A New Covenant // Pastor Bobby

We continue in Hebrews this morning,

but I also want to just say happy Mother's Day.

And just really sort of,

kind of the way I've sort of gone at it from time,

just celebrating motherhood.

God made the design.

God created it.

God's given us an opportunity to celebrate the family the way he purposed

it to be.

Right. And so we look back into scripture and see,

you know,

the mom and dad and kids and family which builds,

you know,

our society and our culture.

And the more it gets attacked,

guess what,

the worse off we are.

So happy Mother's Day,

y'all. I know that's a negative way to look at it,

but I'm just grateful,

not just for my mom,

who can't watch this morning,

because, yes,

we have some technical difficulties.

Whatever lightning strike sort of sent our router down the road,

we're not broadcasting this morning.

But anyway,

I'm thankful for all the moms I've had,

because I've had a bunch.

Everywhere I've lived,

somebody has undertaken to mother me,

and I have some here in surf city as well.

So thank you,

moms. Alrighty.

Let me ask you a question.

You ready?

This is a preference question,

and I want you to boldly raise your hand when I ask it.

All right.

Who here prefers Lowe's to Home Depot?

Raise your hand.

Thank you,

Pete. See that?

Yes. Uh huh.

All right,

put them down.

Who prefers Home Depot to Lowe's?

Raise your hand.

Okay.

And I'm not supposed to do this because my son has forbid me to,

but I'm going to do it anyway.

My son likes Home Depot.

You know why?

He likes Milwaukee?

Not the town,

but the tools,

right?

And so we were driving yesterday and he makes this case in the car,

not vehemently,

for Home Depot.

And I said,

well, no,

I'm looking.

I was on my Lowe's app.

I'm looking at Lowe's,

right? I said,

well, I like Lowe's.

He said,

well, I like Milwaukee.

I said,

well, I'm good with craftsman,

you see?

So you make the case for your choices,

right? You make the case.

The why?

Why would I do this versus that,

right? So we've been looking at the book of Hebrews,

and the title for this year's messages is the object of our faith and the

idea that the book of Hebrews is all about Jesus.

But the truth is,

is that all of scriptures about Jesus and what the Old Testament does is

point to Jesus,

everything to do with the covenant and the prophets and the priests and

the sacrificial system and the levitical law.

And all of it points to Jesus.

And what we see in the New Testament is the fulfillment of what God has

promised and pointed to.

And we see the gospels and Jesus,

and then we see the letters and the body of Christ and how it all moves

forward. And then the book of Hebrews comes and just sort of brings out

the details of both the Old Testament promise and the New Testament

fulfillment. And we see it over and over.

And I said this in the very beginning.

The book of Hebrews is all about Jesus.

And so what the writer of Hebrews has undertaken to do is to make the

case right,

to pull all of evidence from the Old Testament and to pull all of the

fulfillment from the New Testament and bind it together in this book,

these 13 chapters,

to give us this,

this case.

But this undeniable realization that God has accomplished something,

going all the way back to creation and the promise of the seed of woman

who would defeat Satan,

you see,

and bringing that case all the way through the text of the Bible.

And today we're gonna spend a few minutes in a prophet.

We're gonna look at Jeremiah a little bit today,

because it's the text that is quoted in our section this morning.

So I am reading from Hebrews,

chapter eight,

verses 713.

Here we go.

For if that first covenant had been faultless,

there would have been no occasion for a second one.

But finding fault with his people,

he says,

see, 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 like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took

them by the hand and led them out of the land of Egypt,

I showed no concern for them,

says the Lord,

because they did not continue in my covenant.

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 into their minds and write them on their hearts.

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

And each person will not teach his fellow citizen and each his brother or

sister, saying,

know the Lord,

because they will all know me,

from the least to the greatest of them,

for I will forgive their wrongdoing,

and I will never again remember their sins.

By saying,

a new covenant,

he has declared that the first is obsolete,

and what is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.

Let's pray.

Father, this morning we thank you first for speaking to us.

Now, that's what we first learned in the book of Hebrews,

was that in these last days,

your superior.

The best communication that we have from you is your son,

Jesus Christ.

So God,

we thank you for that.

But God,

we want to always long for desire better understanding.

Not simply because of what you've done,

but because God,

what you want and desire for us,

in us,

through us,

for your kingdom's sake,

not for something called church,

not for something called studies and stuff,

but for your kingdom.

That God,

we get to proclaim a truth,

a truth of salvation and redemption.

And so,

God, help us to hear,

pay attention and understand.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen. So I've tried to convey this over.

And can I just tell you,

I mean,

I've been.

I'm writing devotionals for each Sunday and I'm five weeks out.

So this week we recorded the devotionals.

That'll be for the 1 June.

So when I do that and we record that and then I get ready to preach on

Sunday, I am confused.

Cause I'm way ahead and then I gotta back,

way back up.

So I don't know if what I'm saying sometimes in,

in this,

from what I recorded four weeks ago for this week and then what I

recorded this week for four weeks from now,

where am I?

Here's where I am.

The book of Hebrews is the case for the uniqueness,

the only begotten son of God,

Jesus Christ,

as the absolute superior communication,

provision, redemption of God.

And the book of Hebrews makes that case by drawing in all of the Old

Testament prophecies,

facts, the levitical system,

the law,

the sacrificial things.

And the writer of Hebrews and God by inspiration just brings it all

together in this book.

And we started last week with that first line of chapter eight that says,

the main point of what is being said is this,

Jesus is our high priest.

Cause we need a high priest,

you see.

And so he's referring to the Old Testament covenant here,

the first covenant.

So here are the themes.

First of all,

it's pointed out that Jesus is the son of God,

the unique son of God,

the superior communication of God.

He is the pre existent eternal son of God,

which is a statement of his deity,

and that he is God,

the son before he was ever born in a manger.

You've got the incarnate earthly Jesus,

who lived these 33 years and was born in a manger and lived and he died

and he was buried and he rose again.

And that's the incarnate Christ.

And then we get the expression of God,

of the exalted son of God,

that he left after having completed his work.

Here and sat down at the right hand of the throne of majesty on high.

He is our high priest.

And so what the book of Hebrews is doing is it's bringing us from the

first covenant,

the Old Testament,

the first covenant,

the first Testament,

all of those things that we refer to the Old Testament as from shadow to

substance. Because remember last week,

that was one of the lines in there that says the first tabernacle,

the earthly tabernacle,

was a shadow of.

Right, the heavenly tabernacle.

So what we're doing is theme wise,

the thematic sort of outline of this is the case for Christ,

his priesthood,

the holiest place where Christ passed into to offer the sacrifice for our

sin. So in this text,

we see some interesting stuff here.

How many of you are really comfortable calling the first covenant faulty,

obsolete, old,

passing away?

Well, look,

God by inspiration gives it to the writer of Hebrews to do that,

for the first Covenant had been faultless.

See, that's a nice way to say that the first covenant was faulty.

Why was it faulty?

Let's look.

There would have been no occasion for a second one.

So what God's promise is in the book of Jeremiah,

Jeremiah, chapter 31,

Jeremiah 31 · chapter mention

starting in about verse 31,

is this promise of a new covenant,

because the first covenant,

the old covenant,

was faulty.

And then at the end it says by saying a new covenant,

he's declared,

this is verse 13,

that the first is obsolete and what is obsolete is growing old.

That's not a reference to Scott.

I just love it,

man. But it says it's about to pass away.

That's why it's not a reference to Scott.

All right,

but you see the point he's making,

that the new covenant is a different covenant.

It's not a continuation covenant.

It's new.

It's going to be a different kind of covenant because the old covenant,

the first covenant,

is passing away.

Now. Why is it passing away?

It says,

see, the days are coming,

says the Lord,

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

house of Jacob,

not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors.

So not a continuation,

not a renewal.

You know,

I get asked from time to time to do like marriage vow renewals.

Do you know what we don't do in a marriage vow renewal?

We don't change the agreement.

Right? So if it's just a renewal,

then everything of the first vow remains the same.

We're just renewing the first vow.

The new covenant is not about renewing the old covenant.

It's a new and different covenant,

not like the one that I made with their ancestors on the.

On the day I took them by the hand.

Now, I love that.

I love that expression.

Took them by the hand.

That was God the father,

taking his people by the hand to lead them out of slavery,

out of bondage,

through miraculous signs that the people saw.

The people saw the flies and the frogs and the yuck,

bloody river water,

all of that stuff.

You see,

they saw God work.

They saw God take them by the hand and lead them out of the land of

Egypt. But then God says this.

Now here's the interesting thing,

all right?

So in the Old Testament,

the old covenant,

the first covenant,

we know from the first two chapters of Hebrews that God spoke through

angels and prophets,

okay? That's what it says.

The first covenant was delivered by angel.

And the prophets were the one who spoke.

The prophets were the ones who spoke on behalf of God to the people.

So when a prophet spoke and said,

thus saith the Lord,

did y'all know?

The prophets were all.

King James didn't know.

Okay? Thus saith the Lord,

right?

When a prophet would deliver God's word,

it was unquestionable.

He didn't challenge the prophet.

And the prophets of God,

though they were unpopular.

And Jeremiah in particular gets buried up to his neck in mud,

right? Because they didn't like what he had to say.

He was the prophet of warning for the exile.

He was the one telling them that you have broken the covenant with God

and God is going to punish you and destroy this city.

They didn't like that,

right? How many of you know,

people love to be challenged and given bad news,

right? That's why we don't practice a lot of church discipline these

days, isn't it?

You're in sin.

We don't like that.

Well, that's what the prophet would do.

And so his word was not questioned.

And so it comes down in verse nine.

It says,

I showed no concern for them,

says the Lord,

because they did not continue in my covenant.

So what was faulty?

Faulty? It's faulty,

it's obsolete,

it's old,

it's passing away because there was a dependence on the people to keep

the covenant,

to do their part.

So this new covenant's different from that.

It's different from that.

You can't earn this one,

you can't work for this one,

you can't accomplish this on your own.

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 into their minds and write them on their hearts.

How is that different?

This is the promised covenant of God.

You ready?

How is that statement different from the law and the covenant that God

made with his people in Egypt?

He chiseled that one on stone,

didn't he?

Guess what he's doing now.

He's chiseling on our hearts.

He's writing on our hearts.

See, that's why in the New Testament,

when you see him say,

I will create in you a new heart,

you see,

there is this new creation that God's working on.

That's why the rest of this text from Jeremiah falls hand in hand with

each part of it.

He says,

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

What does he mean by that?

Do you know that the.

The expectation of God doesn't actually change?

Jesus confirms it.

He says,

love the Lord your God with all your heart,

soul, mind,

strength. Right?

And love your neighbor as yourself.

The second great command,

it's the same.

And that's why Jesus says,

all of the law and the prophets hang on these two commands.

So what you're doing is you're saying,

I love God.

Do you?

Act like it,

right? Does it show?

You know,

I've often said,

you know what?

There's no husband walking into his house at the end of a workday and

says to his wife,

I love you.

And it smacks her.

Cause that's not love,

okay? It's not.

So it's not like we can say,

hey, God,

I love you,

and then smack him in the face.

All right?

So when we look at this thing,

we see it says,

I will.

And then he finishes it with this,

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

Then we see that sentence in several places throughout scripture.

So what's it talking about?

The promised covenant.

The new covenant is a relational covenant.

It was a relational covenant when God offered it to his people in the Old

Testament. But they,

what did they do?

They made it all about the 613 laws to follow.

Oh, look,

I keep more than you do,

so that makes me better than you.

That's what they were trying to do.

It became this achievement system.

And yesterday we had a great men.

If you missed yesterday's men's breakfast,

you should have been there.

But anyway,

it was one of the things that we were talking about yesterday was kind of

this idea that God has called us to genuinely and sincerely love him

back. You see,

he loved us first.

And I appreciate Scott's song and everything,

but mama doesn't even know how to love you,

except that God loved us first.

Okay, we love.

That's one john four.

We love because he first loved us.

That's how we know it.

See, so when we look at the laws,

it's not about the fact that we can delineate 613 laws and have sort of a

performance review once a year and have a high priest walk into the holy

of holies with some blood for his own sin,

some blood for my sin,

and say,

yes, you know,

Bobby broke 612 of them.

So we're going to accomplish and achieve forgiveness on the day of

atonement? No.

What is it?

The command of God,

the expectation of God,

the desire of God is that we obey a heart that has been renewed and

reconstructed and carved our love for him.

Do we act as if we love God?

See, I'm not gonna,

you know,

I always say this.

I'm not gonna follow you around and tell you when you're not.

The spirit does that with you.

The spirit lives inside of you to inform you when you're not.

Each person will not teach his fellow citizen and each his brother or

sister saying,

know the Lord.

Cause they'll all know me from the least to the great.

You know what I think in the world today?

I happen to be one of those folks that believes ecclesiastes when it says

that a knowledge of something greater than ourselves is innate.

I think everybody knows there's a God.

I think that's why we see so many godless people fight that innate

knowledge that they have.

I think we see people in the world that want to deny the existence of God

because they know.

They know there's something larger than themselves.

Right? There's a book out there somewhere that says,

talks about the clockmaker.

Because clockmaking used to be a really intricate and detailed thing.

And all the little pieces had to work together to keep perfect time,

you know?

And we look at the world around us,

and we see the detail,

and we see the intricacy of the way it works together.

And then even in our own bodies,

that prior to the aging process,

it works.

Right? There's a point in time.

I don't know whether it's 40 or 75,

Mike, but somewhere it just gets to the point where it just doesn't work

like it used to.

Right?

But the designer,

now, remember,

remember we said this last year,

because the creation,

the garden,

was the sanctuary of God's creation.

It was perfect when God made it,

right?

We were perfect in humanity when we were made.

But sin corrupted not only us,

but God's creation.

And God's creation groans under the weight of the fall.

You see?

So I look at this and I go,

wow, we're not going to have to tell our fellow citizens,

see, that's why it's really funny.

And they get mad at me.

You know,

people who don't believe in God,

and I go,

yeah, you do.

I turn around and walk off.

Because the covenant is relational.

I will be their God.

They will be my people.

And we won't have to tell other people to know the Lord,

because they'll all know me,

from the least to the greatest.

And then here's the superior covenant statement.

You ready for I will forgive their wrongdoing and I will never again

remember their sins.

God's the one doing the work.

God's the one who's done the work.

When Jesus on his cross said,

it's finished,

you know,

I've studied,

I've heard,

I've read other writers and heard other people talk about it and all that

sort of thing.

But the Tetelestai is like,

is like that paid stamp on a contract that Jesus paid the debt for our

sin. God did it.

You didn't earn it.

You don't deserve it.

I don't deserve,

none of us do.

God made it.

God did the work.

Nick shared with me,

and I'll go ahead and tell you.

Nick shared with me a cool illustration.

Cause he studies for this in case I get hit by a bus.

Nick studied this.

He said,

you know what this is like?

And this is contemporary modern illustration.

Get ready.

Here we go.

Jesus got the carfax on you.

And the carfax told him all our flaws,

all our shortcomings and all our failures,

and he still paid full price.

I was like,

that's pretty cool illustration right there,

right? Listen to this last.

By saying a new covenant,

he's declared that the first is obsolete.

What is obsolete and growing old is about to pass away.

God planned,

prepared, inaugurated and completed the new covenant.

It is finished now.

Love him back because that's the law that he's written on our hearts,

that we love him back.

If you don't know Jesus this morning,

you need Jesus because he is our high priest.

He's the one that did the work.

Let's pray.

Father, thank you for today and for all that you're accomplishing and

doing. And God help us.

God help us just to love you and act like it.

God, let our lives be a testimony to what you've accomplished.

God, that indeed we have a new heart,

that God,

you have made us new creations.

That God is not about some sort of earning or some sort of point system.

God, you loved us.

You died for us so that we might have life.

So, God,

this morning I lift up.

If there's even one person here that doesn't know Jesus,

God, we want them to know Jesus.

God, if there are those who know Jesus and have at least established that

relationship. But still,

there's a performance model in there somewhere where,

God, we tend to find fault with ourselves.

And we're going to look at Romans in the next year,

and so we're going to find out what the contract looks like.

So, God,

I pray that we would recognize this morning that you've done the work for

us, help us respond to you in love.

We pray it in Jesus name.

Amen.