| Friday, January 21, 2005 Meditation Hebrews 8:6-13 Jesus has now obtained a more excellent ministry . . . he is the mediator of a better covenant. (Hebrews 8:6) Don’t you find it astounding that the Lord of all creation would want to bind himself in a covenant relationship with the ones he created? But, amazingly, this has always been God’s desire. Even before he formed the first man and woman, his intention was to walk with his people. Beginning with Abraham, God entered into a covenant in which he called his people to follow his ways and promised to watch over them. Then, when he rescued their descendants from slavery in Egypt, he strengthened this covenant relationship through Moses and established his people as a holy nation set apart for his purposes. Again and again, God showed his mercy toward them and offered to them an ever-deepening intimacy with him. In this covenant, God taught his people to live in a way that honored him as their Creator and Protector. Having given them his commandments, he also showed them what to do if they were disobedient. Every year, he called them to be cleansed from any acts of disobedience through a sacrificial liturgy that involved the shedding of the blood of sheep and goats. Thus, the people would recommit themselves to the covenant and continue to know God’s special blessings. But God had even greater plans. He was looking forward to—and preparing the ground for—something much more intimate. Through Jesus, he established a new covenant in which he himself would dwell within us! Instead of commandments written on stone, he would give us a new heart and a new mind where his will and his purposes would be engraved. This new covenant would be established through the blood that Jesus shed on the cross. No longer would there be a need for annual sacrifices for sin. Brothers and sisters, Jesus has given us great hope. Now that we are cleansed from within by his own blood, the Holy Spirit can dwell in us. Everything that God intended from the very beginning has been given to us in Christ. That’s how much he is committed to us! “Lord, great are your mercies! I am overwhelmed at your unquenchable love. Your covenant is perfect and glorious—just as you yourself are perfect in love!” |
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