His ministry
But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Hebrews 8:6
I like this: a “more excellent ministry”. Other translations say “far superior”, but what is its meaning? Obviously, I have been struggling with this question for a few days now. I was getting hung up on the subject of “priesthood” in the passage. I have a lot of head knowledge on the subject, but I just wasn’t getting anything from my heart. Finally I began to meditate the first line of today’s key verse. As I recited it several times, considering each word, I finally came to the conclusion that the passage is about His ministry not His Priesthood. You may be thinking, “Well yeah, why did that take so long to figure out?” To which my answer would be, sometime you already have preconceived ideas about what a passage is talking about and don’t take time to consider the real topic of the reference.
So let’s talk about the ministry of Jesus vs. the ministry of the priest of Moses’ day. This portion of scripture says the high priest of Moses’ time offered up gifts and sacrifices. They were in position to atone for the sin and uncleanness of the people. It was a continual work that could never satisfy the debt of living in a fallen, sinful world.
In contrast, the ministry of Jesus is far superior because it removed the blockage of sin from “breaking” the connection to the Father in heaven. He reconnected us to our Father and now He holds the door open so we can come to our Father at anytime. He offers a renewed relationship with our creator and Father and promises that we will have this relationship for all eternity! Glory to God!
Now I want to remind us that this was all God’s idea and plan. Not because he felt pity or responsibility for us (although He did) but because He loved and wanted us more and before we ever knew He existed. We are His creation that was stolen by His enemy and He went to the greatest measure to get His family back into a right relationship with Him!
Today I want to encourage you to meditate on the ministry of Christ Jesus. There are so many parts to it that you could think about it all day long. First His ministry in the world. He was born, lived, taught, inspired, healed, rescued and paid the debt of sin. Then He came back to set free the captives, save and send out messengers of this good news. Next He sent the Holy Spirit to be our comfort, guide and empowerment to get the rest of God’s plan finished. Now He sit next to our Father mediating our new covenant with God and will forever live to intercede and lift up our praise, worship, requests and thanksgiving to our loving Heavenly Father! Truly the most excellent ministry of all!
Today’s scripture reading: Hebrews 8:1-6
The Daily Dose 