The Book of Hebrews 8:7-13 The New Covenant with Israel - II
Hebrews 8:7-13 · Vern Peterman · Dec 8, 2013
Hebrews, No. 33
Holly Hills Bible Church
https://www.hollyhillsbiblechurch.org/teaching/messages/49264922255

Transcribed from the recording by SermonAudio, so expect the occasional misheard word.

Good morning. Nancy noticed on a Facebook post this morning, I think it was Gail that did it. She said, I hope Vern has a hot sermon this morning. I don't know if I can do that, but at any rate, I hope you're warm. We're going to be looking at here at Christ's crucifixion. as the focal point for not only the confirmation of the New Covenant, but all the other things that were accomplished that day.

So now we have here, this is a picture of actually the crucifixion from what Christ would see looking down from the cross. Very interesting perspective here. You can see the centurion, the one who ultimately said, we have crucified an innocent man, and truly this was the Son of God. You can see John there, who's standing next to the three Marys. So anyway, you can see the various other ones there, including some of the other soldiers. Christ's death on the cross confirmed Israel's new covenant. That was one of the things that we pointed out last week.

Most of Christendom hasn't the slightest idea about all of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. I think that's a key thing. A lot of times, if you were to ask Christians, well, what did Christ accomplish on the cross? Many of them would, I think, be inclined to have fairly limited answers. What we want to do is to look at a wider scale.

What did Jesus accomplish on the cross, including confirming the New Covenant? Christ's death on the cross confirmed Israel's promised New Covenant, about roughly a dozen passages in the Old Testament. among other accomplishments. And so when we think of Christ's crucifixion, we want to see the whole picture about everything that was accomplished there that day. Christ's death on the cross confirmed Israel's new covenant, and so today we'll look at a fuller vision of all that Christ accomplished on the cross.

Everything that was happening that day. What's amazing is there was very little understanding of everyone else There as to what Christ was doing on the cross. These are things that are revealed Some cases in the Old Testament, but also things revealed further in the New Testament So at a minimum there will say six things okay that happened on the cross and I say as a minimum because there are actually other things that might be surfaced or discovered and In addition to the things said to other people on that day, for example, when Jesus spoke to John and said, behold your mother, spoke to Mary, behold your son, to make an assignment of responsibility for Mary. When Jesus said to the thief on the cross, today you will be with me in paradise. That's in addition to those things said, which are actual accomplishments too. So those six things are these.

First, every person on the planet for all time is the potential beneficiary for Christ dying for our sins in our place. So every person on the planet benefited from that. Only those who believe are the ones who take advantage of his payment. The next one, Christ's death made the devil powerless. Every person who believes then is free of the power of the devil.

And Hebrews is the passage that has that. We'll take a look at that shortly. Christ's death confirmed Israel's new covenant, and that's the connecting point with the passage that Courtney just read for us here. Christ's death was the confirmation of it.

One of the things we've said is a covenant has three things. It has a promise, so there's a promise with content. It has an oath that goes with it. And the third thing is a confirming sign or gesture, frequently a sacrifice. Confirming a covenant. So those three ingredients, Christ's death was the confirmation of the content that had already been given in the Old Testament in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. Fourthly, Christ paid the bride price for us in the church there on the cross.

It was interesting when we had this experience a few years back with Hassan getting married, and now they have two Kids, right? So here's a son getting married, but he had to pay a bride price for her. I think it was three cows and four goats and some chickens. I forget how many, right? But here is a bride price that Christ paid for the church with his own life. Next, Christ paid the price of a slave or a flock.

We see that in different passages, and we'll look at that shortly. And then sixthly, and finally, but not least importantly, we were identified with his crucifixion and with his death, also with his burial and his resurrection, ascension, and seeding. So those five things, beginning with having been identified with his crucifixion. So those six things, at least, are things that Christ accomplished on the cross, in addition to things that were said from the cross. So let's take a look at that. Let's take a look at the first one. Christ died for our sins in our place. And this is brought out in the book of Isaiah, seven centuries before Christ died, Isaiah 53, 4 through 6. The whole chapter is of course helpful, but this particularly, in these verses, talks about his death for us.

Surely our griefs he himself bore, and our sorrows he carried. Yet we ourselves esteemed him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities. The chastening of our well-being fell upon him, and by his scourging we are healed. All of us, like sheep, have gone astray. Each of us has turned to his own way. But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all, you and me, to fall on him.

First, John 2.2 puts it very simply this way, Christ died for the sins of the whole world, all the world, all of us. It is those who believe who have the benefit of his payment. There is a chorus to a song instead of me. And it goes like this, instead of me, he took the blame, the misery. Instead of me, he suffered silent agony. And in that final breath, he died alone, the sinner's death, instead of me. So this takes it personally, which is really important, isn't it? It's important that we take this personally. This is at the core of the gospel. Believing that Christ died for our sins, was buried and rose again. You believe that? That's the gospel, right? So this is at the core of the gospel.

He died in my place. Christ died for our sins, taking the penalty that each of us deserved to pay for it himself. Christ, then, is our substitute, dying the death each of us deserve. You see, I deserve to have been on that cross. I deserved it. Him dying in my place is mercy and grace. Scripture portrays our sins as a debt that has been paid by Christ on the cross. One of the first places that shows up is when Jesus said, and it's commonly translated, it is finished.

But the actual term, tetelestai, means it's all paid. It's a debt payment. You would say, Tetelestai, for an IOU note where a debt was owed and it was all paid off. You'd say, Tetelestai, all paid off, and they'd scratch it out. That debt is now paid off completely, but the forgiveness of that debt is applied only to those who believe. The debt's now paid off completely. The forgiveness is applied only to those who believe. So not everyone is saved, though everyone's sins are paid for. See the distinction there?

What's interesting is there's no mention of Christ's death in our place in any surviving church document. There are some who debate this, but I think they can't really come up with it. From the first century until Anselm wrote about it in around 1100 AD.

So the early church seems to have in great part not understood that Christ died in our place. Here's what happened instead. People not understanding the gospel, that Christ must die, he voluntarily gave his life, people not understanding the gospel, and people not understanding that Christ died in our place, It was a part of the error that brought about the idea that Christ is the church's king and the church is the kingdom. Because they thought, well, he was the king of the Jews, now he's the king of the church because the Jews killed their king. That's the misunderstanding that brought about that concept. So the Jews were persecuted as the Christ killers as a result of this misunderstanding. even into the last century. Let's look at the second thing that Christ accomplished there. Christ's death made the devil powerless.

In Hebrews 2, which we've looked at previously, verses 14 and 15, and I've added in to the New American Standard the definite articles when they come across. Sometimes when the translators go through to smooth things out, they'll take out the definite articles and so I like to put them back in because they mean something so here's how it reads therefore since the children share in flesh and blood he himself likewise also partook of the same that through the death he might render powerless him who had the power of the death that is the devil and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives So Satan had the power of death, but didn't have the power over death. See that? He had the power of death to threaten people, but not the power over death.

His power was broken in the spiritual death on the cross, and I would add to that, and the tomb. Spiritual death is ended in our eternal position and need not have the power in our daily condition. See that? Spiritual death is ended in our eternal position, as believers and need not have power in our daily condition.

Satan only has the power of death, fear of death, if we don't walk in and understand the truth. Physical death is not the final end anymore. One of the things that I told the Gospel of John class previously is, if I do a graveside service, one of the things that's really neat to be able to tell people is, this is really great that we're doing this respectful thing to the body, and that's fine, but the reality is this is temporary. This is just temporary. It's not permanent.

Genesis 2. 16 and 17 uses an insight for the Lord commanded the man saying from any tree of the garden you may eat freely But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat for in the day that you eat of it You will surely die So that's what the Lord said before Adam sinned But in Genesis 3 for what does the serpent the devil who had the power of death say? And he's lying The serpent said to the woman, you surely will not die, right?

You can call him a liar, and that's just fine. He's a liar from the beginning. That's what he did. And so he told her a lie, when in reality, it's what God said that was true. What he told was a lie. He is the one who then twisted that and turned that. Now that death is in place, he tries to use it with those who are unbelievers.

We have the next, the third thing, and this is what is our touch point with the book of Hebrews, and that is Christ's death confirmed Israel's new covenant. So, we ask the question here, so what does Christ mean by, this is my blood of the covenant? We're going to see something similar to that here as we had the Lord's Table just this morning. And when he had taken a cup and given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins. Here is the first Corinthian slide that we often use in the Lord's Table, and right in the middle of it, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

What does he mean by that? Remember, a covenant has three things. It has the content, it has an oath, and then it has a confirming gesture or symbol. That's what this is talking about. He didn't give the content of the New Covenant here, did he? He didn't give an oath about the New Covenant. So that's why this cup symbolizes, in his death, confirming the New Covenant for Israel. So, the Old Covenant with Israel was under the Law of Moses. It was the Old Covenant, the First Covenant, as Hebrews sometimes calls it. The New Covenant will be enacted, put into place and put into motion in the yet-to-come Millennial Kingdom.

We will come with Christ for that, and reign with Him. So here is the geographical layout of Israel in the future. I don't know that they believe that now. The current Jews over in Israel frequently are unbelievers. But this is what the Bible says. The people of Israel will all be indwelt by the Holy Spirit. They will have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and be empowered to both know and live out the law of Moses from the heart without a teacher. It will be written on their heart.

They will know it. They won't have to sit there and have rabbis tell them and have to drum it into their head what all the 613 laws are. They won't need that. They won't need a teacher. They will know it and they will live it out from the heart because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Israel lived the law and will thus be blessed. Remember the law said you're blessed if, right? Well, guess what? If you are empowered by the Holy Spirit to live, know, and live out the law, then they'll be blessed. They will be blessed. Earthly.

The covenant with Noah was confirmed by a sacrifice. That's one of the things we saw in Genesis. The covenant with Abraham was confirmed by a sacrifice. You have Genesis 15, 9 through 11 there, where The Lord tells him, bring me a three-year-old heifer, and a three-year-old female goat, and a three-year-old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon. He brought all these, and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other. And he did not cut the birds. So here we have sacrifice.

Sacrifice as the confirmation of the covenant with Abraham. The new covenant with Israel was confirmed by sacrifice Christ himself. So he voluntarily gave his life for all these purposes, including confirming the new covenant. Which is why he told the disciples gathered there, this is the new covenant in my blood.

We've mentioned before, and we have it included on a chart on page two, a half-page chart, there are five covenants with Israel. One with Abraham, Moses, and the old covenant, the land covenant, that is, as they go into the land of Israel at the end of Moses' life, and then the covenant with David, that one of his descendants would sit on the throne. And then finally this new covenant. When that fulfillment of all these is brought together, Christ will reign on David's throne in the coming millennial kingdom and the new covenant that he confirmed will be in place.

He will reign over Jews who will all have the Holy Spirit to know and live out the law from the heart. Won't that be amazing? And the Jews will become the world's priests. People will come and grab a Jew and say, take me to your Messiah. Gladly. Gladly.

Here's the timeline for Israel's new covenant. We have the covenant promised in Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel. And these passages, and by the way, a few others. We have the covenant confirmed here in these passages in the New Testament. And that is what Christ speaks of at the Last Supper. This is confirmation within hours. And then finally the covenant fulfilled and what that looks like described in the last chapters of Isaiah in a few different places there.

Next we have that Christ paid the bride price for us, for you and for me. One of the things that's sometimes overlooked is as we start in the Gospels, starting with John 14 and go through the New Testament, there is a continuous thread all the way into the book of Revelation that the church is the bride of Christ. And so Christ is, in addition to these other purposes, paying the bride price for us there on the cross. So that was another reason for Christ to voluntarily give up His life to pay the bride price for you and for me that we might be joined to Him. One of the things that I'm happy to be able to share with Nancy and I recently having celebrated our 40th anniversary is that we live out in time the eternal romance of Christ and the Church. And Christ was looking forward to that, which is why in Hebrews 12, 2, we will read, for the joy set before him, he endured the cross.

In biblical times, the father of the groom told the groom what the bride price would be. That is, what they would do, first of all, is the father would choose the bride. And we see that twice in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1 and chapter 5, that the father chooses the bride. In the Jewish wedding tradition, the father of the groom would tell the groom the amount of the bride price, at least from a practical standpoint, the father would say, this is as much as you can pay. You can pay a bride price up to this amount.

So there would be a negotiation that would take place. I think in Hassan's case, his father was not in the picture, so his uncle did the negotiation. But in this case, the father, having selected the bride, would send the son over to the house to make final arrangements, and he would send the son telling him, here's the bride price, here's the maximum.

What happened in Christ's case, though, was different. It's not, here's the maximum, here's the minimum. And the minimum is your life. The minimum is your life. In the case of Christ and the Church, the Father told the Son, the Groom, that the bride price would be Christ's crucifixion and death on the cross. The Father sent me, and one of the things He sent me for was to pay that bride price.

The price for you and for me. here in Ephesians 5.25 husbands love your wives just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her paying that bride price Christ was not a victim Christ was not someone who went to the cross kicking and screaming and saying no you've got the wrong guy you're making a terrible mistake Christ gave himself why Bringing himself to the cross was the motivation of love. Looking forward from the cross was the motivation of joy, as he paid the bride price for you and for me, for that eternal relationship with us, a romance with you and I as members of the body of Christ and with the Church.

Hebrews 12 to fixing our eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of faith who for the joy set before him endured the cross you imagine that here is the most miserable way to die ever invented horrible way to die and what does he have love bringing him up to that point and looking ahead with joy as a motivator. Isn't that amazing? For the joy set before him, he voluntarily endured the cross. He said, yes, gladly I'll do this. Joyfully, I will do this for you and for me.

Second Corinthians 11.2, the Apostle Paul says, for I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy, I betrothed you, We would call it engagement.

I betrothed you to one husband so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. Here is a church that is messed up. A church with lots of trouble. These people had issues on top of issues. He says, I betrothed you that I might present you to one husband that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. How could that possibly be? Except that the purity is because of Christ's righteousness and his payment for us. We have the fifth reason Christ paid the price of a slave or a flock.

Here in 1 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul writes, Or do you not know that your body is a temple, so each individual believer, a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? So do we have a temple on this planet right now? Do we have a temple? We don't have one in Jerusalem sitting there, that one the Romans took care of completely. I mean, there's not one stone left. They dumped it all off the edge in 70 AD, late summer. But there is a temple on the planet.

And it's you and me. And how did that temple become a temple? That Holy Spirit is in you, whom you have from God, that you are not your own, for you have been bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body. You've been bought with a price. The same message was given there in 1 Corinthians 7. Here's the next chapter. It says very much the same thing.

You are bought with a price. Do not become slaves of men. Here is where Nancy and I were married some 40 years and a couple weeks ago. And right here, you can't see it in the wood, but it says you are not your own. You are bought with a price. Taken out of 1 Corinthians 6 and 7 there. You're not your own. You're bought with a price.

Using the terms of the Roman slave market, the Apostle Paul tells the saints in Corinth that they had been bought with a price. And with the elders from Ephesus, he uses not the slave terminology, but the flock terminology. Elders from Ephesus, he talks to them, be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God, which he purchased with his own blood. So in that case, it's the purchase of a flock rather than the purchase of a slave picture. Nonetheless, you have been bought with a price.

And the last one that we'll present here today is that there at the cross, anybody who was there, all they saw was Jesus was dying. What they didn't see and what they didn't know, what even the disciples who were there didn't know then, was that you're identified with his crucifixion and with his death.

Paul writes, very simply, I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live, I live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me, here's the loved and gave again, who loved me and gave himself up for me. So it was the third hour, Mark tells us, that they crucified him, and you and I were there. Because remember, he says, I was crucified with Christ? You and I were there at that crucifixion. It's important that each of us, everyone who believes here this morning, understands you were there, crucified with him.

Okay? Romans 6. Verses 3, 5, and 8 have, or do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have been baptized into his death? That's immersed. Verse 5, for if we will become united with him in the likeness of his death, in verse 8, now if we have died with Christ, can there be any doubt? We've been crucified with Christ and we have died with him.

At the ninth hour, which is actually three o'clock, Jesus uttered a loud cry and breathed his last. There we go. And breathed his last. And that was the end of his time of crucifixion. So about six hours. And by the way, they didn't have, you know, sundial watches on and things like that. So these are approximate times. Okay.

So the believer is in Christ, Scripture says, in these five events. We weren't identified with Christ when He crossed on the boat. We weren't identified with Christ when He walked on water. We weren't identified with Him in His birth that we're celebrating here this time of year. We weren't identified with Him in that.

We're identified with Him in His crucifixion and death, His burial, His resurrection, His ascension and seeding. That's what Scripture reveals, those five things. Those are the five things that we were identified with Him in, and joined with Him in, beginning with His death. We're identified with Christ in these five ways, starting with being crucified and dying with Him.

So the identification truths are begun by our being crucified with Christ, and dying with Him, and the sequence is not random or arbitrary. That is, when we put these things out there, we don't say, well, you know, we were identified with Christ, but the order doesn't matter.

The order does matter, right? First thing that happens is we are crucified with Him, okay? Number one. First thing that happens, and it matters that the last thing that happens is we're now seated with Him, okay? You wouldn't want to start off being seated with him and end up being crucified, right? That wouldn't work out so good. So the sequence matters. So these five truths matter and the sequence matters. It makes a difference. Died, buried, raised, ascended and seated. Sequence does matter.

Spiritually, you were there that day and as the nails are being driven into Christ, you also were being crucified with him. That's why the Apostle Paul could state it personally. I have been crucified with Christ. The soldiers didn't know it. The Jewish leaders who were jeering the other guys who were being crucified on either side, they didn't know that. But because it's revealed, we know it. When he died, you died with him. And he said, it's finished. And he gave up his spirit. He died voluntarily. By the way, his life wasn't taken from him. He gave up his life. He died voluntarily, and you died with him. So why would God crucify you with Christ and have you die with him? What would be the reason? In order to save us? God has to join us to Christ and separate us from the sin nature? the principle of law, and the world.

Those three things. Dying in relationship to anything means to separate the two. Dying in relationship to anything means to separate the two. Even when we talk about someone dying in this world, what is it but a separation of soul and spirit from the body? Even that is separation. To die in relationship to the sin nature means to separate the person from the sin nature. So does this mean that the sin nature and the law of the world go away? No, they do not. So it's a spiritual separation. It doesn't mean that the sin nature and the law of the world go away or disappear. They're not gone.

We put it symbolically like this. We believe we are in Adam, before faith in Christ, separated from Christ, joined to the sin nature, the principle of law and the world. In Christ, after faith in Christ, we are joined to Christ and separated from the sin nature, the principle of law and the world. So that's accomplished in His crucifixion. So here are some principles of crossing over that go along with that. The only way that one goes from in Adam and everything that goes with it to in Christ and everything that goes with it is entirely by grace through faith. And through the cross and being spiritually joined with Christ in his crucifixion and in his death.

This crucifixion and death with Christ is total and irreversible. It happens only once. So you don't pick up your cross and carry it daily. This happens once. Crossing over is done by God alone. God says, you believe? Okay, that's it. You're done. I'll do the rest. I'll do the rest.

All we did was believe what God has done and is doing and is going to do. If the Christian life, we're always catching up, or in the Christian life, we're always catching up to what God has already done. When you believe, did you know all these things about your identified with Christ? No, you probably not, right? So we're always catching up to, in our understanding, and in our living it out, what God has already accomplished the moment we believed, and all we did was believe. That catching up to what God has already done begins with a discovery through His Word and consists of being conformed, transformed, sanctified, growing and maturing. We're always growing into and catching up with what God has already accomplished. That's the character of the Christian life. God accomplishes both the position and the process. See that? God accomplishes the position and the process. All we did was belief. He says, that's it, I'll take it from there. I'll take it from there.

Being in Christ, with Christ, united with Christ, joined to Christ, baptized into Him, those are all ways that scripture puts it, means that we're seated with Christ in the heavenlies. That's the last of the five ways we've been identified. And it started with our co-crucifixion with Him, for you and for me. in our new history in Christ. And this is very important.

A lot of us can get all wrapped up in our history in Adam. We can get all wrapped up in our history on this planet. I did this. I didn't do that. This was done to me. This wasn't done to me. We can get all wrapped up about what's happened in our personal history.

But as Nancy and I counsel, one of the things we do is the answer is not in sorting through and combing over your earthly history. The answer is in growing into your new history in Christ. Our new history in Christ, every part is essential as is the sequence. Crucified, buried, raised, ascended, and seated. That's your new history in Christ. As we grow in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, it's growing into our new history in Him. So we have this connecting point as we talk about the New Covenant. This connecting point here is with Israel's New Covenant, and that is Christ's death on the cross.

There were multiple things that were accomplished that day. What's interesting here is Christ, you know, dying for the sins of the whole world and accomplishing all these things. Isn't it amazing that he would take the time to talk to this guy next to him, dying on the cross, that's a scummy guy.

Terrible history, eh? He wouldn't have been there on that cross if he wasn't a scummy guy. And Jesus says, today you'll be with me in paradise. Isn't that amazing? He takes the time while he's dying for the sins of the whole world. And by the way, all this stuff hurts, right? He could have said, you know, I'm kind of preoccupied.

But instead he takes the time to say, today you'll be with me in paradise. Imagine that guy is going to die within just a few hours. Sam was legs broken and Rome will make sure that he suffocates to death and is dead before well before the sun goes down. So that guy's going to die shortly, and Jesus, while he's very busy handling all these things, takes the time to tell that guy, today you'll be with me in paradise. That is just astounding. God's grace is amazing. Let's pray.

Lord, we thank you for your astounding, amazing grace, and how, in the midst of things that could very well preoccupy any of us, make it hard to focus on individuals, You would care for this one man who would believe that day and give him encouragement and spiritual hope. Lord, in the same way, you've shown multiple times over that you love us and care for us. You accomplished so much when everybody standing around thought you were accomplishing nothing. Thank you that you did that because you love. and because you voluntarily gave and you responded to the joy set before you. We thank you for that. We thank you for your most amazing grace. We pray in Jesus' name. Amen.