Day 93 "The Old is Gone. Behold, The New!" (Hebrews: Chapter 8)

Extreme Makeover: Home Edition owes its roots to Extreme Make Over which originally premiered Dec. 3, 2003. Over the years, the show has come and gone and has had it share of critics over the years. But the original concept for the show was that a family that has been hit by tragedy or just really bad luck gets a new home. Their existing homes are either majorly revamped or torn down and replaced with a shiny new structure. One would be called a remodel, (like the picture to the left). The other would be called a complete do-over, entirely made new without relating anything back to the old-no signs of anything from the old structure still remains in existence.

As we are seeing in the book of Hebrews, God has instituted a new covenant with man. The old covenant, based on "the law" and man's responses to it, was deemed by God as having fault: it could bring judgement and condemnation to man but was incapable of bringing about a change in man's heart. Thus, a new covenant was established to bring about the righteousness and holiness in man-but this new covenant is based alone on faith and God's love and grace for man-not to be established or maintained through the efforts of man. Grace emboldens us with the understanding that our position or status with God is no longer dependent on what we do, but instead, is dependent on what God has done for us. This new covenant is not a remodel of the old covenant. It is entirely a new and complete make-over from the previous covenant. So much so, that many Christians today struggle in their Christian walk with God because they continue to strive towards walking with God and what they are trying to do for God as under the old covenant and find it difficult to wrap their arm around this new concept that God has already entirely made them holy and completely righteous through Christ- that Christ did for us what we could not do for ourselves: he completed us and made us holy before a holy and just God.

So as we enter into Chapter 8 of Romans, it helps to think: out with the old; in with the new!

Hebrews- Chapter 8:

"The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanc-

tuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man." Hebrews 8:1

"But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to their (those of the Levitical priests) as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises." Hebrews 8:6

"For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: 'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant.'" Hebrews 8:7-8

"'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares 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.'" Hebrews 8:10

"No longer will man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother saying, know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more." Hebrews 8:11-12

"By calling this covenant 'new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." Hebrews 8:13

Key verses for me:

"But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to their (those of the Levitical priests) as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises." Hebrews 8:6

"For if there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: 'The time is coming,' declares the Lord, 'when I will make a new covenant.'" Hebrews 8:7-8

"'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares 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.'" Hebrews 8:10

"By calling this covenant 'new,' he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear." Hebrews 8:13

God found need for a new covenant. A covenant that would no longer depended on the actions of man, based on external religious laws, but would be a covenant that would be internalized, writing in the mind and on the heart of man. Man would know God personally by the Spirit that God would place within him. This new covenant now makes the old covenant obsolete- null and void! In fact, the old covenant is dead. As in a marriage, when death occurs, their is a releasing from previous obligations and laws. Under a new covenant, we are freed from the old bondage in order to serve in a new way: to serve the one who died for us and was raised from the dead- Jesus Christ.

"So, my brothers, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that you might bear fruit to God." Romans 7:4

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As difficult as it may seem, Jesus set us free from all liability and condemnation incurred under the old covenant. In Christ, and in Christ alone, we each have been given a full pardon from all of our unrighteousness- for anything in the past, the present, and in the future. We are completely covered and free. Those who still find themselves thinking in terms of the first covenant find this new truth heresy to their old beliefs. Nevertheless, truth is still truth!

"He forgave us all our sins, having cancelled the written code, with its regulation, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it way, nailing it to the cross." Colossians 2:13-14

Now, you can continue to walk in your Christian faith believing it is up to you to live out a righteous life and try and live up to God's requirements for you life as you pursue to please God and earn favor with him and avoid punishment. OR, you can choose to live out the rest of your life here on earth by faith, trusting that Jesus has already made you holy before God.

If you are already holy and righteous, the only thing left to do is to live and act as a child of God. Live as who you are and don't live trying to strive for something you already have!

"The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." Galatians 5:6

"And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us." 1 John 3:23

"because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of Sonship. And by him we cry, 'Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now, if we are children, then we are heirs-heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory." Romans 8:14-17

So, allow this question to be asked of you: "Who go, ye? Slave? Or heir?"

In his love, I will meet with you, again, tomorrow...

"Carpe Momentum in Love" (Seize the moment in love)