It is good to be here again this week for another edition of the Weekend Sermon. It has been a good week in many ways. I want to start out today by thanking the Lord for a good week of work. I've been working at my new job for two weeks now, and things seem to be going fairly well. I am also getting quite a bit of writing work as well.
I would like to thank everyone who prayed on my behalf that I would be able to find a job to help make ends meet. It seemed like it took a long time, but the Lord has provided. Praise be to the name of the Lord.
For our prayer focus country this week, I would like us to pray for the nation of India. India is the second most populous country in the world, but only about 2 percent of the people in this vast nation are Christians. Let us all pray for the Lord to move in this nation that many people might come to faith in the Risen Lord Jesus.
In last week's message, we studied the way that Jesus is our high priest. Jesus was tempted in every way just as we are, yet Jesus was completely without sin. Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses because He lived as a human being experiencing what we experience. We also saw that Jesus is a priest in the order of Melchizedek and not a Levitical priest. The priests in the Old Testament were required to continually bring the sacrifices to the altar. Jesus was the once for all time sacrifice for sin. Jesus was the spotless and sinless Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. Because of this, Jesus has a superior priesthood.
Today, we will explore a little more of what Jesus' high priesthood entails. We will also see that the book of Hebrews says that Jesus is the mediator of a new and better covenant.
The Old Covenant that the people lived under before the coming of Jesus was based upon the law. God revealed to Moses that the people were to obey the laws that God had given to them. When the people broke the law and sinned against the Lord, they were to bring a sacrifice in offering for their forgiveness. These sacrifices could only cover sin, they could not remove sin and deal with the problem of sin on a permanent basis.
The sacrifices under the Old Covenant were signs and symbols of the new and better way that would be inaugurated at the coming of the Messiah. The first covenant was not sufficient. The Lord told the people through the prophet Jeremiah that a day of a new covenant was coming. Hebrews 8: 8-12 records this prophesy from Jeremiah that states, "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, because they did not continue in My covenant, and I disregarded them, says the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws in their mind and write them on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. None of them shall teach his neighbor, and none his brother, saying know the Lord, for all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
Jesus is the mediator of this new and better covenant. And this new and better covenant was sealed by the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. Now, what is superior about this new covenant? First of all, under the sacrificial system, animals had to continually be offered in sacrifice. Year after year, atonement had to be made. The blood of these animals could not take away sins. It was a temporary solution to the problem of sin. Now, when Jesus came, His sacrifice solved the problem of sin. Jesus sacrificed Himself to deal with the problem of sin. Jesus bore our sins in His body on the cross as the Lamb of God to take away the sins of the world.
Jesus died once for all. When we accept Jesus into our lives as Savior and Lord, our sins are not covered up, they are washed away. We don't have to keep asking Jesus to save us from our sin. When a person comes to Christ, he becomes a new creation. The old sinfulness is wiped away. We are forgiven of our sins past, present and future because of what Jesus has accomplished for us.
Now that Jesus has accomplished the work of redemption through His death and resurrection, He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He is our advocate with the Father, and He makes intercession for us with the Father.
Jesus will remain at the Father's right hand until the time comes for Him to return to earth and entirely complete the redemptive program. When Jesus comes again, the final part of the redemption will be enacted. The world will be restored by Jesus to the way that it was before sin entered into the world. All of the consequences of sin will be removed from the world, and ultimate deliverance will be obtained for all of creation. There is no way that an earthly high priest could do that. Jesus is superior in every way.
You can experience the forgiveness and grace of the Lord Jesus. If you repent of your sins, believe that Jesus died for your sins and that He rose bodily from the grave, you can receive new life in Christ. Also, you must be willing to accept Jesus as the Lord of your life. You must be willing to follow Him in the way that He leads.
Next week, we will study the way that Jesus is our superior example as we look at Hebrews chapter 11 and 12. On Wednesday, I will post a review. May God bless you. Amen.
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