forgiveness. It exposed our sin but brought no healing for our sin. When God says that He will not remember our sins He isn't being forgetful. Forgetfulness is a human weakness. He means that He will not hold our sins against us anymore. He knows what we've done but treats us as though we've never done them. When Jesus dies on the cross for our sins God treated His Son as though He had done them. Before you can know God your sin must be removed from His sight. Only by trusting Jesus can that happen. The last promise is the promise of the eternal vitality of the new covenant, In verse 3 the old covenant is described as, "obsolete and ageing" and that it "will soon disappear". This happened historically in 70 A.D. The Romans destroyed the Temple and there has been no Temple or priesthood since in Jerusalem. In contrast we read of the accomplishment of Jesus Christ as our great high priest. Hebrews Chapter 9 Verse 12 says, "He entered the most holy place once for all by His own blood having obtained eternal redemption".
I trust you are enjoying the blessing of the new covenant. I trust that you have seen the wonder of who Jesus is and what He has done for you. Have you been changed from within by the grace of God?