JUST A SHADOW

SERIES: JESUS IS BETTER – THE BETTER COVENANT

TEXT: HEBREWS 8:1-6

This morning in the light of the Passover (Easter) we are beginning a new section of the book of Hebrews. Our theme is “JESUS IS BETTER – THE BETTER COVENANT”

The writer is showing us that this world is not enough

This world is just a shadow of things to come. There is something more that is lasting and fulfilling inside every person’s heart, there is a desire to endure, to live on and to move into real living that has no limits and no end.

Jesus Christ offers that reality to us. Jesus Christ came to bring us permanence and to turn out hearts from earthly shadows to eternal reality. That is another reason why God will never allow the human heart to be satisfied by that which is false (Hebrews 8:1)

Let us learn:-

I.  EARTHLY POWER VS ENTERNAL POWER (HEB.8:2)

• Once Jesus entered heaven, He sat down at the right hand of God the father
• Jesus sat down because He had finished His task
• The right hand of the throne of God speaks of His power and authority in heaven
• All of the high priests before Jesus had power over the people
• People depended on the high priest to have their sins forgiven
• But the problem with this old covenant was that those men all died.
• The power of the high priest was just a shadow of the one true high priest Jesus Christ
• What Jesus did will last forever (V.2)

II.  EARTHLY WORSHIP VS ETERNAL WORSHIP (HEB. 8:3-4)

• The high priest was all about procedures and the service.
• Through the years, the people were more worried about going through the proper motions, than worshipping God, just like today in priestly churches.
• True worship of God is a focus on God. True worship is a God focused heart.
• The tabernacle was a type of Jesus Christ, the meeting place between God and man.
• The heavenly tabernacle is Jesus Christ. We now meet at the cross of Jesus Christ, our tabernacle.
• Eternal worship is focused on Him who sits at the eternal throne of God (Rev. 5:1-14)

III.  EARTHLY FORGIVENESS VS ETERNAL FORGIVENESS (HEB. 8:5)

• Earthly forgiveness is incomplete, because although we may forgive we don’t forget
• God’s forgiveness removes and blots away sin out of memory, the memory of sin is never brought back.
• Human forgiveness cannot remove guilt, but God’s can.
• Only in God there is complete forgiveness and only in God does forgiveness forget and remove guilt.

IV.  HUMAN WISDOM VS. DIVINE WISDOM (HEB 8:6)

• When Moses was up on the mountain getting the 10 commandments, God showed him a blueprint.
• God said, “I want you to build a tabernacle” exactly like God showed him.
• Moses was not trusted to his own wisdom.
• Moses was not to build what he wanted.
• God has a design for your own life also.
• If you build your life according to the blueprint of God, you will find perfection in that, your life will fulfill the purpose for which you were created.
• If you depend on your own wisdom, you waste your life and destroy your life in the end.

V.  EARTHLY PROMISES VS. ETERNAL PROMISES (HEB. 8:6)

• Jesus Christ our mediator stands available and willing to bring both sides together.
• Earthly promises are made and broken every day.
• But Jesus Christ offers the eternal promise of salvation if only we will surrender our life to Him.
• The New Testament is far much better and superior to the Old Testament
• The New Testament has better promises, because they are eternal.

CONCLUSION

• Without Jesus Christ, you are dead spiritually and eternally cut off from God.
• If you turn your heart to Jesus, He will bring you into life everlasting. Amen