More Better

Hebrews  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented   •  48:53
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Introduction
CD’s are better than vinyl, yet vinyl is becoming popular.
Why would you go back to vinyl?
Maybe nostalgia.
But maybe because record companies are pushing vinyl as a way to get you to re-buy your collection. Yes, they are trying to sell you an inferior product because they want to keep your money.
Transition
When we are being sold on what is inferior, we sometimes need a reminder of why something is superior. Hebrews 8 provides that reminder.
Illumination
The Reason that being a Christian is better than being what you were before (the point of chapter 7), is because Christ, and His Covenant, are better. The natural response, especially of the skeptical is to ask two simple, kind of obvious questions:
Why is Christ better?
Why is His Covenant better?

Why Christ Is Better, 1-6

Read Hebrews 8:1-6.
Hebrews 8:1–6 NKJV
1 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, 2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer. 4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law; 5 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.” 6 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.
Because His work is finished
“such a High Priest” reaches back to one was “has been perfected forever” in 7:28
“perfected” means to finish
Because He is seated (no earthly priest sat)
Because He is King (no earthly priest was king)
Because He made an offering (that we will come back to in the next chapter)
Because He served in the original Tabernacle, not the copy.
Moses built according to the pattern God gave Him, Exodus 25:9, 40
The pattern was the Heavenly Tabernacle
Because He has a more excellent ministry: mediating a better covenant
A mediator is one who stands between two estranged parties
We, because of our sin, are estranged from God
Jesus literally stands between God and man to bridge the gap of estangement
Re-read Hebrews 8:6
Hebrews 8:6 NKJV
6 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.

Why His Covenant is better, 7-13

Read Hebrews 8:7-13
Hebrews 8:7–13 NKJV
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second. 8 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—9 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. 10 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. 11 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. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” 13 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.
The First Covenant had a fatal flaw, 7-9
The flaw was not with the covenant itself, Romans 7:12 (NKJV) — 12 Therefore the law is holy, and the commandment holy and just and good.
The flaw was that the covenant was conditional
it required righteousness
it did not produce righteousness
it did focus on man’s effort,
seen in verse 9, “they did not continue”
seen in Jesus’ summary of the law, Matthew 22:37–40 (NKJV) — 37 Jesus said to him, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
God understood the flaw but knew that the Covenant was a means to an end, the end being the New Covenant
The New Covenant is better, 10-13
it does not require righteousness
it does produce righteousness
it does focus on God’s effort (quoting from Jeremiah 31, he says “I will” six times in verses
I will make a covenant (twice) - it is His promise
I will put my law in their mind and heart - He is going to change them from the inside out
I will be their God - He will be known personally
I will be merciful (mercy and grace always come together)
Mercy - NOT getting what I do deserve
Grace - Getting what I do NOT deserve
I will remember no more - God forgives and forgets our sin
Psalm 103:12 NKJV
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
Conclusion
Being a Christian is better than what you were before because Christ and His Covenant are better. Christ made the first covenant obsolete. And because the old covenant was obsolete, it was ready to vanish away. Paul penned those words in the late 60’s. In the year 70, the Roman General Titus invaded Jerusalem, destroyed the Temple and scattered the people: all signs of the old covenant vanished.
Application
If there is one flaw in the new covenant, it is that it is voluntary. You do not have to receive it. You can reject God’s love and God’s sacrifice. You can hold onto your sinful nature, your sinful attitudes, and your sinful behaviors. And you can, and will, face the consequences of your choice. Be warned: the penalty for your choice is eternal torment. You may think the penalty too extreme, but criminals do not get to specify what their punishment will be.
The application of this new covenant is:
Receive it. Jesus took your punishment, there is no need for you to take it
Rest in it. The focus of the new covenant is on what God did, not on what we do. Is there a response on our part? Absolutely! But it does not hinge on our performance which gives us the opportunity to rest.
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