A BETTER HOPE
HEBREWS 7:18-19 NKJV
18 For on the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 19 for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a better hope, through which we draw near to God.
This chapter seven is revealing Jesus as our High Priest and contrasting the law of Moses with the new life we have through Jesus. The writer is speaking to Jewish believers being pressured to go back under the law. He is proclaiming Jesus as being a better High Priest and the guarantee of the better covenant.
In that context, the writer talks about the law of Moses being imperfect. This old law depended on the hearers keeping fleshly commandments. The unfortunate thing was that this made the law weak because the flesh is weak. If anyone could have kept the law, if the law produced righteousness, then there would have been no need for God to send Jesus. The law is good, but mankind is unable to keep it.
Thank God for Jesus. This is why verse 19 states that the law made nothing perfect or a better word would be complete. But on the other hand, the bringing in of a better hope did make us complete, and by this hope, we draw near to God.
No longer are we trying in our own strength to keep all of God's laws so that we might be right in His sight. Oh, we do want to keep all of God's commandments and ways. But now we keep His word because we have been made right. Because we have been made complete through the work of Jesus, we have the capacity to walk in righteousness and live right before God. The Mosaic law showed up man's weakness and frailty. The completed work of Christ did for man what the law could never do. Now, we are not trying to be right. We've been made right, and we live accordingly.
One of the key advantages of being made complete in God's sight is our ability to now draw close to God. In the Old Testament, under the Mosaic law, only the High Priest could come into the Holy of Holies once a year. He would come in with the blood of goats and calves for his sins and the sins of the people. But since Jesus is our High Priest, He entered into the Holy of Holies in heaven with His own blood for our sins. But now that we are clean, we can come into God's presence without fear or shame. This is our better hope. This is how we can come near to God.
APPLICATION
This better hope is the basis of our relationship with God. It's because of His grace that was given to us in Christ that we have an entirely new way of approaching God. We still come to Him with the greatest of respect and reverence, but we come without the fear of His rejection or punishment. A better hope means a better expectation. Our hope is based on Jesus and His completed work for us that made us complete. We are truly a blessed people!
PRAYER
Lord, thank You for what You have done. Heavenly Father, thank You that I can come near to You without fear. Thank You for my better hope!