Hebrews 8 The Better Covenant

Hebrews 8 The better covenant based on a more excellent ministry, based upon better promises!

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Hebrews 8 The Better Covenant

Hebrews 8:1  Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,  2  a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3  For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

Hebrews 8:1 brings us to the main point of the comparing and contrasting.  The earthly tabernacle was officiated by men who were born in the family of Aaron; these men were born with a sin nature and served at the earthly tabernacle.  The main point is to see that Jesus serves at the heavenly tabernacle that God Himself erected.  Jesus did His priestly work in the presence of God Himself.  It was not with the sacrifice found in the earthly ministry; it was a greater sacrifice that was superior and could do an eternal work in heaven.

Ephesians 2:4  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,  5  even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),  6  and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,  7  that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus did His priestly duties in the heavenly sanctuary.  By grace we have now been given a seat in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus!  This is the almost to good to be true; yet it is true.  We have been brought into the throne room of grace!  God is good and He desires to show off His kindness toward us.  Oh that the people of God would have a heart to receive from His goodness.

Hebrews 8:4  For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;  5  who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, "See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.“ 

If Jesus performed His service on earth; He would not be a priest.  The law already had priest.  The priesthood of Jesus Christ is far superior because it was the substance that the priesthood of earth was but a pattern to!

Colossians 2:16  So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths,  17  which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.

The law of Moses was a pattern and shadow; all the food and drink ordinances and festivals and Sabbaths were pointing to Jesus.  In Jesus all those ordinances are fulfilled; it is no longer in the doing of the ordinances it is found in Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 8:6  But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Jesus obtained a more excellent ministry!  Jesus is the Mediator of a better covenant!  Jesus established this covenant on better promises.  This is not a tweaking of the promises found under the law. This is not established on the performances of men; this is established on the performance on the Man Jesus Christ.  Our trust in His performance is the way to be a partaker in the more excellent ministry, of the better covenant, established on better promises.

John 1:14  And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. … 16  And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace.  17  For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  18  No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him.

Jesus came full of grace (divine influence) and truth!  Of that very grace and truth we receive from God and there is no other way to receive from God!  The law came through Moses but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.  Based on this passage I often call this the covenant of grace!  Jesus now shares the truth of who God is from the bosom of the Father.  We can now know God in intimacy that was never available under the law of Moses!

Hebrews 8:7  For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

The covenant of the law fell short.  Jesus fulfilled the law and brought in the better covenant with divine influence reigning in the life of the believer.

Matthew 5:17  "Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill.  18  "For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.

Many misquote this passage to try and prove the believer is under the law of Moses.  However when we take the passage in the context of which it is written it brings clarity to the issue.  Jesus said the law was not to be destroyed true enough, but that is not all He said.  Jesus said the law will not pass away until all is fulfilled! Jesus fulfilled the law totally and completely.  Jesus has now indeed established a better covenant based on a better promises.  When the priesthood changed it was necessary for the law to change.

Galatians 4:4  But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,  5  to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons.  6  And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, "Abba, Father!"

Jesus came under the law of Moses and redeemed all who where under the law.  By greater covenant and better promises we now can become adopted sons.  Because you are sons you have the privilege of crying out “Abba, Father!

Matthew 8:3  Then Jesus put out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." Immediately his leprosy was cleansed. 4  And Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one; but go your way, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.“

Jesus came preaching the law!  We do not tell people that have been healed to go and offer the sacrifice the Moses commanded!  Why?  That is not the covenant we belong to!

Matthew 12:18  "Behold! My Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved in whom My soul is well pleased! I will put My Spirit upon Him, And He will declare justice to the Gentiles.  19  He will not quarrel nor cry out, Nor will anyone hear His voice in the streets.  20 A bruised reed He will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench, Till He sends forth justice to victory;  21  And in His name Gentiles will trust."

Jesus came and the Father called Him the Beloved in whom His soul is well pleased.  The nature of the new covenant is not to break a bruised reed and not to snuff out a smoking flax.  This covenant is based on the Messiah healing the broken hearted and opening the eyes of the blind.  This covenant is about receiving the victory Jesus provides in justice.

Matthew 11:2  And when John had heard in prison about the works of Christ, he sent two of his disciples  3  and said to Him, "Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?"  4  Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see:  5  "The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  6  "And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  7  As they departed, Jesus began to say to the multitudes concerning John: "What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind?  8  "But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed, those who wear soft clothing are in kings' houses.  9  "But what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a prophet.  10  "For this is he of whom it is written: 'Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before You.'  11  "Assuredly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not risen one greater than John the Baptist; but he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.  12  "And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.  13  "For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John.  14  "And if you are willing to receive it, he is Elijah who is to come.

Jesus is the Messiah and there is no other.  Jesus calls John the Baptist the greatest prophet of all.  However, we must not miss the truth that the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than John the Baptist.  Why?  Greater covenant with a more excellent ministry based better promises!!  What a great God!

Hebrews 8:8  Because finding fault with them, He says: "Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah;  9  "not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the LORD. 

The covenant of all covenants and notice the covenant is made from the tribe of Judah !  The greater priesthood covenant.  Not the law but the grace found in the Lord Jesus Christ..

Hebrews 8:10  "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 in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.  11  "None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.  12  "For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.“  13  In that He says, "A new covenant," He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

God want to be in such sweet union with every believer that His word is written upon the believers heart!  He invested His only begotten to gain covenant with you and me!  Yes, the better covenant with greater promises based upon the most excellent ministry found exclusively in Jesus Christ!