The
Better Covenant That Make Us Better People
To Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel ~ Heb 12:24 (N I V)
The book of Hebrews is "the book of better things".
The central theme of the entire book is to show how much better the new
covenant of Christ is than the old covenant of Moses.
Jesus is
presented as
- Better
than the ancient prophets and priest,
- Better than
angels,
- Better mediator than Moses (the mediator of the
former covenant),
- Better than old covenant,
- Better than Joshua,
- Better than Aaron and the priestly succession descended from
him.
- Better
things; salvation.
- A
covenant with better hope.
- Better
promises.
- Better
sacrifice than sacrifices of bulls and goats (Heb 9:11-12)
- Better
ministry
ü
Because we are in a better covenant we automatically are
entitled to a better life.
Jesus is our Mediator for this greater covenant. Mediator is the ancient Greek
word mesites, which means "one
who stands in the middle between two people and brings them together." (Barclay).
Jesus cements a relationship which was disturbed by sin. Sin brought
separation. Then God designed a new covenant through the blood of His son Jesus
Christ. (1 Cor 6:20)
The message of the blood
The
blood speaks (Gen 4:10). A contest of two people both whose blood was shed. But the blood of Jesus said to be
better:
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks of bitterness but Jesus blood speaks of betterness
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks fighting/revenge/vengeance and retaliation but Jesus blood speaks
of forgiveness and reconciliation (Eph 1:7, Heb 9:22, Rom 5:9)
Ø Abel’s
blood spoke of the start of enmity relationship but Jesus blood spoke of start
of a loving relationship (John 3:16)
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks and reminds of a sacrifice and Jesus blood spoke of the sacrifice (Heb 9:12)
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks of the suffering of
humanity and Jesus blood speaks of the solution
to the suffering of humanity/sin (Rom 5:9)
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks of punishment and Jesus blood speaks of promise and protection
Ø Abel’s
blood speaks of death and Jesus blood
speaks of resurrection and life
Message
The blood of Abel represents the Old
covenant and the blood of Jesus represents the New Covenant. In the New
Covenant we must understand that:
1.
Jesus
gives us reason to celebrate the better
things: salvation, Hebrews 6:9.
·
Redemption: Buy
back-There was a prediction of release, redemption, relief, Isaiah 53.
·
The Old Covenant was just a shadow of things
to come. Rom 10:1. The real has come.
·
Taking
away of sin: John the Baptizer foretold a release; a taking
away of not covering
of sins, John 1:29. Jesus Christ is the sacrifice of the New Covenant and His
blood is far more precious than the blood of goats and calves.
Ø The
blood of goats and calves did not cleanse the conscious of the worshippers.
That blood just covered their sin. Behold
the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The Old covenant
could not properly deal with the problem of sin.
·
Universal
call to salvation: When he died the temple veil torn into
two for our access. He is able to save to the uttermost not Jews only, Hebrews
7:25.
Calling to all nations: Gentiles have access to God through the New
Covenant. We are now part of the commonwealth of Israel (Eph 2:13). Whilst we were sinners Christ died for us.
·
Freedom: The
old covenant was full of condemnation and bondage but the Law of grace brought
liberty. (Rom 6:14, Rom 7:6, Rom 8:1)
Ø The
lepers: The Old Covenant full of discrimination
and segregation but the New Covenant full of love.
Ø We
are now freed from the power and bondage of sin not free to sin (Rom 6:2)
Ø The
Old covenant written on the foreheads but
the new in the heart. You don’t fear
to forget carrying the covenant. Thy word have I hidden in my heart (Ps 119:11)
2.
We
celebrate for Jesus gave us a better
sacrifice,
Hebrews 9:23.
·
No earthly
priest couldn’t take away sin the way Jesus did. Therefore Jesus' ministry is far better than the
ministry of the priesthood under the Law of Moses. He was without
sin and then able to remove and die for sin, I Peter 2:22.
·
An
event
in the Old Testament: But a process of faith, repentance and baptism give us
His perfection, Galatians 3:26-27.
·
Finality of Sacrifice: Unlike the Old
Testament where sacrifices were made regularly (yearly), and was temporary dealing with sin, when
Jesus offered Himself as the sacrifice once
for all time, His blood cleanses the conscious of the sinners and redeems
them, setting them free from the death grip of sin. (Heb 9:25-28)
Ø Expensive
to worship under the Old covenant: yearly
you had to be either holy or rich enough to afford
Ø The
Old covenant sacrifices reminds people of sin (Heb 10:3) but Jesus reminds love
·
The Old covenant more about works and ritual of sacrifice to be
justified but the new Covenant is all about obedience, grace [you don’t deserve it] and commitment. Mediator of a better covenant: Jesus has mediated for us a better covenant, a covenant of grace and not of works, guaranteed for us by a
cosigner (Hebrews 7:22).
3.
Better priest- The High priest
·
Always for us: Jesus the High Priest
always in the presence of God for us not come and go.
·
Priesthood of all
believers- We access the Holy of
Holies as individual believers (1 Pet 2:9-10). We can access the benefits of
priests. (Rom 5:1-2)
·
The Presence of God: We are seated
together in the heavenly places. Now we can enter into the presence of God
because there is no limitation.
·
We
can have a personal relationship with
God. Under the Mosaic Covenant, the veil separated
God from the people. The people could not come into the presence of God
because of their sin.
ü When Christ was sacrificed, the veil was torn and now
all people who enter the New Covenant can stand in the presence of God.
4.
Jesus
gives us reason for true joy with a better
hope, Hebrews 7:19.
·
Old covenant hope was: the Anointed One is coming, Psalm 2:1-2.
·
The
anointing is here -Giving of the Spirit of God to all who believe
·
Hope
draws us onward, upward and God-ward, joyously, Colossians 3:1-2.
5.
Jesus
energizes us with better promises that
create awe, Hebrews 8:6.
·
We are a new nation, I Peter 2:9, II
Corinthians 6:16.
·
A new city, Revelation 21:1-4.
·
A new crown, II Timothy 4:8.
·
A new body, I Corinthians 15:42-44.
·
A new relationship, Romans 5:11, I John
3:1-2.
·
A new Spirit, Acts 2:38, Ephesians
1:13-14.
·
New life because of resurrection. The
old covenant sacrifices did not resurrect. We die in Him and resurrect with
Him.
·
New authority: Seated
at the place of authority – he has finished work.
·
New victory (Rev 12:11)
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