Jesus is Better

“Jesus is Better”

(Hebrews 8:1-6)

Series: Captivated by Christ (Hebrews)

Rev. Todd A. Linn, PhD

Henderson’s First Baptist Church, Henderson

Amen. Please be seated. As you are finding your seats I want to share with you that our new Minister of Education & Evangelism has officially begun serving with us as of two days ago. Ken Lupton and his wife Denise. Ken will be making his way to all the adult Sunday school classes today.

Next week we’ll be hosting a reception in the fellowship hall for Ken and Denise. Right after the last morning worship service. 12 noon in the fellowship hall for a couple hours. You can meet them personally and give them a nice card if you’d like—and a nice gift card of a favorite place to eat or shop. Next week right after the last morning worship service.

I invite you to take your Bible and join me in Hebrews, chapter 8. Hebrews 8. And while you’re finding your place in Hebrews, you should have received one of these brochures about “The Big Scoop.” The big scoop is that serving in the church is sweet. Serving is sweet, like a big scoop of ice cream. It’s sweet to serve the church…everyone has a gift to use in service…check out this video clip where another one of our members discovered the sweetness of serving—literally!

VIDEO CLIP

Maybe you’ve seen some of the pictures of our members on Facebook indicating where they are serving in the church. So be in prayer, look over the menu of sweet options, think it over, get connected serving. Turn in by next Sunday. In July a couple of “soft-serve days,” to try out ministry without committing just yet. Our goal is to have every member serving in some way at Henderson’s First Baptist Church.

Alright, Hebrews 8. Before we read our passage today, I want you to know I’ll be available after the services this morning in the Response Room—questions about salvation, baptism, joining the church. Response Room.

Have you found Hebrews 8? Let me invite you to stand in honor of the reading of God’s Word. Chapter 8 is the application of the truth of chapter 7—that Jesus is a better priest than all the priests in the Old Testament. He’s our Great High Priest.

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

2 a Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer.

4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

5 who serve the copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was divinely instructed when he was about to make the tabernacle. For He said, “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

Pray.

Reading that passage a moment ago, and knowing it’s been a couple weeks since we’ve been in Hebrews, some of us may feel our head spinning in trying to recall everything we’ve studied to this point.

I’m so grateful for phrases like this one in the beginning of chapter 8, right there in verse 1. The writer says, “Now this is the main point of the things we are saying” and with that statement, the writer summarizes everything he has said in the first seven chapters. Isn’t that wonderful? You know, “In case you’ve forgotten, or given it as some rough flying back there in the previous chapter, this is the main point of the things we are saying,” and what is that? What is the main point of the things he is saying? Verse 1— “We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven.”

Jesus is the “Better Priest” than any human priest in the history of the world. In fact, chapter 8 divides rather nicely into two sections. The first half of the chapter, roughly verses 1-6, “Better Priest,” and verses 7-13, “Better Covenant.” And Lord willing we’ll study the better covenant next week. This week we’re studying about Jesus as our “Better Priest.” That’s why our sermon is entitled “Jesus is Better.” In fact, that’s really a summation of the entire book! “Jesus is Better.”

And let me say, that the phrase “Jesus is Better” is not only a summation of the entire Book of Hebrews, but really a summary of the entire Book of the Bible! This Book, as we often say, is a “Him” Book, a Book about Him, about Jesus. Jesus is Better.

Alec Motyer, and Old Testament scholar who passed away a couple years ago, has this great summary statement of the Bible: The Old Testament is Jesus predicted; the Gospels are Jesus revealed; Acts is Jesus preached; the Epistles (like Hebrews), is Jesus explained; and the Revelation, Jesus expected.—from Look to the Rock. Maybe we’ll put that on the wall next time. But it’s all about Jesus. Jesus is better.

Now, in what way is Jesus better? Well, if you are the sort who likes to outline a passage. Here’s the first way. Number one:

I. Jesus Ministers from a Better Place (1-2)

He ministers or serves—we’re talking about serving and getting every member of the church connected serving in the church. Jesus is the consummate server! He serves. He ministers—from a better place. A better place than the place where the priests of the Old Testament served. They served on earth. From where does Jesus serve? From what location? From what place? Verse 1:

1 Now this is the main point of the things we are saying: We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,

Jesus serves from “the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” There’s not a single Old Testament levitical priest or levitical high priest who could say that! They served on earth. Jesus serves from heaven. From the right-hand of the Father in heaven.

It’s providential we studied Philippians 2 last week at our worship in the park service. Recall Philippians 2: “…Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of (or belonging to) Jesus every knee should bow…and tongue confess…that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (9-11).” As Lord, Jesus is exalted to the right hand of the Father, at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.

In Bible times the right-hand was the most-favored position. Kings surrounded by servants were especially blessed to have the superior servant at their right-hand. We use the phrase still when we refer to someone as our “right-hand man,” the most important, the most valued. Jesus at the right-hand of the Father.

So Jesus is ministering now—right now—from this location in heaven. He goes on ministering and mediating from the better place, the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens.” Continuing in verse 2:

2 a Minister of the sanctuary (lit. “holies”) and of the true tabernacle which the Lord erected, and not man.

So Jesus does not minister from the location of an earthly tabernacle, one that is erected by man, but rather He ministers from the location of the “true tabernacle,” one built by the Lord, and not man; the “sanctuary” in heaven. Jesus ministers from a better place. Second point, number two:

II. Jesus Ministers through a Better Priesthood (3-5)

Recall from last time we discussed the levitical priesthood. This was a worship system set up by God to prepare His people for sacrifice. The levitical priesthood, however, was not an end in itself. It was a system of animal sacrifice set up to point God’s people to Jesus, the Supreme Sacrifice for sin.

In the Old Testament not just any Israelite could be a priest. You had to descend from the line of Levi. So your mother had to be a Levite and your dad had to be a priest. Then you could serve as a priest. And these levitical priests served for a number of years and then died. So, many priests were required over the years.

In our passage today the writer has in view primarily the high priest, the one who entered into a place in the Jewish tabernacle, the earthly tent really, and he would enter into a place in that tabernacle known as the “most holy place,” or the “holy of holies.” And the high priest could enter that place only once a year. Just once. To offer a sacrifice for his own sin and for the sins of the people. Look at verse 3:

3 For every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices. Therefore it is necessary that this One also have something to offer (talking about the role of the high priest, offering a sin offering for himself and for others).

4 For if He were on earth, He would not be a priest, since there are priests who offer the gifts according to the law;

What the writer is doing is contrasting the human levitical high priest with our Great High Priest, Jesus Christ. If our High Priest, a Priest from a different order—not the order of Levi; not from the tribe of Levi, but from the tribe of Judah; remember Revelation 5:5, the “lion of the tribe of Judah; and not of the order of Levi, but the order of Melchizedek, an order that is never-ending (that was chapter 7)—if He were on earth, he would not be a priest like those human, earthly priests offering gifts and sacrifices according to the law of Moses. No, Jesus offered a different sacrifice, didn’t He?

Jesus offered Himself. No levitical priest in all of history could even imagine offering his own self as a levitical priest for the sins of God’s people. No way! But Jesus ministers through a better priesthood in that He offers His very self.

Remember that the Old Testament sacrificial system prepared God’s people for the supreme sacrifice of God’s Son, Jesus Christ, our substitute for sin. The levitical priesthood pointed forward to a superior priesthood, the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

The human levitical priesthood set people up for Christ. The priests of the Old Testament and whole system served as a “copy” and a “shadow” of something far better, verse 5:

The writer is quoting from Exodus 25:40. That’s why some of you will see in your Bibles those words in italics. It’s a direct quote from God’s speaking to Moses in Exodus 25 where He tells Moses how to set up the earthly levitical priesthood. God gave Moses instruction on how to “make the tabernacle” in which the Israelites worshiped as they traveled through the wilderness.

Specifically, God says to Moses—last part of verse 5—“See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” And the writer says that this pattern shown on the mountain, Mount Sinai, the pattern was divinely ordained by God as a shadow of the real tabernacle, the true tabernacle in heaven. You could say the actual tabernacle along with the holies of heaven—in all of its brightness and brilliance—casts a shadow on earth, a shadowy image in the form of the tabernacle.

So the entire levitical priesthood is a copy of the real in heaven. The levitical priesthood about which we read in the Old Testament is a copy, a shadow, of the real thing in the glories of heaven! Isn’t that fantastic?!

So it’s not as though God came up with the levitical priesthood first, and then thought, “Hmm, what am I going to do next?” The levitical priesthood was always meant to be a copy or shadow of the true priesthood, the better priesthood of Jesus Christ. It points to Him. It’s a picture of Him.

John Piper illustrates the significance of this shadow imagery by using the experience of a child’s getting separated from his mother in the grocery store. That used to happen to me all the time! I’d get to wandering around and, before I knew it, I was lost in the grocery store. And imagine as you stand there wondering where your mom went and your head is down and your weeping, you see a shadow around you that looks just like your mother. Well, you don’t embrace the shadow, right? You look up and you see your mom and you embrace her.

And this is how God intended to use the levitical priesthood. We’re not to embrace the priesthood. It’s just a shadow, a copy of the real in heaven! Jesus Christ! We embrace Him. The priesthood, with all the sacrifices, and the tabernacle, is merely a means to prepare us for Jesus Christ. Jesus ministers from a better place and Jesus ministers through a better priesthood. Finally:

III. Jesus Ministers upon Better Promises (6)

Look at verse 6:

6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry (better priesthood), inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on (what?) better promises.

Jesus ministers upon better promises. We’ll study this in greater detail next week, Lord willing, as the writer unfolds the wonderful teaching of the new covenant, a “better covenant” and we’ll be studying how the new covenant is vastly superior to the “old covenant.”

For now, note this in verse 6: “But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry (better Priesthood), in as much as He is also Mediator of a better covenant…”

Jesus did not serve as a priest during his earthly ministry. He is now a priest as He has offered Himself as the ultimate sacrifice for our sin. So we often speak of the “finished work of Christ” and that is true, but there is a work that is ongoing. The finished work of Christ concerns His atonement for sin. But the ongoing ministry of Christ is His ongoing work of being our Mediator, the go-between, the advocate, representing us to God. So His work of atonement is finished, but His work as our Advocate continues.

**Two Great Truths…

1) We can enjoy God’s Presence all the time!

Remember that the writer of Hebrews is encouraging his Jewish readers not to go back to the old ways of Judaism, the old covenant ways of worshiping. He’s saying, “That was a limited system of worship!” You had to go through a levitical priest and even then, the priest was never able to stand in the very presence of God. He could enter into the shadow, the copy of the tabernacle and stand there in the shadowy place where God revealed something of Himself, but even then, that was just once a year! And limited only to levitical priests!

Because of Jesus Christ, because He is better, a better High Priest, we can enjoy God’s presence all the time.

No more tabernacle; through Christ all the time. You know the chorus our choir often sings?

Now I can go into the Holy of Holies.

I can kneel and make my petition known.

I can go into the Holy of Holies

and although I’m just a common man,

because of God’s redemption plan,

I can boldly approach

the throne.

The tabernacle is no more. The temple is no more. Worship is no longer that which takes place in a manmade sanctuary. Worship is a lifestyle of being in the very presence of God Himself through Jesus Christ. Worship is not just an hour of ordered service on Sunday mornings. We worship all the time no matter where we are.

If you are a Christian, you are never alone! You can enjoy God’s presence all the time. Second great truth:

2) We can enjoy God’s Forgiveness all the time!

Jesus lived and died so that we might have peace with God. Our sin separates us from God. But if we believe Jesus and repent—turn from our sin—we can be saved and enjoy God’s forgiveness, not just His forgiveness of sin past, but sin present and sin future. We can enjoy God’s forgiveness not just one time, but all the time!

How can we say that? Because—where is Jesus right now? He is at the “right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens,” there doing His ongoing work of being our Advocate, our never-ending, ongoing priestly work of interceding for our sin—all of it, past, present, and future!

The only way you can get in on this good news is by being hidden with Christ, but being in Christ Jesus. Remember how I like to use my hands. Here I am apart from Christ, alone and in my sin. Here I am “in Christ Jesus,” covered by His righteousness. Accepted by the Father, approved, forgiven always for all time.

If you are a Christian, you don’t need to go to a priest. You are “hidden in Christ,” hidden in the Great High Priest Jesus Himself!

These two truths come only through faith and repentance. They’re not automatically bestowed upon every person apart from faith and repentance. You must turn from sin and turn to Christ. Jesus is better.

Tim Keller has famously summarized how Jesus is better in this overarching sweep of the “Him” Book, the Book about Him, about Jesus and how He is better than anyone or anything. Listen to this:

Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.

Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.

Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.

Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”

Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.

Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.

Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.

Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.

Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.

Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.

Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk leaving an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.

Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.

Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.

The Bible’s really not about you – it’s about him. (Tim Keller, “Gospel-Centered Ministry”).

Do you really know Him? Every one in this room is either “hidden in Christ” (hands) or without Christ (hands).

If you are “hidden in Christ” you can enjoy His presence all the time, and His forgiveness all the time. Every day and throughout the day thank God for this and go on worshiping Him no matter where you are. You are always living for Christ. When you slip up and sin, go boldly to the throne and say, “God, forgive me for what I just did. I am so sorry. I love You and I want to feel Your presence again” and know that God indeed forgives you because you are “in His Son, Jesus Christ,” forever accepted and approved by God.

If you are not “in Christ,” repent today. You have sinned and you need forgiveness. You die apart from Christ, you stand apart from Christ on the Day of Judgment. Don’t die and go to hell for your sin. Turn this morning to Jesus. Believe in Him and repent of your sin. Receive Him as Lord today.

Let’s pray.
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