Who wants to sit under a ministry of death!?! – Monday, 13 August

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second… For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Hebrews 8:6-8, 11-13 ESV
 

The New Covenant is described as a ministry that is “much more excellent than the old”, “a better covenant” with “better promises”. The word “obsolete” means to no longer use because something newer exists, or to be replaced by something newer (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). The Old Covenant would not have been made obsolete if it were faultless. But the Old Covenant was unable to deal with sin and make us perfect (Hebrews 1:1-10), and so there was a need for a New Covenant, and now the Old Covenant has been replaced by the New.

 
“Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone (the ten commandments), came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not the ministry of the Spirit (the New Covenant) have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. Indeed, in this case, what once had glory has come to have no glory at all, because of the glory that surpasses it. For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.”
2 Corinthians 3:7-11 ESV (Brackets mine)
 

This verse paints a very clear contrast between the Old and New Covenants. Firstly, the Old Covenant is described as a ministry of death – which means that there is no life in it and it has no ability to produce life. It’s interesting that while there was glory in the Old Covenant (and we see that in Moses’ face shining so brightly because of God’s glory He had encountered and seen), the Word says that the New Covenant is much more glorious. This verse says it “must far exceed it in glory”. Moses was the only one to experience God’s glory (for a moment) first hand, but in the New Covenant, we can all personally experience His glory (and it stays).

 
“For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus”
1 Timothy 2:5 ESV
 

Under the Old Covenant Moses was the mediator (like a middle man) between God and the people. In the New Covenant, we do not need to relate to God through a middle-man (priest, prophet, pastor) because Jesus made a way for us to have a relationship with God directly.