Part 11, Maintaining Your Faith Series, Hebrews 8:1-12
“The LORD your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17
The Bible describes God as the Mighty Warrior who saves. And when He saves, He will always be with those He saves. God delights in them. Save people from what? The Book of Zephaniah is about the near term and long-term judgement of God. And thus, God will save His believers from His coming judgement on all evil and wickedness in this world. God’s righteous judgment is the outcome of His sovereignty. And as the sovereign God, the Bible is saying, He can do whatever pleases Him, and He can do things powerfully. God saves people, simply because that’s who He is – the Mighty Savior. In the New Testament, we see Jesus, the unique Son of God, our High Priest, as also mighty to save. It’s a mighty work that His Father shares with His Son. Let me give you a few reasons why Jesus is mighty to save based in this passage.
1. His saving work is comprehensive.
“Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.” Hebrews 8:1-2
· By sitting next to God His Father, it simply means he is sitting on a place of complete authority in heaven and on earth.
· “At the right-hand throne of the Majesty” gives us picture of equality with God the Father. Both share the same majestic glory.
· Jesus has all ranges of our lives under His full control.
· If we hide His words in our hearts, the Holy Spirit will remind us of when to apply them. This will help us avoid living a miserable life and instead, enjoy His guidance and direction. This we must do until we reach the appointed time of fully realizing His mighty salvation.
2. His saving work is compassionate.
“10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” Hebrews 8:10
· Three “I will” in just one verse.. It emphasized that we do not have any contribution to salvation except sin. God’s initiative, it is God’s salvation work. Salvation brought us into a new relationship (covenant) with God – being His true people.
· God brings the reality of His compassion in the person and work of Jesus.
· Jesus completed the enslaving sacrificial work of the old covenant and freed us from earning our salvation through his death and resurrection.
· Jesus’ death and resurrection established the New Covenant.
· The old covenant was limited to Israelites, but the new covenant has included the gentiles.
· The old covenant was made to expire, but the new was designed to be forever.
· Moses, whose body still awaits resurrection, ratified the old, while Jesus, the resurrected Son of God, ratified the new.
· In the old, the Holy Spirit came to selected individuals for specific purposes and ministries, while in the new covenant, He came to all believers and made them priests of God.
3. His saving work is climactic.
“I will be their God, and they will be my people.11 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:10b-12
· The climax of our salvation refers fully experiencing the essence of God, seeing his substance, and to fully appreciate his love and forgiveness. In God’s ordained time, this should give Christian an exciting goal to enter eternal life, and not dread it.
· God promised the best place to spend life in eternity – in His forever presence.
· The location of heaven is not as much important as His ultimate presence.
· God promised us a heavenly community that knows Him, free of polluting agents like pride and jealousy, so we aim to live this life as if we are already there.
· As we fix our minds in the futuristic place, we must resist pride and resist causing disunity and hatred in our present communities,
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