Hebrews 10:11-18 (HCSB)
Every priest stands day after day ministering and offering the same sacrifices time after time, which can never take away sins. But this man, after offering one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God. He is now waiting until His enemies are made His footstool. For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are sanctified. The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. For after He says:
This is the covenant I will make with them
after those days, says the Lord:
I will put My laws on their hearts
and write them on their minds,
He adds:
I will never again remember
their sins and their lawless acts.
Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.
The contrast between the Old Covenant and the New could not be more sharply drawn than the writer of Hebrews does here. In a few short words and phrases, he clearly demonstrates that the Old Covenant is a covenant of hopelessness and futility, while the New Covenant is a covenant of hope, and power, and victory.
The symbol of the Old Covenant is a picture of the priests offering sacrifices day after day that, even when performed according to regulation, do not change a single life. But the symbol of the New Covenant is a picture of Jesus on the cross overlaid by the empty tomb, a single successful sacrifice that is powerful and effective in its ability to transform human hearts and lives.
Another picture of the Old Covenant is that of priests longing for the coming of the Messiah. But the New Covenant bears in its heart the picture of the elevation of Jesus, the Messiah, to God’s right hand, having successfully completed every task, and now simply waiting for the signal from the Father that will send Him back to earth in victory over every enemy.
The final picture of the Old Covenant is of worshippers sent from their sacrifices with a with a mumbled blessing from the priest, unchanged, untransformed, still unholy. But that of the New Covenant shows a rising tide of genuinely transformed disciples of Jesus, mature and full of the growing brilliance of genuine holiness as they share their lives with those around them who are still outside the fold.
And, as the writer points out, this is not an afterthought of God, or a fluke of history. It has always been God’s goal from the very beginning, as He showed clearly through his prophets, like the quotes here from Jeremiah 31:31-34.
Father, it is said that so many of the people You have longed to save have decided to pull off the way and live forever alongside the road, instead of continuing the journey to the destination You have told them about. They have convinced themselves that, because they have a decent tent and a warm fire, they are in the Promised Land. But the whole time, there is an amazing palace in a land of milk and honey, all waiting for them if they simply continue on the path all the way to the final destination. This is a problem not just for the Jews, but for Christians as well, those who believe that true holiness and righteousness is an unrealistic goal, even with Your help, and simply settle for “better than some” as a final goal. Forgive us, Lord, for not continuing wholeheartedly with You all the way to the final goal, so that we can become fully mature in Jesus, growing in power, and righteousness, and genuine holiness every day. Amen.