The Better Things
When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation Hebrews 9:11
For those who had lived under the law of Moses, it would have been easy to suppose the way to share in God’s great plan was simply to be part of the community that focused its life on the Temple, and relied on the offerings sacrificed by the priests.
But the Temple, its priests and sacrifices were part of a whole system, Hebrews argues, that was only designed to be temporary and to point toward a fulfilment. That fulfilment was Jesus. We don’t hold onto the shadows when the real thing is right here.
The word ‘better’ occurs more in Hebrews than in the rest of the New Testament combined. Hebrews’ author is constantly contrasting, not something bad with something good but something good with something better. The new dispensation that has come in Jesus is better than all that came before.
In our Hebrews 9:11 text, the new covenant temple is shown to be better than the old covenant temple.
The priests under the old system went daily into the Temple, the successor of the wilderness tabernacle. The high priest went into the holy of holies once a year. But all along, as the early part of Hebrews 8 explained, both the tabernacle and the Temple were temporary substitutes for what God had in mind all along. The ultimate sanctuary was the presence of God Himself in the heavenly realm. The building on earth, the ‘man-made’ one, was a signpost, pointing to the heavenly reality.
God dwells in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16). We could not approach Him in His glory; but someone could go into His presence on our behalf, just as the high priest did in the Old Testament. This is what Jesus has done for us.
The earthly tabernacle had a certain beauty and dignity but the heavenly sanctuary has majesty and glory. The earthly was temporary but the heavenly is lasting and eternal. This is the sanctuary Christ has entered on our behalf.
In Christ God’s future for His people has begun, secured by the great high priest, Jesus Christ, entering into the very presence of God for us. He has presented the perfect offering of His own blood (9:13) to bring perfect cleansing (9:14).
‘Therefore if you have been raised with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth’ (Colossians 3:1,2)
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