Tag: Old Covenant

The Game Changer

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Essay By Dan

While reading Hebrews 9:24-25, I observed a few pithy comments concerning the Mediator entering the Sanctuary in Heaven. The author of Hebrews writes — Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with human hands that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence. Nor did he enter heaven to offer himself again and again, the way the High Priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own (Hebrews 9:24-25).

One of the underlying assumptions in the Book of Hebrews is — we are estranged from God because of sin — there needs to be mediation to implement our reconciliation with the Father. When we think of the mediator, we should focus on our reconnection with God. This reconnection happens through Jesus as our: Prophet (foreknowledge concerning our need – Isaiah 42:1), Priest (adjudication of our sin and reconciliation – Hebrews 5:10); and King ( submitting our heart to the authority of Jesus – John 12:15).

Hebrews 9:24-28 tells us there is only one mediator ever existent who can remove our sin and that we shall not look to anything else; we shall not look to our own works; we shall not look to the imperfect temple in Jerusalem which existed in the Old Covenant because we now live in the time of the New Covenant where the one true living mediator has established operations in the heavenly temple.

But there is more to this story. Jesus is the ultimate High Priest. All through the Book of Hebrews the author explains how Jesus is superior and the only realistic hope of salvation. With Jesus, there is no need to return to the priestly sacrifices of the Old Testament. When Jesus came as High Priest (the Messiah), he went to the greater and perfect tabernacle in Heaven. He did not enter the heavenly temple with the blood of critters; He entered the heavenly temple presenting his own blood, redeeming all of us with his perfect offering. With the old covenant, the blood of goats and bulls (critters) only sanctified us to be outwardly clean. The blood of Christ (through the eternal Spirit) offered himself unblemished to God. He cleansed our internal consciences from the acts that lead to death so that we may repent and serve the one true living God in grace and in truth (Hebrews 9:11-14 paraphrased). Our peace is the product of the unappeasable sorrow caused by His death and uncontrollable joy caused by His resurrection. Jesus is our righteousness.

Jesus did not enter an earthly sanctuary (a copy of the true one); he entered heaven itself, to be our mediator in God’s presence. He did not enter heaven’s temple to offer himself multiple times, the way the Jewish High Priest does every year on earth. But he appeared once in the heavenly temple, for all time, to negate all sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as Adam’s sin conferred sin and judgement to the world, so the blood of Jesus removes the sins of the world. Jesus offered himself as a global solution of reconciliation for the global problem of sin present in all of us. Soon, Jesus will appear a second time to implement the plan promised to all Christians. This plan defines our extraction out of our current existence to our forever existence (Hebrews 9:24-28 paraphrased).

The deeper truth is – day after day, the religious man stands and performs his religious duties; day after day, he offers the same tired works (sacrifice). He gradually learns this earthly sacrifice will never earn his place in heaven. The old covenant law will never change our heart, it only reminds us of our failures.

Then enters Jesus — the mediator prepares us so the Holy Spirit can write the law on our heart. This action by God retools our thinking, needs, inclinations, desires, and our focus. The mediator is the ultimate Game Changer. Jesus and the Holy Spirit reconstruct us to live forever. Selah.

I choose Jesus.

The New has Come.

Published on by DanLeave a comment

Essay by Dan

It has been my experience, while trying to wrap my mind around the old and new covenant of God, we need a global view of scripture to gain a proper understanding of both covenants. God defined the New Covenant in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Later, in the New Testament, we find Jeremiah’s definition used in the Book of Hebrews (Hebrews 8:7–12). In fact, this is the longest quote from the Old Testament presented in the New Testament. Using the Hebrews passage as a template, we find three pillars for the new covenant: Reconciliation, Revelation, and Forgiveness.

Reconciliation. God says — I will put my laws in your mind and write them on your heart (Hebrews 8:7). He inserted the law into our heart to help us resist Lucifer’s influence. He removed the barrier between us and himself. Ezekiel said – God will put His Spirit within you so that you walk in His statutes, see His ordinances, and you are able to keep them (Ezekiel 36:26-27, paraphrased). Paul wrote – For anyone in Christ is a new creation; the old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus and gave us the ministry of informing the world of this reconciliation through Jesus, thereby not counting people’s sins against them anymore (2 Corinthians 5:17–21 paraphrased).

Revelation. God says — I will be your God, and you will be my people. No longer will you teach your neighbor or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because you will all know Me, from the least of you to the greatest (Hebrews 8:10-11 paraphrased). Later, Jesus specifically included the gentiles when He said – Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age (Matthew 28:19-20). It is this simple – God revealing himself to us.

Forgiveness. God says — I forgive your wickedness and remember your sins no more. God promises to forgive our sins and justify us — we stand before God as though we had never sinned (implied in Hebrews 8:12). Paul defines the impact of reconciliation and revelation when he writes – If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved (Romans 10:9-10). We ask, he grants, we are recipients of his grace – we are forgiven.

These three pillars (reconciliation, revelation, and forgiveness) define the covenant path to the Kingdom. They are the principal elements of the new covenant (the Gospel). From my perspective, the new covenant is built on absolutes, hardcore assurances, a promise to us that we will be with Him forever. The mediator (Jesus) intercedes for us, averting God’s wrath for our extensive list of sins.

We stand “shaking like a leaf”, helpless before the formidable righteousness of God. The only thing that redeems us is inclusion in the new covenant by the mediator. We have not earned a seat at the table; we were granted a seat at the table. Not by what we did, but by his forgiveness and grace. We have nothing of value to offer in exchange for our life – Jesus alone offered something valuable to redeem us.

We are blessed by the Father, reconciled through the sacrifice of Jesus, we are blessed by the redemptive power of the blood of Jesus (just as the Hebrew children were redeemed by blood from the Passover lamb eons ago). Finally, we are blessed by revelation from the Holy Spirit, freely extending His insight (teaching) to us about the things of God. Just as the Hebrews saw the power of God through the daily allocation of manna, we obtain our daily bread (teaching) in scripture. We have nothing to offer, we are unworthy to receive this grace. We are granted grace as an expression of unconditional love. Selah.

I choose Jesus.

The Passover

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Essay by Dan

It has been my observation, while reading the Book of Exodus, the Hebrews were compelled to provide backbreaking labor in the brickyards of Egypt; but, despite the hardship, they prospered. They became a large nation with no way to loosen the shackles that held them – from that situation — our story begins.

The Book of Exodus opens with God looking upon the Hebrews. The Lord said to Moses– I have … seen the misery of my people in Egypt. I have heard them crying out because of their slave drivers, and I am concerned about their suffering. So, I have come down to rescue them from … the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land into a good and spacious land, …. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 3:7-10 paraphrased).

Then a battle ensued, a battle between idols and the one true living God. Our God pitted Himself against the idolatry of Egypt with plagues. Each plague originated from the one true living God. The plagues were directed against the idols of Egypt. First, the sacred Nile was turned to blood; then there were frogs, lice, then flies that swarmed over the land; the livestock sickened and died; boils broke out on both man and beast; hail and locusts devastated their crops; then darkness enveloped them for three days. God’s message was straight forward. The plagues demonstrated to the Hebrews their redemption and emancipation was in progress; not because of any merit within them, but solely by His sovereign grace and power. The demonstration culminated with the last plague — the death of the firstborn (implied from Exodus chapters 7-13).

God said it would be a night that they would never forget. Today if you go into the home of most Orthodox Jewish families, you will find the Passover on their calendar. After all these years, Passover is still remembered. This is the day that God delivered His own. The Hebrews in Egypt were asked to select a lamb; they were to slay it and eat it for dinner accompanied by unleavened bread and bitter herbs. The blood of that lamb was to be put outside on the doorposts of their home. On that night, the death angel arrived. He did not take time to determine if people on the inside of the house were praying. He did not ask if they had joined the right political group. He did not examine their walk with God. He did not inquire if they were Hebrews. The only thing he checked for was blood on the doorpost. When he saw the blood, he passed over the house. If the blood was not present on the doorpost, the firstborn in that unprotected house was killed (implied in Exodus 12:1-12).

Passover was judgment from Almighty God upon a sinful nation and a sinful people. The firstborn who lived through that night knew that they were redeemed by the blood of a lamb. The single thing that enabled God’s redemption was blood. That night the Hebrews ate the Passover and were redeemed by the lamb’s blood. They consumed the lamb, and they consumed unleavened bread. Does this sound like a precursor to Communion? We have the body of Jesus (lamb, Bread) and blood of Jesus (lamb’s blood). Is Communion a reminder of Passover? I think it is (implied in Luke 22:14-19). There is more…

Do you remember my previous essay on eagle wings? “Ye have seen what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you unto myself” (Exodus 19:4). Isaiah 40:31 says “Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”  Deuteronomy 32:11 says — “As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, taketh them, bears them on her wings.” We are lifted-up high; we go where no ordinary man can go; we pass over trouble using a transport mode that no ordinary person can use. Eagle Wings.

I choose Jesus.