Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. (Hebrews 8:1-2)
Christ Jesus is the fulfilment of all that God had required and commanded the children of Isreal to do, as recorded in the Old Testament. Jesus said to the Jews, "You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me." (John 5:39) All of the things done were just a shadow, a fortelling of the coming of Christ, from Abraham sacrificing Isaac, to Moses overseeing the construction of the tabernacle in the wilderness, to the destruction of the temple by the Romans:
For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” [Exodus 25:40] But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:3-6) None of the prior things were able to last or permanently save us from our sins. Christ Jesus is the better covenant, the best promise: "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
Why did God allow man to go through thousands of years under the old covenant, knowing that it wouldn't permanently make things right between Him and man? So that we could realize that nothing we could do would be enough to make things right between us and God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. (Ephesians 2:9) Therefore we should more willingly accept what Christ did for us when He came and died on the cross! We may not understand that fully until we go to heaven; but what we can do now is THANK GOD, for making a better way that doesn't rely on us doing anything to be saved, but just believing in His Only Begotten Son!
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. [Jeremiah 31:31-34]” In that He says, “A new covenant,” He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:7-13)
Let's not misunderstand, nothing was wrong with the first covenant, other than mankind, and specifically the Jews couldn't obey it perfectly. Paul wrote to the Jews, You who make your boast in the law, do you dishonor God through breaking the law? For “the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you,” [Isaiah 52:5; Ezekiel 36:22] as it is written. (Romans 2:23-24) Jesus taught, “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill." (Matthew 5:17) The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;... (Psalm 19:7) Unfortunately, man did not continue in God's covenant, and will always be unable to; For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. (Romans 7:18)
That's why God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,... (John 3:16) Because of Christ Jesus dying in our place, for our sins, if we believe in Him, God says, As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Psalms 103:12) I heard a minister say it like this, "God is a just God and a righteous God. He found us guilty of sin and sentenced us to death; but then He stood infront of us when the execution was about to happen and died in our place." But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8) Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. (John 15:13)
Christ not only fulfilled the physical sacrifice for sin, but He also fulfilled the spiritual blessing for eternal life. He said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. (John 14:12) ...you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses ... to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) Jesus in the flesh could only be one place at a time, but because of His death and resurrection, all of us who believe are filled with His Holy Spirit and can spread the Word of God throughout the world.
And because we are filled with the Holy Spirit, “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (Romans 10:8) Be ready in season and out of season. (II Timothy 4:2) Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (II Timothy 2:15) Therefore, no matter what happens to us, when we witness for the Lord, settle it in your hearts not to meditate beforehand on what you will answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom which all your adversaries will not be able to contradict or resist. (Luke 21:14-15)
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