Five Changes Under the New Covenant

As we've looked at the covenants outlined in the scriptures beginning all the way back to the book of Genesis, I want to continue to build—and this will probably potentially—you never say last sermon, right? Because you just don't know where God's going to go with it. But I believe this is kind of wrapping up our series on God's covenants. We looked at quite a few different aspects. We looked at what is the law, statutes, and commandments of God. We've considered the holy day—or the commandments outlined in scripture prior to Mount Sinai. We've worked through the different covenants that we saw in the Old Testament, including the Mosaic covenant or what is commonly referred to as the Old Covenant. And we begin looking at the New Covenant, going over and seeing in Scripture the references to that and what it entails. In the previous messages, we saw again from the beginning that God desired a heartfelt relationship with mankind. God is far more interested in what comes out of our hearts and how we internally show love to Him and to one another. It's in the heart and mind that He wants us to write the full intent and the full meaning of His laws on our hearts.

He wants us to carry them with us wherever we go. He wants us to reflect on them. He wants them to be what guides us. And when we do these things, as Philippians 4 verse 7 says, the peace of God, which surpasses understanding. That's one of my favorite passages because it doesn't always make sense how we can have that level of peace. But when we follow God and we let this sit on our on our hearts, we can have that peace that surpasses understanding as we go forward. We battle challenges or we just continue in this physical life. But we also know that mankind was weak in the flesh and that we could not obey God because of the hardness of our hearts. And so we needed more help. The New Covenant is full of changes that God instituted not only to magnify the relationship God is bringing to all of mankind, but to also give us the ability to internalize His commandments and broaden our relationships with Him. There are additional in the... Hey, Laura and Chris... in the red folder there, there's additional copies. Sorry for those online. We have a handout that we'll be kind of working through a little bit today. And so that's just being handed out at this time. And I think we came up a few short. But I'd like to start off by examining what the Scriptures mean when they say New Covenant. In the New Testament, the Greek word translated new in New Covenant is, with one exception, kenos. And from Thayer's Greek lexicon, kenos means new, or as respect regarding form, recently made, fresh, recent, or unused. And as it respects substance, it means of a new kind, unprecedented, novel. The complete word study dictionary shares this about the word. It says it means new, or qualitatively new, and Vines complete expository dictionary of the Old and New Testament words means, or shares this about the word, it says it means new as to form or quality of a different nature from what is contrasted as old.

Only in Hebrews 12 verse 24 is the different Greek word, neos, used for new, as referring to the New Covenant. Neo signifies new in respect to time, that which is recent.

It is also used to refer to the young or to youth, and it's so translated. Especially the comparative degree younger, according to what neos may be a reproduction of the old in quality or character. Neither Greek words translated new suggests that every aspect of the Sinai or the Old Covenant was replaced.

Each only indicates that the more recent covenant has enhanced or improved the quality of the original covenant. But this does not mean that the New Covenant is a renewed covenant. The New Covenant unquestionably provides a better relationship with God than the relationship portrayed only symbolically in the former covenant. To ensure this better relationship, some new features have to be added to make it new or qualitatively improved, and some obsolete features have been replaced.

But features common to both covenants remain unchanged and unaltered. The handout that those of you in person here have today is a covenant chart that the church has used for quite a while. It's one that they share at Ambassador of Ibel College, and we have copies from our time there. You'll notice, and as we go over this and anyone online, if you like it, email me and I'll be happy to share this handout with you as well. But notice that the yellow line, that A line, that transcends from the Adamic, the Abrahamic, the Mosaic, and then the New Covenant, beginning with Christ and beyond.

This is viewed as that gold standard, the spiritual and the holy law that has always and will always, has always in the past and will always in the future remain intact. These are love towards God and our neighbor, the Ten Commandments, things like tithing and clean and unclean meats, and other laws that have remained constant.

And that's where the passage and the sermon that we looked at, the Ten Commandments being observed prior to Mount Sinai, come in. Because before these covenants were ever created and made by God with mankind, these spiritual goals, these gold standards were already in place, and they remain in place through each covenant, and they will always remain in place with God and His people. And then we get to other aspects that were added to certain covenants, and then some that have changed.

And we'll talk about some of those changes today, but the sacrifices offered by individuals change to be spiritual sacrifices that we give as Christians in our lives. We know that Christ died for our sins, and so these things have transitioned and changed. Same thing as circumcision being a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham.

It was also part of the Sinai covenant, but that has also no longer in the same way is in effect for today. It has changed as well. And so you'll see, and it's an interesting thing to look at and to consider and to study as well, and so I share it with you just as help as we kind of work through some of these aspects. So as we consider the changes that occurred within the new covenant, I believe as we work through some of these, we will see that this is a unique and a new covenant based on supremely better promises as we work through the message today.

I'll acknowledge right at the start. Again, this is a Scripture-heavy message, but we have to go back to Scripture. We have to stand on the foundations that we have here to thoroughly understand God, and also I'll share again that each of these aspects that we'll share today that have changed could be a sermon in itself.

I've listened to multiple sermons on this topic, as well as reading and doing my own study over the years, and some of the men have broken these out into individual sermons, but I've got to wrap this up at some point, right? I've got to talk about something else other than covenants, and so we're going to try to go through a few of these changes and recognize that we're not going to cover all the changes.

This is a great study for you to dive into as well in your personal time if you want to. There's more that have changed and been modified and more depth to it than we'll be able to cover today, but let's go ahead. We have five aspects that we'll look at, five significant changes that impacts you and me today with the New Covenant.

The first being Jesus Christ's sacrifice to remove sin, and with this sacrifice it allows for the removal of sin forever and reconciliation to God. In the greatest gift of service and sacrifice ever made on this earth, our Lord and Savior gave up His glory to become God in the flesh.

He dwelt among us. He dwelt with mankind and demonstrated the fullness of love and compassion with those He interacted with. And then, in the end, He gave up His life and died as the Savior of the world. And He did this to save those who were lost and to redeem us to God.

With this perfect sacrifice whole and complete, there is now no longer a need for physical sacrifices on account of mankind's sins. We see this recorded in Hebrews 9, beginning in verse 11.

We're going to be flipping back and forth to Hebrews quite a bit today if you want to put a one of your Bible ribbons there in Hebrews. It may help you bounce back and forth. I'm going to do that myself.

But Hebrews 9 and verse 11 is where we'll begin opening our Bibles to today.

The passage shares, We know that Jesus Christ was that unspotted, unblemished, perfect lamb of God that was given for the world.

And He did this without sin, never deserving of this penalty, never deserving to bear the weight and the sins of the world upon Him. But He did it out of love, and He did it according to the plan of God.

Continuing on in Hebrews 10 and verse 1, it says, For the law having a shadow of the good things to come, and that is what we're part of now, is that shadow, the fulfillment of that shadow. What was being kept before was a shadow.

It was a type, and we are now participants of the anti-type, the true aspect, and not the very image of the things. And notice this says, Can never with these same sacrifice, which they offered continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. All of those sacrifices, all those animals whose lives were given to symbolically show the cost of sin, it never made someone perfect.

Scripture goes on in verse 2 to say, Before then would they not have ceased to be offered?

For the worshippers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins.

But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is not possible what the blood of bulls and goats could take away sin. And then getting to verse 8, sharing prophecy, and the reminder of that previously saying, Sacrifice and offering, burn offerings and offerings for sin, you did not desire, nor had pleasure in them, which are offered according to the law.

And then he said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God.

He says it takes away the first that he may establish the second.

By that we will have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ, and notice once for all. Under the Old Covenant, physical animal sacrifices could not fully remove the sin from the sinners. This is why they were sacrificed continually and were a reminder of their sins. But these first sacrifices, the shadow as Scripture refers to them as, has been replaced by the second and greater sacrifice of the Son of God. Notice continuing on in verse 14, For by one offering he has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after he said before, This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the Lord.

I will put my law into their hearts and in their minds, and I will write them.

And he adds, Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.

Now, where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin.

That statement is so profound, and we are just so blessed to recognize that God remembers our sins no more. When we repent of our sins, when we were baptized, and we accepted Jesus Christ as that perfect sacrifice for our transgressions, God removed our sins from us.

And not just removed them as we do, often in this physical world through separation and putting them in a box or putting them, trying to put them out of our mind, but not fully being able to put them out of our mind. God fully puts them out of his mind. I'm thankful so much that he says he separates our sins as far as east from the west. And as we continue to look further and further into the universe and realize the vastness of space and the ever-expanding of space, you can't measure east from west. And this is symbolically what God is saying he does. He puts them so far away that they're not even able to be found again in his mind. And we just praise him for that and for the love that he shows towards us in that way. With this perfect sacrifice for sin, we are free from the burden of our sins, and we are reconciled or made one with God. Such a significant change.

The second change we'll look at is that we now have a spiritual high priest, which resulted in a change of the priesthood. Turn with me to Exodus chapter 28 as we explore the second point.

Exodus 28. And as you are turning there, we know if we backed up a little bit to chapter 24, we would see how God reconfirmed the Old Covenant with Israel in chapter 24. And then in chapters 25, 26, and 27, he continued to give instructions on the tabernacle, the making of the tabernacle in the wilderness and the implements that were created and used in that tabernacle. And then next, God gives instructions on who would serve as priests in his tabernacle. And this brings us to Exodus chapter 28. God says, Now take Aaron your brother, and he is speaking to Moses. Now take Aaron your brother and his sons with him from among the children of Israel, that he may minister to me as priest. Aaron and Aaron's sons, Nabab, Abihu, Oazar, and Ithmar, and you shall make holy garments for Aaron your brother, for glory, and for beauty. And so you shall speak to all who are gifted artisans, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's garments to consecrate him, that he may minister to me as priests. And if we don't have time to dive into this, this could be a whole sermon in itself, just the garments that the high priest would wear and the symbolism in it. But God gave instructions for these garments of clothing that the high priest would wear, these priestly garments that were only for the high priest in these next verses.

But getting to Exodus 29 and verse 1, so the next chapter forward, we continue in the meaning and the purpose for this high priest. It says, And this is what you shall do with them, to hollow them for ministering to me as priests. So the high priest, Aaron, and his sons, they were set apart for special service to God. And we see in verse 4 some of the things that they continue to do to set them apart. It says, And Aaron and his sons you shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of meeting, and shall wash them with water. Then you shall take the garments, put the tunic on Aaron and the robe of the ephod and the ephod and the breastplate, and gird him with intrinsically woven bands of the ephod. You shall put the turban on his head, and put the holy crown on the turban.

And you shall take the anointing oil, pour it on his head, and anoint him. And then you shall bring his sons and put tunics on them. And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and put the hats on them. The priesthood shall be theirs for a perpetual statute. So you shall consecrate Aaron and his sons. God did not waste a lot of words on what he expected to be done here.

There's so much symbolism, again, so much detail that goes into what God is doing here because of the symbolism of what it refers to with Jesus Christ being that perfect priest, that perfect sacrifice, that perfect person to serve in this role. Exodus 29, verse 29, And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons after him, to be anointed in them, and to be consecrated in them. That son who becomes priest in his place shall put them on for seven days when he enters a tabernacle of meeting to minister in the holy place. So there was to be a lineage from one high priest to the next that would serve from Aaron's family and be consecrated for this special service as high priest. Verse 43, And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar, and I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister me as priests. I will dwell among the children of Israel, and I will be their God, and they shall know that I am the Lord, their God, who brought them up from the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them. I am the Lord, their God. So we have this establishment of a priesthood outlined with their responsibilities. Their service would be in the tabernacle of meeting, where God's presence would be as well, and they had specific roles to do on behalf of their own families and themselves, but more greatly for the nation of Israel. The change that we see recorded in Hebrews chapter 7 shows the symbolism of what the high priests would do in their roles, and so if you'll turn with me back to Hebrews, this time going to Hebrews chapter 7, we'll see this change recorded under the New Covenant. Hebrews 7 and verse 11.

Hebrews 7 and verse 11. The passage reads, Therefore, if perfection were through the Levitical priesthood, for under it the people received the law. What further need was there that another priest should rise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not be called to the order of Aaron. Remember, so Aaron, Moses, as we know, brothers, they were of the tribe of Levi, and all priests were to come from the tribe of Levi. This was set up by God. That's why it was to remain a continued hand down from one person to the next and to the next of the tribe of Levi, and of the same family. And later, this got corrupted, as we know, leading up to Jesus's time. The high priest, the role of the high priest, became where it wasn't always from the tribe of Levi. And also, let me back that up. I have to research into that one, that one. But the aspect that it didn't always come from the descendants that it previously came from, it got corrupted. It was an opportunity for people to make money. Some people would pay to become the high priest, and others, there would be multiple high priests in such a short amount of time and different things. It wasn't the way that God wanted it to be. And so we see in Hebrews 7, verse 11, that there was a change. No longer would the priests come from the order and the line of Aaron and the Levitical priesthood, but it would come through Jesus Christ. Verse 12, for the priesthood being change of necessity, there was also a change of the law, for he of whom these things are spoken belongs to another tribe from which no man has officiated at the altar. For it is evident that our Lord arose from Judah. Jesus came from the tribe of Judah. He was a Jew, of which tribe Moses spoke nothing concerning the priesthood. And it is yet far more evident if in the likeness of Melchizedek there arises another priest, who has come not according to the law of a fleshly commandment, but according to the power of an endless life.

Again, referencing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Going on in chapter 8, at the beginning in verse 1, we see additional information about this high priest. Now, this is the main point of the things we are saying. We have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord erected, and not man. Earthly priests would have to serve at an earthly tabernacle, or at a physical temple on this planet. It's referencing the spiritual tabernacle, this spiritual temple that is only in heaven, and there is only one who can be that high priest.

Again, our Lord and Savior. In verse 6, but now he, speaking of Jesus, has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as he is also mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. So we see again here from Scripture that a change occurred in that we now have a spiritual high priest, Jesus Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father. The third aspect we'll look at today is this, a physical temple versus a spiritual temple, and along with the spiritual temple comes new spiritual promises, the physical temple versus a spiritual temple.

We've considered several times now how the old covenant offered physical blessings of prosperity from God if they obeyed and if they followed his commandments. But the old covenant never offered the greatest gift, which is to become spiritual sons and daughters of God and to receive eternal life. And as we have already considered today, the priesthood was established to look after the many physical aspects that God intended to be performed as he revealed himself to his people, Israel.

The physical temple, made up of ceremonial and physical aspects that had to be followed in detail, required a physical priesthood as God's spirit dwelt in the temple while he was among his people.

But with the change to the new covenant came changes to what would be the temple of God and where God's own spirit would reside. Both Paul and Speeder spoke about this aspect in the writings. Let's first look at Paul's statements in 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

1 Corinthians chapter 3. And as we read these statements, and we'll look at Peter's next, it's hard for me at time. I mean, still, I read it, and it's hard for me to wrap my minds around the significance and the depth of what Scripture says and what is the truth that God has done and the change. So just recognize this and personalize it as we read through this.

And to remind yourself, this is how God looks at us. This is the significance of what he has done through the new covenant and what he has done through offering his spirit and taking us from just a physical people to a spiritual people. Notice what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 3 verse 16.

Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?

If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy.

Which temple you are. We know that the tent in the wilderness, the tabernacle in the wilderness, the temporary tabernacle, which was taken down, moved, and set back up anytime the pillar of cloud or the pillar of fire would move. God's spirit would physically come down and fill that inner sanctuary with his spirit. No man could go into it. It was the presence of God. And we're seeing that this temple that would later become this physical temple during Solomon's time, and the same would happen. God's spirit would come down and fill the inner sanctuary.

He's telling us and reminding us that we are that temple. That we are this holy, set-apart temple because God's spirit dwells within us. Peter wrote something very similar in 1 Peter 2 and verse 1.

This one touches me even more because of the meaning of the words they use and the depth of what this symbolizes. As we read this section, also notice what we should be made up of internally as individual stones in this spiritual temple. 1 Peter 2 and verse 1.

The Apostle Peter says, Therefore, and notice this, laying aside all malice, all deceit, all hypocrisy, all envy, and all evil speaking. As newborn babes, he's saying, be a child. Be this childlike mind which desires the pure milk of the word. There's not a baby on earth that under a year old said, give me steak to eat. I want something more than what mom can provide. They don't go out and say, I want pizza. Can we put in an order for take-out Chinese food?

There's one thing on their mind, and that's the pure milk that the mom provides the babies.

And he says, why? That you may grow thereby. And so he's saying, these are the things that we have to be removing from our life. Because he says, if you are not doing these things, then we can't be what he describes in these next verses. Verse three, if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious, if we've received God's grace, these things have to be removed from our lives.

Notice verse four, coming to him as to a living stone. I've never picked up a rock that has ever talked to me. I've never picked up a rock that had a heartbeat, or that grew, or that changed, or that had offspring. Rocks don't live, right? The physical temple that Solomon built, those rocks were not alive. But yet, Peter is referring to us as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Again, this idea, this aspect, is hard to wrap our minds around. This is how God views us.

He doesn't view us just as stones in the old tabernacle that his spirit would come down to and fill the inner sanctuary, and his presence would be with his people. He views each of us as living stones that his spirit resides in, and that each of us plays a part in this building, this tabernacle where he wants to live, where he wants to be part. I think often of this analogy, of this building, of the stones that we're each to be, we've seen buildings deteriorate. We've seen buildings walls crumble. We've seen foundations fail, and then that wall can't hold anymore.

We know Jesus Christ is the chief cornerstone that all other measurements are made off of.

That is, that solid rock that everything else can be built on. But then each one of us are these individual stones making up the wall of this beautiful temple where God's Spirit resides.

So we have a responsibility, not only to God, but to each other to be strong, to be living, not to be cold, not to be just a, right, not a heart of stone. God doesn't want us to have hearts of stone. He wants us to have hearts of flesh, to be alive. We have a responsibility to lay aside malice, deceit, hypocrisy, envy, evil speaking. These things have to go, because if they reside in a brick of this temple, then they will fail. And then when that fails, other stones can be compromised. Other stones will be affected. Will they fail? Probably not at first, until the next one next to it fails, and the one next to it fails. Every analogy breaks down at some point, but I believe you can see what the significance of what God has put into Scripture. We appreciate, like, we go through life so many times, and if you've ever traveled overseas or been to some different cities, you see these great grand structures that are built by man.

I'm never amazed when you walk in some of these places, and you see the wisdom that went into designing. Because I just don't have that mind. It's just not something that I've been gifted with, the engineering aspect, the weighing out the dimensions, and knowing what materials to use.

I am one who is very... I have a great reputation for way over building things, because I don't like it to fall apart later, and I always envision, like, a two-by-four is not strong enough, so you need like eight of them, and then you got to run the biggest bolts you can through all of them. I've got stuff probably in different places, different houses. I know in my parents' pole barn, we wanted to mount a big TV like this, and my brother and I were thinking through it, and after we did it all, we engineered it so much that through the great tribulation, that TV may still be standing in my parents' pole barn. My dad still shakes it. He paid for it, so maybe that's part of the problem, too. We were just throwing money at this project that Troy and I were then building. But we did pull-ups on it afterwards, and it was not even budging. I mean, this TV will be there for a very long time. It'll fail before the mounts do. My point is, mankind has put into mankind the ability to build these amazing structures, to engineer these amazing things, that we stand back and we just can't stop being in awe of because of the magnitude, and the greatness, and what they're able to do. We appreciate the work that went into it. We appreciate the artistry that is contained in these buildings, but then we have to ask ourselves, is there any building that exists that would sit any higher than God's own spiritual house? Is there anything that mankind has ever made that would even equate to what God's spiritual house is like? And God is allowing His Spirit to inhabit our physical bodies as we make up that physical temple.

We are the temple of God, and I think if we could fully wrap our minds around what this means, it would really cause each of us to consider our lives differently. I know I would keep thinking about it just myself, and it's so humbling, but it's also the truth of what we have in Scripture.

This is one of those greatest changes that came with the giving of the New Covenant, that God's own Spirit resides within mankind who gives their lives to God.

Let's consider a fourth aspect that has changed, and this is open access to the mercy seat of God.

And what can be viewed as one of the greatest changes for us personally, along with having our sins removed and these other aspects that we looked at, is that we now have direct access to God, the Father. Previously, under the Old Covenant, the high priest would serve as the one who would approach God on behalf of the nation of Israel. We looked briefly about how those serving the high priest would be consecrated or set apart for their work. They were also given specific articles of clothing, again, which we looked at briefly, that they would wear for specific work. And then once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest would enter into the inner sanctuary, or the holy of holies, to make atonement for himself and more greatly the people and nation of Israel. Let's go back to the beginning of our Bibles to Leviticus chapter 16. This is a passage we sometimes look at on the Day of Atonement, understanding the significance of what God instructed the high priest to do on this day. So we'll kind of try to, for the sake of time, skip through some of these sections. But I want to remind ourselves what the purpose and what this high priest would do on this day and what it symbolized before God. Leviticus 16 and verse 3.

Oh, one second.

Leviticus 16 and verse 3 says, Thus Aaron shall come, and this is on the Day of Atonement, thus Aaron shall come into the holy place with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and the ram as a burnt offering. And he shall put on the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body. This is a different set of clothing that the high priest would wear on only the Day of Atonement. One time a year he would put on different clothing. We don't see the ephod. We don't see the different hats. We don't see all the articles that we saw outlined earlier, outlined here. This is a specific set of clothing for this specific day. He shall be girded with the linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. And notice God says, And these are holy garments, just like the previous garments were, but these are also holy. Therefore he shall wash his body and water and put them on. And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, for which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. And then he goes on for some of the instructions for the others. But notice verse 17, There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel. And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat and put it on the horns of the altar all around. And so this is what the high priest would do on the day of atonement, symbolizing the person who would go before Israel to atone them before God. So no one except the high priest was to enter the holy of holies, where the ark was placed, and which was also, and the ark is also referred to and named as God's mercy seat. This inner sanctuary is also where, again, God's own spirit would feel as a cloud of smoke and where his presence would be when he was with Israel. It was a very special place to God because of what it represented.

God has been and always will be holy, and this inner sanctuary must reflect his holiness. It must reflect the distance and the magnitude that he is from us as human beings. And that's why no one could just casually go in whenever they wanted, and specifically when they went in on this day of atonement, the high priest and his priestly role had specific things that he had to do because of what this inner sanctuary represented before God. But we know immediately, after Jesus's death on the day of his crucifixion, this veil on the temple that separated the holy of holies from the rest of the temple was torn in two. We have this recorded in the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

This supernatural miracle from God was not just by chance due to the size or the thickness of the curtains. Scoffers want to say while it just tore on its own weight, there was a flaw in the fabric.

It just failed on its own. The timing itself would be beyond just time and chance.

It's again one of those miracles that occurred at the death of Jesus Christ. This tearing of the veil symbolized the access that you and I now have to the very throne of God. It's another one of those kind of hard to put yourself and put our minds into that God has opened up his throne and our access to him in a way that was never provided before. And we only have that access through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Notice Hebrews 9. Let's go back again to the book of Hebrews. This time Hebrews 9 and verse 1. Hebrews 9 and verse 1. And it starts off by referencing a lot of the aspects of God that we've looked at and that we referred to of the earthly temple and the responsibilities for the priesthood to serve within it. Hebrews 9 verse 1. Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service in the earthly sanctuary. So this earthly tabernacle or temple. For a tabernacle was prepared, the first part in which was a lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary. And behind the second veil, and this is that veil that tore the part of the tabernacle, which is called the holiest of all. Verse 6. Now when these things have been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But unto the second part, the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people's sins, committed in ignorance. The Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. Again, these offerings of sin offerings could never make one perfect, could not fully remove sin. Verse 10. Concerning only with food and drinks, various washings and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of Reformation. This time of Reformation refers to the change from the old to the new covenant, when the temporary nature of the physical rites would be that were in place until a more perfect system was introduced.

With this change, Jesus Christ became our High Priest, and mankind would have access to the very throne of God through his own Son. Jesus is our intercessor. He's our advocate, and through him and his sacrifice, we can be one with God. Notice, go back a little bit, Hebrews 7 and verse 26.

Again, referring to this High Priest, Hebrews 7 verse 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.

Only referencing, of course, Jesus Christ, 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. That perfect sacrifice that still is hard to wrap our minds around. 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.

And so, again, we see this change we have in that you and I now have access to this mercy seat.

That veil being torn and the symbolism of it is so significant for you and me. Again, Laura and I were talking just last night the significance of this one-time event, this miracle from God, but what it showed from God's own heart that he wanted people to be invited to him. He wanted it to be open. The door's blown off. No more limitation. No more having to go through a physical priest. We have a spiritual priest, an advocate who sits at the right hand of the Father, who knows us, who knows what this life is like to go through in a physical way, sitting there, advocating for us, and our Father who says, Come, talk with me, have a relationship with me, grow with me, walk with me. And this is just unbelievable to have this change for you and me today. The fifth and final aspect we'll look at in today's sermon is the important aspect of God's own spirit being given to mankind. As we considered in the previous sermons, the Holy Spirit was never broadly poured out on all of humanity under the Old Covenant. It was given to a select few chosen to serve God and his people uniquely, but it was never broadly part of the Old Covenant. With the giving of the Holy Spirit, those baptized who have received God's Spirit have the down payment or earnest payment for eternal life. Paul speaks to this in Ephesians 1 and verse 7.

Ephesians 1 and verse 7. Paul, speaking of Jesus, says, in him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace. And then verse 11, in him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of his glory. In him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, this promise from God to be spiritual children in his family forever. Verse 14, which is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession to the praise of his glory. This word guarantee in the new King James Version that we're reading, most likely most of you are reading, in the King James Version it says earnest, this earnest money or this earnest payment. In the Greek this word can also mean a pledge or down payment in that the full amount will subsequently be paid. This is that every analogy breaks down at some point, but anyone who's ever received a down payment on a car from as a gift or a down payment on a house as a gift, we recognize the significance of that, the weightiness of that, the amount that how far that goes towards the purchase of something that we want to have in our lives. And granted, a down payment isn't the full amount, but God promises he'll get us to the end. He'll keep helping us. We have our part to do, just like someone has to continue to make payments on something. It's just it's earnest money. But God is saying, if you'll walk with me, we'll keep making these payments daily and we'll get to that finish line together. We have this guarantee through God's Spirit when he gave his Spirit to us. It symbolizes that he would never leave us nor forsake us, that he would see that we continue to walk our race as we continue to do our part and that we would finish our journey. This fulfills the prophecy that we've looked at a few times in this series from Jeremiah 31 verse 31. You can just put that in your notes as we've looked at it a whole bunch of times, but I'll reference verse 31 and 33.

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. And then verse 33, but this is a covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. This promise, this fulfillment of the prophecy to put his Spirit within us. This is another change, and there's another change kind of tied to this one. You may want to maybe you can number it 5.1 if you want, with the law being written in our hearts through the giving of the Holy Spirit. No longer was the law written on just tablets of stone or in pieces of paper that we carry with us in our briefcases or keep in our houses, but God's own law through this indwelling of his Spirit writes his law in our hearts. It writes it on our minds. 2 Corinthians 3 verse 3. We've looked at this, but you can put that in your notes as well. Paul says, clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of flesh.

That is of the heart. As we continue and finish this thought, let's turn to Romans chapter 8.

This is one of those promises that was never part of the Old Covenant or any covenant God entered into with man, but in his grace he prophesied that at some point our Messiah would come, and at some point he would grant his Holy Spirit to live within us. And what a change that makes for the believer. What a power it gives us. What an ability to go forward. Romans 8 in verse 1.

Paul writes, there is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. And this is that culmination of all of these other changes that we've looked at from having a true spiritual high priest to no longer being just the physical temple where someone else would have to go and represent, but having access to the Holy of Holies being given to us to have a Lord and Savior that gave of his life so our sins could be removed, and then to have his Spirit, God's Spirit dwelling within us.

This is why this is not a renewed covenant. This is a new covenant that we are under, and this brings to the culmination what God wanted for mankind to be able to have in this relationship that he wants with us. Because once we are of Christ, God says there is no condemnation to those who walk, right? That action word. Those who continue to put the effort and those who continue in this relationship with him. There is no condemnation to those who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do and that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh on account of sin, he condemned sin in the flesh. That the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh, that their minds on the things of the flesh. But those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Again, tying into today's sermonette on peace and the power of that. To be spiritually minded is focusing on this life and this peace that we have in life. Again, there's many more aspects we could look at that have changed with the bringing and the implementation of the new covenant, but these are significant changes. These are life-changing. These set us on a completely different path. These have placed us as first fruits in God's kingdom. We're referred to as saints. And those who have gone before us, lived their lives and are in the graves, are waiting for that resurrection to become that first fruit to join their elder brother in the air. This is a significance that has been offered to you and to me through this newness of this covenant that never existed previously.

And what an amazing covenant that we have before us. As we conclude, I mentioned before, each one of these aspects could be a sermon of itself. And there's, again, additional aspects that have changed with the new covenant that we just don't have time to cover today. There's so much that Scripture includes to help us better understand the depth God has applied to the new covenant, which applies to us today. These changes we looked at are not merely a renewal of the original covenant God made with the physical nation of Israel at Mount Sinai, but changes that point to the spiritual elements God wants for all of mankind. In a major shift, God extended his blessing and promises to the entire earth and to all people who have ever lived. For us today, this is our opportunity to enter into a new relationship with God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. And as we see a future time to come, we know that there will be all who have ever lived will be given an opportunity to have the same relationship with God. Let's close at the end of 2 Peter chapter 3.

2 Peter chapter 3, and we'll begin reading in verse 1, and then we'll bounce around a little bit.

Peter reminds us that God has a plan, not just for us, but for all of eternity.

And he desires everyone to be part of that plan. 2 Peter 3 verse 1, he says, Beloved, now I write to you the second epistle in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder, that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandments of us, and the apostles of the Lord and Savior. Kind of going through like all of scripture, things that we have looked at. Knowing this first, said scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? And we have this still to unfold in our future, as we see even today, it occurs, but it's going to occur even more and more, where people say, You and your imaginary God, you and your foolish thinking, you and your faith, you can keep your faith, I'm going to keep my science. You may have heard people make those types of bold, but totally inaccurate statements.

People will mock us. People will mock God. And Peter is saying, if it's happened before, it's going to happen in times that he was living, and it will happen in our own times. But he's saying, don't fall short for these. Don't forget what God has done. Don't forget when scoffers show up and start twisting scriptures. Don't forget when people bring up false ideas. What is the truth that we have in scripture and hold fast to these things? Verse 8, he says, But beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day, God is going to return. His Son will set up the kingdom of God on this earth and will reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. It's hard sometimes just to keep enduring through hardships. It's hard to rehab from a knee replacement surgery and to keep on it, keep at it, and to not lose heart. It's hard to go through tribulation to lose a job. It's hard to suffer loss in this physical life, to lose those we love. But God is saying each one of these days is like a thousand years to Him and a thousand years as one day. He has a plan that is in place and that will not fail. Peter reminds us in verse 9, The Lord is not slack concerning His promise as some count slackness, but His long suffering toward us, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. This is what God wants and what He desires. And notice how He closes out in this this letter in verse 18. He tells us to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord, to daily take in the Scriptures, to daily keep this relationship alive with God, to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.