Verse by Verse

Hi. I'm Erik Jones, and this is Verse by Verse, a short podcast all about exploring the insights and lessons of the inspired word of God.

In today's verse, we will read about one of the primary differences between the old and new covenant. Of course, the old covenant was the agreement or the contract god made with ancient Israel at Mount Sinai. It outlined the terms and conditions of his relationship with them as a nation, what was expected of them, and what he would do for them.

Years later, after Christ's death, he inaugurated the new covenant or a new contract. Instead of being with Israel as a nation, the new covenant is with individual Christians, the people god is calling from all nations. Now there are a few major differences between the old and new covenant. One of those major differences is how sins or transgressions of the law are dealt with. Now under the old covenant, sins could only be covered or forgiven by going through the priests who served at the tabernacle, later the temple.

Those priests were commissioned to perform certain animal sacrifices for the people in order for their transgressions to be covered. In this role, the priests served as mediators between the people and god. The people couldn't address god directly and ask for his forgiveness. That privilege didn't exist under the old covenant. They had to approach God and ask forgiveness through the priests.

They were the human bridges between God and the people. You can read about this system in Leviticus chapter 4. This chapter lays out how the people were required to bring an animal sacrifice to the priest when they sinned. Throughout the chapter, we read the words, so the priest shall make atonement for him, the offender, and it shall be forgiven him. The main point is this, Sins could only be covered by going through the priests.

One natural problem with this system was that there had to be ceremonies in place for the priests as well because they were also human beings and also sinned. To clarify, that wasn't a problem with the system. The problem was the people. Because they were imperfect and fell short of God's standard and sin, the system had inherent problems, but the new covenant has an entirely different system for dealing with sin. Under the new covenant, god no longer works through physical priests acting as mediators between himself and man.

That system of physical priests was replaced. Instead of physical mediators, there would now be 1 single mediator with a capital m. Today's scripture, Hebrews 9 verse 15, describes that new system and that mediator. Let's read it. And for this reason, he, Jesus Christ, is the mediator of the new covenant by means of death for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

So under the new covenant, there is one mediator between god and man, and that is Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Instead of offering physical animal sacrifices, he offered him self as the one and only true sacrifice for sin that was accomplished by his sacrificial death. Through his death, we can be completely redeemed, cleansed, and wiped clean of our sins. Now under the old covenant, sins were merely covered and physical penalties removed because true eternal forgiveness wasn't possible through the shedding and sacrifice of animal blood. Only the blood of god in the flesh could truly accomplish that, and only through his sacrifice and death is eternal life possible.

No matter how many times the priests under that old covenant system made sacrificial offerings for sin, their work could never qualify a person to receive eternal life. Now this is a really big topic, and we hardly skimmed the surface in this short episode. That's why I'd like to invite you to read the link in the show notes for more information. The link will more fully explain Christ's role as our high priest under the new covenant. Everyone who is listening to this episode, including the one presenting it, has fallen short of God's standards and needs a mediator between them and God.

Thankfully, Hebrews 9 verse 15 shows that mediator, with a capital m is alive, active, and on the job today.

Verse by Verse is a companion podcast to the daily bible verse blog which you can find on the Life, Hope and Truth Learning Center. Check out the show notes for more.