New covenant makes the old obsolete

Good morning. I'll be reading from Hebrews chapter 8 from the beginning.

Hebrews 8 · chapter mention

So now the point in what we are saying is this.

We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven,

a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.

Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.

Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all,

since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.

They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.

For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying,

See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.

But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old.

As the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

For he finds fault with them when he says,

Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,

when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.

For they did not continue in my covenant.

And so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel.

After those days, declares the Lord,

I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.

And I will be their God and they shall be my people.

And they shall not teach each other his neighbor and each other, each one his brother, saying,

Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest.

For I will be merciful towards their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.

In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.

And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

To be human is to be made for relationships.

That's very obvious.

But we're made for personal, intimate relationships.

In which we're loved unconditionally.

I guess every relationship really begins on that basis, doesn't it?

Whether we're talking about friendships or marriage or the relationship between parents and children.

That unconditional love is what we long for and crave.

But the harsh reality is that even the best and closest of our relationships very easily and often quickly sort of sink back into being transactional.

Not unconditional.

And by transactional I mean the relationship goes something like this.

I will only do for you certain things when I'm sure that you will respond to me by doing certain things that I want.

That's a transaction.

And when we get to that point we find ourselves in a real tangle.

Because I still want and even demand that others, this other significant person, love me unconditionally.

While I'm heavily transactional towards them.

It's a very unsatisfying form of love.

I would actually argue that it's a destructive form of love.

Now, take another step with me.

Because I think the same process can easily happen.

Can easily shape our desire for a personal relationship with God.

So, it goes like this.

We know our imperfections.

We know our own failure.

So, when we think of a relationship with God, we actually want and need God to love us unconditionally.

But in response, we so easily become transactional.

That is, we do things for God and to God that we think will secure the things we want from God.

And in the end, we don't actually love God for who he is.

For his own beauty.

We love him for what we think we can get from him.

And we do acts of love.

In inverted commas.

To secure those things that we think we need and want.

We can actually read God's word.

We can form strong beliefs and emotional commitments

about the things we think we need to do to please God and keep him happy.

Even though those things may be completely wrong.

And then we get in a tangle with our relationship with God.

If all we do is respond or relate to God according to how we interpret what God says,

how we interpret what God says,

then we become religious.

And we'll give expression to our religion

either through formal religious rituals

like might happen at a church like this on Sunday morning.

going to church,

maybe observing Lent,

taking the sacraments,

whatever it is.

Or we might do it through a private system

of beliefs and practices.

Oftentimes, something picked up as a child.

So we try to be good,

believing that we can be good.

Good enough for God.

Or when life gets tough,

we say our prayers.

As if that's the key

that will unlock God's blessing for us.

And so on and so forth.

Once a person is on the religious pathway,

then I think meaningful personal relationship with God

is lost.

Or at the very least,

is substituted for transactions.

As I said before,

it's a very unsatisfying form of love.

Dare I even say destructive.

Now,

hopefully that introduction will help us

come into the notions

that are in Hebrews chapter 8 this morning,

Hebrews 8 · chapter mention

especially the word covenant.

because as we move into the Bible generally,

and Hebrews in particular,

then I need to say

that God hates religion.

His salvation plan

has only ever been

to have personal,

intimate, rich relationship

with his people.

I'm going to just give you

a very potted summary

of the Old Testament

in the next couple of minutes.

From the very start,

from God's creation,

the end point of God's creative work

was rest.

Now,

when you dig into what the word rest is,

we see it in Genesis chapter 2,

Genesis 2 · chapter mention

it is God's people

in God's place

enjoying

God's special blessing.

The place?

Garden of Eden.

enjoying

personal relationships

with God.

Enjoying

God himself.

Remember,

Adam walked with God

in the cool of the afternoon

or the evening,

whatever it was.

That's a statement

of personal relationship.

Then Genesis 3,

God's people chose

to despise that relationship

with God

and do their own thing.

This fall

into sin,

as it's called,

or rebellion,

just messed up everything

and destroyed

personal relationship

with God.

But even as God

distanced himself

from his rebellious people

by removing them

from the Garden of Eden,

his special place of blessing,

even as he was doing that,

he promises

or covenants.

There's the first mention

of that word.

He promises

or covenants.

And that's what a covenant is

in the simplest form.

It's just a promise.

God covenants

to do what was needed

to restore

personal relationship

with his people.

And we pick up then

the first phrase

that said repeatedly

throughout the Old Testament,

once again,

I will be your God

and you will be my people

and I will deal

gently with you

and bless you.

That's a statement

of unconditional love.

Personal relationship.

And ultimately,

Genesis chapter 3,

Genesis 3:15

verse 15,

tells us that

God's covenant promise

would be delivered

by a special descendant

of Adam and Eve

who would crush

Satan

and restore

God's people

to rest.

The crusher

would be the one

who would come

and restore

the personal relationship

with God

that they were created

to enjoy.

That promised crusher

we know

as Jesus.

And the single story

of the Bible

from Genesis 3

to the time of Jesus

is built around

how God uses

nation Israel

to deliver

his covenant promise.

of renewed relationship

in and through Jesus.

Every aspect

of God's,

the life of God's people

in the Old Testament

was built around

God's covenant promise.

And the extent

of God's commitment

to restoring relationship

and fellowship

with his people

is seen after the Exodus

particularly.

That becomes,

as it were,

the touchstone

or the go-to passage

to understand

what it means

to say

God wants to be back

in relationship

with his people.

And the story there

is having brought

his people

to himself,

there's the movement,

bringing his alienated people

to himself

from Egypt,

he restates

his covenant promise

in the terms,

I will be your God

and you will be my people.

loved despite

your rebellion,

enjoying the good life

of fellowship

and blessing

with him

despite your rebellion.

And from there

in Exodus

and Leviticus,

God puts in place

all the infrastructure,

if you want to call it that,

to make sure

that that relationship

is a reality.

He sends prophets

to remind

God's people

of the promise

on offer,

the beautiful relationship

that he was offering.

He sends leaders,

eventually the kings,

to model

what that good life

of blessing

looked like

and to lead them

into it.

He said that he would

come to his people

and live among them

and that's the idea

of the tent

or the tabernacle

and then later

the temple

where God expresses

his commitment

to his people.

He comes to them

and lives among

his dirty,

sinful people.

A demonstration

of personal commitment,

sorry,

a demonstration

of commitment

to personal relationship.

And then he said

he would set up

the sacrificial system

and the sacrificial system

is my special provision

for my dirty people

so I can keep on

fellowshipping with them

as a clean God.

It will remind them

of my grace

and mercy towards them

and remind them

that this relationship

cannot function

until sin has been

addressed and dealt with.

And I'll appoint priests,

says the Lord,

God.

And they will

bring two alienated

parties together,

the clean God

and his dirty people,

highlighting God's

grace and mercy

to them

and allowing animal

sacrifices

for their sin.

He would spell out

in detail,

he said,

what we call

the law.

He would spell out

in detail

how the relationship

can thrive.

Now we think of law

as restrictive

and negative

but not so.

God's law

was really

positive parameters

spelled around

the relationship.

You know,

if the relationship

is going to continue

this is how you

need to be acting.

This is how

I want you to act

so that we might

continue to enjoy

relationship

and fellowship together.

I'm your God

and you're my people.

But,

despite all

God's wonderful

provision

to make real

his promise

or covenant

of relationship,

there was a massive

and ongoing problem

that just kept

making the whole thing

fall over.

The heart of the problem?

The problem of the heart.

God's people

repeatedly

forgot

what God's

provision

symbolized

or pointed to.

They pointed

to God's

gracious

and merciful

efforts

to be in

personal fellowship

with his

sinful people.

And so,

repeatedly

through the Old Testament,

meaningful relationship

with God

was lost

as they settled

into a legalistic

or transactional

way of responding

to God.

In other words,

they forgot

all of

God's commitment,

all of God's promise

to be in

personal relationship

with them,

all the things

that God

had put in place

to make sure

that happened,

and they just

went back

to ticking

boxes.

We need

to do

this

and this

and this

to unlock

the things

we want

from God.

And repeatedly

through the Old Testament,

God's

pinged his people

and his priests

saying,

yeah,

there's no doubt

you guys are doing

all the right things,

but it's making me sick

because you're doing

all the right things

with bad attitudes,

bad thinking,

bad motives.

And in fact,

this is my words,

not God's words.

In effect,

God said,

I don't do

transactional

relationship.

Now,

it's into that

massive problem

that Hebrews

steps

and shows us

the perfection

of Jesus.

And as we see

the perfection

of Jesus,

we have exposed

ever so clearly

the weakness

and,

using the language

of Hebrews,

the shadowy

nature

of everything

that went before him.

See,

God sent

prophet

after prophet

prophet

with the same

promise

of relationship.

But none

of the prophets

were able

to make God's

word penetrate

through the minds

and into the hearts

of God's people.

At times,

they chose

not to listen.

At times,

they preferred

to protect

their own idea,

their own belief

about what God

wanted

and act

in the light

of that.

The prophets

were weak

in that sense.

God sent

leader

after leader,

king

after king,

but each

king showed

that they were

unable

to subdue

God's

unruly people

because their

unruly hearts

were just

too tough

to crack.

They were

unable,

therefore,

to lead them

into God's

place of rest

or relationship.

Endless

priests

offered

endless

sacrifices

in a

physically

impressive

temple,

but it only

made God

angry

because in

God's eyes,

their religious

practices

were just

a performance.

a pretense.

Jeremiah

and other

prophets

actually

called them

that,

a pretense

of valuing

relationship

with God

while their

hearts

were far

from loving

him.

In other

words,

they loved

what they

thought they

would get

from God,

but they

didn't love

God himself.

That's

transactional.

And it's

horrible.

Now,

listen carefully

here because

the problem

was not

in the

things God

put in

place.

The problem

was the

heart,

in the

hearts,

of God's

people

who were

unable

and unwilling

to engage

with those

structures that

God put in

place that

was meant

to point

them to

Jesus,

point them

to the

Lord,

and point

them to

grace and

mercy.

they

couldn't

use those

structures as

they were

intended,

as reminders

of God's

commitment to

do for his

people what

they could

never do

for themselves.

And

against that

is the

perfection of

Jesus.

Jesus.

he is

what all

the Old

Testament

structures

were shadows

of.

In a

sense,

the law

was the

shadow which

Jesus was the

reality of.

The temple

was the

shadow Jesus

was the

reality of.

The

prophets,

priests,

and kings,

they were

the shadow

of which

Jesus was

the reality.

He is the

reality that

all those

things pointed

to.

He is

God's

perfect

prophet,

perfect king,

and perfect

priest.

He is

God's

temple.

He is

the place

we meet

God.

He is

the perfect

sacrifice that

covers all

sins.

We saw

that last

week in

chapter 7.

He is

the one

who,

therefore,

by covering

all our

sins,

allows

personal

relationship

with God

to thrive.

He is

the perfect

forever

priest.

We saw

that in

earlier

chapters.

Unique,

purpose-built

to bring

us close

to God

in relationship.

The one

who prays

for us

constantly

as we

struggle to

serve the

Lord

faithfully

with glad

hearts.

God's

He is

God's

perfect

king

who

rescues

us,

subdues

our unruly

hearts,

and delivers

us into

rest or

perfect

relationship

with God.

The good

life of

restored

relationship,

life of

blessing and

security,

and forever

fellowship

with God.

the

perfection

of Jesus

exposes

the

weakness

of

everything

that went

before Him,

and by

definition,

therefore,

supersedes

it or

renders it

obsolete.

I was

going to

bring in

my

electric

typewriter

this morning

that I

purchased

when I

first

started

work

back in

1986,

and it

was state

of the

art.

I was

so impressed

with it

because it

could

memorize,

it could

hold in

its memory

28 letter

characters,

which doesn't

sound much,

but it was

good for me

because my

speed of

typing was

slower than

that.

Now,

that was

state of

the

art.

Last

year,

the end

of last

year,

the church

bought me

a new

laptop.

Now,

they both

do the

same job,

especially,

I mean,

I just

use my

laptop almost

like a glorified

typewriter.

It's word

processing.

So,

I've been

thinking about

just going

back to my

old typewriter.

Both do

words processing.

You type

the same

keyboard.

It's more

like that

for me.

End up

with a

document at

the end.

It's

absurd,

isn't it?

The

modern

laptop in

just a

few,

well,

I don't

know,

probably

years,

I suppose,

the modern

laptop

computer just

made electric

typewriters

obsolete.

You'd be

crazy to go

back to a

typewriter,

wouldn't

you?

By the way,

if anybody

wants to

buy one,

I still

have it in

my room.

I can

negotiate a

really good

price.

It's only

had one

owner.

Very,

very good,

very fast.

Hands down,

it'll beat

your laptop,

so come

and talk

to me

afterwards.

It's

absurd,

isn't

it?

The

perfection

of Jesus

exposes

the weakness

of everything

that comes

before him,

but more

than that,

in chapter

eight,

the son's

perfect work

in an

ongoing

sense,

in heaven,

is everything

needed to

maintain

vibrant

relationship

with God.

See,

all those

former

things,

those

shadowy

things,

really

needed and

demanded the

perfection of

Jesus,

because in

a sense,

they knew

within

themselves

their

imperfection,

their

weakness.

So those

things all

looked forward

to the

perfection

of Jesus.

And in

verse one

of chapter

eight,

we get this

summary statement

which is

summarizing the

argument,

how far back

probably the

whole argument

of Hebrews,

essentially the

writer saying

this,

look,

okay,

all that's

been said

thus far

amounts to

this.

Let me

summarize it

in one

pithy little

statement.

We have

the high

priest,

we have

the one

who has

created and

will sustain

forever

relationship

with God,

unconditional

loving

relationship

with God.

Jesus is

everything

needed

and Jesus

does

everything

required

to maintain

that

relationship.

And we're

introduced to

him again

in the

early

verses of

chapter eight

with another

extravagant

description

of who

Jesus is.

And then

it goes on

to tell us

what Jesus

has done

and is

doing.

Who Jesus

is as

God's

son is

the

ultimate,

unique,

purpose-built

prophet,

priest,

and king.

All the

knowledge of

God's word,

all the

power and

authority

needed to

guarantee

the delivery

of God's

promise or

covenant.

to restore

forever

fellowship

with his

sinful

people.

That's his

qualification.

That's his

credential.

He's now

in heaven,

which is

described here

as the

true temple.

If the

temple was

the place

where you

meet with

God or

where God

met with

his people,

then obviously

heaven is

the reality

of that.

The

ultimate

forever

sanctification

sanctuary,

called here

in Hebrews

Hebrews 8:2

8 verse 2

as a

tent,

to make

the connection

back to

the Old

Testament.

But it's

got that

personal touch

to it,

hasn't it?

When you're

camping with

somebody and

you're in a

two-man

tent,

you think,

I don't know

what size

these men

were that

this was

built for,

but this

is very

cozy.

heaven is

cozy

because of

the

perfection

of Jesus.

Jesus

is always

on the

job,

thinking now

what Jesus

does and

has done.

He's always

on the job

doing his

priestly work,

described here

in Hebrews

8 as

ministry.

That is the

actual activity

of what a

priest does.

He ministers

to and

for God's

needy people.

We saw that

in chapter 7

verse 27.

He presents

himself as the

perfect sacrifice.

That's what a

priest did.

He needed to

deal with the

sins of his

people.

people.

Jesus said,

well, here I

am.

I'll deal

with them in

my own

person.

And in

doing that,

he completely

removed the

barrier of

sin, the

barrier to

relationship and

fellowship with

God, and

opened up that

reality of

forever

relationship

with God.

God

verse 4

and 5.

I pondered a

lot over what

these verses

actually meant,

but I think it

goes like this.

Here on earth,

Jesus wouldn't

have been a

priest.

I think what

that means is

that there's a

contrast there.

I think, look,

while on earth,

the Jewish

religious authorities

wouldn't have

looked twice at

Jesus except

when they wanted

to kill him.

They didn't

value him.

They couldn't

see past their

legalistic thinking

of, well,

Jesus couldn't

be a priest.

He couldn't

be a king

because he

doesn't fit

the criteria.

He doesn't

fit what we

expect God

would do and

how we expect

God would

act.

So he was

just sidelined.

But here,

the writer's

saying, Jesus

is highly

valued in

heaven.

The Father

sees Jesus

for all he's

worth and all

he's done.

all he's

done.

he's

honored by

the Father

as the

perfect

mediator

or

guarantor

of God's

covenant

promise

because he's

brought the

two disconnected

parties together.

He's brought

sinful people

close to

the holy

God.

But he's a

perfect mediator

because he's

been able to

do that

while preserving

the interests

of both

parties.

Jesus was

totally committed

to ensuring

God's holiness

and justice

and righteousness

is not

tarnished

or minimized

in any way.

That required

a person

to die

for the

sins

of people.

Jesus

stepped

into that

breach.

God's

justice

was

satisfied

and the

door opened

for God

to show

mercy.

But at

the same

time

he was

totally

committed

to redeeming

or making

safe

his dirty

people

and bringing

them close

to God

in perfect

relationship.

And that

meant

a work

on their

behalf.

The perfect

mediator.

In the

second half

of chapter

eight

the father

promises

our

covenant

everything

needed

for perfect

forever

relationship

with him.

God's

God's

God's

God's

words

spoken

through

the prophet

Jeremiah.

And he

uses that

to prove

God's

commitment

to his

promise

to restore

forever

relationship

with his

sinful

people

despite

their

ongoing

sin.

God's

word

and all

that he

promises

here

would be

delivered

again

through

Jesus

the

perfection

of

Jesus.

But there's

another thing

that happens

here

through these

words.

It's not

to the

forefront

but I'm

going to

mention

anyway

at least

I think

that's

happening

here.

God's

word

as he

quotes

God's

word

through

the

prophet

Isaiah

God's

word

also

did I

say

Isaiah?

Well that's

obviously

wrong

isn't it?

Jeremiah

is the

one I

should

have

said.

God's

word

also

exposes

the

misguided

Jewish

mindset

held

with a

passionate

emotional

commitment

to the

belief

that the

Jews

could

secure

relationship

and fellowship

with God

by going

through the

motions

of religious

rituals.

Jeremiah

and the

other

prophets

are

scathing.

You guys

just every

day you're

offering

sacrifices

you're

saying

your prayers

and you're

doing this

and you're

doing that

and it's

all wasted

because it's

just

transactional.

You don't

love the

Lord.

God's

promise

through

Jeremiah

is used

here as

proof

of God's

commitment

to dealing

with the

problem

of the

heart

which as I

said earlier

was the

heart of

the

problem.

Only

then

could

God

be their

God

and enjoy

them as

his people.

Verse 10

I'm going to

run through

this very

quickly because

we'll be

saying more

about each

of these

things next

week in

chapter 9.

God

would deliver

new hearts.

In other

words if

the problem

was the

heart God's

commitment

to relationship

said okay

I will

reformat

you from

the

inside

out.

I'll

give you

new

desires

new

thinking

new

attitudes

so you'll

see me

for who

I am

and love

me for

what I

am

unconditionally.

Verse 11

God

would

deliver

new

transformational

understanding

the

prophets of

old

constantly

chastised

God's

people

for not

knowing

him

even

though

they

had a

lifetime

of

observing

his

character.

That was

picked up

in chapter

3 of

Hebrews.

40 years

in the

wilderness

and yet

you didn't

even know

me.

You'd seen

all my

works

yet you

didn't

even know

me.

In other

words

they knew

of God

but it

wasn't a

knowledge

that

transformed

them

and

transformed

their

actions.

They

just

interpreted

God's

activity

to suit

their own

convenient

beliefs.

And the

same

prophets

pursued

God's

people to

see that

true

understanding

of God

recognises

his holiness

and then

overflows

in response

of obedience

love and

delight.

God says

I'm going

to give

you that

sort of

knowledge

to produce

that sort

of response.

It's the

only way

it's going

to happen.

So the

ultimate

blessing

built into

God's

covenant

promise

is that

God's

people would

know and

love him

as he

knows

and loves

them.

third

verse

12

God

would

deliver

perfection.

I said

last week

that Jesus

is perfection.

Well God's

ultimate

promise

is that

he would

deliver

perfection

because only

the perfection

of Jesus

applied to

his dirty

sinful

people

would enable

that fellowship

for every

relationship

to go

by definition

forever.

God's

promise

to engage

with his

people in

grace and

mercy

acting to

remove the

guilt of

their sin

and nothing

shows God's

heart more

clearly

than this

promise to

his people.

It shows

his desire

to pardon.

It shows

his unwillingness

to pour out

his anger.

It shows

his delight

and loving

kindness.

And the

prophets

Micah and

the rest

of them

they're full

of that

sort of

stuff.

It's just

that God's

people couldn't

hear it

or didn't

want to

hear it.

They preferred

being transactional.

All of that

is God's

commitment to

freeing his

people to

true worship.

As Jesus

said

recorded in

John's

gospel

worship in

spirit and

in truth.

God's

God's

covenant

promise has

always been

the same.

I get a

little bit

uncomfortable

with the

discontinuity

between the

idea of

old and

new.

There is a

continuity.

In one sense

God's covenant

has always been

the same.

But when you

look at how

it failed

because of the

weakness of the

human heart

and how it was

then achieved

through the

perfection of

Jesus, yeah

it can

probably be

described as

something brand

new.

So what's the

takeaway from

all of this?

Well I want to

push you in two

directions.

Be careful

not to

prefer or be

satisfied with

a copy, a

shadow, an

imitation of

real relationship

and blessing

with God.

We sort of

read Hebrews

and think well

we would never

do what those

Hebrew Christians

were doing.

I think I'm

going back to

the old way of

doing things.

Well you're in a

dangerous position

my friend if you

think you can't

do that in some

shape or form.

could be a

matter of

putting your

confidence for

acceptance with

God in

institutional

religion if I

can put it like

that.

In other words

the things that

go with being

part of a church

family like this.

Rituals.

In some

situations it

could be bells

and smells.

Doing religious

things as though

somehow or other

it will make you

more secure.

more acceptable

to God and

that will

somehow or

other please

God in and

of itself.

It could be

through backing

your own

emotional

commitment to

the belief

that well

I'm a

basic

basically I'm

a good

person and

that my

good intentions

and good

living will

win acceptance

with God.

And especially

when I add

into that I

go to church

and I say

my prayers

daily and

I read my

Bible and

do my

little daily

devotional

and we

start to

pile up a

series of

transactions

that expect

God to

deliver his

part.

So common.

Even as

Christians

Tim Keller

says we can

slide into

that and

slide away

from the

gospel.

don't be

happily

transactional

in your

relationship

with God.

Jesus is

God's

perfection.

perfection is

everything

needed,

is

established

and

maintained

forever

relationship

with God.

God's

love.

And it's

very logical

then.

If he is

perfection

then there

is no

better place

to rest

that is to

find assurance

of salvation

than in

perfection.

It doesn't

need to be

updated like

Gareth's

passport or

his hairstyle.

It can't

be improved.

You'll never

get an email

saying this

ran out of

debts two

years ago and

you weren't

even aware of

it.

Sorry.

Passport to

heaven cancelled.

Love him.

Enjoy him.

Trust him.

Love him

unconditionally.

as he loves

you unconditionally.

Then we start

to show the

perfection of

Jesus.

Thank you for

listening.