Jesus and Our New Relationship

Opening prayer, dedication

Music ministry

All the People Said Amen

428 I Need Thee Every Hour

Before the Throne of God Above

Word of God Hebrews 8:1-7 [liturgist] 1-13 for message

Hebrews 8:1–7 ESV

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. 3 For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. 4 Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. 5 They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, “See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.” 6 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. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

Message: “Jesus and Our New Relationship”

Last week we talked about how Jesus is our High Priest and He is “Perfect Forever”

Unlike any high before priest Him, Jesus lives forever as our High Priest

By being in Heaven, seated next to God the Father and Having sent the Holy Spirit to be with us (last week was Pentecost)

Because of all that we have the Holy Trinity

The Father, Son and Holy Spirit

Today we continue to look at what this means to us a Believers so many years after this gift of Jesus and the Holy Spirit

All under this message titled “Jesus and Our New Relationship”

Our core text today set the stage for our new, post Pentecost, relationship in Hebrews 8:1

Hebrews 8:1 ESV

1 Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,

For those of you who hated studying English in school, I hope you see the importance of that study in verse 1

Tense matters, “We HAVE such a high priest”

That’s present tense and absolute

There is no room for doubt or equivocation

Also, “one who IS SEATED..”

Again, present tense

Jesus was then and is currently seated in the place of honor immediately next to God the Father in Heaven

We know two things for certain just in Hebrews 8:1.

Jesus is STILL our high priest

and we know where Jesus is

Hebrews 8:2 also told us what Jesus is doing in Heaven

Hebrews 8:2 ESV

2 a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man.

Jesus is a “minister” in the Holy Temple

The word we see as “minister” in our Bibles in the original language it was (leitourgos)

λειτουργός (leitourgos). Servant. Especially a public servant

So, Jesus is a servant in the temple or dwelling place of God

Who does Jesus serve?

Jesus serves God by serving us

All the man-made temples, churches and the like are, at best, a poor replication of the “true” temple in Heaven

This is not a reflection of the grandeur of the building

Not the quality of the stained glass or gold

Not the comfort of the chairs

If any of us were able to sit on God’s throne in God’s temple,

we would still be us and the temple would be lessened

The “Throne of the Majesty in Heaven” is more than a building with big chair

This throne is a place of power

This throne is the physical place were our protector is always found

Revelation 7:15 describes it like this

Revelation 7:15 ESV

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

You know I’m going to ask, “what is the ‘Therefore’ there for?”

This reference from Revelation 7 describes all Believers who are NOT a part of the 144,000 representing the sons of Israel

Tribes of Levi, Gad, Asher, etc.

So, the result of our relationship with Jesus proves very important starting in Revelation 7:9-12

Revelation 7:9–12 ESV

9 After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, 10 and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!” 11 And all the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying, “Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen.”

I’m NOT going to do a full exposition of the Book of Revelation today

What I will say is that the Old Testament sets forth the OLD relationship

The relationship between all the Tribes of Israel and God

The requirement for adherence to the law as the only way to please God and receive God’s favor

Our hope and assurance of eternity in Heaven depends on us having faith in Jesus as the Son of God in the New covenant

We should define this word “Covenant”

Covenant.

A clear and solemn agreement or testament. As in “Last will & Testament”.

Even when the Great Tribulation comes

There is hope for those who must live through that time

Revelation 7:13-14

Revelation 7:13–14 ESV

13 Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” 14 I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

We Believers who have truly accepted Jesus and turned our lives over to Jesus

We have already had our sin-stains washed away by the blood of the Lamb, Jesus

Even for those who endure the Great Tribulation,

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross puts them in a position of protection.

There are many well-argued positions on what is called Pre-tribulation, mid-trib, post-tribulation

Basically those terms deal with whether Believers, the church are taken up to be with Jesus before during or after the Tribulation and when Jesus actually comes back

Will the church be taken up to meet Jesus in the air before, during or after the terrible destruction in the Great Tribulation

That’s another preaching series for another day

I do need us to understand Revelation 7 regardless of the timing of events

(Revelation 7:15-17

Revelation 7:15–17 ESV

15 “Therefore they are before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. 16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore; the sun shall not strike them, nor any scorching heat. 17 For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”

From beginning of time until the end of time there are a multitude of complex relationships we are a part of

While we attempt to build manmade temples pleasing to God

We need to realize that the temple we SHOULD be focusing on in the temple within us

It is in our very hearts that God is building the temple that will bring us closer to being the people God has called us to be

And we cannot be those people if we are overly focused on the OLD relationship of the Old Covenant

That’s why Hebrews 8:8-12 quotes Jeremiah 31:31-34

Hebrews 8:8–12 ESV

8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

Jeremiah was envisioning a better covenant than what existed at THAT time

That’s what Jeremiah was talking about here (and what the author of Hebrews is referencing)

Jeremiah was right and we are the beneficiaries of this new covenant as stated in Hebrews 8:6

Hebrews 8:6 ESV

6 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.

We certainly got the upgraded model, agreed?!

Jesus, in the present tense, is mediator for us

Jesus is the “go-between” to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and the righteousness that USED to be required for salvation

There is even more we need to notice here

In Hebrews 8:10, we read that God writes His laws directly into our hearts

We talk about following the 10-Commandments, and we need to do that

But we don’t have to go to the library or Google machine to find out what the Commandments are

God has written in our hearts what is right and wrong

We may not all obey what we know in our heart, but God’s law is there

Kids, you know you are supposed to honor your Mother and Father

and I doubt you ever climbed a mountain to read a stone tablet with that instruction

I also doubt that you have ALWAYS honored your parents

For all of us,

We must go to God’s Word to learn more so we don’t pervert God’s Word or poison it with our human desires

and we MUST never forget what God promises, as Hebrews 8:12 says, “God will be merciful toward our iniquities and ‘remember our sins no more’.”

God does not have a memory problem

Instead, this means that God will not hold our past mistakes against us

God does not have a three-strike rule

God has unending grace and is merciful

The final verse, Hebrews 8:13 makes it clear that things have changed

Hebrews 8:13 ESV

13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.

We cannot have the fullness of the relationship God wants with us if we try to hold on to the old

Just as a young child must one day cease to nurse on his Mother

We too must accept our new reality

We cannot seek comfort in the old ways of following the law of the Old Testament

We must rejoice in the New Covenant

A covenant sealed by the blood of Jesus

And that Covenant says that we Believers must

1) Spread the Gospel and make disciples of others

2) Receive God’s forgiveness and forgive others

3) Don’t stand in judgement of others

4) Love others, whether we agree with them or even like what they do or say

The bottom line is this

We must not live in a manner that disregards the high price paid for our freedom

Freedom from the sin-debt we all owed

Because that sin-debt was paid for with the very blood of Jesus, our Savior

And we are in a beautiful new relationship with Him because of our faith and His grace

Amen!

Closing Hymn/Invitation:

Sanctuary

Pastoral prayer/Benediction