Jesus is Better

We live in the land of better! Or at least, we’ve been discipled by our culture to find something better, or make ourselves better, or purchase what is better. Commercials are the stuff of better. This fall we’ve been bombarded by the new iPhone 16 ads promising you a better phone with a better experience. You purchase this iPhone you’ll have better performance; you’ll have better storage, and you’ll have better AI capabilities. Apple wants you to know this, so you’ll turn in your old iPhone for something better. Influencers offer ways of living that are better. Follow the right relationship coach and you’ll learn how to relate better with your spouse. Follow the right workout guru and you’ll learn how to have better abs. Follow the right nutritional expert and you’ll have a better diet, and so on. Financial Advisors offer you better ways to invest your retirement income. I looked into this one this week. The best investments right now are High-Yield Savings Accounts, followed by CD’s, followed by bonds, followed by investing in Mutual Funds, and finally stocks. This got me to thinking about changing a few things. Why? Because like you, I want what’s best for me and what’s best for my family. And all of us are pretty much discipled the same way by our culture: we want to enjoy the better things of life, we want to enjoy better health, better relationships and better financial outcomes. That’s just human nature. We live in the land of better. And some of us here are doing better at finding what is better, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

But did you ever stop and think about all the ways Jesus makes your life better? Have you ever stopped to ponder how great it is to have Jesus as your high priest? Well, we’ve been doing that for a number of weeks now in the New Testament Letter of Hebrews, and we’ve learned some pretty great things about Jesus. This letter begins by detailing for us how Jesus is a better Prophet than all who came before him. Now, when we read about Jesus, we get to see and know exactly what God is like. We next learned how Jesus is better than the angels, because as God’s Son, he took on flesh and defeated sin and death by his resurrection. Then we say that Jesus is better than any man who ever lived. Because He became one of us and was tempted and suffered just like us but never sinned. And Jesus is better than Moses, because he became our merciful and faithful high priest, so that now He represents you before a holy God. And today, as we come again to God’s Word, we’re not only going to see how Jesus is better than any high priest, but because He is our High Priest, we are going to see, how He is a mediator of a better covenant between you and God. And from this, we are going to see how Jesus makes our lives so much better with God. So, if you want a better life with God, then let me encourage you to open your Bible to Hebrews 8:1-3, where we’re going to see just how Jesus is so much better than any high priest and how when we trust in Him, Jesus makes everything better. So, if you’ve found Hebrews 8, let’s start where the author does, by unpacking for us how Jesus is a better priest.

1. Jesus is a Better Priest
In these first 5 verses the writer spells out 5 features of His high priestly ministry that reveal the superiority of Jesus’ priesthood over that of the Old Testament priests:

First, the writer reminds us that Jesus is a better priest in that Jesus is our perfect high priest, by starting off saying, “We do have such a high priest.” After all, that’s what the previous chapter was about, closing off by telling us how God “appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.” Hebrews 7:28 Jesus was perfect as God’s Son from the start to the finish of his earthly life, but it was in His work as our high priest, both in sacrificing His life and presenting His blood, that He became the perfect high priest for every sinner, forever.

Next, the writer quickly reveals that Jesus is a better priest by reminding us that we have a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven. In other words, Jesus has taken his royal place at heaven’s throne. As our King, Jesus is the One who single-handily determines God’s attitude toward all His Kingdom. Jesus is our high priest who reigns over us. With Jesus as our priestly King, we need never fear what’s happening today, or for what tomorrow might bring, for Jesus reigns today and will reign over us forever!

Thirdly, Jesus is a better priest than all the Old Testament priests because Jesus’ work as our High Priest is finished. With those words, “We do have such a high priest, who sat down” we have the image of our great high priest who has accomplished His work once and for all. There is a contrast here with the Levitical priests of the Old Testament, who never sat down inside the Tabernacle. There were no seats there, so they were not invited to do so. Furthermore, the symbolism here has to do with the finished work of Christ versus the unfinished and therefore ongoing sacrifices of those earthly priests. Their work was not finished, their sacrifices were not sufficient, their atonement was not actual but only pointed forward to the better one to come. That is why they did not sit down. But Christ’s work is finished. Jesus’ sacrifice of Himself is sufficient to reconcile us to God, and His atonement takes away our sin forever. This is why, when Jesus sat down at God’s right hand, it signified that His sacrificial priestly work was finished.

Fourthly, Jesus is a better priest because Jesus sits at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. Jesus sits in the seat of all power and authority, which he exercises for our blessing: Here is where our assurance is grounded. Jesus is there as our forerunner. And since you are united in Christ when you trust in Him, you are currently seated with Him in heaven. He guarantees our place. This is what Paul meant when he wrote: “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:6) This happened in the past, but it has present implications. This is a permanent seat in heaven with Jesus that we share. Jesus is not bound by time as we are – so it is a present reality: If you are united with Christ in faith, you are seated with Jesus in the highest place. This reality cannot change. It’s based on God’s truth, not our feelings. So once again, this makes Jesus a better high priest. His work is done, and we now sit with Him in eternity. Thus, we find full assurance of salvation in Christ Jesus who is seated in heaven.

Now, the final feature of Jesus’ superiority as our high priest is this: Jesus is better because He brings us near to God! It is Jesus “who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.” Jesus is there in heaven, the true tabernacle where God Himself dwells, and it is the goal of His present work there, to bring us to where God is, near to Him in heaven.

The author shows us how much better is Jesus, than earthly priests. His ministry is superior to the earthly and ineffective ministry of Israel’s priests. His ministry is superior to every empty religion that tries to earn its way to God, and His ministry is superior to anything you can do or add to what He’s already done for you. To even think that your works are on par with His is an insult to the greatness of Jesus. For what He has done and is doing is so much better than any of us could ever dream of doing. That makes Jesus an infinitely better high priest than any that came before, because who Jesus is and what Jesus has done to bring us to God makes Him incomparable! There is really no one like Jesus. Jesus is better!

And now, to put the icing on the cake, the author shifts focus from who Jesus is as our high priest, to who He is as the Mediator of the New Covenant. So, let’s take a look at how as the mediator of this new covenant, how Jesus makes our life so much better.

2. Jesus Mediates a Better Covenant
But in fact, the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. Hebrews 8:6-7 Here Jesus is identified as the mediator of a better covenant. A mediator is someone who stands between two people and brings them together, a go-between between a dispute or conflict. He must represent both parties. In the Old Covenant, a priest served as the mediator between God and men. However, these priests were not very effective. They did what God wanted them to do, but they could only make sacrifices for themselves and for others. What they could not do was this: They could not bring men and God together. So, they were not real mediators, only reflections of the true Mediator to come.

But now that Jesus has come, He is able to bring men and God together. His high priestly ministry is better because by His sacrifice He personally is able to bring men to God. And now as the mediator of a better covenant between God and men, the writer quotes from Jeremiah 31:31-34, revealing how the new covenant has come with Jesus, and through Jesus, we see how this new covenant makes the old one obsolete.
So, lets’ look at all the rich blessings that are packed into God’s Covenant with us. First of all,

It is written by God: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. Hebrews 8:8
The Jews reading this would immediately recognize that God had promised to make a new covenant with them. It originates with God; it comes from His well, and it spells out what God promises to do for the recipients of His will. That’s what a covenant is. It is literally a will written by God for the benefit of His people. It is a revelation of God’s grace to His people. The ones receiving this will, they have no part in determining the benefits. It’s all based on what God wants to do for them. It comes from the heart of God, how He alone has decided to pour out His grace upon His people. He makes it. He writes it. He alone determies how He wants to bless us.

It is different from the Old: It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. Hebrews 8:9 The New Covenant is not slightly different, but radically different, from the old one. The old one was based on the law, but the new one is based on grace. The blessings of the Old Covenant were conditioned on Israel’s obedience to the law that God gave them with the covenant. But because Israel did not continue to obey, God withheld His care for them. Under the law, His care depended on their continuance. Israel’s disobedience did not nullify God’s covenant promises to them, but because of their willful disobedience, they forfeited all the blessings of it. It was a covenant of law. But the new covenant is a covenant of grace.

It is made with Israel: This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. Hebrews 8:10 The New covenant is not made with the church, as some seem to think. It is made with the same people the Old Covenant was made with: Israel. Gentiles can be beneficiaries of the New Covenant, just like they could be beneficiaries of the Old. But both covenants were made with Israel alone.

Here’s how we become connected to this new covenant: when you are saved by trusting in Jesus, you become a spiritual descendant of Abraham. Listen to how Paul explains this:: Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” Galatians 3:7-8. So, the Abrahamic Covenant is fulfilled when you accept the single requirement of the New Covenant – faith in Jesus Christ. The Bible makes this clear: “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise” Gal. 3:29
It is not legalistic: It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. Hebrews 8:9 Again, the new covenant is a covenant of grace, not of the law. The Law only reveals to us where we fall short. Its burdensome. We cannot keep the law. As James reminds us, For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. James 2:10 So, under the New covenant, Jesus set us free from the bonds of legalism. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 When you live under the law you are never free. Living for God becomes a legalistic burden, that you can never remove.

It is internal, not external: 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 Everything under the old covenant was primarily external. Under the old covenant obedience was done primarily out of fear of punishment. Under the New our obedience is motivated out of love for the Father who gave us mercy when we deserved judgement. It is motivated out of thanksgiving for the One who forgave us and gave us new life with Him.

Formerly God’s law was given on stone tablets and was to be written on wrists and foreheads and doorposts as reminders (Deuteronomy 6:8-9). Even when the old law was given, of course, it was intended to be in His people’s hearts. But the people could not write them on their hearts. But now under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in our hearts and changes us from the inside out and makes us new people. People who want to please God, people who are grateful for what He has done, people who now worship Him in Spirit and truth. It is internal, not external.

It is personal: 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. Hebrews 8:11 Under the New covenant we can know God personally. We can know God as our Father and walk in step with the Spirit. We can learn God’s heart and know what He is like. And this knowledge is not for the elite or learned. From the least of us the greatest, we can experience this intimate knowledge of God, because the Spirit lives in us and helps us to know God. It is personal.

It brings total forgiveness: For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 Here is the capstone of the new covenant. Here is what we need more than anything else – and what the Old Covenant could not give. Under the old covenant, sins could never really be forgotten, because they were never fully forgiven. They were only covered, foreshadowing and anticipating true forgiveness in Jesus Christ. But for those who believe in Jesus today, Jesus takes away every sin and God remembers them no more.

It is for now: By calling this covenant “new,” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. Hebrews 8:13 By His merely saying that a new covenant was coming, God rendered the old one obsolete. In fact, it would soon disappear. The writer of Hebrews could not have known how literally this truth would be fulfilled. In AD 70, When Titus destroyed Jerusalem, he destroyed the Temple. Without the Temple, there was no altar, no Holy of Holies. There could therefore be no sacrifices and no priesthood. And without a priesthood and its sacrifices, there could be no Old Covenant. It was finished.

However, it was finished long before that. The old sacrificial system actually ended the moment Jesus spoke these words on the cross, “It is finished.” At that time, Jesus died for the sins of the world once and for all. The debt of every sin was paid in full. Therefore, there was no longer a need for the old sacrificial system. The age of the Mosaic Law and the Levitical priests was over. Jesus’ death means that the old covenant is no longer necessary. It’s obsolete. It’s been replaced by God’s new covenant in Christ, where Jesus has become the mediator between God and man. For
the Bible says, For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people. 2 Timothy 2:5-6

This is the blessing of the New Covenant. It is God’s will to bless you with His grace, and remove the burden of living an external religious reality that never delivers. It is God’s will to include you in His blessings and make you His own. It is God’s will to write His law in your heart and change you from the inside out. It is God’s will to help you know Him and walk with Him by giving you, His Spirit. It is God’s will that now through your faith in Jesus, you can now know Him as your loving Father. And it is God’s will for you to experience total forgiveness and be reconciled to Him.

For it is God’s will that through this better covenant mediated by Jesus, you can experience peace with God today and forever. For Jesus is not just a better high priest. He is the mediator of a better covenant. A covenant where He promises you a life of freedom, acceptance, transformation, love and forgiveness – simply by giving you, His Son. And all He wants from you, is to receive the gift of His Son He so gladly gives. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

So yes, we do live in the land of better. But there’s no one better than Jesus. This is why Jesus is the better high priest, and the mediator of a better covenant. For God wants to give you, not just a better life, but eternal life with Him. So, let I ask you:
Do you want a life free from the law and full of grace?
Do you want a life free from guilt and full of love?
Do you want a life where God fills your heart and guides your path?
Do you want a life where you know you are completely forgiven?

If that’s what you want, then receive God’s give, trust in Jesus, for He will not simply make your life better. He will change your life forever.