OUR BETTER COVENANT
HEBREWS 9:11-14 NKJV
11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
Keep in mind that the book of Hebrews is making the case that what we have in Jesus is greater than what Israel had under the old covenant.
The old covenant had an earthly tabernacle that was built by men. The pattern came from God, but it used natural materials and was created by craftsmen. But the new covenant that we have in Christ has a tabernacle not made with hands. Where Jesus entered for us was the heavenly tabernacle. This tabernacle was not of this creation and was built by God.
The old covenant priests would enter the earthly tabernacle with the blood of bulls and goats. But in our new, better covenant, Jesus entered with His own blood. The old covenant priests had to offer sacrifices yearly, but Jesus offered His own blood once. The freedom He bought for us is eternal. Jesus will never need to go to the cross or shed His blood again.
The old covenant provided a cleansing for the flesh. The blood of bulls and goats could never cleanse the hearts of men. But thankfully, our new and better covenant purchased with Jesus’ blood cleanses our hearts; our inward man is made new that we might serve the living God.
APPLICATION
One of the reasons the book of Hebrews is challenging for many people is due to the lack of understanding of the old covenant and its practices. We find the details of the old covenant in the first five books of the Bible, particularly Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. However, we can still gain from the insight of what has been done for us by Jesus without being experts in Mosiac law.
We can still rejoice that Jesus is our High Priest who represents us before God. We can rejoice that with His blood, He bought us back from the authority of Satan and enabled us to serve God without a sense of guilt and shame. We can rejoice that we have an even better covenant with God than the children of Israel had when God delivered them out of Egypt.
So we never have to look back fondly to the good old days of the old covenant. Now, we can come close to God, receive His Spirit, and live with a clear conscience. We can rejoice that we are sons and daughters of the living God and learn about all we have in our eternal inheritance in Christ.
PRAYER
Lord, thank You that because I have received Jesus, I am a recipient of the better covenant with better promises.