We are currently in Hebrews chapter eight, for those of you new readers, and those of you like me who forgot while floating around in the space of life. I like how chapter eight starts, “The point of what we are saying is this”. We're finally getting a main point, a summery of all this information we've been taking in and picking apart the first seven chapters. This is the part I skip to in textbooks. “Don't give me all the details! Just give me the important stuff that's going to be on the test!” Ladies and gentleman, it's test time.
1-2 Remember back in chapter three, when we talked about how Moses was the builder of the earthly Tabernacle where God dwelt, and that we are the new “Tabernacle” as God's dwelling place? Jesus is the high priest connecting us “tabernacles” to God. He is the bridge between you and God, the mediator, the connector, the missing piece of the puzzle.
3-4 Jesus can't be a priest on earth because there are already people who offer up sacrifices or other material things in exchange for their sins. Maybe you are one. Have you ever felt like you weren't good enough for God? Have you ever felt that you broke too many rules or skipped too many Sunday services to be worthy of God's grace? Thinking you have to be good enough for God is the same as offering up sacrifices for your sins. Nothing YOU can do will make up for your sins. Only through Jesus we are saved, not by man's power.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this is not of yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.”
-Ephesians 2:8-9
-Ephesians 2:8-9
Let Jesus be your priest in heaven, the high priest who already did all that was necessary to save you. It's already done, you just need to accept it.
5-6 The Tabernacle had to be so exact, and everything had to be in the right place and happen in the right order, because it was a picture of what was to come. The old covenant was a perfect picture of the new covenant. The old covenant included things like the earthly Tabernacle, the human priest, and the daily sacrifice. The new covenant involves us, Jesus, and his one ultimate sacrifice. Do you see how everything connects here? The new covenant is far superior to the old one, as it involves us totally relying on the power of God to save us and to get us through each day. There's more intimacy between you and your Creator this way.
7-12 The quoted passage here is from the book of Jeremiah, which was written long before Jesus walked the earth. God new from the beginning that he would perfect His relationship with His people using the new covenant. No longer would people need to be told what God was saying to them, for God would be able to speak to each one directly.
I just sneezed on the computer screen and now it's all colorful.
13 So, the old covenant is completely done away with, guys. Religion and all that garbage is no longer necessary to be saved. We don't have to dress a certain way, abstain from eating certain things, or talk like we're super holy. God wants us to be just as we are, weak, helpless, imperfect, so He can show us how strong He is to save us. He needs us to be fully dependent on Him in order for Him to work through us. Otherwise we'll rely on our own abilities to get us through things, and that's not what we want at all.
I gave you the summery, now it's time to see what you have learned so far (or, time for me to see if I've been doing this right....) For this week's challenge, write a brief summery of the old covenant in comparison to the new covenant. For example:
Old: Tabernacle
New: Us
Everyone who completes the challenge will receive a cookie like last time. I'll check your answers next week. Have a smashing weekend! (Don't smash anything, just, oh never mind. I'm sick, give me a break.)
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