CHARACTERISTICS OF THE NEW COVENANT (PART 1)

Introduction:

Last week we talked about the Old Covenant and the earthly Tabernacle/Temple.

We talked about the fact that the Old Covenant wasn’t worthless or pointless. It had a purpose.

It’s purpose was to point us forward to Christ.

First we talked about the Tabernacle itself with it’s one and only gate. This one gate points to the fact that Jesus is only door or gateway to God. (, This morning, )

Then we talked about the furniture and how it served as an illustration of Christ.

The altar where the sacrifices were made points to Jesus being our perfect sacrifice.

The basin where the Priests washed their hands points to Jesus who truly makes us clean.

The Lamp-stand reminds us that Jesus is the light of the world and the light of our lives.

The table of showbread reminds us that Jesus is the bread of life.

The ark of the covenant with it’s holy relics and mercy seat point to Jesus as the true mercy seat. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, He ushers us into the presence of God, into the true Holy of Holies. Under the Old Covenant, God would only have fellowship with men through the blood of an animal. But now, God will have fellowship with us through the blood of Christ.

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Now tonight, I’d like to begin to talk about the New Covenant. I want to leave the earthly Tabernacle/Temple and focus on the heavenly Tabernacle/Temple.

READ

The heavenly sanctuary is for the worship of God just as the earthly sanctuary is/was… but there are differences.

And I want to give you 4 tonight.

Teaching:

I. The Heavenly Sanctuary has a perfect High Priest (V. 11)

The High Priest of heaven is not a man.

He doesn’t come from mere men. He comes from God.

Men are imperfect, frail, and sinful.

Let’s consider human priests/ministers for a moment.

The High Priest of heaven is the Son of God Himself, and as the Son of God, He is perfect and eternal.

Let’s consider Jesus as our High Priest for a moment.

He is your true Pastor. He is your true Shepherd. He is who you should turn to first… not me. I’m just and under-shepherd.

Therefore, He is able to bless us with better things.

What might some of those better things be?

He can lead us in true worship through the Holy Spirit. (Singing, Prayer, Giving, His Word)

He is able to intercede for us forever.

Imagine that for a moment… Every time we mess up, Every time we need something… Jesus is there praying for us.

He is able to save us when we come to God by Him.

I can’t save you. No priest or minister can.

II. The Heavenly Sanctuary is Spiritual and Perfect (V. 11)

It’s heaven itself.

It wasn’t made with human hands. It’s not part of this earthly, physical, and material world.

The priests of the O.T. had to go into the Holy Place by themselves, FOR the people of God… not WITH the people of God.

The heavenly sanctuary is heaven itself and Jesus can lead us into the very throne room of God. We can now be in His presence. (Not symbolically, but actually)

We can experience a bit of heaven now, through our worship in Christ. I’m not sure we truly grasp that in our worship today. We are literally in the presence of God.

How does that make you feel when you consider your own worship this morning?

Do you know or remember how God wants us to worship? ()

What does it mean to worship God “in spirit and truth”?

Spirit: Worship must be internal, not external conformity to ceremonies and rituals. (That touches on what we talked about this morning.) It must be from the heart.

Truth: Calls for heart worship to be consistent with what Scripture teaches and it centers on God’s Word… not the music. Music may help us get there, but it’s not central to worship… God’s Word is!

III. The Heavenly Sanctuary has a Perfect Sacrifice (V. 12)

Man is sinful. He is guilty of disobeying, rejecting, and rebelling against God.

Therefore, he must face God’s judgement and pay the penalty of death or else provide a substitute. This is the idea of animal sacrifices in the O.T.

Now, notice 3 important things from verse 12.

First — Jesus, the perfect High Priest, didn’t sacrifice the blood of animals for the sins of man; He sacrificed His own blood.

He offered up His own life for us.

He bore our guilt and judgement.

Why would He do this? How could He do this? Consider that for a moment.

As the Son of God, He loves us.

He lived a perfect life and now His blood covers our sin for all time… providing we belong to Him — as we talked about last night.

Next — Jesus, the perfect High Priest, entered the holy place once for all.

The earthly priests had to continually make sacrifices for man’s sin, but Jesus only had to do it once.

What does this mean to you?

My sins are forgiven: Past, Present, and Future

And finally — Jesus, the perfect High Priest, obtained eternal redemption for us.

Man was a slave to sin, death, and condemnation. No one can escape these things, no matter what he does.

But Jesus made it possible for man to be free from all these things.

How?

He paid the price we couldn’t pay.

IV. The Heavenly Sanctuary Saves a Person Perfectly (Vv. 13-14)

The earthly sanctuary purifies and cleanses only the flesh.

It cannot cleanse man inwardly, nor can it make him perfect and eternal.

Have you ever thought about that?

We the the high priest of the O.T. made sacrifices for people, it didn’t change them inwardly.

In a way, we touched on this this morning. Simply attending church and hearing the Word of God can’t save you.

The heavenly sanctuary purifies and cleanses a person right down to his conscience.

As Christians, we have taken on the righteousness of Christ through faith.

Unfortunately, we sometimes struggle with the faith to believe this…

The heavenly sanctuary leads a person away from the dead works of the earth to serve the living God.

Earthly religion in all its ritual and ceremony is dead to God.

Jesus Christ alone makes a person acceptable to God.

He and He alone give man access to God and puts man into fellowship and communion with God.

Jesus has to live in the heart and life of a person for a person to be given the glorious privilege of walking in fellowship with God.