But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.
— Hebrews 8:6
It was never in the mind of God that a privileged priesthood of sinful, imperfect men would attempt, following the death and triumphant resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, to repair the veil and continue their office of mediation between God and man. The letter to the Hebrews makes that fact very plain. When Jesus rose from the dead, the Levitical priesthood, which had served Israel under the Old Covenant, became redundant.
God's better plan for an eternal High Priest and a sinless Mediator is also made plain in the letter to the Hebrews. Jesus glorified at the right hand of the Majesty in the heavens is now our High Priest forever. His priesthood is not after the order of Aaron and Levi but after the enduring priesthood of Melchizedek. Those are highlights in the Hebrews message concerning the better covenant, the better priesthood and the better hope resting upon the completed work of Jesus Christ for lost mankind. We read:
Jesus . . . Has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. . . . When there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law. . . . The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. . . . If there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another (Hebrews 6:20; 7:12, 18–19; 8:7).
thought
We are heirs of the new covenant (Jeremiah 31:31–34). Ours is an eternal high priest who always lives to intercede for us. And our hope is based on our crucified, risen, glorified Savior Lord!
prayer
You, O Lord, are my Savior, my Mediator, my Enabler. Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
We are in the midst of the storm of life.
The believing saints of God are on board the ship.
Someone looks to the horizon and warns, "We are directly in the path of the typhoon! We are as good as dead. We will surely be dashed to pieces on the rocks!"
But calmly someone else advises, "Look down, look down! We have an anchor!" We look, but the depth is too great. We cannot see the anchor. But the anchor is there. It grips the immovable rock and holds fast. Thus the ship outrides the storm.
The Holy Spirit has assured us that we have an Anchor, steadfast and sure, that keeps the soul. Jesus—Savior, Redeemer and our great High Priest—He is that Anchor.
He is the One who has gone before us. He has already entered into the calm and quiet harbor, the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.
Where Jesus is now, there we will be—forever.
The Spirit is saying to us, "Keep on believing.
Pursue holiness.
Show diligence and hold full assurance of faith to the very end.
Follow those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."
He is faithful!
verse
By faith Abraham, even though he was past age—and Sarah herself was barren—was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.
— Hebrews 11:11
thought
Believing in Christ is not merely an intellectual exercise.
It involves wilful and trusting life commitment to the Lord—when we can see clearly and when we cannot not.
Keep on believing as did Abraham for twenty-five years, and we will find that our Anchor is sure.
prayer
Lord, You are faithful! Forgive my wavering faith—burning brightly at times and at others, pitifully dimming.
I want to believe and keep on believing and believing and believing.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Because holiness is God's being, He cannot lie. Because He is God, He cannot violate the holy nature of His being.
God does not will to lie. He does not will to cheat. He does not will to deceive. He does not will to be false to His own dear people.
Or to put it positively, in the very perfection of His character, God wills to be true to His children. Because He is perfect and because He is holy, His believing children are safe.
Confidently knowing that the Lord God omnipotent reigns, and knowing that He is able to do all that He wills to do, I have no more doubts.
I am safely held in the arms of the all-powerful God.
There is no better way to conclude a discussion like this than with the definition of this omnipotent God given in Hebrews:
Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath.
God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 6:17–20).
verse
The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. . . .
— Deuteronomy 33:27
thought
Our God is eternal, infinitely holy and altogether omnipotent.
We may climb into His arms and confidently trust Him. His love is unfailing.
prayer
O God, You are the omnipotent, all-powerful One.
I sink into Your everlasting arms. Y
ou are my refuge!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
I must confess in behalf of all of us that we humans are not as wise as God is.
For example, there are men and women forever wishing they might find someone able to predict the future for them. No one can do so with accuracy.
Also, we frequently fail to live up to our promises. But there is no such failure with God. He knows everything that can be known. He is perfect in wisdom. God never has to excuse Himself with a "Well, my intentions were good, but I failed."
His ability to deliver on His promises is tied directly to His omnipotence. If God was not omnipotent, He would be unable to keep His promises. He could not give any of us assurance of salvation.
This attribute of God we call omnipotence does not really mean that God can do anything.
It means that He is the only Being who can do anything He wills to do.
We understand up to a point that God is perfect in love and wisdom, in holiness and strength. Still, it is impossible for us to comprehend what the Lord God means when He says, "I am the holy God."
We may, however, come to the understanding that "holy" is the way God is, and that He has made holiness the moral condition necessary to the health of His entire universe.
verse
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his holy mountain, for the LORD our God is holy.
— Psalm 99:9
thought
Holy is what God is. He is not only holy but He is holy.
There is no human standard by which to measure divine holiness.
God's absolute holiness is humanly incomprehensible but the nearer we draw to Him, the holier we become.
prayer
Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty! What You will to do You do. Fulfillment of Your promises is beyond question. I would draw near to You O Holy One!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
I have always considered it a little humorous that sinful men who cannot trust each other call on God or the Holy Bible to witness that a sinful being is not going to tell a lie.
I suspect there is a chuckle in hell whenever a person in one of our courts promises before God that he or she will "tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth."
With all of that by way of background, let me tell you my theory.
I believe God made an accommodation and went along with our way of doing things. When during Abraham's time He made a promise to save His people, God took an oath to confirm the covenant. And because He could call on no one greater, He swore by Himself! Our faithful God has so sworn for all who will be heirs of the promise.
Are we going to trust God?
Are we going to commit our entire future to Him?
What more assurance do we need than the character of God Himself?
It is God's own eternal Person and His faithful character that tell us our salvation is secured through the blood of Jesus Christ, our Savior.
It is because God is who He is that we can trust Him and be assured that His covenant will never change.
How rewarding it is to be able to make a proclamation like this! Our forgiveness, our hope for salvation, our confidence in the life to come rest upon God's unchanging love and faithfulness.
verse
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
— Romans 8:38–39
thought
God's promise, His unfailing love and great faithfulness provide solid foundation for our unconditional trust in Him.
Even when we cannot see Him or sense His presence, He is there!
And nothing, absolutely nothing can separate us from His love.
prayer
O Lord, who You are and what You have done for me give unquestioned assurance that I can depend wholly upon You even in the extremely painful experiences of life. Thank You!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Note this theme in Psalm 89.
In that psalm, the Holy Spirit has dictated a plain message. He goes far beyond the reference to King David. Rather, he is describing David's greater Son, even Jesus, the eternal Son and Lord of all. The Holy Spirit is not speaking concerning the earthly David who would die. He is speaking of a Son, of whom He says:
He will call out to me, "You are my Father, my God, the Rock my Savior." I will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth. I will maintain my love to him forever, and my covenant with him will never fail (89:26–28).
This Son could be none other than Jesus.
And the unfailing covenant God makes with Him is ours. It will never fail because it is God who has promised, and God can be counted on.
I hope what I have been reviewing here is plain. A promise—any promises—nothing in and of itself.
The value of the promise depends on the character of the one who makes it.
We know only too well the history of men and women.
They make promises and covenants, but often those promises and covenants are broken. They are not kept.
verse
Once for all, I have sworn by my holiness—and I will not lie to David—that his line will continue forever and his throne endure before me like the sun.
— Psalm 89:35–36
thought
With David and his descendants God made a covenant. There is judgment when those descendants turn from God but the covenant is not cancelled. It stands and finds complete fulfillment in the Davidic seed, Jesus Christ (Rev 22:16).
prayer
Thank You, Father, for Your covenant faithfulness and Your unfailing love. In Jesus' name.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Because of His love for us, God already has taken the initiative.
He has left us without room for human excuse.
If God cannot get us concerned about His own things and our shortcomings, He cannot do anything at all for us.
If His grace and mercy cannot move us, He cannot save us.
This brings us right back to our starting point. Our Christian hope and the promises of God all rest upon the very character of the triune God. We are New Testament believers. We are saved through the terms of a new covenant. That new covenant is based in the love and grace of the One who created us and then gave His life for our redemption. Of His own free will God has made a pledge and given us a covenant.
A Christian is a Christian and remains a Christian because of the bond between the persons of the Godhead and himself or herself.
Note this theme in Psalm 89.
In that psalm, the Holy Spirit has dictated a plain message. He goes far beyond the reference to King David. Rather, he is describing David's greater Son, even Jesus, the eternal Son and Lord of all.
The reference is to the kind of covenant a faithful God has made with the people of His choice.
The statements made by God to David's progeny and David's people are almost unconditional.
God does not make unconditional promises to our race, but these in Psalm 89 are as nearly unconditional as any we will ever find.
verse
You said, 'I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant, I will establish your line forever and make your throne firm through all generations.'
— Psalm 89:3–4
thought
Christ is the fulfillment of the Davidic Covenant. Christ has laid aside the old Mosaic Covenant and established a new one by His death and resurrection—a covenant in which we may be included by faith commitment to Him.
prayer
Thank You, Lord, for the new covenant You have made with me, fulfillment of which is assured because of Your faithfulness.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
Throughout this letter, the writer leaves us in no doubt concerning the supreme authority vested in Jesus Christ, the eternal Son.
Early on, he states the thesis of the letter: Because the message concerning Jesus Christ is true, we must give it our full and complete commitment.
The Holy Scriptures are like that. The Bible is frank, logical, honest.
Certain things are true, the Bible is saying, and here they are.
And because those things are true, these are your obligations. That is the way God has seen fit to work in His communication with the men and women of this planet. In the past, there have been those who have looked at what the Bible has to say, and they have reasoned like this: "No argument. Christ carries the supreme authority of God.
That leaves us no room to be concerned, no reason to be disturbed. Everything is in God's hands!"
But God's Word declares that it is not quite that simple.
God has made everyone of us with a free will.
He has made us capable of choosing or rejecting.
For us to ignore the authority that God has given to His Son is a grave offense, indeed.
verse
Then Jesus came to them and said, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.'
— Matthew 28:18
thought
All authority in Heaven and on earth belongs to Christ. But God in His sovereignty has given us freedom to submit to or reject that authority. How we respond carries present and eternal consequences.
prayer
Father, You have endowed me with freedom of choice. Possession of such freedom sometimes frightens me. Oh, may I clearly discerrn Your will and have the good sense to do it!
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/
God's Word, which is God's truth, and God's Spirit unite to arouse our highest emotions.
Because He is God and worthy of our praise, we will find the ability to praise Him and to glorify Him.
Some religious and evangelistic techniques are directed almost entirely to the emotions of those who are listening to the appeal.
They are psychology, not Spirit-directed conviction. They are unrelated to the sweet, tender ways of the God of all mercy and all grace. I have to disagree with religious appeal that supposes if someone in the audience can be moved to shed a tear, a saint has been made.
Or that if a husky listener can be touched emotionally to the point that he must blow his nose as though it was Gabriel's trumpet, all will be well with his soul.
I warn you that there is no connection whatsoever between the human manipulation of our emotions, on the one hand, and, on the other, the confirmation of God's revealed truth in our beings through the ministry of His Holy Spirit.
When in our Christian experience our emotions are raised, it must be the result of what God's truth is doing for us. If that is not so, it is not properly religious stirring at all.
verse
While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message.
— Acts 10:44
thought
We have all been in services when those in charge resorted to emotional manipulation. How different the certain moving of God's Spirit which may be expressed by external emotion or none at all. Yet in heart we are strangely moved and know that God has spoken.
prayer
Lord, rebuke me when I try to move people. It is You who must move them.
https://cmalliance.org/devotionals/tozer/