HEBREWS 8:6-13
6) But now, Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs, just as the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things.
7) If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one.
8) But God finds fault with his people when he says, "The days are coming, says the Lord, when I will draw up a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
9) It will not be like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day Itook them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They were not faithful to the covenant I made with them, and so I paid no attention to them.
10) Now, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel in the days to come, says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
11) None of them will have to teach their friends or tell their neighbors, 'Know the Lord.' For they will all know me, from the least to the greatest.
12) I will forgive their sins and will no longer remember their wrongs."
13) By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear.
The Hebrew word for Covenant:
BERITH
It means cutting.
A Greek word for Covenant:
DIATHEKE
When one party has nothing to share and the other party has everything to share.
It is the word used in the New Testament for Covenant.
1. THE OLD COVENANT
EXODUS 19:16-18
16) And it came to pass on the third day in the morning, that there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud; so that all the people that was in the camp trembled.
17) And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet with God; and they stood at the nether part of the mount.
18) And Mount Sinai was altogether on a smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire: and the smoke thereof ascended as the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mount quaked greatly.
1. THE OLD COVENANT
A. The Purpose of the Law
B. The Weakness of the Law
2. THE NEW COVENANT
The New is in the Old concealed --
the Old is by the New revealed.
The New is in the Old contained --
the Old is by the New explained.
Contrast the Old Testament
With the New Testament
They had the Shadow --
We have the Substance!
They had the Ritual --
We have the Reality!
They had the Picture --
We have the Person!
They had the Type --
We have the Truth!
They had the Figure --
We have the Fullness!
2. THE NEW COVENANT
JEREMIAH 31:31-34
31) Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah:
32) Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:
33) But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.
34) And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
3. BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT
A. Personal Knowledge
of the Lord
JEREMIAH 31:34
And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
GENESIS 4:1
And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bore a son...
JOHN 17:3
And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
EZEKIEL 36:26-27
26) A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
27) And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
3. BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT
A. Personal Knowledge
of the Lord
B. Personal Protection
from the Lord
GENESIS 15:1
... Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
I SAMUEL 17:26
...for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
I SAMUEL 17:34-37
34) And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:
35) And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
36) Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.
37) David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
3. BLESSINGS OF THE NEW COVENANT
A. Personal Knowledge
of the Lord
B. Personal Protection
from the Lord
C. God Would Forgive
and Forget Their Sin
JEREMIAH 31:34
... for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.
HEBREWS 10:1-4
1) The Jewish Law is not a full and faithful model of the real things; it is only a faint outline of the good things to come. The same sacrifices are offered forever, year after year. How can the Law, then, by means of these sacrifices make perfect the people who come to God?
2) If the people worshiping God had really been purified from their sins, they would not feel guilty of sin any more, and all sacrifices would stop.
3) As it is, however, the sacrifices serve year after year to remind people of their sins.
4) For the blood of bulls and goats can never take away sins.
HEBREWS 9:12
When Christ went through the tent and entered once and for all into the Most Holy Place, he did not take the blood of goats and bulls to offer as a sacrifice; rather, he took his own blood and obtained eternal salvation for us.
ISAIAH 43:25-26
25) I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins.
26) Put me in remembrance; let us argue together; set forth your case, that you may be proved right.
PSALM 103:12
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
COLOSSIANS 2:14-15
14) Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
15) And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it.
I JOHN 1:9
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
