Introducing a Better Hope

“On the one hand there is an annulling of the former commandment because of its weakness and unprofitableness, 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.” Heb. 7:18-19.

We need to ask ourselves: “By which hope did they draw near to God in the first covenant?” The answer is: In the hope that their sins would be forgiven. Nevertheless, they knew that they would soon sin again. What, then, is this “better hope”? It is that I can receive forgiveness for my sins, and that I need never commit those sins again. Christ did not enter the Holy of Holies with the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in—once for all—and obtained eternal redemption for us. Heb. 9:9-15.

The blood of Jesus is much more than the blood of goats and bulls. By His blood we receive not only forgiveness for our sins but we are set free, so that we no longer need to commit them again. The blood of bulls and goats could only sanctify to the cleansing of the flesh from sins already committed. How much more shall the blood of Christ cleanse our conscience from dead works to serve the living God! In other words, we are no longer obligated to serve sin!

Are you drawing near to God in this better hope, or do you only have the old hope? When you pray for forgiveness, are you still reckoning on committing the same sins again before long?

If the answer is “yes,” then you don’t believe that the blood of Jesus is any different than the blood of bulls and goats, “for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” Heb. 10:4 and 11. “But now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.” Heb. 9:26.

In the first covenant they drew near to God in the hope of putting some things in order in accordance with His will. In the new covenant, however, we have a much better hope. Now everything can be conformed to God’s perfect will. The first covenant could not perfect the conscience of the worshipper, but the new covenant can. This is the better hope we have in the new covenant, in the blood of Jesus. “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect.” Heb. 10:1.

This is the reason why Jesus came and did away with the shadow—the sacrifices: to sacrifice His own body and do the will of God. He abolished the first and established the second. The new covenant establishes that which is perfect: namely, doing God’s will. When we enter the new covenant we forsake everything and present ourselves for obedience to the entire will of God. By thus yielding to God’s will, we become members of the body of Christ; by this will we are “sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.” Heb. 10:1-10.

Then we are baptized by one Spirit to be the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:13), and in this Spirit we can present our bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, and acceptable to God—which is our spiritual worship. Rom. 12:1.

In the first covenant, they did not have the body of Christ; they lived in the shadow of the body. Therefore they could not serve the living God; they could only perform certain prescribed works. These works were evidence of their desire to serve God by which they consoled their consciences. We could say that these dead works were like “band-aids” for their consciences. However, Christ came with the body. Col. 2:16-17. This is why in the new covenant we have received a body with which to do God’s will.

Many people these days say that they cannot do anything, that what they do is not important. By saying this, they show that they are still living in the shadow and have not become members of the body of Christ. Most people live in dead works. When they think about serving God they think about performing certain works, such as visiting the sick, singing in the church choir, holding meetings, passing out tracts, tithing, being a Sunday school teacher, etc. On the other hand, they think it worldly to scrub floors, mend clothes, and prepare meals, etc. They do not think that such things have anything to do with “spiritual worship.” Such attitudes are reminiscent of the first covenant. Under the first covenant they were not allowed to carry on their own business, or do their own works or go their own way on the Sabbath. On that day they were to attend to the works of the Lord, but on the other six days they could attend to their own work. Ex. 20:9-10; Is. 58:13. This is merely the shadow.

However, the new covenant says the following: “And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.” Col. 3:17. “Bond servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh, not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but in sincerity of heart, fearing God. And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ.” Vs. 22-24.

Can a woman who complains and is ill-tempered when she does her laundry serve God by smiling sweetly when she sings in a church choir, praising God? Or can a pastor who is bitter toward his wife serve God in the pulpit or other gatherings? Is he not the same man? Do you think a clergyman is any holier when he puts on his vestments than when he is at social gatherings, smoking? Do you think that any of the works Jesus did were less holy than the others? Was not all that He did God’s will? Is not all of God’s will equally holy?

Here we see what a better hope the new covenant gives us in and through the body of Christ, as opposed to the old covenant, which only gave us the shadow. Think that our conscience can be cleansed by the blood of Christ from all these “band-aids”—these dead works—to serve the living God, whether we are doing the laundry or singing praises to the Lord; whether we are digging ditches or preaching God’s word. We are just as holy in overalls as in our Sunday best; then everything is in order. We have become members of the body of Christ. What a blessed hope the blood of the covenant has brought us to!

This was the salvation the prophets searched and inquired about. They knew that they themselves could not partake of it, yet they searched diligently in the shadow and prophesied concerning the grace that was to come with the body of Christ. 1 Pet. 1:10-12.

When we have become members of the body of Christ, it is natural for us to speak about works, about all the will of God, something that is often very annoying to those who are not in the body. However, Jesus came with a “works” Christianity, and all those who are upright rejoice in this salvation.