The New Covenant  Hebrews 8: 3-13

Throughout the old testament period there has been a hint that the (old) covenant God established through Moses would be replaced one day. This promise of change came to a resounding clarity with the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel. It became reality in Jesus.

Just before he was crucified Jesus shared in the Passover meal with his disciples. Taking a cup of wine, he gave thanks and offered it to his disciples, saying, ‘This is my blood of the new covenant which is poured out for many.’

In Hebrews 8:3-13 the two covenants are contrasted:

The covenant of Moses -  law, priests and ceremonies. (Old Covenant.) This partially dealt with sin so God could continue with his people. (8:3-6)

The covenant  of Jesus. (New Covenant) This dealt completely with sin so God could live with his  people forever.

 ‘.. the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one,­– it’s founded on better promises.’ Heb. 8:6)

It's very important to know how the new covenant works. Sadly, many Christians live as though they are still under the old.  They don’t experience the joy, freedom and close relationship with God that the new covenant brings.

The apostle Paul called the old covenant the ministry of death with a fading glory.  He called the new covenant the ministry of the Spirit with surpassing glory that lasts. (2 Cor. 3:5-11)

Two major defects in the old covenant:

1. It gave no strength to enable the people to do what they promised.

2. it couldn’t provide for the clearing of the conscience. ‘....the gifts & sacrifices

being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.’ (Heb 9:9)

Many people today still look to old covenant type activities––Doing good things, ceremonies and rituals to reach God.  They fail, and a guilty conscious remains.

 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: "The time is coming,…, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. (7-9)

The best the Old Covenant gave was to show people their need to trust God for something more.  It also gave them a wonderful high moral code to aim for.

The old covenant (law) failed because of human weakness.  It clearly revealed the ways of good and evil. What it didn’t give people was the desire or the strength to do the good things or resist the evil things. Paul explained: The law (old covenant practices) was put in charge to lead us to Christ  so that we might be justified by faith (Gal 3:24 ).

(10-12) The prophets in Jeremiah chapter 31 and Ezekiel 11 spoke of a future new covenant. This is what Hebrews addresses. This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord…. (10a)‘

Through his death and resurrection Jesus dealt with human weakness once for all. The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs ( priests) as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises. (Heb 8:6)

The Better Promises

1. The promise of forgiveness of sins means our deepest need––to be reconciled to God is met: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (2)

2. The promise of inner strength means our moral weakness can be overcome. (11) No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. (10)  (the ministry of the Spirit. 2 Cor.3:6)

How do we know we have entered the New Covenant relationship with God? When we begin to resist wrong desires and old covenant activities and begin to live God’s way.

We are speaking here of something that is more than a legal contract. The new covenant relationship is entry into a new life with Jesus that affects every aspect of our being.

3. The promise of adoption by God means eternal life is guaranteed.

 I will be their God, and they will be my people. (10b) -  Jesus reveals God as our father.

4. The promise of a deeper and fuller revelation of God and his ways means a personal fellowship with God is guaranteed: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts…’(10b) The Holy Spirit indwells us, the Bible becomes alive to us, and we receive spiritual understanding and motivation from the Spirit sent from God.

Something wonderful happens immediately we receive the New Covenant: Every description of our failures (sins) is removed absolutely from God’s records.  God declares us legally and absolutely without fault. Unlike us, he can choose not to remember and forgive absolutely. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. (2)

We are now free to enjoy life and grow with God as our father and friend. For by the one sacrifice Jesus has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.  (Heb 10:14)

So far as life is concerned we have already graduated with honors, and we haven’t even finished the course.

Being under the new covenant, means salvation is offered as a free gift, not as a reward for any good things we have done––By grace are you saved, not of works…(Ephesians 2:8-9). For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance – now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. (Hebrews 9:15).

Living in the freedom and strength of the New Covenant is truly wonderful. All we need to do is identify with Jesus––See his suffering and death on the cross as given for us. See him risen from death for us. Trusting him as our (personal) Lord and savior. Then we are free to live out our lives simply by showing up each day, and thinking about how we can enjoy and please God as we follow Jesus.

Bill Saville

Let us Enjoy our God

The Enjoyment of God

There is an old saying amongst serious believers: ‘Our main purpose is to glorify God and to enjoy him forever’. In his book Desiring God John Piper changes this profoundly: ‘Our main purpose is to glorify God by enjoying him forever’

Let’s think about how we can enjoy God and thus glorify him. Still following the overall ‘Tow Worlds’ theme for this blog we are reminded of the connection and experiences that connect this world to the place of God.

We begin by briefly thinking about what God is like: 

Acknowledge and take to heart this day that the Lord is God in heaven above and on earth below.  There is no other (Deuteronomy 4:39)––One of. God is the eternal non human reality existing in heaven (spiritual dimension) and on earth (physical dimension)

(King David ) One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his Temple. (Psalm 27:4) God is beautiful!

(Jonathan Edwards)  ‘The highest delight in God arises chiefly from his beauty and perfection, not from the blessings he gives. The deepest cause of true love for God is the supreme loveliness of God’s nature. People whose love for God is based on God’s usefulness to them, are beginning at the wrong end.  They are regarding God only from the viewpoint of their own self- interest.  This is failure to appreciate the infinite splendour of God’s nature––He is the source of all goodness and beauty.’

There is a fundamental thing we must know about God. This truth will enable us to grow closer to him in the tragedies of life as well as when good things come our way. It’s a real waste of time and emotion to go through an unpleasant experience and not see the activity, love and beauty of God in it

The fundamental thing that brings us close to God is stated clearly by C. S. Lewis.

He  insisted that  ‘Above all else that God is good.  Lewis said there are two things we must not do:  We must not believe God is in any way evil––In him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:1) And we must not throw out any Bible passage that seems to show evil in Him. Instead we should save these passages until we understand them better’ 

We are thinking about what God is like. Isaiah had this view of God: I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exulted, and the train of his robe filled the Temple.  Above him were the seraphs, each with six wings: with two wings they covered their faces, with two wings they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory. (Isaiah 6: 1-3)

There’s no reality more breathtaking than God. Just because we haven’t seen Isaiah’s vision doesn’t mean we can’t also become overwhelmed and overjoyed as we think about God.

We have a more complete picture of God than Isaiah had: The son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. (Hebrews 1:3)

How can we enjoy God? Learn to feel as well as think as we respond to God’s word, God’s world and God’s son. The apostle Peter understood this: Though you haven’t seen Jesus, you love him; and even though you don’t see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy (1 Peter 1:8)

Because of a lot of emotional manipulation in the church many Christians are wary of their feelings. We shouldn’t be afraid of proper emotional responses to God but we should  learn to identify improper ones. Scripture directs us to experience many emotions such as: Joy, hope, fear, peace, anger, grief, desire, tender heartedness, brokenness, contrition, gratitude, humility.

We can  enjoy God as we enjoy the pleasures he brings to us. 

 ‘A man can find nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This, I see is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment (Ecclesiastes 2: 24)  Taste and see that the Lord is good ( Psalm 34:8) Both high and low people feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights (Ps 36:8) You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand (Psalm 16:11)

We can also enjoy God by thinking about our future with him: Now we are the children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Jesus appears, We shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)

It’s been said that the Christians who do most for the present world are those who think most about the next. It is there: in heaven that are enjoyment of God will be fully experienced without the burden of sin.

We are directed by God to be affected by him in such a way that our lives show it.

This is how we glorify him. Life is serious and spiritual things are serious, yet what God has given us in Jesus is a family relationship with the creator and he has made us to enjoy both the  creation and the creator.

(Philippians 4: 4)  Rejoice in the Lord always.  I will say it again: Rejoice!