"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood."

 Luke 22

"This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood." Luke 22:20

For my daily study, I continue to lean on DesiringGod.com's Solid Joys daily devotional, which today looks at how Jesus's death and resurrection sealed an unbreakable promise made in Jeremiah 31-32 - specifically Jeremiah 32:40, which says: "I will make with them an everlasting covenant, that I will not turn away from doing good to them. And I will put the fear of me in their hearts, that they may not turn from me." John Piper shares that Jesus sealed the "everlasting covenant - the new covenant - ...and purchased your perseverance if you are in Jesus Christ through faith." Piper continues by sharing: "[i]f you are persevering in faith today, you owe it to the blood of Jesus. The Holy Spirit, who is working in you to preserve your faith, is honoring the purchase of Jesus. God the Spirit works in us what God the Son obtained for us....God is totally committed to the perseverance and eternal security of his blood-bought children."  Praise God!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God who loves me and who died on the cross to seal and secure the promise that I will persevere in my faith through Your Spirit working in my life and heart.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You work.  My sin is great and it continues.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin and turn towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.

Hebrews 9

Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. Hebrews 9:15

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 9:11-22, specifically looking at the third division covering 9:15, which the commentary entitles "The Superiority of Christ as Mediator of the New Covenant." Here with the focus being a singular verse - v15 - the key takeaway is this: while Christ is referred to as a mediator, the commentary makes it clear that there is no compromise or common ground as one would typically expect during mediation.  The commentary shares: "[f]ar from suggesting a compromise between two opposing positions, Christ agrees with the Father that we deserve the infinite outpouring of his wrath. He agrees with the Father about the ugliness of our sin. He agrees with the Father about the necessity of a sacrifice. And as our mediator, he agrees to be that sacrifice even as the Father sends him for that task....[Christ] mediated a better covenant and offered up a better sacrifice, one that was efficient to redeem people from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. In doing so, Christ secured an eternal inheritance for those who are called." Praise God!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who became the perfect sacrifice - taking my place for my sin...thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such grace and a gift - the greatest gift of all time.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age).

Hebrews 9

By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). Hebrews 9:8-9

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 9:1-10, specifically on the text of 9:6-10, leaning on my commentary for its observations on the second division entitled "The End of Mediated Access to God".  Here, my commentary focuses on how the work of the high priest during the period of the First Covenant to atone for sins of the people was incomplete - it needed ongoing repetition - every year on the Day of Atonement. As a starting point, the commentary describes the pervasive nature of humanity's sinful nature, including sins of commission (intentionally doing wrong), omission (not doing what God seeks for us to do), and "sins committed in ignorance or unintentionally."  The commentary then points to how in v8-9 the Holy Spirit was pointing to a new way that allowed direct access to God, not relying on a mediator.  It shares: "the Holy Spirit was indicating something through the architecture of the tabernacle: even he was crying out for the day when the final sacrifice would come. As long as there was a curtain between the holy place and the most holy place, the people were not fully in the presence of God. They could not draw near to God with confidence. Thus, the veil between the most holy place and the holy place indicated incompleteness and an inability to approach God." Of course, when Jesus declared that "it is finished" (John 19:30) on the cross, believers in Him, could access God directly as Jesus became the once and for all, final sacrifice for the sins of the people, eliminating the need for repetitive sacrifices tearing down the veil that separated the people from God.  The commentary wraps by describing how Christ's sacrifice on the cross also did something else critical for us: it provided a means for not just ritual and external cleansing of sin, but it provided inner cleansing by giving us God in our hearts.  Praise God!

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for the work You did on the cross, giving me access to You directly and for working in my heart!  I am grateful!  But I also know that I am undeserving.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.

Hebrews 9

 By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the holy places is not yet opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age). According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation. Hebrews 9:8-10

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 9:1-10, and my initial unaided observations of this text.  Here, the text explores how the Levitical priests, first the priest, then the high priest, enter the tent of worship, including the inner section - referred to as the Most Holy Place (v3). The area of question - struggle - for me this morning is v8-10.  These verses describe how "the way into the holy places is not opened as long as the first section is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age)," and this implies how the first covenant and the sacrificial system as outlined in Leviticus remained in place until Jesus death on the cross resulted in a tearing down of this system, allowing direct access to the Most Holy Place or direct access to God for those who believe in Him (see also this post on DesiringGod.com).

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank You for what You have done to give me access directly to You, what an amazing gift and of course I am not deserving of such an act of amazing grace.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day. 

 

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.

Hebrews 8

 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. Hebrews 8:6

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 8:1-13, specifically on the text of 8:6-13, leaning on my commentary for its observations on the second division entitled "The Superiority of the New Covenant".  Here, both the text and the commentary make it clear that the new covenant ushered in by Jesus and His shed blood in superior in all ways.  The commentary starts by pointing out how the first covenant was "incomplete" and it was not "final."  Yet, Jesus's death on the cross, as the commentary points out to us by referring us to John 19:30, finished the need for "an unrelenting need for constant sacrifices...the wrath of God toward the sin of his people was finally paid in full."  The commentary then makes this emphatic point: "[i]ndeed, a better priest with a better ministry has come to mediate a better covenant enacted on better promises."  The commentary also shares how the author of Hebrews uses Jeremiah 31, as already done with Genesis 14 (Melchizedek) and Psalm 110, to show [the original readers of Hebrews] them that "they should have been anticipating a priest according to the order of Melchizedek."  The commentary then wraps for this text by describing the "extraordinary promise of the new covenant [as] not that God would dismiss the old covenant but that he would be merciful toward our iniquities and remember our sins no more.  Our greatest problem is sin, for it severs us from the presence of God. Our sin and his holiness are incompatible, yet God promised to reconcile sinful people to himself through the mediator who would inaugurate the new covenant. He chose to do this through his Son, Jesus Christ, the mediator who established the new covenant in his blood (Luke 22:20)."

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My Prayer: Heavenly Father - You are an awesome God whose covenant with His people is better in all ways - thank You Jesus!  You paid the ultimate price so that I would have victory over sin and death and life to the full now and for eternity.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of such sin.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

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.

Hebrews 8

 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. Hebrews 8:6

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 8:1-13, and my initial unaided observations of this text.  Here the text builds on how Hebrews has previously discussed how Jesus is a better, permanent, and perfect Great High Priest to describe how Jesus offers a new and better covenant based on Jesus's shed blood.  First, Jesus enters the most holy place set up by God, not in a tent erected by man (v2).  This tent, the and the entirety of the First Covenant was merely a shadow of things to come in Jesus (v5).  The author of Hebrews quotes (v8-12) Jeremiah 31 where Jeremiah prophesies of the coming Messiah.  Jesus is the Messiah Jeremiah spoke he - Jesus fulfills prophecy.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are the promised Messiah and You offer a better covenant - through Your blood...I am not deserving of such a blessing.  My sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever.

Hebrews 7

 For it was indeed fitting that we should have such a high priest, holy, innocent, unstained, separated from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. He has no need, like those high priests, to offer sacrifices daily, first for his own sins and then for those of the people, since he did this once for all when he offered up himself. For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever. Hebrews 7:26-28

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 7:23-28, as I lean specifically on Hebrews 7:26-28 and the associated commentary, which refers to this text as the second division "The Perfect Priest".  Here, we once again see the contrast between the sacrifices required under the law made by the Levitical priests, vs the perfect sacrifice made by Jesus on the cross.  Jesus fulfilled all of the requirements of shed blood because as the commentary describes, He lived a sinless life and was "undefiled" and "spotless."  Christ's sacrifice also ended the need for ongoing daily and annual sacrifices required by Old Testament law. The commentary includes a discussion dismissing those who view the first covenant as a failure.  It shares: "It succeeded gloriously. Its purpose was never to save; it was to demonstrate man’s need for a Savior....We can only grasp the fullness of what that means when we see how Christ fulfills the expectations in the old covenant by being for us the great high priest of the new and better covenant."  

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are a great God, the Great High Priest and perfect in how fulfill this role.  I know I can approach You in confidence in my time of need to wash my sins away, and intercede on my behalf.  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless me in these ways - my sin is great and it continues...daily.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith. Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant.

Hebrews 7

This makes Jesus the guarantor of a better covenant. Hebrews 7:22

I continue my study of Hebrews, assisted by the commentary Christ Centered Exposition: Exalting Jesus in Hebrews. My focus this morning is Hebrews 7:11-22, and my initial unaided observations of this text.  Unpacking this text, I observe:

• The text rhetorically asks challenges us to see if perfection was possible through the Levitical priesthood, there would be no need for a priest after the order of Melchizedek (v11); while honorable men served from Levites as the high priest, each was flawed and imperfect
• It then logically connects a change in the priesthood - to not be a Levite - to a change in the law itself (v12); Jesus is known as the Great High Priest, and as perfect, yet He descended from Judah, not a Levite (v13-14)
• This change is even more clear and evident in Jesus given his resemblance to Melchizedek and by the power of an indestructible life (v14-17)
• Through Jesus, we set aside former commandments attached to the priesthood and sacrifices and we have have a better hope, though which we are reconciled to God once and for all through shed blood (v18-19)
• Jesus became Great High Priest with an oath God made to Himself (v20-21)
• Therefore, Jesus is the guarantor of a better covenant (v22)

Be grateful that we have Jesus as Great High Priest and that we can approach Him with confidence, knowing He forgives sins, hears our prayers, loves us, and never leaves or forsakes us.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an awesome God who loves me and who is full of grace and compassion for me!  Thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You bless me.  My sin is great and it continues.  Please forgive me, help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo. Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.

Leviticus 12

 You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy. Leviticus 11:45

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing chapter twelve - God Rules from Our Birth - covering Leviticus 12:1-8, looking specifically at the first theme - God States the Stipulations of His Covenant.  Here, the commentary focuses on the relationship believers have with God - we should honor and obey God's commands out of love for Him.  The commentary uses the analogy of a friend or loved one who tells us something either they don't want us to do when around them, and out of respect and love for our friend and family member, we avoid the thing, even when the thing we are to avoid is not sinful.  That is what we do because of the relationship we have. Similarly, in Leviticus 12, while childbirth is not sinful, God did command mothers to be cleansed and purified before resuming worship in the tabernacle. Other ceremonial laws in the Old Testament, such as the foods God commanded the Israelites to eat and not eat, work similarly.  The commentary summarizes how this works by stating: "[w]e obey God's law because we have a relationship with Him and we love Him. His laws are stipulations of His covenant." While the ceremonial laws from the Old Testament no longer apply with Jesus and the New Covenant He makes with us, the moral laws do and when God commands us to do something or to not do something, we are to honor and obey God because we love Him and because He is God.

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are an amazing God who loves me, forgives my sin, brings about obedience, and gives me life to the full now and for eternity - thank You Jesus!  I am not deserving of how You love me or for any of the blessings You pour out for me.  I worry and I have other sins.  Please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.

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.

Leviticus 9

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. Hebrews 8:6-7

This morning, I continued my study of Leviticus using the Christ-Centered Exposition series commentary for this book - continuing with chapter nine - Powerful Worship - covering Leviticus 9:1-24, looking specifically at the theme - Powerful Worship Requires God's Mediation.  Here, the commentary looks at how in the Old Testament God requires a priest (Aaron and his sons here in Leviticus 9) to mediate between the Israelites and God, and how believers in Christ have a new and better mediator.  The commentary points out how both the Israelites and believers in Christ require a mediator or priest: "God has decreed that people cannot come into His presence in the same way we come into the presence of other people.  Just like...[others who]...speak a different language so...[we need]...help, God is different from us so we need help in approaching Him.  The difference between us and God is not just a matter of degree, as if we are good and He is considerably better. No. He is other, separate from us.  We are finite, He is infinite.  We are weak, His power has no limits.  We are ignorant, He is all knowing.  We are earthly, He is Heavenly.  We are contaminated by sin, but no sin will ever be in His holy presence.  In fact, no sin has been in His presence except for the moment when He took our sin on Himself on the cross to atone for our sin so that we can come into His presence." When Jesus died on the cross for us, He became both the sacrifice for our sins and the priest through which we access God; He replaced the old covenant and its system of priests and sacrifices with the new covenant. We are urged to look closely at Hebrews as a scriptural reference for this new covenant and Jesus' role as priest - Hebrews 6:19-20, 7:22, 26-27, and 8:6-7). 

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My Prayer: Lord Jesus, You are indeed a perfect sacrifice and priest and I am so grateful for the sacrifice You made for me and for the role that You play so that I can approach God with confidence. Yet I am undeserving of such a sacrifice and priest. I worry....please forgive me Jesus and help me overcome and turn from my sin towards You.  Help me love You with all of my heart, soul, and mind and love others as You love me.  Help me grow in my faith.  Give Lisa and myself wisdom and strength.  Please heal Lisa of her cancer and from the side effects of chemo.  Help us lead Zach and Dustin to You Jesus and for them to choose You as their Lord and Savior.  Please provide Godly friends and spouses to Zach and Dustin.  Help me serve You, my family, my church, and others.  Help me understand, be obedient to, and apply Your message for me today and every day.