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.
As we have looked at the principle of covenant in the Bible, we have found a number of important things. From the beginning God has used blood covenant as the vehicle to deal with the sin that separated us from God. From the Garden of Eden through the Abrahamic covenant and the addition of the law under Moses, God has used covenant to create a way for man to maintain relationship with himself. Covenant was God’s Idea, not man’s. God went to Abraham, and it was God that gave the law to Moses. In Jerimiah 31, God spoke of a new and better covenant in which the law would be placed in our inward parts and written on our hearts, our intellect and emotions. This New Covenant was the one spoken of by Jesus, celebrated in the last supper and ratified in his own blood.
Hebrews 8 says it was a better covenant established on better promises. The promises given to God’s people in the Old Covenant were good promises. However, the nature of the New Covenant would make those that were part of the old better. Not only that but there are promises that could not be made available under the Old Covenant because Jesus had not yet been crucified, buried nor resurrected. Until that happened and his blood was shed, it was not possible for the fullness of what God wanted to provide to be manifest. What made it a better covenant and what are the better promises?
We have already looked at the fact that it is better because it is not just a man’s covenant. Any covenant that is between two human beings is subject to being broken and even to change. The Abrahamic covenant was between God and a man. God will not break the covenant, and it will not change as far as the promise is concerned. He did change it by adding the law, but that was to strengthen it for man’s benefit. Man, on the other hand proved that he could not keep the covenant. Part of keeping it was to stay free from anything that was contrary to God’s nature. Man could not do that. He tried to change it, but since God would not change, that was impossible.
The New Covenant was better for one major reason. The original covenant was not just between God and Abraham. The covenant of promise was between God the Father and Abraham’s seed, Jesus. Since both are divine in nature and since neither will change, the covenant will never change. The promises associated with the covenant will not change and will always be available. We are part of this New Covenant between God and the man Jesus, because we are in Christ once we are born again (2 Cor. 5:17.) That gives us the same access to the covenant that Jesus himself has.
Romans 8:16-17 (NKJV) 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs–heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.
We use the term covenant to describe this relationship with God, but we also use testament as in “last will and testament.” Jesus, as the only begotten son of God, is God’s heir. Jesus is the heir of God, and we are joint heirs with him. God will not die, Jesus will not die again, so the inheritance remains the property of the one who owns it until death. The primary heir, Jesus, will not die so what belongs to him will stay with him. Since we are “in him” all that Jesus is heir to is ours as well. What is he, and by extension all who are in him, heir to?
Hebrews 6:19-20 (NKJV) 19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
We have a better priesthood than they had under the Old Covenant. The priesthood existed to be the mediators between God and man. Their priesthood was made up of people under the same curse as the rest of Israel. They had to offer sacrifices for themselves as well as for the people. The high priest was the leader of this priesthood and offered the most important sacrifice, the day of atonement sacrifice for the whole nation. Since all the priests, including the high priest, were subject to death, the priesthood was constantly changing. Some priests did their job in a Godly manner, but others were corrupt. Some cared for the people, but others cared about power and politics. This is not the case in the New Covenant.
In Hebrews, it speaks a great deal about a priest named Melchizedek. He was not a Hebrew priest from the line of Aaron. He was called the King of Salam. Abraham had won a victory over his enemies and when this priest came to him, Abraham paid him tithes of what he had won. Tithes were paid to the Levitical priesthood, but this man was not part of that. He was a priest only because God said he was.
In Hebrews seven, Jesus is listed as a priest “according to the order of Melchizedek. He was not from the priestly tribe but of the tribe of Judah. Therefore, he could not be a priest under the law. Melchizedek gave the appearance of having no beginning or no end, Jesus was the Word who was God. He existed before being born of the virgin. He rose from the dead and was taken up to heaven, so he has no end. Where Melchizedek was the type, Jesus is the fulfillment.
Hebrews 7:20-22 (NKJV) 20 And inasmuch as He was not made priest without an oath 21 (for they have become priests without an oath, but He with an oath by Him who said to Him: “The LORD has sworn And will not relent, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’ “), 22 by so much more Jesus has become a surety of a better covenant.
Jesus is a priest forever. He will not die. He will not change. He was made a priest with an oath from almighty God and that will never change. He is a priest who is easily touched with the feeling of our infirmities only with no sin. He paid the price for sin “once and for all” with his own blood which was never tainted with any sin of his own, so it was able to pay for the sin of all humanity. He does not offer the same sacrifices over and over again, but in that one sacrifice he makes all who come to him holy.
Hebrews 7:23-28 (NKJV) 23 Also there were many priests, because they were prevented by death from continuing. 24 But He, because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. 25 Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. 26 For such a High Priest was fitting for us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and has become higher than the heavens; 27 who does not need daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the people’s, for this He did once for all when He offered up Himself. 28 For the law appoints as high priests men who have weakness, but the word of the oath, which came after the law, appoints the Son who has been perfected forever.
In this scripture there are many important things that speak for themselves. However, I want to point out that, because of the perfect and unchanging nature of the priest of our covenant, he is able to save us to the uttermost. That means our salvation has no limits. Our past does not limit God’s ability to save us. Our present weakness does not limit him. Since he never changes and the priesthood never changes, there is no starting over with a new priest. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. His ability to change us into the fullness of what God desires us to be is only limited by our willingness to be changed and our obedience to his Word.
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