The New Covenant (Hebrews 8:7-13) with Pastor Andrew Courtis

Well, please turn with me in your Bibles this morning to the Epistle to the Hebrews, Hebrews eight, and our reading this morning will be from verse 7 down to verse 13 as we consider the new covenant.

Hebrews 8, beginning in verse 7.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

Because finding fault with them, he says, Behold, the days are coming, says 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 did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their mind, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them.

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

In that he says, A new covenant.

He has made the first obsolete.

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

That is the reading of God's holy word.

Please join me in prayer.

Our loving and gracious Father, we thank you for this passage of Scripture.

We thank you for the precious promise that is conveyed in it.

I pray that we would be able to see what this means, that we would respond in praise to you.

Encourage us now, I pray, and prepare our hearts well as we gather around the table of your dear son.

I pray this in Christ's name.

Amen.

We were reminded last week that as a result of Adam's transgression, Adam's rebellion and disobedience of the covenant that God had made with him, Adam came under the curse of the law.

And this curse has been spread to all that Adam represented.

That's us.

We learn in the words of Romans three and verse twenty-three those confronting words, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

Adam led the human race into ruin and helplessness.

But we were reminded of that incredible sparkle of light that comes in Genesis three and verse fifteen, where we have the first gospel, a promise was given.

God, in his gracious condescension, promises a covenant of grace in which he would bring redemption to his people.

And we see throughout the course of redemptive history, step by step, God progressively makes known this glorious promise, a promise first announced in Genesis 3.15, but a promise we mentioned that is actually the result of an eternal covenant, a covenant of redemption before the foundation of the world, in which the Father, Son, and Spirit make an eternal pact, in which the Father gives a people to his Son.

And there in Genesis 3:15, we see the beginnings of the promise of this unfolding of this wonderful, gracious gift of God.

Genesis 3:15

And God has been pleased to deal with his creatures by means of a covenant framework.

We learnt about the covenant that God had made with Noah, a covenant that ensures the preservation of humanity so that there would be a people that he would bring the glorious gift of redemption to.

God made a covenant with Abraham, a covenant that had near fulfillment, but a covenant that has far fulfillment.

A covenant that had physical fulfillment, yet it would ultimately have spiritual fulfillment.

God made a covenant with his covenant people Israel in the Mosaic covenant.

God continued to make a covenant with David, in which he promised that there would be an heir, a son who would ultimately rule.

Now, when we hear of all of these covenants that we talked about last week, we need to remember that they're not disconnected from each other.

But rather, we are to see that they are a part of a complex river system.

All of these covenants are beautiful flowing rivers of God's goodness, different kinds of rivers.

Some are deeper than others, some are flowing faster than others, some have more clarity than others, but they are all interconnected.

But what brings about the great unity of all of these rivers of God's covenant promises is that they are all leading to one place.

All these covenants that God has made throughout redemptive history find their fulfillment and completion in the new covenant.

These are the covenants we're preparing us for, pointing us to the necessity and the need of this glorious new covenant.

And it's that new covenant that we're going to talk about today.

And this new covenant had been promised long ago by the prophet Jeremiah, but also by the prophet Ezekiel.

But there very clearly in Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34, while the people of Judah were experiencing judgment as a result of their disobedience, the prophecy was issued in which God is making a new covenant.

This new covenant is not disconnected from the previous ones, but as I said, it is the fulfillment of all of his promises.

And this new covenant is a better covenant.

But I want you to note specifically when the writer to the Hebrews says the new covenant is a better covenant, he's meaning that specifically in contrast to the old covenant.

What's the old covenant?

The old covenant is that arrangement that God had with the people of Israel through Moses.

That is what's known as the old covenant.

That old covenant was never an end in itself.

It was a gracious covenant, but that covenant wasn't able to do what it pointed to.

The old covenant was pointing to the need for Christ.

And that's what we're going to learn about today.

Well, this morning I want to share with you three important things from Hebrews 8, verses 7 to 13.

Hebrews 8:7–13

I want you to see, first of all, in verses 7 to 9, the need for a better covenant.

God had made a covenant with his people Israel in the wilderness, and it's known as the old covenant, the covenant at Sinai or the Mosaic Covenant.

But this covenant wasn't a covenant that was able to deliver what the people ultimately needed.

Listen to verse 7.

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

In other words, if that first covenant was perfect, if that first covenant was able to achieve what it needed to achieve, there would be no need for another covenant.

But the fact of the matter is, it wasn't faultless.

What was wrong with the old covenant?

Well, it's not so much that there was something wrong with the old covenant.

What was wrong was the people who are in that covenant.

The old covenant pointed to the holiness of God.

It revealed the sinfulness of man.

The law of God was written on stones placed inside the Ark of the Covenant.

But verse 8 tells us, because finding fault with them, the fault was with the people.

The people were unable to obey and meet all the demands of this old covenant.

And it's for this reason the Lord had made a glorious promise, a beautiful promise.

The old covenant was always pointing to this, it was always pointing to the need of a better mediator.

The mediator of the old covenant was Moses.

And Moses wasn't bad, but Moses knew that there was someone better.

Moses spoke of one who would be a prophet like unto him, but he will be that final prophet.

We learn in verse 8, through the promise of the Lord, quoting from Jeremiah 31, Behold, the days are coming, says 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 did not continue in my covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord.

The children of Israel had broken the covenant, the old covenant.

And as a result of breaking that covenant, they experience the covenant curses.

When God makes these gracious covenants, as God condescends and makes this arrangement with his creatures, there are stipulations in the covenants.

And where there is obedience to the stipulations in these covenants, there's blessing.

But where there's disobedience, there's cursing.

The children of Israel disobeyed the Lord.

They transgressed the covenant arrangement.

They broke covenant with God.

And you see in the history of Israel how this begins to really dismantle them.

The kingdom, first of all, divides into two.

There is a northern kingdom and a southern kingdom.

As a consequence of their breaking of the covenant, the northern kingdom, the kingdom of Israel, is overtaken by the Assyrians.

But as time goes by, we also see that the southern kingdom, which lasted a few hundred years longer, also broke covenant with God.

God had sent prophets into the land of Israel and into Judah, and the prophets were preaching the need to repent and obey the Lord.

Remember the covenant stipulations.

Remember the promises you've made to the Lord.

Remember the Lord's covenant.

They preached, but the people didn't listen.

They refused, they rebelled, they broke the covenant.

And as a result of this, God issued covenant curses.

They were cursed.

They were cursed because of their disobedience.

They were cursed because of their rebellion.

They were cursed because of their hatred toward the Lord.

Yet God was so patient to them, wasn't he?

He sent them more prophets.

He was so kind and so tender.

But there was a limit.

And the people did experience the consequences of their disobedience.

It was in that moment of sadness and hopelessness as the people of Judah were in captivity.

That God speaks through the prophet Jeremiah and declares the words, Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord.

Could you imagine the force behind those words?

The days are coming.

What days?

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

Here God says that even though you've broken the covenant, I am making a new one.

It's not new in the sense that it's going to say things that have never been said before.

We'll learn in just a moment.

The things inside of this new covenant have been mentioned in other covenants.

But it's this new covenant is new in the sense that it is the fulfillment of what every other covenant was pointing to.

This covenant is better because it has a better mediator.

And it is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Who is this covenant for?

Well, the text tells us, doesn't it?

It's with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.

Now, how does this work?

What does this mean?

Well, here God makes a covenant with his covenant people.

God had chosen Abraham, and through Abraham there would be descendants, they would form the house of Israel.

But this people have become rebellious.

They have departed from the ways of the Lord.

They've received covenant curses.

The text tells us that the Lord had brought judgment upon them.

He had disregarded them because of their refusal to obey his law.

Yet God in his kindness says, I make a covenant with them.

Yet, in an amazing way, we learn that in this glorious new covenant, the new covenant doesn't replace all those other covenants.

No, no, no.

It expands upon the other covenants, it fulfills the other covenants.

And this brings us an incredible insight because when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the upper room, the night before he was crucified, around the Lord's table, the institution of the Lord's table, here our Lord makes the announcement that he is now inaugurating this new covenant.

The new covenant began at the death of the Lord Jesus Christ.

That's when it was inaugurated.

And the new covenant is in operation from that moment.

Yet the gospel is now going to around the world.

So how is this a covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah when the Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated in the upper room, and the sign of the new covenant is the Lord's table, and the Lord's table is to be practiced throughout the churches.

Well, what's going on here is because this is an expansion and a fulfillment, we need to remember who Jesus is.

Jesus is a descendant of Abraham.

And we learn in Galatians chapter 3 and verse 16 that when God made a promise, he made it for the seed of Abraham, not seeds.

Galatians 3 · chapter mention

It's in the singular.

Expanded.

It's been made bigger, it's been made more glorious, it's been made wider.

But this was always the promise that God had given to Abraham that Abraham, through you, the nations would be blessed.

But we mustn't think that this means that God is finished with the people of Israel.

First of all, we've seen in the book of Acts, haven't we?

That many Jewish people came to the saving knowledge of Christ.

We see throughout church history a number of Jewish people get saved.

But we also learn in Romans chapter 11 that when the fullness of Gentiles come in from every tribe, tongue, and nation, it will in God's appointed time provoke the nation of Israel to great jealousy.

Romans 11 · chapter mention

And God will save Israel.

But instead, we see in the glory of this new covenant that Christ is the mediator of it, is that there is one people, one flock, and one shepherd.

And this new covenant is more expansive, it is more glorious, it is more wide, it is more far-reaching.

And all the promises of God are yes and amen in Jesus.

God has not canceled any of his promises.

This is the beauty of the new covenant.

There is a need for it because the old covenant wasn't able to deliver for the need of the people who had fault.

The people were unable to save themselves.

The people needed something else.

The people had failed.

Curses are now on them.

The only hope is for the need for a better covenant.

And this is what brings me to the second point, and that is the glory of the better covenant.

This is found in verses 10 through to 12.

And what I want you to notice in verses 10 through to 12 is this is a direct quotation from Jeremiah 31.

I want to read this quotation for you.

But what I want you to notice as I read this is this is describing the glory of the new covenant.

This new covenant that Jesus Christ is mediating.

This new covenant is the arrangement for those who.

Are a part of the people of God in Christ Jesus.

If you are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, this is true of you.

Listen to these words.

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, for I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

I want you to see three features of the glory of the new covenant.

What makes the new covenant better?

What makes it glorious?

Well, first of all, in the new covenant, God changes the hearts of those that belong to the covenant.

In the old covenant, there was the law, and the law was written on stone, but the people did not obey the law.

But here we're told in the new covenant, the Lord says, I will put my laws in their mind and write them on their hearts.

I will change the hearts of those who are a part of this covenant.

Those who belong to the essence of the new covenant have changed hearts.

Those who have experienced the substance of this new covenant have been given new hearts.

Ezekiel called this a new heart.

The Lord Jesus Christ called this being born again.

The apostle Paul said it's being made as a new man.

All of this imagery is describing the experience of somebody who receives spiritual life by the work of the Spirit of God.

It's an invisible spiritual work in which your heart of stone, your rebellious heart against God is broken and made new.

You go from darkness to light, you go from rebelling to receiving, you go from disbelief to belief.

You believe in Jesus, you cling to Him because of this regenerating work.

God changes the hearts of those who belong to the essence of this covenant.

And what makes this glorious is if God changes the hearts of those who belong to it, then those who have changed hearts will not transgress that covenant.

They will continue to believe because their hearts have been changed.

But not only is the glory of the covenant seen in that God changes the hearts, but secondly, God claims for himself the people.

He goes on to say in the next part of verse 10, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

That particular phrase was mentioned in God's covenant arrangement with Abraham.

That phrase is mentioned in God's covenant arrangement with Moses.

Even the prophets had mentioned this before.

This is not new, but what makes this different here is the fullness in which this is applied.

What was previously a shadow in this statement is now seen in clarity and reality.

And this has both a near and a far fulfillment.

What do I mean by that?

Well, the Lord Jesus Christ inaugurated this covenant at his death.

This covenant is in effect now.

We are new covenant Christians.

We are under the new covenant.

We're not under the Mosaic covenant, we're under this new covenant, but it has an already and not yet element to it.

That is to say, on this side of the Lord's return, there are those who will be attached to the covenant externally, and we may assume they belong to the new covenant, but they actually haven't got new hearts.

They experience the benefits of the covenant, they partake in the life of the church, and Hebrews 10 is going to talk about people who have been set apart to the covenant, but they have not actually possessed it.

They actually don't belong to the essence of the new covenant.

But to our eyes, we assume they do.

This is what we call the visible church.

The visible church consists of those who profess faith in the Lord Jesus.

And we can only make judgment on the outside.

But not everybody who professes faith in the Lord Jesus actually possesses faith, right?

That's why there are some people who will go on and break the covenant, they will transgress.

But the reality is they never belong to the essence of it.

They are only externally attached.

But in the new heaven and new earth, when we see all things made new, it's interesting.

This phrase, I will be their God and they will be my people, is mentioned again in Revelation 21, when all things are made new, and there we will see the fullness of that experience.

And that is, there will be no unbelievers at all.

Everyone who will be in the kingdom of heaven, everyone who will be in the new heaven and new earth, will only be those who are the people of God.

But here I want you to see that God claims a very special presence among his people.

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

That was true in the old covenant, but it has a fuller meaning in the new covenant.

God was with them in the Old Testament by means of his dwelling presence at the tabernacle and temple.

But now God is with his people through his indwelling presence in the new temple, and that is the church.

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

This is showing beautiful covenantal language, beautiful language of God's relating to us.

And listen to the intimacy that comes from the fact that he is our God and we are his people.

He says, none of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall know me.

From the least of them to the greatest of them.

Those who belong to the essence of this new covenant truly know the Lord.

They don't been they don't need to be taught how to know the Lord.

This isn't saying that we don't need to have teachers and preachers.

What this is saying is because they have a new heart, because they have been claimed to the Lord, they know him.

They don't need to be told to know him because they do really know him.

They already relate to him.

There is a real relationship with the Lord.

But finally, we see the glory of this covenant because God cleanses the sins of those who belong to this covenant.

Verse 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

God cleanses the hearts of all those who belong to this covenant.

Those that Christ is mediating for.

He has forgiven you of all your sins.

He remembers your sins no more.

Not because he is forgetful, he chooses to not remember them.

As far as the east is from the west, so is the distance of your sins in his mind.

This is a glorious promise.

I will be merciful to their unrighteousness.

I will cleanse them.

I will change them.

I will forgive them.

This is what makes the new covenant glorious.

All the other covenants pointed to this, but the new covenant provides this.

This is what makes it stunning.

This is what makes it glorious.

This is what all the rivers of God's covenants have been running into.

This is the ocean of the new covenant.

This is the one where Jesus Christ mediates over it all.

This is the one built on better promises.

But then finally, we see in verse 13 the passing of the old covenant.

In that he says, a new covenant.

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

I want you to feel the force of what's being said there, particularly in the audience of this Christian church that received this letter.

In this Christian church, many of them were being tempted to go back to the old covenant.

And the writer to the Hebrews is saying to this first century church, don't go back to the old covenant.

You're under the new covenant.

A new covenant has been made, and you are now a part of this new covenant.

Why would you go back to the old one?

And notice what he says, he says, the first one's now obsolete.

It's got no purpose, it's got no benefit.

It can't do for you what the new covenant can do.

And it's interesting, he says, it's now becoming obsolete and growing old and is ready to vanish away.

What does he mean by that?

Well, this was written before 70 AD.

The temple hadn't been destroyed yet.

And so at this moment of time, the temple is still operating.

Priests are still doing all their priestly duties.

Sacrifices are being made.

All those procedures are being followed.

And these Christians are being tempted to go back to that old way, to go back to the old covenant.

And what the writer is hinting at here is he's telling them it's all going to disappear very soon.

Little do they know, in 70 AD, that temple is going to be leveled in fulfillment of a prophecy that Jesus gave in Matthew 24.

Not one stone will be left upon another.

It will be leveled.

It will be ruined.

The whole system will come crashing down.

But the temple was already made obsolete at the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

You remember what happened as Jesus is on the cross?

The temple curtain had been torn in two.

And that was a way of saying that this is done.

Jesus has made the once and for all sacrifice.

He has cut a new covenant.

It's the new covenant.

And this new covenant is now in place.

That old covenant, it's now obsolete.

And what the writer is warning them of is it's passing away, it's disappearing.

Don't go to that old covenant, don't go back to those ways.

Go to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Don't chase after shadows.

Chase after the Savior.

That's what he's saying here in verse 13.

So, what does this all mean for us?

I want to remind you that we ought not to take a passage like this lightly or for granted.

You and I have been born in a moment of history in which you were born under an arrangement in which the Lord Jesus Christ is the mediator of a new covenant.

When you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ and trusted in him, you entered into that new covenant.

The blessings of the new covenant were yours.

You have the greatest mediator.

You have a life built on the best promises.

All those other covenants were looking forward.

You are in the new covenant.

And if you are in the new covenant, God has changed your heart.

God has claimed you for himself, and God has cleansed you from all your sins.

And the Lord Jesus Christ is carrying out all these glorious promises and continues to mediate this covenant as prophet, priest, and king.

And as he continues to build his people, gathering his people from around the world, people from every tribe, every tongue, every nation, every language, coming into this family, being adopted into the family of Abraham, being made sons and daughters of Abraham.

As the Lord Jesus Christ continues to construct this most beautiful and glorious temple on the earth.

It's a temple that isn't built upon the arrangements of the past.

It's a glorious temple in which the people are being fitted together as living stones, chipped away by our Lord.

And there's a lot to chip away on us, isn't there?

But he chips things away and he places us into the structure.

And as we're being placed into this structure from the world's eyes, it's got scaffolding around it.

It looks weak, it gets mocked at.

The builder and architect of this temple is the one who has all authority in heaven and in earth.

All the promises of God are yes and amen in him.

He is accomplishing his purposes, he's building his temple, and we who are that temple have the privilege to offer sacrifices in the temple.

Those sacrifices are mentioned in Romans 12 and verse 1.

And what are they?

Living sacrifices.

Acts of obedience and submission to the Lord.

As we submit ourselves to the Lordship of our glorious Savior, we are offering sacrifices unto Him.

And they go up as a sweet, smelling aroma to the Lord.

The Lord is building this temple.

The Lord Jesus Christ is mediating this new covenant.

And this glorious, better new covenant is the climactic moment of all of history in which we see all the promises of God through history channel in to this ocean of delight that you and I get to bathe in and enjoy and swim in as we experience the delight of God's kindness toward us.

We are a new covenant people.

And one day the fullness of this covenant will be experienced in the new heaven and new earth, in which there will be no sin.

There will be no unbelief.

Every tear will be wiped away.

This is a glorious work that our Lord Jesus Christ is carrying out.

Back in Genesis 3 and verse 15, the promise was given that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent's head.

At the time in which the people of Israel were taken into Egypt, there was a tyrant in the world, a tyrant who represented Satan.

And interestingly enough, the Pharaoh actually wore a serpent on his head.

And Moses stands before him.

Later on, we see this imagery of King David fight against another tyrant and bring him down to the ground.

And David removes his head.

We see many references in the Psalms, imagery around crushing the head of enemies, having enemies lick the dust, giving this serpent imagery.

But there we see the climax at Calvary, the place of the skull, where the cross is thrusted into Calvary, into the place of the skull, showing the definitive victory that the Lord Jesus Christ brings.

And now the Lord Jesus Christ is reigning gloriously, yet his kingdom has not been made visible yet.

But he is reigning as king now, expanding his kingdom, expanding his people from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

All authority in heaven and earth has been given to him, all earthly powers are beneath him.

And 1 Corinthians 15, 28, in fulfillment of Psalm 110, tells us that he must reign until his enemies are brought under his feet.

And my friends, the day will come when every enemy has been vanquished, when every foe is brought beneath his feet, and his kingdom will be most glorious.

It will expand as far as I can see, and we will see one day Eden restored, and the kingdom of God will be made visible, and there will be no unrighteousness, there will be no sin, there will be no suffering.

But what makes me so excited about this is that we get to be a part of this glorious work.

You and I are a part of the new covenant, and Christ is building something now.

Can we all fast forward just from one scene to another, and with this we close?

You remember in Matthew 28 when the promise was made, when Jesus declared that all authority in heaven and earth had been given to him?

Here is the resurrected Lord Jesus, and we're told that he had eleven disciples.

Judas is gone.

Eleven are there with him.

And as Jesus reminds them that he has all this authority, as he announces that he's king, he tells them to go into all the world and to make disciples of the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I've commanded you to do, and lo, I will be with you always, even to the end of the age.

11.

But can we fast forward to the end?

In Revelation 14, we see the Son of God again on a mountain, but this time it's with an innumerable crowd from every tribe, tongue, and nation.

This, my friends, is where the new covenant is heading, and we are in a better covenant.

Let's pray.

Father, I thank you for our glorious Savior Jesus Christ, the mediator of a better covenant.

In the new covenant, Lord, you change people's hearts.

You claim them for yourself.

You cleanse us from our sins.

In the new covenant, we know that you are Lord.

And we thank you for our mediator, Jesus Christ.

We pray that we would not lose sight of the treasure of this covenant.

And even now, as we experience one of the signs attached to the new covenant, I pray that this sign would both attest to and confirm to us your promises.

We thank you that you deal with us in signs that we may be reminded of your ways.

I praise you and thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen.