Part 4 of 4
Christ gives a better hope
Hebrews 7:19 says, “For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.”
The law could point at perfection, but it could not bring anyone there. If your hope rests on law keeping, your hope is always shaky. One bad week and you feel like you are out.
Christ brings in a better hope. Not “maybe” or “if I can hang on.” A hope that lets you draw near to God because your High Priest sits at the right hand of the Father and never fails.
Hebrews 6 calls this hope “an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast.”
I have watched older saints live in this better hope. Their body is failing, their memory is slipping, but their anchor is in the same place it has always been, in Christ Himself. There is a steadiness there that does not come from personality or possessions. It comes from a better hope.
The Old Testament saints were saved by this same hope. Men like Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and David did not know every detail about Calvary, but they believed the promises of God and looked forward to the coming Messiah. Hebrews 11 shows them living and dying in faith, not trusting the law to save them, but trusting the God who would offer up his Son for their sin. Their faith pointed forward to the cross. Our faith looks backward at the cross. In both cases, the only saving power is in Christ and His blood.
By the time of Paul and the writing of Hebrews, many of the Jews had twisted this truth. They were clinging to the temple, the priesthood, and the ceremonies as if those things themselves brought salvation. They turned what was supposed to be a picture of Christ into a replacement for Christ. Hebrews pulls the cover off that mistake. It shows that from Abraham’s day to ours, there has always been just one way to draw near unto God, and that is by a better hope found only in Jesus.
Hebrews is God telling weary, tempted believers, “Do not go backwards. What you have in Jesus is better.”
Better than angels.
Better covenant.
Better sacrifice.
Better hope.
If you keep that in front of you, you will not be so quick to reach for old habits, old religion, or old trust in yourself. When you have the best, you do not need substitutes. You have Christ.
