Hebrews 8: A Superior Covenant
Sunday, January 18, 2026
Written on February 1, 2009 and posted today as a Favorite . . .
Yesterday we spent some time reflecting on God, the Lover. Today we read about The Superior Covenant. In Christ we have the offering of the only vow that really matters. Jesus lives a life of integrity – which we see through the matching of his words and actions – that the promise of the Creator is true and valid. God vows to protect, defend, forgive and love us. This vow has an eternal life and cannot be broken.
We look for a reflection of this kind of constancy and authenticity in others and we are often disappointed. Promises are given and broken. Vows are spoken and then abandoned without much thinking of the distant consequences. Immediate pleasures obtained take precedence over commitment and nurturing. Too often we encounter – both in ourselves and in others – quick solutions that do not last, superficial thinking that takes the place of measured consideration, and artless worship that cannot stand the tests of life. If we expect to weather storms, we must make preparations: take in stores, shore up our shelter, and make contingency and fall-back plans when events around us whirl out of control.
What are the resources we gather into our stockpile? What are the edifices we build in which to shelter? What are the plans we make to avoid pain? Do we hoard what we find or do we share? Do we hover in life with a narrow way of thinking and a small band of compatriots or do we seek to ever widen the circle by inviting in those we think are our enemies? Do we see suffering as something to be evaded at all costs or do we see it as the portal to a life of transformed beauty?
What are the promises we make? What are the promises we keep? What are our expectations?
The answers to all these questions are more simple, more beautiful and more challenging than we can imagine; yet the rewards are abundant and the joy transcending.
The answers, the vows and the kept promises are all found in a life lived as the Christ asks. When we rely on a stockpile of faith we have stored by acting in the belief that God is in charge, the supply is never-ending. Our stores will never run dry – much like the widow in 2 Kings 4 who finds that the oil blessed by the prophet Elisha never reaches bottom.
When we become like the sparrow and the swallow in Psalm 84, we build nests and find protection when we nestle near and beneath the altar of our sacrifices to God, when we construct a temple for the in-dwelling of the Spirit. Christ quickly steps into this temple which we build in ourselves, and it is this Christ – this presence of God – that we carry with us everywhere. He is our constant companion and protection in our pilgrimage.
When we step into the discomfort of our pain to offer it for love of friends and enemies alike, we are transformed by this salvific love which redeems not only others but ourselves.
These are the promises we make. These are the vows that we keep when we enter this Superior Covenant with our creator. This is how we weather the storms of life. This is how we find greatest joy, in the believing, in the hoping, in the knowing that this love is eternal, redemptive and beyond anything we might imagine. This promise of presence and joy are not only awaited in the next life; they are present in the here and now. We have only to step forward – into our discomfort and anxiety – at the call.
When we enter into this most excellent of promises we enter into our life with Christ and his guarantee that he is constant, that he is transformative, and that his love is the peace we seek.
The promise here is not that life will be smooth or that problems will fall away from us quickly and without pain. The promise of Christ is that when the storms present themselves, as they surely will, we will have the means, the vision and the strength in Christ to weather the tempest.
A re-post from January 27, 2012.
Image from: http://faithandheritage.com/2011/08/the-importance-of-lineage-in-god%E2%80%99s-covenant/
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