Jesus: The Bringer of a New — and Better — Covenant (Hebrews 8:1–9:10)
We';ve already seen that Jesus brought with him a priesthood that was better than the one established centuries before him. But he also brought with him — and purchased through his sacrificial death on the cross — what the epistle to the Hebrews referred to as a “new covenant” (Hebrews 8:8), meaning a new promise or agreement with his people.
Jesus spoke of the “new” aspect of worship that the writer of Hebrews seems to refer to when he said, “But the time is coming — indeed it';s here now — when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way” (John 4:23).
The writer of Hebrews wrote of those who worshipped under the old covenant:
They 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.” But 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. (Hebrews 8:5–6)
This tells us that Jesus brought us something new when it comes to worshipping God, something the writer stated very directly when he wrote: “When 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 It is now out of date and will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13).
And what was it that God made obsolete? What is now out of date and will soon disappear? The writer of Hebrews goes on to explain that it was the complex system of worship — the places and ways people could worship God — that was a part of the Law of Moses.
This new covenant means that no longer would God pay attention to where people worshipped Him or whether they followed rigid rules of worship. Now He would focus on the hearts of those who came to Him and would write His laws and His ways in their hearts and not on tablets. This would be a covenant based not on laws and regulations but on a personal one-on-one relationship with a God who extended His grace to the people of Israel — the Hebrews — and the rest of the world.
Study Questions
What do you think studying and understanding this new covenant will do to your relationship with Jesus Christ?
How would you describe your Christian faith when it comes to the personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ?
