Getting The Upgrade

Good morning!

Last week we spent our time talking about giving good gifts.

We looked at Hebrews 7:4-10 in which the author makes the case that Melchizedek is greater than the Levitical priest because, through Abraham, the Levites gave a tenth to Melchizedek.

We spent most of the time talking about how important gifts are and that they reveal the true nature of your heart.

Abraham responded to Melchizedek by giving him a good gift.

Giving good gifts is one of the ways we express love to one another.

We had some great discussions in our life group last week about this.

We thought about how it feels to give a great gift to someone we love and then discussed our feelings when we give to God and how they compare.

God created us in His likeness and he is a gift-giver.

This desire in us to give comes from him and as we grow closer to him, so does our desire to give.

Giving is an important part of our transformation into the likeness of Jesus and it is one of the ways that we reveal how we feel about God.

Abraham’s gift to Melchizedek reveals his heart of thankfulness to God.

If you will remember, the author introduces Melchizedek as a type of priest and uses him as proof that Jesus is the foretold Messiah.

He uses Psalms 110:4 to make this case.

Psalm 110:4 CSB

4 The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back: “You are a priest forever according to the pattern of Melchizedek.”

This segment on gift-giving is to show that when God put his plan in motion, it was his intent that there would be a better priesthood than the Levitical line that would fulfill God’s promise to restore the relationship between Himself and his people.

Abraham’s gift, as the patriarch, places Melchizedek over the Levitical priest.

Because the Levites received from the people, but in this case, they were the ones giving.

Today we are going to lean into that idea that Jesus’ priesthood is superior to the Levitical priest.

Read along with me in Hebrews 7:11-16.

Hebrews 7:11–16 CSB

11 Now if perfection came through the Levitical priesthood (for on the basis of it the people received the law), what further need was there for another priest to appear, said to be according to the order of Melchizedek and not according to the order of Aaron? 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well. 13 For the one these things are spoken about belonged to a different tribe. No one from it has served at the altar. 14 Now it is evident that our Lord came from Judah, and Moses said nothing about that tribe concerning priests. 15 And this becomes clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears, 16 who did not become a priest based on a legal regulation about physical descent but based on the power of an indestructible life.

The author begins this section by echoing a point that he made earlier in the writing.

He is reminding the people, as they were well aware of, that the Levitical priesthood was not perfect.

“Now IF perfection came through the Levitical priesthood...”

It wasn’t perfect because the priest wasn’t perfect.

They too had sinned and they had to make atonement for their own sin before they could make an atoning sacrifice for the people.

Hebrews 5:1–3 CSB

1 For every high priest taken from among men is appointed in matters pertaining to God for the people, to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins. 2 He is able to deal gently with those who are ignorant and are going astray, since he is also clothed with weakness. 3 Because of this, he must make an offering for his own sins as well as for the people.

There is one main point that the author is driving home with this section.

Jesus was sinless and therefore, a better priest.

We will dig into the details of that next week, but for today we are going to focus on the comparison between the old, Levitical priesthood, and the new priesthood of Jesus.

This is not just a Levites vs Jesus argument.

The takeaway is not that the Levites were bad men and so God changed the plan.

The law and the Levitical priest needed to come for the same reason.

The purpose of the law was not to make people perfect but to show them that they can not be perfect.

It reveals our need for atonement.

The law reveals the sin that separates us from God.

The priest, in a similar way, shows us that men cannot fix the problem of sin any more than the law can.

They were used by God to show that without his divine help, we are all in the same boat.

We are separated from God by sin.

No matter how much we do or how hard we try, we are incapable of being divine.

We are seeing yet another progression of God’s plan to redeem his people and restore the relationship we were created to have with him.

This helps us share the gospel because it makes us admit to ourselves and to others that we are not perfect and are in need of redemption just like everyone else.

Progression of cell phone technology over the last 30 years.

See graphic.

The phone you are using today would not be possible without the previous versions that came before it.

The same is true of our experience with Jesus.

It was necessary for the Levitical priesthood to pave the way for Jesus.

Dr. George Guthrie talks about this section is significant in helping the church realize the paradigm shift that has happened.

Prior to this moment, all communication with God and the hope for salvation happened through the Levitical priest.

The author is walking them step by step through the theology of Jesus as the final high priest.

When you find yourself in the midst of a paradigm shift it is hard to know that you are there.

It isn’t until you get some outside perspective that you can see just how much has changed.

If you are over thirty, something happened in your lifetime that completely changed the world.

It is now part of how you see the world.

People than you also see it, but they don’t really understand it’s full impact.

Luke telling me about “Papa’s 9/11”.

He knows that something happened, but has no context for how significant it was for the whole world.

The world changed that day.

For you and I, we saw and experienced that change.

For our children, it is just a moment in their history books and the stories they hear their parents or grandparents tell.

When Luke phrased it that way it made me realize that he has never experienced life prior to that world changing event.

While those that received this letter, being from Jewish families, would have known all of this history, most would not have experienced it themselves.

It is believed that this letter was written around 60 A.D.

The world was different now and the author is helping them understand all the reasons why.

In verse 12 he is pointing out this paradigm shift.

Hebrews 7:12 CSB

12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must be a change of law as well.

The language that he is using is about an event that happened that brought about a new covenant that was instituted by Jesus’s death and Resurrection.

God began the Mosiac Covenant and we talked about this in our study of Exodus.

Exodus 19:5–6 CSB

5 Now if you will carefully listen to me and keep my covenant, you will be my own possession out of all the peoples, although the whole earth is mine, 6 and you will be my kingdom of priests and my holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.”

In the following three chapters is when God gives the ten commandments and ordinances.

God also tells them in Deut 4:6-8

Deuteronomy 4:6–8 CSB

6 Carefully follow them, for this will show your wisdom and understanding in the eyes of the peoples. When they hear about all these statutes, they will say, ‘This great nation is indeed a wise and understanding people.’ 7 For what great nation is there that has a god near to it as the Lord our God is to us whenever we call to him? 8 And what great nation has righteous statutes and ordinances like this entire law I set before you today?

God gave the law to improve people's lives, to set them apart from all the surrounding nations.

Their purpose was not to restore the people but to get them ready for the restoration that would come through Jesus and the New Covenant.

In building his case, he is trying to help the church understand and see the paradigm shift that has happened.

The Mosiac covenant was good and served a purpose and it is now been superseded by the New Covenant.

He follows this up by connecting the dots again of the connection of Jesus with Melchizedek.

He is showing them that Jesus’s priesthood wasn’t determined by his linage, but by his very life.

I really like the way the NLT translates it.

Hebrews 7:15–16 NLT

15 This change has been made very clear since a different priest, who is like Melchizedek, has appeared. 16 Jesus became a priest, not by meeting the physical requirement of belonging to the tribe of Levi, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.

Jesus is not more of the same or only slightly better than the Levites.

Jesus is something completely different.

His life, death, and Resurrection are the beginning of the new covenant that Jeremiah spoke of.

Jeremiah 31:31–34 CSB

31 “Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.

This is that new covenant that Jeremiah prophesied about.

The author of Hebrews is identifying for the church that the man named Jesus, that lived a perfect life, was crucified unjustly, and then raised himself from the dead is one that has been spoken of for generations.

He is the royal priest that would finally that would be able to crush the serpent's head.

Here is where all this hits home for you and I.

Culturally, here in the south, we say that we believe in Jesus.

That he died for our sins, forgives us, and loves us.

Yet so many among us are still living under the Mosaic Covenant.

They believe that if they are good enough, God will be pleased with them.

If they just try harder, give more, serve more, act better, respond with more patience, that they will earn or prove they are worthy of God’s love.

This is so similar to what the author of Hebrews is charging the church not to do!

Their temptation was to fall back into old habits and traditions in order to be accepted by others.

You and I, understanding grace, understand what this message is about.

Jesus is far better than any other priest and the law.

It is because of him that we can know the Lord as Jeremiah spoke of.

The story worth sharing is that there is an upgrade available.

The people in our lives that are still trying to use the outdated covenant are eligible for a significant upgrade and it’s free!

The law is good and it still sets God’s people apart, but when we make the law into a God we are missing the purpose of the law itself.

The law has not gone away, but rather it has been fulfilled by the only one that was capable of fulfilling it.

Jesus fulfills the law on our behalf.

We can share with them that if they will trust Jesus with their lives, he will fulfill the law through them.

No longer will they need to try or pretend.

Jesus will change their hearts and work in their lives.

He will change them into his likeness.

He will make them perfect.

There was a paradigm shift a long time ago, yet many are still living in the past.

The author of Hebrews is trying to help the early churches to realize the difference between the old and the new covenant.

That struggle still exists today.

While so many claim the name of Jesus, they are still living as if He didn’t exist.

They don’t understand grace and forgiveness and so the only option they can see is to try and be really good.

You and I have the opportunity to live our broken, but forgiven lives in front of them.

We can share with them that we are no better than they are.

We just got an upgrade.

That same upgrade is available to everyone and we can share how they get it.

Our stories of how God is working in our lives are evidence that God loves his people and is still active today.

Those that are still living under the law only get glimpses of who God is as their lives intersect with the lives of those who really know Jesus.

Unfortunately, they see the work of Jesus fulfilling the law in those believers' lives and assume that they can have the same experience if they just try harder.

Let’s share our experiences and help others to understand that God’s activity isn’t the result of our goodness, but it is the result of a good, loving, forgiving, graceful God working on our behalf.

Jesus did the work to restore the relationship and we are living in the benefit of that.

Let’s share that same reality with others in our lives.

They need to see how good God is, so show them.