Hebrews— Christ is Better
5.24.23
But now has He obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. (Hebrews 8:6)
We continue our consideration of the Book of Hebrews, whom we believe was written by the Apostle Paul.
Last week we focused on the purpose of the book. It was written before the fall of Jerusalem while the Temple was still standing and the sacrifices were continually offered. It was an encouragement to those who had come to Christ to stay on the path. It was tempting to go back to the rituals and ceremonies of the OT system. Paul is striving to help his readers see that all of those things are mere shadows of Christ and His work on the cross of Calvary once for all.
Wiersbe rightly says that Hebrews is a book of evaluation. The word ‘better’ makes the comparisons of Christ to many other things. It is a book of exhortation. He urges his readers to pay close attention to his word of exhortation (13:22). It is a book of examination. I need to ask myself as I read the book, do I really have saving faith? In what am I trusting?
It is also a book of exaltation. Throughout the book the Lord Jesus Christ is exalted. God, who at various times and in various ways, spoke to the fathers by the prophets, has in these last days, spoken to us by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds. Who, being the brightness of His glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, being made so much better than the angels… (1:1-5a)
Christ is shown to be the very essence of God (1:3), declared by God the Father as God (1:8, 9), the eternal Creator (1:10-12), the one who sits at the Father’s right hand (1:13), and the eternal priest like Melchizedek (5:10).
He is the Redeemer who, having been made like His brethren, has once and for all dealt with our sin and did that which the temporary sacrifices could never do.
In the OT, the prophets spoke to the people for God, and the priests spoke to God for the people. Christ is both a prophet and a priest.
He is the Word of God, God’s ultimate message to humanity (1:1, 2) He is our Great High Priest who has gone to heaven and intercedes on our behalf (4:16).
“Through His sacrifice on earth, we have forgiveness; through His priesthood in heaven, we are kept in fellowship.” [J. S. Baxter]
There are some sticky wickets in the book, to be sure. There are things that are hard to understand, and we must be careful in our treatment of them (2 Peter 3:15, 16).
These include ‘The New Covenant’ (8:7-13), which should be very simple [Christ as opposed to the Old Covenant/Old Testament] but people seem to struggle with this.
There is also the person of Melchizedek (chapters 5-7; Genesis 14; Psalm 110). Who is he? Is he a type of Christ ,or a pre-incarnate appearance of Christ?
If and when you read the Book, Christ must be in view, and your relationship to Him must be examined. He can be the anchor of your soul, both sure and steadfast! (6:17-20)