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• LESSON 10 (March 5) •
The God of Peace Who Establishes an Eternal Covenant
The Letter to the Hebrews in the New Testament is where our study of the God of promises and covenants now leads, primarily because Jeremiah 31 (the passage we studied in our last lesson) is extensively cited. Before we get to those quotations, however, we need to begin in Hebrews 7.
This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant (Heb 7:22)
•:• Carefully survey Hebrews 7. What has led the author to this conclusion, and what does he provide as supporting evidence?
•:• What is a "guarantor"?
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 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 ... (Heb 8:1-8)
•:• What the author of Hebrews does next is quote Jeremiah 31:31-34. Why? What point is he making?
•:• Carefully read the author's statement in Hebrews 8:13. What conclusion has he led us to?
In Hebrews 9, the author reminds us that "even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness" (9:1). He describes the details of those regulations and the Tabernacle
that supported them in Hebrews 9:1-10.
But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then throughthe 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. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. (Heb 9:11-18)
This leads the writer of Hebrews to eventually declare:
For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. (Heb 9:24)
•:• What do Christians need to understand about what has been accomplished by Jesus Christ?
•:• What has changed because of the sacrifice of Christ? What is now available to everyone?
Limited by space for end of lesson final words, sorry