A New Covenant In Christ

In our study of Hebrews chapter 8 we are back to a discussion of covenants. The writer speaks about the old and the new covenants. The old had its faults and is now obsolete and ready to vanish. The new is up to date and filled with life and hope. Long ago, in the days of Israel's captivity in Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah wrote about it (Hebrews 8:8-12). Listen to his exciting words:

"Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and 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, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, 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 law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. 
• And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 
• And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." - Jeremiah 31:31-34 ESV

We who live under the blessing and lordship of Jesus Christ see the promises of that new covenant fulfilled in our midst. What are those blessings? Let us add them up one by one.

1. Our High Priest is seated at God's right hand (Hebrews 8:1). No longer does any priest have to kill animals, sprinkle blood or spread out sacrifices on an altar. That work was but an example of what was to come. The final sacrifice has been made. Our High Priest sits now at the Father's right hand, pleading for us on the basis of His one final sacrifice. 
2. Our High Priest ministers on our behalf in the true tent pitched by the LORD, not by man (Hebrews 8:2-3). His public ministry (ministry is our word liturgy) is to plead for mercy on our behalf. The basis for His plea is the fact that He has offered His life, shed His infinitely precious blood for us. All that previous priests could offer was the blood of animals. These sacrifices did not in truth pay for the debts we incur by our sinning. They could not. They were but shadows or examples and copies of what was to come (Hebrews 8:4-5).
3. Our High Priest is our only Mediator (Hebrews 8:6). A mediator is one who intervenes between two. He is the go-between, the one who is able to restore peace and friendship between two parties. Moses previously was one such. He was the one who brought God's commands to the Children of Israel, the one who acted as their mediator with God. This is what Christ and Christ alone is for all men. Through Him we are privileged and able to come into the presence of God Himself. This is what the Apostle wrote in his letter to young pastor Timothy: "For there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." 1 Tim. 2:5 - ESV

There was no such High Priest in the Old Covenant. They had no such high priest in the heavenly places. All they had were earthly priests ministering in a tent or temple made with human hands, mere copies of the true heavenly temple. This was the fault or defect of the first covenant. The houses of Israel and Judah needed a new covenant.

But what exactly is a covenant? There are many examples of covenants in the Old Testament writings. For instance, Abraham made a covenant between himself and Abimelech the Philistine at Beersheba to settle the dispute between them about water. The oath between them was sealed by seven ewe lambs that Abraham gave to Abimelech. Therefore that place was called Beersheba (the well of seven in Hebrew) - Gen. 21:22-32.

Covenants were not always between equals, however. Yet they were binding and taken most seriously. So there was a covenant between the LORD God and the people of Israel, not a covenant between equals, but between the greater and the lesser, similar to the treaties imposed by a great king upon one of his vassal kings who owed him homage and obedience. Israel accepted such a covenant when she escaped slavery in Egypt. The people of Israel promised to have no other gods and to obey the LORD. The Mosaic law and the sacrificial system and all these entailed were part of that covenant. But Israel did not keep her covenant with the LORD. She broke it. She turned to other gods. She disobeyed God's laws. The old covenant was a failure.

In view of all this the prophet Jeremiah, as spokesman for the LORD, promised a new covenant. In this new covenant the LORD would write His law on the hearts of God's people, within them. They would truly know Him. And their sins and iniquities would be forgiven. We will explore next time what that implies for us who have put our faith and trust in Christ.

It All Depends On Jesus' Resurrection

I notice a strange and awesome thing as I continue to read the letter to the Hebrews. The writer looks at the Old Testament Scriptures as if they are a record of God the Father having a conversation with His Son. In other words, he seriously believes that God is speaking through these words and has been from the time they were first written. This is not at all how many view the O.T. Bible in our day. Listen to what the writer says about Jesus Christ, the Messiah.

So also Christ did not exalt himself to be made a high priest, but was appointed by him who said to him, "You are my Son, today I have begotten you"; as he says also in another place, "You are a priest forever, after the order of Melchizedek." - Hebrews 5:5-6 ESV

That first quote is from David's psalm.

"As for me, I have set my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree: The LORD said to me, "You are my Son; today I have begotten you. - Psa 2:6-7 ESV 

The Apostle Paul referred to that psalm in his sermon to the Jewish synagogue in Antioch in Pisidia, a city on the Mediterranean coast in the southwestern part of modern Turkey (Acts 13:16-41). In his sermon he points out that Jesus was the direct descendant of King David. The promise spoken to David about a King on Mt. Zion or Jerusalem has now been fulfilled. David was not that king. He lived for a time and died. Who then is the Son who would be the permanent king on Zion, God's holy hill? Who is the promised Anointed One (Messiah)? Answer: Jesus! This has been confirmed by Jesus' resurrection from the dead. That too was promised in Psalm 16, also written by David, but ultimately not about David. It was rather about David's greater Son, Jesus. It did not refer to David, because David died and his body did see corruption. But Jesus' body did not see corruption.

For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption. - Psa 16:10 ESV

Jesus lives! His resurrection was confirmed by hundreds and hundreds (1 Cor. 15:3-8). Paul himself saw and spoke with the risen Christ on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-19 and retold in Acts 22:6-21 and 26:12-18). This Jesus is indeed the promised Christ and the Son begotten by the Father before the creation of all things. The Nicene creed puts it this way:

We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ,

the only Son of God,

eternally begotten of the Father,

God from God, Light from Light,

true God from true God,

begotten, not made,

of one Being with the Father.

Through him, Paul continues, comes freedom and forgiveness of sins. This freedom is not possible by keeping the law of Moses. It is only possible by putting your trust and faith in Jesus. He is the great  eternal high priest who pleads forever before the Father's throne on behalf of those who put their faith and hope in him. He is both the priest and the sacrifice offered upon the cross, the Lamb of God that takes away the sins of the world. 

That too was promised in another of the psalms of David that speak about the Messiah who rules from Mt. Zion forever as both king and priest.

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind, "You are a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek." - Psa 110:4 ESV

Melchizedek was the strange king to whom Abraham gave gifts after he returned from rescuing his nephew Lot. The Hebrews letter will discuss this further in chapters 6 and 7, 

The wonder of all these quotes from the psalms is that they were and are fulfilled in Jesus. The truth of this statement is Jesus' return from the dead, his resurrection. This is what we Christians celebrate each Sunday. On the first day of the week we recall that Christ is risen. If he is not risen then everything we believe and all that we proclaim is empty and meaningless. Then there is no forgiveness and no hope of our own resurrection. Then the Scriptures are not true. In one of his letters to Corinth Paul puts it like this. 

Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins. Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in Christ we have hope in this life only, we are of all people most to be pitied. - 1Cor 15:12-19 ESV

No other religion, no other religious system, no one else can make these outrageous claims and back them up. Only Jesus died and rose again. Only Jesus' body saw no corruption. Only Jesus is the eternal high priest. We'll have much more to say about this as we continue our study of this wonderful epistle. And as we do, we'll affirm again and again that Christ is risen indeed!

Why Call Christ The Propitiation?

I trust that you prayed the LORD's prayer again this day. The fifth petition (Matt. 6:12) speaks about forgiveness. Most of us still pray it in its old English form:

Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. 

But search as you will and you will not find that prayer anywhere in any of the translations of the Bible. So where'd we get that anyway? All the major translations (ESV,ASV,NASV,NRSV,KJV, NJ) read: our debts . . . our debtors. Not a single one has the word trespasses. How then did we get started with trespasses rather than debts? The answer: The Tyndale Bible (1526), a translation followed by the Book of Common Prayer (1549).  But all the English translations from the King James Version (1611) onward followed the Greek text to translate this petition as Forgive us our debts.

Let's take a look at the idea of debt and forgiveness of debts. 

In the third chapter of Paul's letter to the Romans we read about the insurmountable debt we all have piled up before God. Quoting Psalm 14:1-3, Paul writes,

"None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one." - Rom 3:10-12 ESV

I recently counseled with a lady who said that she owed something like $40,000 in credit card debt. She said she was trying to pay it off, but did not have the means. Because of the insurmountable interest, reaching as high as 29%, her debt keeps growing and growing each month even though she tries to pay it down as best she can. This frightening reality has trapped many who rely upon credit cards. It is the dreadful manner by which the banks behind those cards make so much. And it is all quite legal.

This compares to what the Bible points toward. We simply cannot and never will be able to pay our debts to God. Our accounts are not and cannot be reconciled. The debt continues to mount daily.

But here comes Jesus Christ to redeem us. The image is that of paying a ransom to set hostages or prisoners free. Paul also calls him the propitiation.

(we) are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. - Rom 3:24-25 ESV

No one ever uses that strange word propitiation any longer and it cannot be understood without some background from the Old Testament.

God commanded His people to create the Ark of the Covenant during the time of the Exodus from Egypt to the Holy Land (Exodus 25:10-28). Within the Ark they placed the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s almond rod, and the tables of stone inscribed with the ten commandments. The lid on top of the ark was called the “Mercy-seat” (propitiation). The ark was placed in that inner room of the traveling tabernacle, called the “Holy of holies.”

Symbolically, the Mercy-seat (propitiation) concealed  from the Lord’s view the commandments of the law. Looking down upon the Mercy-seat He could not see, if you will, the commandments the people had broken. Each year, on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34; 23:23-32), the high priest entered the Holy of holies and sprinkled blood on the Mercy-seat. The blood of the sacrifice covered over their sins and indicated that mercy and forgiveness were available because of the death of the animal.

The Ark of the Covenant 

The writer to the Hebrews explains what this ritual pointed forward to. He points out that the way to the holy places, into the presence of God, was blocked. That is a symbol or a parable, a picture-story, for this present age. According to this parable all the sacrifices and gifts ultimately did not and could not pay the debt we and all men owe to God (Hebrews 9:1-10). They only pointed forward.

But now Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, has come as both the high priest and the sacrifice. He is the unblemished (Deut. 17:1) Lamb of God (John 1:29) whose blood was shed once and for all mankind (Romans 6:10). So the time of sacrifices came to an end and Christ has become the Mercy-seat (propitiation) for all as Paul said. 

Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. - Rom 3:25 ESV

 So we may confidently pray in faith, "Forgive us our debts . . . " 

But what follows from that? More on that tomorrow.

Go Now And Sin No More

"Jesus was left alone with the woman the woman standing before him." So we come to the conclusion of the story John told.

Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?" She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more." - Jhn 8:10-11 ESV

Some say this story was never in John's Gospel. Some say it always was in one form or another. In any event it teaches us something very strange and wondrous about Jesus.

How could he not condemn her? Had she not trampled upon the very plan of God established when Adam was introduced to Eve? Is not the union of a man and woman for life? Is there ever any reason why adultery could be condoned? Had not Jesus himself taught that adultery begins in the very act of gazing upon a woman with lustful desire (Matt. 5:28)? The answers are obvious.

And yet Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you." Did he mean to say she had not committed adultery? Oh no. She had been caught red handed, in the very act—or at least so went the story (John 8:4). What then did he say? That he, like the other men, was not without sin and so not fit to pass judgment? Surely not, for Jesus was without sin, holy, blameless and pure (Heb. 7:26-27). What gave him the right to say to this woman that her sins were forgiven, that God no longer held her guilty?

Here is John's answer, the answer to which all sinners must cling:

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. - 1Jo 2:1-2 ESV

This strange word propitiation (hilasmos in Greek) has a deep and profound meaning. It hearkens back to the great Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur. The root for the word Kippur is kafar, a Hebrew word that comes from a word meaning "ranson." To ransom means to atone by offering a substitute. In the Old Covenant the blood of the sacrificial animals was required in exchange for the blood or lives of the worshippers who had broken covenant with the LORD by their sins and so deserved death. This was clarified particularly on the Day of Atonement when the High Priest, on behalf of all Israel, laid both of his hands upon the scapegoat and confessed all their transgressions, all their sins and all their iniquities before the LORD (Lev. 16:15-22). The same was true for the sacrifice of all the many animals killed during the days of the Old Covenant (Lev. 1:4-5).

Christ came as the final sinless sacrifice, the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36), to be sacrificed for the sins of all mankind from Adam to the end of this age. All the sacrifices before that were but parables or symbols pointing forward to the coming of this Lamb (Heb. 9:9). He himself was the High Priest who offered this sacrifice. Thus he became the mediator of a new covenant, because his death, his blood, is the Kippur, the all-atoning sacrifice, the propitiation, offered as the one, final substitute for all men.

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. - Heb 9:11-15 ESV

Because Jesus was the Lamb of God, because he was to make atonement for this woman's sins upon the altar of Calvary, because he was the High Priest who was to offer the all-atoning sacrifice, he could say to her, "Neither do I condemn you!"

Cleansed and purified, he then gave her the power to change her life. With his Word and his mercy planted firmly in her heart, he could also say, "Go and from now on sin no more." In this Good News all sinners now find refuge and the power to change their lives.

Pet Names For God's People

In one of the Bible verses Jesus referred to in his promise to pour out his Spirit upon those who believe in and trust him (John 7:37-38) the LORD calls Israel by a sort of pet name, Jeshuran.

Did your parents or siblings give you a pet or nick name when you were a child? Sometimes parents simply shorten a child's name. Nathan becomes Nate and Jeffrey becomes Jeff, William is Billy and James is Jimmy. At other times they use endearing terms like Sweetie, Snookums, Honey or Blossom. My mother called her twin Little Lally although her given name was Elma.

That's what the LORD did when he called Israel Jeshuran, "the righteous or straight ones" (Isa. 44:2-3). Greek speaking Jews translated the name into their language as Epagamenos, meaning "most beloved". One English speaking translator tried to pick up the sense of the Hebrew by calling them the righteous little people. What I sense the Heavenly Father does in this verse is simply to say, "I want you guys to know that I really, really love you!"

So having used that pet name for the Children of Israel, He promises,

I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour my 
Spirit upon your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. They shall spring up among the grass like willows by flowing streams.This one will say, ‘I am the Lord's,’ another will call on the name of Jacob, and another will write on his hand, 'The LORD's and name himself by the name of Israel. - Isa. 44:3-5

Willows by the river

This is a beautiful image of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People so blessed will be like willows by flowing streams of water. Willows love water. They flourish and grow beside rivers and streams. That's how Psalm 1 describes the man who delights in God's Word.

He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. - Ps. 1:3 ESV

Of such men and women Psalm 92 says,

They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, - Psa 92:14 ESV

No matter how old their bodies get to be, they still have that fresh, invigorating stream of God's Spirit flowing through them, filling them with new hope and power to praise God. That's what Jesus was getting at on the final day of the Feast of Booths as he cried out to the people in the temple.

"If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, 'Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.'" Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. - Jhn 7:37-39 ESV

The feast was technically only seven days. But on the eighth and final day, the Great Day, Jesus promised to give God's people the Holy Spirit. John says this proclamation pointed forward to what was to happen after Jesus was glorified. What great honor and praise was bestowed upon him by his heavenly Father? Why was the Father so pleased with him? Because he freely offered himself as the sacrifice for the sins of all men. And then on the Great Day, the eighth day, the heavenly Father honored Jesus and confirmed the sacrifice by raising Jesus from the dead. The sacrifice was complete. Forgiveness and life were now available to all (John 19:28-30; Acts 3:13-15).

Now the Holy Spirit is freely poured out like a flowing stream, speaking to the hearts of God's people, saying, "You are My beloved, forgiven and righteous children, My sweet little ones. I love you, dear ones, and will never ever let you go." These words invigorate and renew like no others can. They fill even old people with peace and hope.

May it ever be so for you no matter what your age.