Good morning. I'll be reading from Hebrews chapter 8 from the beginning.
So now the point in what we are saying is this.
We have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven,
a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.
For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices.
Thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer.
Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all,
since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law.
They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.
For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying,
See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain.
But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old.
As the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.
For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.
For he finds fault with them when he says,
Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
Not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
For they did not continue in my covenant.
And so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord.
For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel.
After those days, declares the Lord,
I will put my laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.
And I will be their God and they shall be my people.
And they shall not teach each other his neighbor and each other, each one his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will be merciful towards their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more.
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete.
And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
To be human is to be made for relationships.
That's very obvious.
But we're made for personal, intimate relationships.
In which we're loved unconditionally.
I guess every relationship really begins on that basis, doesn't it?
Whether we're talking about friendships or marriage or the relationship between parents and children.
That unconditional love is what we long for and crave.
But the harsh reality is that even the best and closest of our relationships very easily and often quickly sort of sink back into being transactional.
Not unconditional.
And by transactional I mean the relationship goes something like this.
I will only do for you certain things when I'm sure that you will respond to me by doing certain things that I want.
That's a transaction.
And when we get to that point we find ourselves in a real tangle.
Because I still want and even demand that others, this other significant person, love me unconditionally.
While I'm heavily transactional towards them.
It's a very unsatisfying form of love.
I would actually argue that it's a destructive form of love.
Now, take another step with me.
Because I think the same process can easily happen.
Can easily shape our desire for a personal relationship with God.
So, it goes like this.
We know our imperfections.
We know our own failure.
So, when we think of a relationship with God, we actually want and need God to love us unconditionally.
But in response, we so easily become transactional.
That is, we do things for God and to God that we think will secure the things we want from God.
And in the end, we don't actually love God for who he is.
For his own beauty.
We love him for what we think we can get from him.
And we do acts of love.
In inverted commas.
To secure those things that we think we need and want.
We can actually read God's word.
We can form strong beliefs and emotional commitments
about the things we think we need to do to please God and keep him happy.
Even though those things may be completely wrong.
And then we get in a tangle with our relationship with God.
If all we do is respond or relate to God according to how we interpret what God says,
how we interpret what God says,
then we become religious.
And we'll give expression to our religion
either through formal religious rituals
like might happen at a church like this on Sunday morning.
going to church,
maybe observing Lent,
taking the sacraments,
whatever it is.
Or we might do it through a private system
of beliefs and practices.
Oftentimes, something picked up as a child.
So we try to be good,
believing that we can be good.
Good enough for God.
Or when life gets tough,
we say our prayers.
As if that's the key
that will unlock God's blessing for us.
And so on and so forth.
Once a person is on the religious pathway,
then I think meaningful personal relationship with God
is lost.
Or at the very least,
is substituted for transactions.
As I said before,
it's a very unsatisfying form of love.
Dare I even say destructive.
Now,
hopefully that introduction will help us
come into the notions
that are in Hebrews chapter 8 this morning,
especially the word covenant.
because as we move into the Bible generally,
and Hebrews in particular,
then I need to say
that God hates religion.
His salvation plan
has only ever been
to have personal,
intimate, rich relationship
with his people.
I'm going to just give you
a very potted summary
of the Old Testament
in the next couple of minutes.
From the very start,
from God's creation,
the end point of God's creative work
was rest.
Now,
when you dig into what the word rest is,
we see it in Genesis chapter 2,
it is God's people
in God's place
enjoying
God's special blessing.
The place?
Garden of Eden.
enjoying
personal relationships
with God.
Enjoying
God himself.
Remember,
Adam walked with God
in the cool of the afternoon
or the evening,
whatever it was.
That's a statement
of personal relationship.
Then Genesis 3,
God's people chose
to despise that relationship
with God
and do their own thing.
This fall
into sin,
as it's called,
or rebellion,
just messed up everything
and destroyed
personal relationship
with God.
But even as God
distanced himself
from his rebellious people
by removing them
from the Garden of Eden,
his special place of blessing,
even as he was doing that,
he promises
or covenants.
There's the first mention
of that word.
He promises
or covenants.
And that's what a covenant is
in the simplest form.
It's just a promise.
God covenants
to do what was needed
to restore
personal relationship
with his people.
And we pick up then
the first phrase
that said repeatedly
throughout the Old Testament,
once again,
I will be your God
and you will be my people
and I will deal
gently with you
and bless you.
That's a statement
of unconditional love.
Personal relationship.
And ultimately,
Genesis chapter 3,
verse 15,
tells us that
God's covenant promise
would be delivered
by a special descendant
of Adam and Eve
who would crush
Satan
and restore
God's people
to rest.
The crusher
would be the one
who would come
and restore
the personal relationship
with God
that they were created
to enjoy.
That promised crusher
we know
as Jesus.
And the single story
of the Bible
from Genesis 3
to the time of Jesus
is built around
how God uses
nation Israel
to deliver
his covenant promise.
of renewed relationship
in and through Jesus.
Every aspect
of God's,
the life of God's people
in the Old Testament
was built around
God's covenant promise.
And the extent
of God's commitment
to restoring relationship
and fellowship
with his people
is seen after the Exodus
particularly.
That becomes,
as it were,
the touchstone
or the go-to passage
to understand
what it means
to say
God wants to be back
in relationship
with his people.
And the story there
is having brought
his people
to himself,
there's the movement,
bringing his alienated people
to himself
from Egypt,
he restates
his covenant promise
in the terms,
I will be your God
and you will be my people.
loved despite
your rebellion,
enjoying the good life
of fellowship
and blessing
with him
despite your rebellion.
And from there
in Exodus
and Leviticus,
God puts in place
all the infrastructure,
if you want to call it that,
to make sure
that that relationship
is a reality.
He sends prophets
to remind
God's people
of the promise
on offer,
the beautiful relationship
that he was offering.
He sends leaders,
eventually the kings,
to model
what that good life
of blessing
looked like
and to lead them
into it.
He said that he would
come to his people
and live among them
and that's the idea
of the tent
or the tabernacle
and then later
the temple
where God expresses
his commitment
to his people.
He comes to them
and lives among
his dirty,
sinful people.
A demonstration
of personal commitment,
sorry,
a demonstration
of commitment
to personal relationship.
And then he said
he would set up
the sacrificial system
and the sacrificial system
is my special provision
for my dirty people
so I can keep on
fellowshipping with them
as a clean God.
It will remind them
of my grace
and mercy towards them
and remind them
that this relationship
cannot function
until sin has been
addressed and dealt with.
And I'll appoint priests,
says the Lord,
God.
And they will
bring two alienated
parties together,
the clean God
and his dirty people,
highlighting God's
grace and mercy
to them
and allowing animal
sacrifices
for their sin.
He would spell out
in detail,
he said,
what we call
the law.
He would spell out
in detail
how the relationship
can thrive.
Now we think of law
as restrictive
and negative
but not so.
God's law
was really
positive parameters
spelled around
the relationship.
You know,
if the relationship
is going to continue
this is how you
need to be acting.
This is how
I want you to act
so that we might
continue to enjoy
relationship
and fellowship together.
I'm your God
and you're my people.
But,
despite all
God's wonderful
provision
to make real
his promise
or covenant
of relationship,
there was a massive
and ongoing problem
that just kept
making the whole thing
fall over.
The heart of the problem?
The problem of the heart.
God's people
repeatedly
forgot
what God's
provision
symbolized
or pointed to.
They pointed
to God's
gracious
and merciful
efforts
to be in
personal fellowship
with his
sinful people.
And so,
repeatedly
through the Old Testament,
meaningful relationship
with God
was lost
as they settled
into a legalistic
or transactional
way of responding
to God.
In other words,
they forgot
all of
God's commitment,
all of God's promise
to be in
personal relationship
with them,
all the things
that God
had put in place
to make sure
that happened,
and they just
went back
to ticking
boxes.
We need
to do
this
and this
to unlock
the things
we want
from God.
And repeatedly
through the Old Testament,
God's
pinged his people
and his priests
saying,
yeah,
there's no doubt
you guys are doing
all the right things,
but it's making me sick
because you're doing
all the right things
with bad attitudes,
bad thinking,
bad motives.
And in fact,
this is my words,
not God's words.
In effect,
God said,
I don't do
transactional
relationship.
Now,
it's into that
massive problem
that Hebrews
steps
and shows us
the perfection
of Jesus.
And as we see
the perfection
of Jesus,
we have exposed
ever so clearly
the weakness
and,
using the language
of Hebrews,
the shadowy
nature
of everything
that went before him.
See,
God sent
prophet
after prophet
prophet
with the same
promise
of relationship.
But none
of the prophets
were able
to make God's
word penetrate
through the minds
and into the hearts
of God's people.
At times,
they chose
not to listen.
At times,
they preferred
to protect
their own idea,
their own belief
about what God
wanted
and act
in the light
of that.
The prophets
were weak
in that sense.
God sent
leader
after leader,
king
after king,
but each
king showed
that they were
unable
to subdue
God's
unruly people
because their
unruly hearts
were just
too tough
to crack.
They were
unable,
therefore,
to lead them
into God's
place of rest
or relationship.
Endless
priests
offered
endless
sacrifices
in a
physically
impressive
temple,
but it only
made God
angry
because in
God's eyes,
their religious
practices
were just
a performance.
a pretense.
Jeremiah
and other
prophets
actually
called them
that,
a pretense
of valuing
relationship
with God
while their
hearts
were far
from loving
him.
In other
words,
they loved
what they
thought they
would get
from God,
but they
didn't love
God himself.
That's
transactional.
And it's
horrible.
Now,
listen carefully
here because
the problem
was not
in the
things God
put in
place.
The problem
was the
heart,
in the
hearts,
of God's
people
who were
unable
and unwilling
to engage
with those
structures that
God put in
place that
was meant
to point
them to
Jesus,
point them
to the
Lord,
and point
them to
grace and
mercy.
they
couldn't
use those
structures as
they were
intended,
as reminders
of God's
commitment to
do for his
people what
they could
never do
for themselves.
And
against that
is the
perfection of
Jesus.
he is
what all
the Old
Testament
structures
were shadows
of.
In a
sense,
the law
was the
shadow which
Jesus was the
reality of.
The temple
was the
shadow Jesus
was the
reality of.
The
prophets,
priests,
and kings,
they were
the shadow
of which
Jesus was
the reality.
He is the
reality that
all those
things pointed
to.
He is
God's
perfect
prophet,
perfect king,
and perfect
priest.
He is
God's
temple.
He is
the place
we meet
God.
He is
the perfect
sacrifice that
covers all
sins.
We saw
that last
week in
chapter 7.
He is
the one
who,
therefore,
by covering
all our
sins,
allows
personal
relationship
with God
to thrive.
He is
the perfect
forever
priest.
We saw
that in
earlier
chapters.
Unique,
purpose-built
to bring
us close
to God
in relationship.
The one
who prays
for us
constantly
as we
struggle to
serve the
Lord
faithfully
with glad
hearts.
God's
He is
God's
perfect
king
who
rescues
us,
subdues
our unruly
hearts,
and delivers
us into
rest or
perfect
relationship
with God.
The good
life of
restored
relationship,
life of
blessing and
security,
and forever
fellowship
with God.
the
perfection
of Jesus
exposes
the
weakness
of
everything
that went
before Him,
and by
definition,
therefore,
supersedes
it or
renders it
obsolete.
I was
going to
bring in
my
electric
typewriter
this morning
that I
purchased
when I
first
started
work
back in
1986,
and it
was state
of the
art.
I was
so impressed
with it
because it
could
memorize,
it could
hold in
its memory
28 letter
characters,
which doesn't
sound much,
but it was
good for me
because my
speed of
typing was
slower than
that.
Now,
that was
state of
the
art.
Last
year,
the end
of last
year,
the church
bought me
a new
laptop.
Now,
they both
do the
same job,
especially,
I mean,
I just
use my
laptop almost
like a glorified
typewriter.
It's word
processing.
So,
I've been
thinking about
just going
back to my
old typewriter.
Both do
words processing.
You type
the same
keyboard.
It's more
like that
for me.
End up
with a
document at
the end.
It's
absurd,
isn't it?
The
modern
laptop in
just a
few,
well,
I don't
know,
probably
years,
I suppose,
the modern
laptop
computer just
made electric
typewriters
obsolete.
You'd be
crazy to go
back to a
typewriter,
wouldn't
you?
By the way,
if anybody
wants to
buy one,
I still
have it in
my room.
I can
negotiate a
really good
price.
It's only
had one
owner.
Very,
very good,
very fast.
Hands down,
it'll beat
your laptop,
so come
and talk
to me
afterwards.
It's
absurd,
isn't
it?
The
perfection
of Jesus
exposes
the weakness
of everything
that comes
before him,
but more
than that,
in chapter
eight,
the son's
perfect work
in an
ongoing
sense,
in heaven,
is everything
needed to
maintain
vibrant
relationship
with God.
See,
all those
former
things,
those
shadowy
things,
really
needed and
demanded the
perfection of
Jesus,
because in
a sense,
they knew
within
themselves
their
imperfection,
their
weakness.
So those
things all
looked forward
to the
perfection
of Jesus.
And in
verse one
of chapter
eight,
we get this
summary statement
which is
summarizing the
argument,
how far back
probably the
whole argument
of Hebrews,
essentially the
writer saying
this,
look,
okay,
all that's
been said
thus far
amounts to
this.
Let me
summarize it
in one
pithy little
statement.
We have
the high
priest,
we have
the one
who has
created and
will sustain
forever
relationship
with God,
unconditional
loving
relationship
with God.
Jesus is
everything
needed
and Jesus
does
everything
required
to maintain
that
relationship.
And we're
introduced to
him again
in the
early
verses of
chapter eight
with another
extravagant
description
of who
Jesus is.
And then
it goes on
to tell us
what Jesus
has done
and is
doing.
Who Jesus
is as
God's
son is
the
ultimate,
unique,
purpose-built
prophet,
priest,
and king.
All the
knowledge of
God's word,
all the
power and
authority
needed to
guarantee
the delivery
of God's
promise or
covenant.
to restore
forever
fellowship
with his
sinful
people.
That's his
qualification.
That's his
credential.
He's now
in heaven,
which is
described here
as the
true temple.
If the
temple was
the place
where you
meet with
God or
where God
met with
his people,
then obviously
heaven is
the reality
of that.
The
ultimate
forever
sanctification
sanctuary,
called here
in Hebrews
8 verse 2
as a
tent,
to make
the connection
back to
the Old
Testament.
But it's
got that
personal touch
to it,
hasn't it?
When you're
camping with
somebody and
you're in a
two-man
tent,
you think,
I don't know
what size
these men
were that
this was
built for,
but this
is very
cozy.
heaven is
cozy
because of
the
perfection
of Jesus.
Jesus
is always
on the
job,
thinking now
what Jesus
does and
has done.
He's always
on the job
doing his
priestly work,
described here
in Hebrews
8 as
ministry.
That is the
actual activity
of what a
priest does.
He ministers
to and
for God's
needy people.
We saw that
in chapter 7
verse 27.
He presents
himself as the
perfect sacrifice.
That's what a
priest did.
He needed to
deal with the
sins of his
people.
Jesus said,
well, here I
am.
I'll deal
with them in
my own
person.
And in
doing that,
he completely
removed the
barrier of
sin, the
barrier to
relationship and
fellowship with
God, and
opened up that
reality of
forever
relationship
with God.
God
verse 4
and 5.
I pondered a
lot over what
these verses
actually meant,
but I think it
goes like this.
Here on earth,
Jesus wouldn't
have been a
priest.
I think what
that means is
that there's a
contrast there.
I think, look,
while on earth,
the Jewish
religious authorities
wouldn't have
looked twice at
Jesus except
when they wanted
to kill him.
They didn't
value him.
They couldn't
see past their
legalistic thinking
of, well,
Jesus couldn't
be a priest.
He couldn't
be a king
because he
doesn't fit
the criteria.
He doesn't
fit what we
expect God
would do and
how we expect
God would
act.
So he was
just sidelined.
But here,
the writer's
saying, Jesus
is highly
valued in
heaven.
The Father
sees Jesus
for all he's
worth and all
he's done.
all he's
done.
he's
honored by
the Father
as the
perfect
mediator
or
guarantor
of God's
covenant
promise
because he's
brought the
two disconnected
parties together.
He's brought
sinful people
close to
the holy
God.
But he's a
perfect mediator
because he's
been able to
do that
while preserving
the interests
of both
parties.
Jesus was
totally committed
to ensuring
God's holiness
and justice
and righteousness
is not
tarnished
or minimized
in any way.
That required
a person
to die
for the
sins
of people.
Jesus
stepped
into that
breach.
God's
justice
was
satisfied
and the
door opened
for God
to show
mercy.
But at
the same
time
he was
totally
committed
to redeeming
or making
safe
his dirty
people
and bringing
them close
to God
in perfect
relationship.
And that
meant
a work
on their
behalf.
The perfect
mediator.
In the
second half
of chapter
eight
the father
promises
our
covenant
everything
needed
for perfect
forever
relationship
with him.
God's
words
spoken
through
the prophet
Jeremiah.
And he
uses that
to prove
God's
commitment
to his
promise
to restore
forever
relationship
with his
sinful
people
despite
their
ongoing
sin.
God's
word
and all
that he
promises
here
would be
delivered
again
through
Jesus
the
perfection
of
Jesus.
But there's
another thing
that happens
here
through these
words.
It's not
to the
forefront
but I'm
going to
mention
anyway
at least
I think
that's
happening
here.
God's
word
as he
quotes
God's
word
through
the
prophet
Isaiah
God's
word
also
did I
say
Isaiah?
Well that's
obviously
wrong
isn't it?
Jeremiah
is the
one I
should
have
said.
God's
word
also
exposes
the
misguided
Jewish
mindset
held
with a
passionate
emotional
commitment
to the
belief
that the
Jews
could
secure
relationship
and fellowship
with God
by going
through the
motions
of religious
rituals.
Jeremiah
and the
other
prophets
are
scathing.
You guys
just every
day you're
offering
sacrifices
you're
saying
your prayers
and you're
doing this
and you're
doing that
and it's
all wasted
because it's
just
transactional.
You don't
love the
Lord.
God's
promise
through
Jeremiah
is used
here as
proof
of God's
commitment
to dealing
with the
problem
of the
heart
which as I
said earlier
was the
heart of
the
problem.
Only
then
could
God
be their
God
and enjoy
them as
his people.
Verse 10
I'm going to
run through
this very
quickly because
we'll be
saying more
about each
of these
things next
week in
chapter 9.
God
would deliver
new hearts.
In other
words if
the problem
was the
heart God's
commitment
to relationship
said okay
I will
reformat
you from
the
inside
out.
I'll
give you
new
desires
new
thinking
new
attitudes
so you'll
see me
for who
I am
and love
me for
what I
am
unconditionally.
Verse 11
God
would
deliver
new
transformational
understanding
the
prophets of
old
constantly
chastised
God's
people
for not
knowing
him
even
though
they
had a
lifetime
of
observing
his
character.
That was
picked up
in chapter
3 of
Hebrews.
40 years
in the
wilderness
and yet
you didn't
even know
me.
You'd seen
all my
works
yet you
didn't
even know
me.
In other
words
they knew
of God
but it
wasn't a
knowledge
that
transformed
them
and
transformed
their
actions.
They
just
interpreted
God's
activity
to suit
their own
convenient
beliefs.
And the
same
prophets
pursued
God's
people to
see that
true
understanding
of God
recognises
his holiness
and then
overflows
in response
of obedience
love and
delight.
God says
I'm going
to give
you that
sort of
knowledge
to produce
that sort
of response.
It's the
only way
it's going
to happen.
So the
ultimate
blessing
built into
God's
covenant
promise
is that
God's
people would
know and
love him
as he
knows
and loves
them.
third
verse
12
God
would
deliver
perfection.
I said
last week
that Jesus
is perfection.
Well God's
ultimate
promise
is that
he would
deliver
perfection
because only
the perfection
of Jesus
applied to
his dirty
sinful
people
would enable
that fellowship
for every
relationship
to go
by definition
forever.
God's
promise
to engage
with his
people in
grace and
mercy
acting to
remove the
guilt of
their sin
and nothing
shows God's
heart more
clearly
than this
promise to
his people.
It shows
his desire
to pardon.
It shows
his unwillingness
to pour out
his anger.
It shows
his delight
and loving
kindness.
And the
prophets
Micah and
the rest
of them
they're full
of that
sort of
stuff.
It's just
that God's
people couldn't
hear it
or didn't
want to
hear it.
They preferred
being transactional.
All of that
is God's
commitment to
freeing his
people to
true worship.
As Jesus
said
recorded in
John's
gospel
worship in
spirit and
in truth.
God's
covenant
promise has
always been
the same.
I get a
little bit
uncomfortable
with the
discontinuity
between the
idea of
old and
new.
There is a
continuity.
In one sense
God's covenant
has always been
the same.
But when you
look at how
it failed
because of the
weakness of the
human heart
and how it was
then achieved
through the
perfection of
Jesus, yeah
it can
probably be
described as
something brand
new.
So what's the
takeaway from
all of this?
Well I want to
push you in two
directions.
Be careful
not to
prefer or be
satisfied with
a copy, a
shadow, an
imitation of
real relationship
and blessing
with God.
We sort of
read Hebrews
and think well
we would never
do what those
Hebrew Christians
were doing.
I think I'm
going back to
the old way of
doing things.
Well you're in a
dangerous position
my friend if you
think you can't
do that in some
shape or form.
could be a
matter of
putting your
confidence for
acceptance with
God in
institutional
religion if I
can put it like
that.
In other words
the things that
go with being
part of a church
family like this.
Rituals.
In some
situations it
could be bells
and smells.
Doing religious
things as though
somehow or other
it will make you
more secure.
more acceptable
to God and
that will
somehow or
other please
God in and
of itself.
It could be
through backing
your own
emotional
commitment to
the belief
that well
I'm a
basic
basically I'm
a good
person and
that my
good intentions
and good
living will
win acceptance
with God.
And especially
when I add
into that I
go to church
and I say
my prayers
daily and
I read my
Bible and
do my
little daily
devotional
and we
start to
pile up a
series of
transactions
that expect
God to
deliver his
part.
So common.
Even as
Christians
Tim Keller
says we can
slide into
that and
slide away
from the
gospel.
don't be
happily
transactional
in your
relationship
with God.
Jesus is
God's
perfection.
perfection is
everything
needed,
is
established
and
maintained
forever
relationship
with God.
God's
love.
And it's
very logical
then.
If he is
perfection
then there
is no
better place
to rest
that is to
find assurance
of salvation
than in
perfection.
It doesn't
need to be
updated like
Gareth's
passport or
his hairstyle.
It can't
be improved.
You'll never
get an email
saying this
ran out of
debts two
years ago and
you weren't
even aware of
it.
Sorry.
Passport to
heaven cancelled.
Love him.
Enjoy him.
Trust him.
Love him
unconditionally.
as he loves
you unconditionally.
Then we start
to show the
perfection of
Jesus.
Thank you for
listening.