1) What image do you have of what Jesus is doing today? How do you picture His involvement in the day-to-day issues of your life?
2) Name some items that bear the phrase “new and improved.” What’s so different about them compared to the item it replaced?
3) How did people relate to God before Jesus came? How do we relate to Him now?
We get a glimpse into what Jesus is doing today in verses 1-2. Here we read He is seated at the right hand of the throne and serving in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle. The seated aspect identifies His kingly role; His authority over all things. The serving aspect identifies His priestly role; His ministering on our behalf. Like Melchizedek, whom we read about earlier, Jesus is both king and priest.
New and improved! It doesn’t seem like those two words should go together. Either you’ve improved on something that was before or you’ve created something new. When Jesus came it wasn’t to improve upon the covenant already in place; it was to establish a new covenant between God and His people. Jesus wasn’t qualified to be part of what was already in place (8:4). He came to set up a new, superior and better way (8:6).
The new covenant that Jesus instituted was based not upon the law but upon a relationship. Connecting with God would no longer be about the external, but rather the internal. No longer knowing about Him, but rather knowing Him intimately (8:10-12). Jesus made it possible for us to have an ongoing, vibrant, personal relationship with God.
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