Hebrews 8:1-13 | Unshakeable

In the meditation of our hearts may your word be known , and in the faithfulness of our lives may your word be displayed Through Jesus Christ , our Lord . Amen . Today's Scripture reading comes from Hebrews 8 , 1 through 13 .

Now the point in which 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 , a minister in the holy places , in the true tent that the Lord set up , not man , For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices .

Thus , it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer . 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 , they serve a copy and a 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 , 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 enact on better promises , For if that first covenant had been faultless , there would have been no occasion to look for a second .

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 , not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt , For they did not continue in my covenant

and so I show no concern for them , declares the Lord . 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 . And they shall not teach .

And they shall not teach each one of 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 , For I will be merciful towards their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more .

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 . This is God's word .

Marketers highlight the gap between what we want and what we've got , and most of marketing is showing you how their product bridges the gap for you .

Philosophers wrestle with the gap between the ideal and the real , coaches address the gap between who you are and who you want to be , and leaders are obsessed with closing the gap between the present and the preferred future . You see , the gap is the problem , and your strategy is always whatever you're going to do to shrink the gap .

Or , as the London Underground famously advises , we all must mind the gap . Now , religions do this too . Across the world , you see , religions have language of the gap between heaven and earth , the divine and the human , and that's why so many religions have temples and sanctuaries and priests and sacrifices ways to mind the gap , if you will .

But every religion simply manages the gap . But what if God himself permanently closed the gap ? That's what Hebrews 8 is about this morning , and so I want to look at this together . I want to look at how God bridges the gap between heaven and earth , between the divine and the human , under two points .

The first one is the pattern of heaven on earth and the second one is the promise of heaven on earth . So if you have a Bible or a device , go ahead and get Hebrews 8 out in front of you and we're going to look at this together . Look at Hebrews 8 , verse 1 . It says this . Now , the point in what we are saying is this Pause for a moment .

Isn't it nice when a preacher tells you what they're going to say ahead of time . This is just biblical , it's right here . Now the point in what we're saying is this we have such a high priest , one who is seated at the right hand . The author of Hebrews is saying Jesus ascended into the true tent . Now what is this true tent ?

Well , you've got to hear this . All of this talk about tent and sanctuary and priests and sacrifices , all this talk

is about really one thing God wants to dwell with his people . He longs to close the gap .

That's what's going on here , and so you've got to go back into the book of Exodus to really track with what the author of Hebrews is saying you see , in Exodus , the famous moment when Moses at Mount Sinai gets the Ten Commandments right and brings them down to the people .

Well , something maybe a little less famous part of that story is that Moses and 40 elders actually go up on the mountain and they meet with God . It says that they saw God and they ate and drank with him . And the language if you pay close attention , it is actually the same language that the book of Revelation uses to describe the throne room of God .

Let me make that plain . Moses went to heaven Because heaven isn't some distant , far off thing . It's actually an overlapping and interlocking reality with earth . And Moses at the top of Mount Sinai caught a hyperlink between heaven and earth . Why , for what purpose ?

Well , because in Exodus 25 , 40 , it says the Lord commands Moses and says make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain . This is a big deal . Moses had a task to build a tent .

And five times , as far as I could count , in the book of Exodus and then in Numbers , the Lord emphatically insists that the tent on earth has to be made according to the pattern in heaven .

So Moses gets called up , caught up , into the throne room of God and , as Moses is there , the Lord is showing Moses what it's like to be in the very presence of God and then saying hey , now you go back down on earth and recreate this . Why ? Because God wants to dwell with his people .

He wants to bridge the gap , and so Moses' role was to faithfully replicate heaven's design on earth for the sake of God's presence dwelling among God's people . That's what Moses is doing . But Moses did not build the true tent . In fact , verse 5 calls it a copy and a shadow of the heavenly things .

Now , I was a high school teacher when I first got to New City and I was broke and I needed to decorate my classroom , and so I found this website that gave me three posters for $20 . It was a deal , and I chose three different Van Gogh paintings . They were Starry Night , almond Blossoms and Cafe Terrace at Night , if that means anything to you .

But here's the thing they were beautiful , but they were posters and I hang them on the wall . And if you , apparently , if you look at the real Van Gogh paintings , if you look up close , you actually see brush strokes and textures and patterns , and all of those things are missed in a $7 poster . Remember , I got three of them for $20 .

It was a good deal . Now , that's the difference between a copy and a reality . You see , a copy of a great masterwork of art is not the real thing , but it gives some idea of what the original is like .

The tabernacle really was a legitimate copy of the heavenly throne room , but you don't really notice how incomplete it is until you get up close to the real thing .

And when you get up close to the real thing you realize , as is the case with the Van Gogh painting and Moses' tabernacle , that this is simply a copy , a shadow , as the author of Hebrews says , of the heavenly reality . So why does this matter ? What's the big deal ? Reality ? So why does this matter ? What's the big deal ?

Well , in verse 2 , it says Jesus is a minister in the holy place , in the true tent that the Lord set up , not man . Just as Moses went up to heaven and was told to replicate the pattern on earth , jesus came down from heaven and told his disciples to replicate the pattern of his life on earth .

You see , this is significant because in the new covenant we are not building tabernacles of stone , we're forming a people into a temple , a place for God to dwell . This is the way that Peter in 1 Peter 2 , 4 says it . He says as you come to Jesus . That's a continuous , ongoing reality for all of us that belong to him .

As you come and keep on coming to Jesus , peter says you yourselves , like living stones , are being built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ . Or the Apostle Paul tells Timothy in 2 Timothy 1.13, .

He says this follow the pattern , follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me , in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus . You see , just as Moses was to pattern earth after heaven by making the tabernacle , so we are to pattern earth after heaven by making disciples .

Jesus' great commission in Matthew 28 was a continuity of God's mission in the world , what he's been up to for thousands of years . It's not a new thing , you see , because discipleship is the lifelong process of learning to do God's heavenly will in our earthly lives .

If you were to ask a friend , or if you were to talk to some friends and say , hey , what does it look like for God's will to be done in your workplace as it is in heaven . I'd be curious to hear what they'd say . I'd be curious to what some of you would say .

I texted a couple friends this week and one of them I asked her that question and she said she's a project manager . She said this you know , doing God's will in my workplace , as it is in heaven , looks like being kind , attentive , loyal , helpful rather than merely being a boss . She goes on to say that she holds this tension of grace and truth .

She forgives but holds people accountable for their actions . She also said that when she's working on a project

, something that she really values is that everyone on the project feels seen and heard and valued , because she's a strong believer that diversity actually leads to a better outcome .

Now , in some ways , valuing diversity is almost a cliche in our society , but what we don't realize is that that is just the vestiges of a Christian culture , that diversity is something that matters to us as disciples of Jesus . Why ? Because it's patterning earth after heaven .

Another person besides Moses that went up into heaven was the Apostle John in Revelation 7-9 . And this is what he says he gets up to heaven . He's caught up there and he looks around .

And this is what he says he gets up to heaven , he's caught up there and he looks around and this is what he sees A great multitude that no one could number , from every nation , from all tribes and peoples and languages standing before the throne . Why does diversity matter so much ? Because diversity matters in heaven and so it must matter on earth .

It must be part of the pattern that we're supposed to work out here and now in our lives . But notice , heaven is a place of great diversity , unified diversity around the throne of God , the ultimate reference point to reality . This is what it looks like to pattern earth after heaven .

We get caught up into the heavenly place and we , what is it like up there after heaven ? We get caught up into the heavenly place and we , what is it like up there ? But if you think you need to go up to heaven to figure that out , you're okay , don't worry . Heaven came down . His name is Jesus .

We look at the life of Jesus , and this is why our vision here at New City is to see our Father answer the Lord's prayer . And the reason why we believe that our mission is going to help us move in that direction is because we call and form and send disciples who make disciples .

Let me say that , differently , jesus taught his disciples to pray in the very center of the Lord's prayer your will be done on earth as it is in heaven . You see , this is not some marginal , outlier theme in scripture . This is the core of God's task for humanity Heavenize earth . And so we pray God .

We want your will to be done in our lives , in our hearts , in our homes , in our families , in our workplaces , in our neighborhoods , in our city , in our church , on earth as it is in heaven .

So we call and form and send disciples who make disciples , who can do that , and we believe we will see the Father answer the Lord's prayer in fresh and exciting expressions in our generation . And we get that from Hebrews 8 . We get that from Exodus 25 . We get that from Matthew 6 , all these places about heavenizing earth .

And so if you , I hope you see this congruence , that heavenizing earth . And so if you , I hope you see this congruence Old Testament , new Testament because as we make disciples , jesus promised I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it . That's a promise . You're not building the church , you're making disciples .

Jesus is building the church . And so why that matters is because the blueprint is Jesus . Why that matters is because the blueprint is Jesus . The building is not made of bricks but living stones . God's pattern of heaven on earth is the church .

Not a place , not an event , but a people where the presence of God fills them and fills the earth as it is in heaven . That's God's plan for the world . Now , if you ask some of your friends who are not yet disciples of Jesus hey , where do you think you can find God on earth ? How many of them do you think would say , oh , the church .

Our PR's not great right now , and so my guess is they wouldn't say that . But the church filled with the spirit of Jesus is the new locus and focus of the presence of God on earth . This is the way Paul says it in 1 Corinthians 14 , 24 .

He says if an unbeliever or an outsider enters talking about this gathered worship space , enters , he may declare that God is really among you . That's God's plan . That's what he's up to when we gather here on Sundays . New City , that's God's genius for you . What a calling , what a privilege .

This is why I've catechized my son , augie , named after Augustine of Hippo , the great theologian . I say , augie , do we go to church ? He says no , we don't go to church , we are the church . That's Augustine of Orlando right there , just like getting that ecclesiology on lock , baby . That's what that is so proud of him .

When he says that , you see , because we don't go to church , we are the church , we're the locus and the focus of the presence of God on planet earth . Locus and the focus of the presence of God on planet earth . What a privilege , what a time to be alive in this generation . That's the pattern of heaven on earth . That's God's design , that's his intention .

That's what we get to be caught up into , yeah , but how ? But how Do we have to get really strict and disciplined and morally reform our lives and then God will be with us . Is that what it is ? Is God like the prima donna on every home makeover show , where all that happens is they complain the whole time until the home reno is done ? Is that God ?

Absolutely not . But let me show you in the point number two , the promise

of heaven on earth . Look with me at verse six , the promise of heaven on earth . But as it is , christ has obtained a ministry that is , as here . This is important language as much more excellent than the old , as the covenant he mediates is better , since it is enacted on better promises .

For if that first covenant had been faultless , there would have been no occasion to look for a second . Now , in our text , verses 1 through 13, . There's this contrast here . That's happening . Here's the contrast . There's a bunch of them . Between the second covenant and the first covenant , that's verse 7 . Between Christ and Moses , that's verses 5 and 6 .

Between the true tent and the copy or the shadow Verses 2 and verses 5 . Between God made and man made verse 2 . Between heavenly and earthly verse 5 . Between new covenant versus the absolute , growing old and vanishing away covenant , verse 13 . What is going on here ? Well , we want to ask the question what is so much better about this new covenant ?

Or to invert that , because contrast is the mother of clarity . What was so much worse about the old covenant ? Well , look with me at verse 8 . It says this for he , that is , god , finds fault with them . That's important . The problem was not the law .

The problem was not the old covenant or the Old , not the Old Covenant or the Old Testament , the first two-thirds of your Bible . That was not the problem . It's you and me . We're the problem . You see , the Old Testament , the Old Covenant , showed the gap but couldn't close the gap because it couldn't change human hearts .

That was what was faulty , that was what was needed to go obsolete . That was what was growing old about the Old Covenant . God's purpose has always been to marry heaven and earth through his people , but God's people became the single point of failure for his plan to heavenize earth . That's why it seems like it's all for loss until we get a new covenant .

You see , because the new covenant is not a new plan , it's not a new people and it's not a new purpose of God on earth . It's none of those things . It's the same plan , the same people , the same purposes , but it is enacted with better promises , verse 6 .

This is really important for understanding how to read your Bible , but I don't have time to get into that , which makes me sad . The new covenant closes the gap permanently because of these better promises . So I want to spend the remainder of our time looking at these better promises . Look with me at Hebrews 8 , verse 8 .

Verses 8 through 12 , this is the longest quotation of the Old Testament in the New Testament . This is significant . And what is the author of Hebrews' quote Jeremiah 31 . Now , jeremiah 31 is the only place in the Hebrew Bible that refers to the new covenant uses that language .

Now , I know this is getting heady and nerdy , so let's dig in and look at these promises together . There's four of them , four promises that make the new covenant better than the old in this text , and I'm calling them a new heart , new belonging , new intimacy and new mercy . Look with me at verse 10 .

It says this , 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 . The new covenant promise comes with the promise of a new heart . You see , god doesn't just command from the outside , he changes us from the inside .

This is a heart-level transformation that he has on offer . The law is no longer just this external standard . It actually becomes an internal desire for those of us in the new covenant , because external religion cannot change the human heart . And so God reprograms our instincts so that we love what he loves . How does he do this ?

Well , an old hymn put it like this to see the law by Christ fulfilled and hear his pardoning voice changes a slave into a child and duty into choice . You see , our staff prayed through Psalm 119 , which is long , in one sitting on Monday of this past week , and we got to verse 97 , and it says this oh , how I love your law .

Anybody else , anybody else like ? Laying on their bed at night just going , oh , I just dream about your commandments ? Jesus David did . He was a little bit weird , to be honest . Read Psalm 1 , psalm 19

, psalm 119 . This is the way that people talk about the law of God . Why ? Because these aren't mere abstracted laws like speed limits . These are the personal laws of a personal God that reflect his character , who he really is . And so , because we love the Lord , we love the law of the Lord .

That's what the Spirit does in our hearts in the new covenant . The second thing , verse 10 , gives us new belonging . Look at this with me . It says and I will be their God and they shall be my people , no longer just servants but sons and daughters . God binds himself to us with the language of deep , personal , covenantal commitment .

He gives himself to us and claims us as his own , just in practice . This is what this looks like for me If I have a day or a week or something like that . That is just . I feel anxious or guilty . I'll put my hand on my heart like this and I'll walk and I'll just say , lord , I am your beloved and my beloved is mine . Jesus , you bought this mess .

I'm your mess and you're not gonna give up on me now because you promise I will be your God and they will be my people . I lay claim to this promise and I just bring it before him like you've kind of thrown in with me . Jesus , you're stuck with me . That was your doing . But here we are , come through on this new belonging that we share .

But not only a new belonging , but a new intimacy . A new intimacy . Look at verse 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 . In the new covenant there are no spiritual elites . There's no upper class in the kingdom of God .

There's no special access to hidden knowledge that some people have and other people don't , no insider access to God . That's not the way it works . Every believer , from the forgotten to the powerful , has direct personal knowledge of God . In the new covenant . You don't just know about God , you actually know God .

It's true , personal , experiential knowledge of the Father , the Son and the Holy Spirit , the transcendent sustainer of all things . That's the invitation of the new covenant . It's personal knowledge , it's not secondhand religion .

Let me ask you this John Owen says it like this in his commentary on this text he says the new covenant is an expressed promise of an internal , effectual teaching by the Spirit of God . Do you know that teaching ? Do you know the Spirit of God teaching you who God is , what God's like ? That's the invitation of the new covenant .

Fourth and finally , there's a new mercy . Look at verse 12 with me . It says this for I will be merciful toward their iniquities and I will remember their sins no more . This is a new mercy where our record is wiped clean no guilt , no shame , no divine cold shoulder .

This is a total pardon , full and free , so much so that God doesn't just forgive , he actually chooses never to bring our sins up again . The new covenant brings this commitment not only just to forgiveness on God's part , but forgetting even on God's part . I'll remember their sins no more .

So in the new covenant we get new hearts , new belonging , new intimacy and new mercy , and it's all summarized in a poem by a guy named John Barrett . He says it like this the new covenant and the old covenant relate like this Run John , run . The law commands , but gives us neither feet nor hands . Better news the gospel brings .

It bids us fly , but gives us wings . You better believe . Red Bull stole that from this dude . I'm telling you like there's copyright infringement or something . The gospel gives you wings , not Red Bull . That's what ? If you get a sound bite today , that's it right there . But what are these new wings ?

Well , I want to submit to you that the new wings are the new wings . Is the Holy Spirit dwelling within us .

Let me close here . Look at verse one again with me , if you would Look at the text . It says this Now , the point in what we're saying is this Okay , here's the point . This is what it's all about , if you've noticed this so far . It says this we have such a high priest , one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in heaven .

For some reason , the author of Hebrews is so captivated by this idea of the ascension of Jesus , far more captivated by it than I am . It's actually been instructive to me . Wow , I don't make enough of a big deal about the ascension of Jesus , because Hebrews does . What's going on here ?

Well , according to Acts 2 , 32 , the risen and ascended Jesus received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and then poured out the Spirit on the church . If Jesus is not ascended , the Spirit will not have descended . That's essential . That's why the ascension matters so much .

I wanna go as far as to to say the promise of the new covenant is the giving of the Holy Spirit to dwell in you . That's the definitive promise of the new covenant . They're all wrapped up in that one thing . If you don't believe me , let's just walk through this again .

The new hearts the Spirit takes out our hearts of stone and gives us a tender heart , according to Ezekiel 36 . The true belonging the Spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are sons and daughters of God . That's Romans 8 . The deep intimacy the Spirit is the one who leads us into all truth .

Jesus says I got a lot more to tell you than I can tell you right now . I'm going to send the Spirit and he's going to lead you deeper into the knowledge of God than I ever could . I'm going to send the Spirit , and he's going to lead you deeper into the knowledge of God than I ever could . And fourth and finally , total mercy .

The Spirit of God according to Romans 5 , pours out the love of the Father into our hearts , so that we respond by saying Abba , father , it's the Spirit of adoption dwelling in us . You see , the Holy Spirit is the gift of the new covenant . How do we go about bringing the pattern of heaven on earth ?

Only according to the promise of heaven on earth , which is the Holy Spirit .

That's the summary of what I'm trying to get across , and so let's settle this once and for all as a deeply held conviction , what I like to call a heart axiom upon which your entire life revolves around , and that is this God wants to be with you , he desires to dwell with you , so much so that he sent his son from heaven to earth to live and die and

resurrect and ascend . He sent his spirit from heaven to earth to dwell in you , to give you a new heart , new belonging , new intimacy and new mercy . This is God's plan for the world . Now here's a little preacher hack . When in doubt , pull CS Lewis out . So here we go In mere Christianity . He says this . Imagine yourself as a living house .

God comes in to rebuild that house . At first , perhaps you can understand what he's doing . He's getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof , and so on . You knew that those jobs needed doing , and so you're not that surprised . But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense .

What on earth is he up to ? Pause for a moment . That's a great question to ask the Lord often . Lord , what on earth are you up to ? What on earth are you up to ? What are you doing in my life and my family ? What on earth are you up to ? That's what CS Lewis asked .

The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of . Throwing out a new wing here , putting on an extra floor there , running up towers , making courtyards . You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage , but he is building a palace . He intends to come and live in it himself .

That's the good news of the new covenant . That's what we have . The gap between heaven and earth is not closed by our own efforts . It's closed by the sending of the sun and the spirit . And so you are not just a copy or a shadow . You are the real deal . You're the living temple of God , most high New city , the people of Jesus .

And so Ephesians 2.22 says in Christ , you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit . God's presence lives in you . Let him reshape your life to reflect heaven here and now , because this is the pattern and the promise of heaven on earth . Let's pray Come , holy Spirit . We take that ancient prayer on our lips .

We ask you to come and be with us , fill us afresh . This morning , we refuse to be about the task of heavenizing earth without the promise of heaven on earth dwelling in us by the Spirit . Spirit of God , come , exalt Jesus , bear witness to him in all of his grandeur and glory . We pray for his matchless namesake , amen .