The New Covenant
Recently I have been posting on this blog about core teachings. Our beliefs drive our values and our values drive our behavior. Core beliefs about who God is and who we are, while not always at the forefront of our conscious mind, drive our decision making, where we place our joy, and ultimately what wakes us up in the morning. Jesus used an analogy of a house built on rock or a house built on sand. He said the house that is build on rock is a strong house. The house that is built on sand (even though it could be a very beautiful house) will eventually crumble and fall because it did not have a solid foundation.
So my question to us here has been, what is our house built on?
Recently one of the foundations the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me is what Jesus accomplished as a priest. The book of Hebrews expands on this and it has been blowing my mind.
I am going to zoom in on key points the writer of Hebrews makes and briefly explain them in the context in which he is writing.
He opens up with this statement: “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son…” (Hebrews 1:1-2)
He writes this to a group of Jews to whom their whole life rested on the covenant, in other words the laws and regulations set forth by their ancestors. Not just this group of Jews lived this way, all Jews did. The ten commandments, the temple practices, their political laws were all an agreement between them and God of what was right and wrong, and it dictated how they lived. It was a game changer to say now that God is now speaking through another means, that being Jesus (who to them was a man who died and rose from the dead within the last 50 years).
Then he goes on in chapter 3 of Hebrews to quote Psalm 95 (Lyrics to a song written by one of their first kings), “Today if you hear his voice do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” therefore reminding the Jews of a time when their ancestors rebelled against God and then the Psalm continues to say how the Jews were unable to rest in God.
Chapter 4 of Hebrews expands on Jewish history showing that even once they obeyed God and thus entered into the land that God had given them, they still were not able to rest in God. “For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken later about another day. There remains then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from their works, just as God did from his.” (Hebrews 4:8-10)
Hebrews then continues on to talk about Jesus our great high priest. I used to be ignorant of the connection the Hebrew writer is making because it is not overt for a modern, western reader. What does rest have to do with Jesus being our high priest?
Follow along with me here as a point out a few more main points in the book of Hebrews. For the Jews, Aaron was the first appointed priest for the people of God. The role of the priest was to offer sacrifices for the sins of the people before God, also their role was to maintain and uphold the religious laws. When Aaron was appointed as priest the law was established. This is when the 10 commandments and temple laws were established. Knowing that, the writer of Hebrews writes, “For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.” (Heb. 7:12) This is the amazing news of Jesus becoming our new priest! And here is why…
Aaron established the old law. The law that the Jews could never find rest under! They tried and tried to be obedient to the law, but they always fell short. But there is a new priest in town! He also writes in chapter 9 verse 16, “In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it.” Jesus has died and has become our new priest! Not only has He enacted a new covenant with His people, He has died so that His will (or His inheritance, legacy, etc…) can now legally be ours. He was not only extending a new covenant with us, He was transferring over His inheritance. Inheritances are only given to family, namely descendents. Inheritances are not given to servants.
What this meant to the Jews is that they were no longer obligated to obedience to a set of rules and laws, but now they are obedient to a person (Jesus) and their new family line.
One last point Hebrews makes is this, “Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.” (Heb. 8:1-2)
Our western eyes don’t pick up on the significance of a priest who “sat down.” When priests would offer their sacrifices on behalf of the people before God, they had many things they needed to do. Year after year they did their rituals to make themselves right before God. They offered animals blood over and over. And never once when they were in the tabernacle would they sit down. They never would, nor were they ever able to. There was always atonement to be made.
But Jesus, our new priest, He sat down because under His new way, the new covenant, sin and wickedness has been dealt with once and for all. And this is our true rest. We are no longer obedient to an ever demanding set of regulations. We don’t have to serve the written law any more. That law has been written on our hearts. We can rest in God. Instead we serve Him whose load is easy and light. We can rest, because He sat down for us. This is great news!
