Hebrews 8:6-7

Summary retelling of Hebrews 8:6-7

Since Jesus Christ is in heaven with God and not in the earthly copy, the ministry that He initiated is superior to the worldly example.  In fact, the covenant that Jesus Christ acts upon is also better.  After all, if the first covenant had been able to enable true and genuine righteousness, why have a second covenant at all?

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Jesus’ ministry is superior.  Logically, if we remember what we said yesterday this makes sense.  The temple and the priests who served in the temple were merely copies – or an example – of the spiritual process.  In a sense, they were an analogy to the spiritual since we cannot see the spiritual.  We know that all analogies are inferior to the concept the analogy is trying to explain.  Every analogy breaks when it is stretched too far.  Thus, it really does make sense to say that the priests under the Law are not superior to Christ but Christ is superior to them.  That doesn’t mean they weren’t important – it just means that Jesus Christ and His ministry is even more important.

Do you struggle with the idea of understanding how Jesus is superior to the Old Testament priests – yet at the same time accepting how the Old Testament priests are still important in preparing us to understand the work of Christ?  Why do we as human beings have a tendency to immediately downplay anything that isn’t of the utmost importance?

Second Thought:

In this passage we will begin to talk about covenants.  A covenant is an agreement between two (or more) people in which things are promised.  God promises salvation through His presence with us.  What do we promise?  What can we promise?  In righteousness or in sin, we can promise to be humble before our God.  But the reason that this covenant is better is because the covenant is based completely on God’s action.  God saves us.  God brings us to repentance.  Since God is capable of doing all the work, it cannot fail.  All we must do is be humble before our Lord and receive what God does with and for us.

What does it mean to you to hear that the covenant we have through Jesus is better than the covenant the Hebrew people had through the Law?  Can you explain the difference between the covenants and how one is completely based on God’s work while the other is based on man’s work?

Third Thought:

The author makes a point that we’ve already heard, but it is so significant that it is worth repeating.  The covenant made through the Law cannot make anyone perfect.  The Law is not strong enough to keep us from sinning.  The Law can only point out where we do sin.  As generation after generation of human beings proves, we cannot choose to live righteously even when we know we should.  Therefore, we have every reason to look for a new covenant – one that is based on God’s action and not our own action.

Why is this such an important point?  Why is it important for followers of God to understand that we cannot choose righteousness on our own?  Why is it important for us to realize that we need a covenant that is entirely based upon God’s work?

Passage for Tomorrow: Hebrews 8:8-9