The New Covenant – part 2
Hebrews 8:1-13
September 27, 2015
The last time we gathered I told you that
We’re now at a TRANSITIONAL POINT in the book of Hebrews.
The writer is about to move into the study of his second text.
He is about to look at the SECOND PROMISE that blew his mind.
The first we have been all through.
Psalms 110:4 “The LORD has sworn and will not change His mind, “You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek.”
It is obvious to us that when our writer read that verse in the Old Testament and set his heart on comprehending it, that God opened the flood gates to him.
God helped him to see that the old priesthood would not last forever,
But that God was bringing in a new and better priest.
And the writer spent the first 7 chapters of the book of Hebrews
Helping us see that very fact.
Hebrews 8:1 “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest…”
We have a great high priest.
• Greater than the prophets
(because He is the perfect revelation)
• Greater than the angels
(because He rules, they serve)
• Greater than Moses
(because He is Son, Moses is a servant)
• Greater than Joshua
(because Joshua entered the land, but Jesus gives rest)
• Greater than Aaron
• Aaron was priest based on pedigree, Jesus is a priest based on character.
• Aaron received tithes by command, Jesus received them based on worth.
• Aaron was a temporary priest, Jesus is a permanent one.
Jesus is our great high priest.
We have a great high priest.
But if you’ll remember the writer hinted in chapter 7
That there was more for us to learn.
Hebrews 7:12 “For when the priesthood is changed, of necessity there takes place a change of law also.”
In order to have a new priest (which we obviously do)
Then you also have to have a new Law.
AND THAT IS HIS NEXT POINT.
In short, a new and better priest is only ½ of the blessing.
We also get a new and better covenant.
And now having thoroughly studied Psalms 110:4
The writer wants to MOVE ON to the next promise and his next passage.
His new passage?
Jeremiah 31:31-34
We introduced this last week.
We looked at the low point for the old covenant.
Moses had brought them out of Egypt and offered a covenant. “If you’ll obey, I’ll bless. If you disobey, I’ll curse” and the people said, “No problem, we’ll obey!”
• 850 years later the northern kingdom is gone
• Judah has been conquered and exiled into Babylon
• Nebuchadnezzar has Jerusalem surrounded and will soon level the city
The old covenant had failed, and in the midst of that darkest spot in Israel’s history God introduced a promise.
That promise was of a new and better covenant.
And it is that promise that the writer of Hebrews now wants to focus on.
In Hebrews 8 the writer has two purposes.
• To remind you that you have a better high priest.
• To use the presence of that priest as proof that you now also have a better covenant.
So let’s look at our text this morning.
#1 JESUS’ EXCELLENT CREDENTIALS
Hebrews 8:1-5
It is true that we have been over, around, under, and through
The reality that in Jesus we have a new and better priest.
But since the presence of the new covenant depends upon the presence of this priest, the writer wants to reiterate that again.
You must understand that we have a new priest
And you must understand why He is better.
So let’s look at what makes Him more excellent.
1) THE SEAT HE HAS TAKEN (1-2)
(1-2) “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.”
The key phrase you need to recognize there is the phrase “taken His seat”
Hebrews 1:3 “And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,”
This is remarkable, because if you will remember, no priest ever did this.
And the reason was because their work was not finished
And their work was not perfect.
Even as the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to atone for sin,
There was more sin being committed.
That work wasn’t finished and that work wasn’t final.
THERE WAS ALWAYS MORE TO DO.
SITTING DOWN WAS NOT AN OPTION.
We have talked about creation and how on the 7th day God rested.
• He didn’t rest because He was tired,
• He rested because He was finished.
• It was perfect, there was nothing left to do.
But that was never the case for the priests of Israel.
There was always more to do.
BUT NOT FOR THIS PRIEST.
The work He did was so perfect and so powerful that
He was able to say, “It is finished” and He was able to sit down.
Hebrews 10:11-12 “Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD,”
That fact separates Him as a priest greater than all who came before Him.
What He did was perfect
What He did was complete
And there was no need for Him to do any more
That is an excellent credential
The seat He has taken
2) THE SOMETHING HE HAS OFFERED (3)
(3) “For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices; so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.”
First the writer reminds you that EVERY PRIEST HAD A JOB.
“to offer both gifts and sacrifices”
If a priest doesn’t offer those than he really doesn’t have a purpose.
What good is a priest who doesn’t intercede with atonement before Holy God?
So priests give “gifts and sacrifices”
The writer then says, “so it is necessary that this high priest also have something to offer.”
The question is: What is the “something” that He offered?
Hebrews 7:26-27 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.”
Hebrews 9:13-14 “For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
Priest after priest after priest offered goat after goat after goat
And none of those things ever took away sin.
But He “offered Himself without blemish to God”
Matthew 3:16-17 “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”
And that also makes Him a greater high priest.
• He brought a greater offering
• He brought an acceptable offering
• He brought an effective offering
He presented Himself as atonement for sinners and God was well pleased
No other priest could say that.
No other priest ever had the privilege of hearing God say,
“Your sacrifice is pleasing, you’ve done enough, why don’t you sit down.”
The seat He has taken, The Something He has offered
3) THE SANCTUARY WHERE HE SERVES (4-5)
(4-5) “Now if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all, since there are those who offer the gifts according to the Law; who serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, just as Moses was warned by God when he was about to erect the tabernacle; for, “SEE,” He says, “THAT YOU MAKE all things ACCORDING TO THE PATTERN WHICH WAS SHOWN YOU ON THE MOUNTAIN.”
Now there is a bold statement by the writer.
“if He were on earth, He would not be a priest at all”
Really? Why?
Because a priest must mediate before God,
And God is not dwelling on the earth.
Granted He is omnipresent and we see His work around us,
But God’s sanctuary and glory do not dwell among us.
And that means that those priests who serve on earth
Are not actually going to the very presence of God.
Then where are they going?
They “serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things”
Remember what God said to Moses?
“See”, He says, “That you make all things according to the PATTERN which was shown you on the mountain.”
They served in the tent of meeting and then in the temple
And neither of those was the actual sanctuary of God.
They were a copy, a shadow, of the original.
Even after Solomon built God’s temple he said:
1 Kings 8:27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain You, how much less this house which I have built!”
Paul told the Athenians:
Acts 17:24-25 “The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things;”
Jesus Himself said:
Matthew 5:34-35 “But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is THE CITY OF THE GREAT KING.”
When that priest went behind that veil
He was not actually going into God’s throne room.
He was going into a man-made copy to symbolize atonement.
Your child may make a tent out of sheets in his bedroom
And pretend he is going to outer space, but it isn’t actually happening.
The reality is that those old priests weren’t really priests at all.
None of them ever entered God’s presence to make atonement.
But Jesus did.
Look back at verses 1&2
He “has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.”
Hebrews 7:26 “For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;”
That is because He dwells in heaven.
Hebrews 9:11-12 “But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.”
Jesus did what no priest ever did.
• He actually entered the presence of God.
• He took an offering that was actually acceptable.
• He did His work so well that He sat down.
No other priest could ever offer credentials like that.
Agreed?
HE IS A NEW AND GREATER HIGH PRIEST.
And you remember that a new priest requires a new law.
The presence of the new priest
Is proof that the new law must also be here.
Jesus’ Excellent Credentials
#2 JESUS’ EFFECTIVE COVENANT
Hebrews 8:6-13
You have to love verse 6.
We are reminded that “He has obtained a more excellent ministry”
Here I need to ask you, how much more excellent?
How much better is Jesus’ ministry than all the priests who came before Him? (Try and assign a value to it)
You’d probably have to say something like “infinitely better”
Since there’s never worked and His worked perfectly,
We really have difficulty assigning a value to it.
But you get that Jesus’ ministry is way better than the old priest’s.
Now, that value you assigned as to how much better Jesus is,
That is the same value you should assign
As to how much better His covenant is.
“He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant,”
He doesn’t give a value (it’s impossible)
But whatever the difference is, it’s the same (“by as much”)
Well we know why Jesus is a better priest (we just saw that)
But why is His covenant a better covenant?
Because it “has been enacted on better promises”
This new covenant is better than the old
Because the promises God made regarding it
Are better than the promises God made regarding the old one.
And then the writer uses some familiar logic
(7) “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.”
You’ve seen that logic before.
Remember that was the same question he asked in regard to a new priest.
Hebrews 7:11 “Now if perfection was through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the Law), what further need was there for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be designated according to the order of Aaron?”
If the old priests were acceptable the why did God write Psalms 110:4?
And here he says, if the old covenant was acceptable
Then why did God write Jeremiah 31:31-34?
Do you see that?
Well, at this point you ought to be getting excited.
The writer is telling you that the new priest is only half of the surprise,
You also finally get the new covenant.
And the writer then reminds you of how great it is.
6 beautiful realities
1) IT IS PROMISED BY GOD (8)
(8) “For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH;”
God found fault with the old covenant and with the people who broke it
He witnessed the condemnation that the old covenant brought,
So He promised that days were coming when He would bring a new one.
“Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.”
And please notice that it is a “new” covenant.
• It’s not old, it’s not used.
• It’s not factory refurbished.
• It is completely new.
God didn’t take the old one and just revamp it.
God didn’t take the old one and just tweak it.
God promised a “new” one.
It is just like the promise of new priest in Psalms 110:4.
When God promised that new priest we got one that wasn’t like the old at all.
• A different tribe
• A different qualification
• A different tenure
• A different effectiveness
He was new, not just a better old version of the old.
And so it is with this covenant.
It is “a new covenant” that God promised.
And so all Israel could anxiously wait for the day when it would arrive.
How would you know when it was here?
When the new priest arrived who would put it into effect.
The promised priest is here and so is His promised covenant
2) IT PRESUMES FAILURE BY MAN (9)
(9) “NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD.”
The old covenant hinged upon man’s ability to obey God’s commands.
Exodus 19:7-9 “So Moses came and called the elders of the people, and set before them all these words which the LORD had commanded him. All the people answered together and said, “All that the LORD has spoken we will do!” And Moses brought back the words of the people to the LORD. The LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will come to you in a thick cloud, so that the people may hear when I speak with you and may also believe in you forever.” Then Moses told the words of the people to the LORD.”
• After that people were to cleanse themselves
• And in Exodus 20 God spoke the 10 commandments.
That entire covenant hinged upon man’s decision and ability to obey God.
If at any point man “backslid” or “disregarded” or “disobeyed”
Or “fell away” then the covenant became a curse.
So it presumed that man would keep his word and be faithful.
Well we saw last week how well that worked out.
Even Jeremiah said that, “for they did not continue in My covenant, and I did not care for them, says the Lord.”
But the New Covenant doesn’t hinge on man’s ability to be faithful,
In fact it fully understands that they won’t be.
This new covenant knows that man on his own cannot remain faithful.
It is a covenant entered with man’s weakness in full view.
And this covenant doesn’t rest upon man’s ability.
That already sounds better than anything under the old covenant.
It is promised by God and it presumes failure by man
3) IT PENETRATES THE HEART (10)
(10) “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.”
Since this new covenant understands the weakness of man,
The new covenant promised to do something that the old did not.
The new covenant promised to change man.
The old covenant sat two stone tablets before the people and said, “Now familiarize yourself with this. Memorize it, and always obey it.”
TURN TO: DEUTERONOMY 6:1-15
Do you see the emphasis on reading and learning and memorizing?
It is a reality accurately summarized by David
In what is often misused verse.
Psalms 119:11 “Your word I have treasured in my heart, That I may not sin against You.”
You may have learned that verse, “Thy word have I hid in mine heart…”
In fact we even have a “Pledge to the Bible”
“I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s holy word. And will make it a lamp to my feet, a light to my path, and will hide it’s words in my heart, that I may not sin against God.”
And that verse and that pledge has been used for years
As impetus for the importance of memorizing Scripture.
But can I fill you in on a secret?
It won’t work. In fact it didn’t work.
Memorizing Scripture (i.e. hiding God’s word in your heart)
Doesn’t keep you from sinning. (It certainly didn’t keep David from sinning)
It just makes you more accountable when you do.
(That’s not to say I’m against memorizing Scripture, obviously not, I’m just saying that a purely external approach did not make man obedient)
That was precisely how the old covenant worked.
But God promised in this new covenant
He was going to do for man what man could not do for himself.
God was going to change the heart.
TURN TO: EZEKIEL 36:22-27
Ezekiel is promising that same new covenant that Jeremiah is talking about.
But Ezekiel doesn’t stop there.
He actually illustrates it.
READ: EZEKIEL 37:1-14
And then finally:
READ: EZEKIEL 37:24-28
Do you see the difference?
It is the Holy Spirit who will come and transform the heart.
He will take God’s Law and write it on the heart.
He won’t take sinful man and tell him to be righteous, He’ll make sinful man righteous.
Colossians 1:26-27 “that is, the mystery which has been hidden from the past ages and generations, but has now been manifested to His saints, to whom God willed to make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”
The old covenant persuaded the mind,
The new one would penetrate the heart.
Anyone in here who has been truly redeemed can certainly testify to this.
• I grew up in church where I was taught verse after verse after verse.
• I knew the stories, I knew the right answers.
• And I knew how I was expected to live.
And I would do it either to benefit myself or to stay out of trouble.
But when I was finally saved, and submitted my life to Christ,
Those verses became my passion.
BECAUSE GOD’S SPIRIT WROTE THOSE VERSES ON MY HEART.
That is why when a person gets saved, they love the Bible so much.
They read it and it now walks in testimony with the Spirit within them.
Before, the Bible confronted their spirit, it convicted their heart,
It seemed wrong to the logic of their mind.
But when God redeemed them and placed His Spirit within them
He also wrote those standards on their heart and there was agreement.
That is what the New Covenant did.
It changed man.
It penetrates the heart
4) IT PRODUCES INTIMACY WITH GOD (110
(11) “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM.”
In other words, there will be no pecking order.
The old covenant was filled with a pecking order.
(You’ll see it in chapter 9)
But there was a Gentile court and then a women’s court
And there was a holy place and a most holy place
And it was all about how far you could go.
Not just anyone could draw near to God.
Some things had to be taught to you by someone else.
But not under the new.
“all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.”
I don’t have to have someone else talk to God for me
(I’m grateful when they do), I can go to God on my own.
That doesn’t disregard the importance of those spiritually gifted to teach God’s word, they are there for a purpose. But it does indicate that every single believer has just as much access to God as the next.
And that is glorious!
Hebrews 4:14-16 “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”
And that’s not even the best part.
5) IT PARDONS SINNERS (12)
(12) “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.”
The old covenant punished sinners.
We saw that last week with Nebuchadnezzar and the exile.
The new covenant pardons sinners.
Were the old brought condemnation, the new brings mercy.
Were the old brought charges, the new remembers them no more.
The new covenant is so much better than the old.
Many times we have read about the great white throne judgment in the book of the Revelation and we have talked about the books being opened.
And how those books contain all the deeds by which God will judge man.
But I don’t have any deeds written there.
All mine were atoned for at Calvary and God has forgotten my sin.
I will one day stand before Christ at His judgment seat for the manner in which I served Him, but all my sins have been washed away.
Romans 8:1-4 “Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.”
That is a reality that was promised even in the Old Testament.
Psalms 103:12 “As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.”
Micah 7:18-19 “Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity And passes over the rebellious act of the remnant of His possession? He does not retain His anger forever, Because He delights in unchanging love. He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins Into the depths of the sea.”
Isaiah 38:17 “Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness; It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness, For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”
Total forgiveness of sin is available in the new covenant.
And finally
6) IT PREVAILS FOREVER (13)
(13) “When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. But whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear.”
Jesus is a priest forever and His covenant is the covenant forever.
And the writer is clear.
“He has made the first obsolete.”
And it is “growing old” and “ready to disappear.”
And as I told you last week, 5 years after this letter was written
Titus destroyed Rome and the temple.
It was over.
We now have a new priest and a new covenant,
And they are both so much better than what they replaced.
Now, through Jesus you can have an intimate relationship with God.
A relationship that pardons your sins,
Changes your heart,
And one that will last for all eternity.
And my encouragement to you would be simple.
If you’ve never come to this great high priest
For forgiveness and salvation,
Then by all means cry out to Him.
He can save you and save you forever.
