His Incomparable Covenant
Jesus inaugurated the superior New Covenant through his Death and Resurrection, rendering the old system obsolete – Hebrews 8:6-13.
The Definitive
“Word” that God has spoken “in the Son” surpasses all past
revelations made to Israel in “the prophets,” including Moses, the Great
Lawgiver. Jesus exceeded every one of his predecessors, and he alone “achieved
the purification of sins.” Therefore, he now “sits” at the right
hand of God as our Faithful High Priest who inaugurated and administers the promised
“New Covenant.”
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[Photo by James Wheeler on Unsplash] |
The Letter to the Hebrews contrasts the perpetual priesthood, New Covenant, and once-for-all sacrifice of the Son with the multiple priests, obsolete covenant, and repeated animal sacrifices of the Levitical System.
God promised a new priesthood “after the
order of Melchizedek,” demonstrating that the Aaronic priesthood could never
achieve the “purification of sins.” Otherwise, there would have been no
need for a new priesthood and covenant.
Under the “former” legislation, the
people received the Law with its regulations for sacrifices, the calendar, and priesthood,
but the promise of a new order of priests also meant “a change of law” was
necessary - (Hebrews 7:11-14).
The Levitical priesthood depended on lineal
descent and multiple generations of priests since all men die. In contrast, the
priesthood “after the order of Melchizedek” is perpetual since it is
based on the endless resurrection life of the “Son.” Jesus did not
become “our High Priest” until his sacrificial Death and Resurrection.
Moreover, the Son was installed by the oath
of God (“The Lord swore and will not regret: You are a priest everlastingly”);
therefore, his priesthood is not “transmissible.” He is the “Guarantor
of a Better Covenant,” and Jesus is well able to save his “brethren”
to the uttermost since he “lives evermore to intercede for them” -
(Psalm 110:4, Hebrews 7:15-25).
Unlike his predecessors, he “sat down on
the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens” and became the minister of “the
Real Tabernacle,” and not of a temporary tent or stone building in
Jerusalem “made-by-hand.” He intercedes continually for his people in
the greater and true “tent pitched by God.”
The animal sacrifices of the Levitical
system constituted only “glimpses and shadows of the heavenly realities,”
therefore, they could never cleanse the sinner’s “conscience” of the
stain of sin - (Hebrews 8:1-6):
- “How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the everlasting Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” - (Hebrews 8:9:9-14).
THE BETTER COVENANT
Having attained a more distinguished
ministry, he became the “mediator of a better covenant legislated upon
better promises.” If the “first covenant” had been faultless,
there would be no need for a second one to replace it. However, having found
fault with the former covenant, the Lord announced that He would “conclude a
New Covenant” with His people. This vastly superior covenant would never
require modification, addition, or replacement - (Hebrews 8:7-13).
In the Letter, the “New Covenant” is expressly stated not to be “according to the covenant” made at Sinai. It is not a “renewed” version of the Law or Torah given by Moses, but a new covenant designed to achieve the “purification of sins.”
Under this “New Covenant,” all
citizens of the Kingdom know their God since His righteous requirements have
been inscribed on their hearts by His Spirit, thus “circumcising their hearts” rather than their “foreskins” to love Yahweh with all their
heart as promised in the Torah - (Deuteronomy 30:6, Jeremiah 31:31-33,
Ezekiel 36:22-27, 2 Corinthians 3:1-3).
By establishing the “New Covenant,”
Jesus “made the first one obsolete.” This means the covenant established
at Sinai ceased to be in effect for God’s people because of the superior sacrifice,
covenant, and priestly office of the “Son.”
Since the “New Covenant” achieved
the “purification of sins” and “cleansed the conscience” of the
believer, its benefits far surpass those of the old Levitical code. To return now
to that outdated system would mean abandoning the supreme benefits of the New Covenant
established by the Son of God through great personal cost.
Forsaking the Assembly of Jesus Christ after
we have received the knowledge of the truth would amount to “trampling
underfoot the Son of God and the blood of the covenant.” The Lord will
judge His people, and, in the end, the apostate will find just what a “fearful
thing it is to fall into the hands of a Living God.”
The position
of the Letter to the Hebrews is that returning to the Levitical system means
abandoning the superior New Covenant established by the Son of God and
apostatizing from the “salvation” provided by God “upon the last of
these days.”
Any man or
woman who “drifts away” from this foundation will “receive just
recompense” far worse than any punishment received under the Mosaic Law for
his or her egregious “disobedience and transgression,” and for egregiously
dishonoring the Son of God.
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SEE ALSO:
- Purification of Sins - (Having achieved the purification of sins, Jesus sat down at the right hand of God where he now intercedes for his people as their High Priest)
- Do Not Drift Away - (A dire warning of the consequences of failing to heed the superior word spoken in the Son)
- Once for All - (The promise a New Covenant finds its fulfillment in the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus and the permanent priesthood he now holds)
- Son Alliance Incomparable - (Jésus a inauguré la Nouvelle Alliance supérieure par sa mort et sa résurrection, rendant l'ancienne alliance obsolete - Hébreux 8: 6-13)
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