THERE
IS A NEW COVENANT continued
Heb
8:7, 8
Let ua look again at the New Covenant. This new covenant is in mercy. Israel
nor the Gentiles are any more able to live up to the Old Covenant than Israel
was. The Mosaic Law shows what sinners Israel
were, but it also shows the sin of the rest of the world. There is none righteous, no, not one. We are all sinners. All have sinned and come short of the glory
of God., Rom. 3:23. Heb.8:12 says, "For I will be
merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more." Now this
verse 12 is written to the same people as those in verse 10 when He said,
"...I will make (a covenant) with the house of Israel
after these days," Some say God is through with Israel
because she rejected His son. In Heb.
8:10-12, however, God is showing that He will be merciful to the house of Israel
and forgive their sin. This is in line
with the Covenant God made with David where we saw the conversion and restoration of Israel
I have referred to the
sacrifices already, but let me just say in regard to the Old Testament
Sacrifices: There were many of
them. Every family was to offer a burnt
offering every morning and every evening.
Sacrifices (sin and trespass offerings) were to be made when they were
conscious of sin. The great sacrifice of
the Day of Atonement was to be made once every year, and then there were other
sacrifices. One can see that the
sacrifices were very many. Once the
sacrifice was made, it did not serve for the future except the Day of Atonement
for one year. Instead they must be
offered again and again. In this new
covenant, however, our sacrifice is the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, once and for
all. When our Lord came into the world, "...he
saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared
me:" Heb. 10:5 This was necessary in order that He be put to
death in the flesh as Peter said, 1 Pet. 3:18.
This speaks of the
incarnation of Christ, which was necessary for our redemption. The virgin Mary is not the mother of
God. She mothered the body of the Human
Jesus. From all eternity Jesus has been,
He has been with God, and He was God.
This has always been, and it will never cease to be. That same Jesus, however, became flesh
(human) and dwelt among us, and we held His glory as of the only begotten of
the Father. When Jesus came to earth, He
did not become God; He already was God.
He became man. He is not a man in
whom God dwells; He is a man Who is God.
He is not a man Who has become idolized.
He is literally entirely God and entirely man at the same time. This Jesus is also our new priest.
The old Covenant priest
had to be of the tribe of Levi. No one
else could qualify as priest according to the Mosaic Covenant. The Aaronic or Levitical priesthood of the
Mosaic Covenant made nothing perfect.
Jesus could not have qualified to be priest under that old covenant,
because He was not a Levite. He was of
the tribe of Judah. Thus, the new covenant required a new
priesthood. It is Jesus who is a priest
forever after the order of Melchisedec.
This is an eternal priesthood.
This was necessary to offer one sacrifice forever. What think ye of this? Your comments are welcome.
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