"The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect); and a better hope is introduced by which we draw near to GOD." Hebrews 7:18-19.
So what of the people in the past is always the question that comes to me when I speak of my faith to others, "What of those who came before Christ?" It was the Law that allowed them to overcome sin's sorrow; death. But even the most 'righteous' of the priesthood couldn't defeat death. The Levitical priesthood couldn't save themselves, much less the souls who came to them, that was in God's hands.
But then the High Priest, this new and everlasting priesthood, another priest according to the order of Melchizedek and not Aaron, made perfect the hope that He brought.
How?
He defeated the very thing that Aaronic priest couldn't, due to their own human fragility, Death. He has the power of endless life in Himself and keeps this path opened for those who rely upon His sacrifice and intercession. The legal dispensation and the Sinai covenant of Abraham have been trumphed.
The Mosaic Law, as the Old Testament covenant has been called, could not justify or grant sanctification to those who followed it. The new covenant, brought by Jesus Christ, brings the entire church and each believer of the body into clearer light, more perfect liberty, and more abundant privileges.
Our advantages in the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus are well beyond those of the Old Testament and the purity of the sacrifice is why. The everlasting High Priest can go into the very darkness of death to save His own.
Which begs the question, "Why, knowing this is the power and perfection of the sacrifice that Christ gave, do we as His followers and benefactors of that sacrifice not live in that understanding and desire to achieve what is given for us?"
Why do we not live for Christ since He died for us?
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