Hebrews 8:6 (NKJV) 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.
The real difference in the “New Covenant” is the change in man’s nature. We see it in type and shadow in the Old Testament and in scripture above, we see it in reality. In the Old Covenant, God was dealing with a nation of fallen people which Paul calls “by nature children of wrath (Ephesians 2:3.) Jesus’ death burial and resurrection made it possible for man to become what God always intended him to be. 2 Corinthians 5 says it this way.
2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV) Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
When a person receives Jesus as the Lord and Savior of their life, they are changed on the inside. They are no longer children of wrath (the devil) but they are what Adam was meant to be, children of God. This meant that the promises of God to Abraham and his descendants could be made available to anyone from any “nation or tongue” who would receive what Jesus did as the payment for their sin. Not just their transgressions or deeds, but for the nature that made it impossible for them to live free from sin.
That is why the promises under the New Covenant in Christ are better. The promises of the old are still available. These include promises of provision, healing and victory over the enemies of our soul. More important, God is no longer to be simply with us and for us. God is in us. The promises of his presence and the inward work of the Holy Spirit are ours in a way that was impossible under the Old Covenant.
We have every promise God made to Israel, but they are better because our relationship with him is better. We are capable of walking in his ways because our inner man is in harmony with his nature. It takes time and some effort to cause that reality to take control over our flesh. Paul calls this the renewing of the mind (Romans 12:1-3.) However, on the inside anyone who is in Christ is not the same as those who have not received him. The good news is that this change of nature is available to anyone freely. That is our message (2 Corinthian 5:19-21.)
That said, there are some things that are promised to us because of this change of nature, that were not available under the Old Covenant. Under the Old Covenant law, provision was made for the sins of the people of Israel. Once a year there was a feast called the day of atonement which involved two goats. One was offered as a sacrifice on the altar for the sins of the people. The high priest laid his hands on the other as a type of putting the burden of their sins on this second goat.
This is where the term “scapegoat” comes from. What should have come upon the people is instead laid upon this goat and it was sent away into the wilderness. The Day of Atonement sacrifice validated the daily sacrifices that were offered by individuals for sin. The term atonement is important. It means to cover over. The scapegoat carried their sins away and the sacrificial goat covered their sins putting judgement off until the next year. Neither could take away their sins. They simply delayed the judgement.
Under the New Covenant the death burial and resurrection of Jesus did not just atone for sin. In Colossians 2:14 we see that what Jesus did was different.
Colossians 2:13-14 (NKJV) 13 And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, 14 having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross.
The work of redemption did not simply cover over sin and push judgement until a future time. It wiped away the handwriting on the charges against us. Our sins are not just forgiven. Israels sins were forgiven, but the legally required payment would still have to be met eventually. Jesus was that eventuality. Jesus took our sins “out of the way” because he was nailed to the cross. His death, burial and resurrection paid the full price for all mankind. There is no record of your sin anywhere in God’s eyes. We are not convicts who have paid our debt to society. We are Justified. Proven innocent and there is no record for anyone to look at that says we are guilty.
Hebrews 9:11-15 (NKJV) 11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.
What Israel had in the law and the sacrifices was a shadow of something to come. The blood of animals could not wipe away sin. However, Jesus offered his own blood in a more perfect tabernacle not made with hands. Verses 23-28 state that Jesus entered the holy of holies in heaven, which is indicated to be the original, with earthly versions considered copies. In verse 22 the word remission is used to describe what his blood provided for us. Where the Hebrew Atonement meant to cover, the Greek word for remission meant pardon :- deliverance, forgiveness, liberty, remission. Legally, a pardon erases all records of a person’s crime and the related charges, making them appear innocent before the law and society. It is as if they had never committed an offense—in other words, they are justified.
What is the better promise? In the Old Covenant the sacrifices, including the Day of Atonement, were a reminder of sin. Every time an Israelite offered any of the many sacrifices, which they did regularly, they were reminded of their sin. They were also reminded of their inability to keep from sinning. The promise that we have in Christ is that our conscience can be cleansed from dead works, freeing us to serve the living God.
There are those who say we must remember that we are only sinners saved by grace. That is not the promise of the New Covenant. We were sinners but because of the sacrifice of Christ, the handwriting was wiped away from the charges against us. The penalty for our sin has been remitted. Therefore, I am not a sinner. I do not have to live with a consciousness of what I did in the past. I can be free of everything I have ever done.
Hebrews 5:12-14 (NKJV) 13 For everyone who partakes only of milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, for he is a babe. 14 But solid food belongs to those who are of full age, that is, those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.
That is my inheritance in Christ. As I grow in him, renewing my mind by the Word of God and cultivating his presence and holiness in my life, sin can become a thing of the past. My present and future can be lived in the fullness of God’s presence and his goodness even in the midst of this difficult and evil world.
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