HEBREWS 8:6

The superiority of Christ is declared in Hebrews 8:6. It says about Jesus, “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” In the person of Christ we find “a more excellent ministry,” “a better covenant,” and “better promises.” The ministry of Christ every day is to stand before the Father and make intercession for His children. Our only hope is the mercy of God through Christ because we are sinners. Because of what Jesus did on the cross and because of what Jesus does every day in the presence of the Father, we have assurance of forgiveness and mercy. Jesus is the great High Priest. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec. John wrote in First John 2:1, “And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

Jesus Christ gave us a better covenant. Better than what? Better than the old covenant. The word “covenant” means “testament.” The New Testament is better than the Old Testament. The Old Testament was based upon man’s ability to keep the law. The problem with that arrangement is that man is weak. Man breaks the law, and therefore the old covenant only brings judgment and condemnation to man. But the New Testament has “better promises.” These promises are unconditional. Jesus fulfills all of the righteous demands of the Father, and therefore Jesus makes these unconditional promises available to man. Man fulfills nothing because of man’s weakness and inability. The only thing that a saved person does to inherit the promises is to trust in Jesus Christ. The sure mercies of David were prophesied to come upon the human race, and they have come through Jesus. Because of the weakness of man, the law brought condemnation. Jesus brings grace and salvation. The Bible says in John 1:17, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 8:7, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.” The first covenant that had been given in the Old Testament was not faultless. It was limited. It had problems. It did not work because man did not keep that covenant. The first covenant was replaced by “the second.” God wants to save man and not destroy him, and so God replaced the first covenant with the second covenant. God replaced the Old Testament law with the New Testament covenant. This should not surprise anyone because the fact that it would happen was prophesied in the Old Testament. The writer of the book of Hebrews points out this fact by quoting Jeremiah 31:31-34.

The Bible says in Hebrews 8:8-12, “For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.”

The new covenant replaced the old covenant. The New Testament replaced the Old Testament. The problem with the old covenant was the weakness of man. The promises of the old covenant were based upon man’s ability to keep the promises. That law was good: if only man could keep it. But man cannot keep the law. Man is selfish and sinful. God loves us in spite of our great sins, and so Jesus created the New Testament in connection with His blood. Notice that when the Holy Spirit spoke of the New Testament through Jeremiah the emphasis is entirely on what the Lord will do for man. The Lord said, “I will make a new covenant,” “I will put my laws into their mind,” “write them in their hearts,” and “I will be to them a God.” God does all of this unconditionally. Man does nothing. Because God does these things, the result is very evident: “they shall be to me a people”. This is a wonderful age in which we live: the age of grace. The grace of God is showered down upon all who will believe in Jesus Christ. A true Christian is not one who keeps the outward observances of the law. A true Christian is one who has had a change inwardly: “in their hearts.” The change of heart had nothing to do with their own efforts. The change is performed by Christ according to the new covenant and according to unconditional promises. That is why Jesus said in John 3:5-7, “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which I born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I say unto thee, Ye must be born again.” To be born again is a work that God does with no effort from man. To be born again is a work that the Spirit does in the heart of man with no effort from man. To be born again is what happens when a sinner believes in the Savior Jesus Christ. This is the new covenant. This is the New Testament. In the old covenant God says to man, “Man, you must do these things in order to live.” In the new covenant God says to man, “I will do these things so that you can live.”

One of the interesting things about the prophesy from Jeremiah is that part of it has not yet been fulfilled. The Lord promised, “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.” This has not happened yet, but it will happen. Right now in this age of grace Jesus has given all of His believers a commandment to be involved in the spread of the gospel. God wants everyone in the world to hear about His grace that is in Christ Jesus. Unfortunately, not everyone has believed in Christ to the saving of their souls. In this age of grace it has happened just like Jesus said that it would in Matthew 7:13-14: “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

One of the difficult things about being a Christian who follows Jesus Christ is that there are so many unbelievers, and there is a division between believer and unbeliever. If you are filled with the Spirit of Christ, then your spirit will not be in sync with the spirits of the unbelievers. Jesus said that it would be this way even among family members. Jesus said in Matthew 10:34, “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set a man at variance against the father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.” The Bible also says in Second Corinthians 6:14-18, “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.” And so we live in the age of grace, but we also live in a time of division among people and spiritual warfare. We say to our neighbors, “Believe in the Lord,” because many of them do not yet believe.

Perhaps the day will come when it will be revealed that the Christians failed to spread the gospel of Christ and failed to take advantage of the opportunities in the fields that are white and ready for harvest. But the Lord will not fail to fulfill His promises. The day will come when they will look upon Him whom they have pierced. The day will come after the return of Christ when only believers will inhabit the earth. The Lord will do it. Even the age of grace will end in the failure of man, just as the ages before it. But God will keep His promises. The Lord promised through Jeremiah, “And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.”

The Bible says in Hebrews 8:13, “In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.” If you have a new covenant and an old covenant, it is obvious that the new replaces the old. Once the new comes on the scene, it replaces the old. Of course, there was a transition period that took place in the first century. Jesus lived under the law. Jesus fulfilled the law. But then after the death and resurrection of Christ, the Holy Spirit revealed that things were changing. They were changing because the new covenant had been given in the blood of Jesus Christ. Perhaps the final and most obvious symbol of the end of the law in the first century was the total destruction of the temple in Jerusalem in 70 AD by the Roman legions. Of course, the priesthood of Aaron and the sacrificial system came to an end at that time because there was no more temple, and the people were either killed or scattered. The priesthood of Christ continues forever. His priestly work is done in heaven. Jesus is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedec.

The Bible says in Hebrews 9:1, “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary.” There are two things mentioned about the first covenant in this verse. The first is that it did have “ordinances of divine service.” In other words there was a good reason for the things that were being done in the law. They had a symbolism that had a good purpose. They were a shadow of things to come. They were a representation of what existed in heaven. But that was one of their limitations: they were only an imitation of the heavenly things. It was not the real thing. It was only a “worldly sanctuary.” The new covenant gets us into the real thing: heaven itself.

In the next several verses the writer of Hebrews reviews some of the physical and material things that were a part of the worldly sanctuary and that were a part of the law of the old covenant. It is good to read them and to think about them because each thing is symbolic of that which is spiritual and eternally true. It says in Hebrews 9:2, “For there was a tabernacle made; the first, wherein was the candlestick, and the table, and the shewbread; which is called the sanctuary.” Two important items are mentioned here: “the candlestick”, and the “showbread” which was upon the table. The candlestick represents light. The old covenant talked about light and the need for light, and the fact that God would give light. The candlestick was symbolic of the light that humans need in a dark world. We will stumble and fall unless we have a light to light the way. We will stay alienated from God unless we are enlightened to the truth about Him. The old covenant gave us a symbolism about light. The new covenant gives us the true light. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world.”

The old covenant also gave us a symbolism about life: the shewbread. Life is only possible if we have that which sustains life. The shewbread is symbolic of the fact that God is the life-giver and the life-sustainer. God demonstrated that fact by giving the children of Israel manna from heaven. In the old covenant we have a symbolism about life from heaven. In the new covenant we have the true life from heaven: Jesus Christ. Jesus said, “I am the bread of life.”

Which is better: the symbolism or the real thing? Which is better: the old or the new? Have you entered into the promise of eternal life in the new covenant by having faith in Jesus Christ?

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