The New Covenant

Hebrews 8:6 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. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.

6 νυν[ὶ] δὲ διαφορωτέρας τέτυχεν λειτουργίας, ὅσῳ καὶ κρείττονός ἐστιν διαθήκης μεσίτης, ἥτις ἐπὶ κρείττοσιν ἐπαγγελίαις νενομοθέτηται. 7  Εἰ γὰρ ἡ πρώτη ἐκείνη ἦν ἄμεμπτος, οὐκ ἂν δευτέρας ἐζητεῖτο τόπος.

As we go back to the Old Testament we see the old covenant that God had with His people.  He made it through Moses and it was a tough one to keep from the people's side.  They had to go through all kinds of machinations to atone for their guilt and their shame.  It was an extremely bloody system, but one consistent thread in Scripture is that there must be blood as a payment for sin.

The good news is that Christ came to usher in a new covenant with His blood.  The author of Hebrews uses a first-class conditional statement in verse 7 with the construct of Εἰ γὰρ ἡ πρώτη ἐκείνη ἦν.  This is the use of ει followed by the indicative mood.  What this means is that for the sake of argument, we need to assume that what he states is true.  It has to get unsorted a bit because the word ἄμεμπτος has a negative sense to it and then the second half of the condition starts with οὐκ, which is also an indicator of a first-class condition.

The point is that the first covenant was not faultless.  Jesus had to come to provide a better covenant and He did that.  If you know Jesus this should fill you with tremendous hope and gratitude.  We do not have to go through sacrificing bulls and goats for our sin.  Jesus already paid it all with His blood.  We have a peace and security that could never be obtained by the Jew who followed the old covenant.

Let's fix our eyes on the new covenant in Jesus' blood.  There we find peace.