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CHRIST IN THE BETTER COVENANT
by Pastor Mike Fortune
April 28, 2012
- Jesus makes the sanctuary in heaven better because that's where He went (Hebrews 8:1-5; Acts 8:55-56; Revelation 11:16-19)
- Jesus' promises makes the New Covenant better because He actually keeps them (Hebrews 8:6-11; Jeremiah 31:31-34)
- The Old Covenant wasn't bad; Jesus' New Covenant is just better because His sacrifice pardons and empowers (Hebrews 8:12-13; Matthew 26:28; Hebrews 1:3)
All Scripture from NLT
Hebrews 8:1-13
1Here is the main point: We have a High Priest who sat down in the place of honor beside the throne of the majestic God in heaven. 2There he ministers in the heavenly Tabernacle, the true place of worship that was built by the Lord and not by human hands. 3And since every high priest is required to offer gifts and sacrifices, our High Priest must make an offering, too. 4If he were here on earth, he would not even be a priest, since there already are priests who offer the gifts required by the law. 5They serve in a system of worship that is only a copy, a shadow of the real one in heaven. For when Moses was getting ready to build the Tabernacle, God gave him this warning: "Be sure that you make everything according to the pattern I have shown you here on the mountain." 6But now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises. 7If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. 8But when God found fault with the people, he said: "The day is coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 9This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant, so I turned my back on them, says the LORD. 10But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the LORD: I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already.12And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins." 13When God speaks of a "new" covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.
Acts 8:55-56
55But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God's right hand. 56And he told them, "Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God's right hand!"
Revelation 11:16-19
16The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him. 17And they said, "We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign. 18The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come. It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest. It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth."19Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple.
Jeremiah 31:31-34
31"The day is coming," says the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife," says the LORD. 33"But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day," says the LORD. "I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, 'You should know the LORD.' For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already," says the LORD. "And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins."
Matthew 26:27-28
27And he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. He gave it to them and said, "Each of you drink from it, 28for this is my blood, which confirms the new covenant between God and his people. It is poured out as a sacrifice to forgive the sins of many.
Hebrews 1:3
3The Son radiates God's own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.