This transcript was generated by whisper.ai.

Hi, everyone. I want to welcome you to Hebrews chapter 8. This is day one of our
look through this chapter.

We're going to look at verses 1 and 2 today. And as we continue through this
section of the book of Hebrews, we're continuing to talk about how Jesus is
better. He is better.

He is superior. We've talked about how He is a superior order of priests these
last few sessions together, and now we're going to talk about how He serves in a
superior temple or sanctuary or tabernacle, and that He has a superior covenant
and that He has given a superior sacrifice. He is better.

Now, just remember as we're walking through this to say that He is better does
not mean that the old was bad. It was good, actually. It was good.

It was pointing to what God was going to do, but it is not lasting. It was meant
to be replaced by something better. The old was meant to be replaced by
something better.

Now, one picture that many people have used of the Old Testament, the Old
Covenant, and the New Testament is like the moon and the sun. The Old Testament
is like the moon. It's shown in the darkness, but it was reflected light from
the truth of the New Testament.

The people hadn't seen yet. They hadn't seen the truth of Jesus coming yet, but
the reflected light of Jesus coming someday is what's shown into the Old
Testament and reflected there. But now, the sun has come out, S-U-N and S-O-N.

The sun has come, and because of that, we don't need the light of the moon
anymore. We don't need the reflection anymore. We have the light that we're able
to look at.

Now, with that in mind, let me read for you the first couple of verses of
Hebrews chapter 8. The point of what we're saying is this. We do have such a
high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in
heaven and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord
and not by man.

This scripture tells us what Jesus is doing now. You ever wondered that? What's
Jesus doing now in heaven?

When you think of the life of Jesus, you don't just think of his life on this
earth because Jesus has always existed. So really for us, we need to think of
his life in terms of his life before he came to this earth, was born as a baby
and lived his life for us, gave his life for us. We need to think of his life
while he was on this earth, and we need to think of his life since he's been on
this earth.

Before he was on this earth, what did Jesus do before he was born? This is
called the pre-incarnate Christ. That means that Jesus, being pre-incarnate,
actually ministered on this earth before he came and was born as a man.

Incarnation means becoming a flesh, becoming a man, becoming a human being.
Jesus was God in the flesh when he came to this earth, but he was God for all of
eternity. What about Jesus before that day was born in Bethlehem?

Well, the Bible tells us he's always existed. He's eternal. You can see that in
John 8, 57 and 58, or Micah 5-2.

The Bible tells us he created the universe. It's one of the things that he did,
Colossians 1-16. In fact, the Bible tells us that Father, Son, and Holy Spirit
were all involved in the creation of the universe as God.

And the Bible also tells us he ministered to people. We're not going to go into
this a lot today, but there are many instances when Jesus came not becoming a
man, but appearing to people, helping people to understand God's plan for their
lives. Jesus's life includes his life before he came to planet earth, and then
he came and he lived on earth.

And that's what we read about in the Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. We
learn about and we read about his birth and about the life that he lived for us,
the miracles that he worked, the teaching that he gave to us, the cross that he
died on, and the resurrection. Then the resurrection, and Jesus spends 30 days
with his disciples, and he ascends into heaven.

And what about now? What is Jesus doing now? Well, these few scriptures we've
just looked at are some of the clearest about what Jesus is doing now.

These scriptures tell us two things that Jesus is doing now in heaven. Did you
notice? We have a high priest who sat down at the right hand of the throne of
the majesty in heaven, and who serves in the sanctuary.

So those two phrases, he sat down and he serves. Jesus sat down at the right
hand of God's throne. What is Jesus doing now?

He has finished the work of salvation. And so because of that, he's able to sit
down at the right hand of the throne. But that's not just a place of rest.

That's a place of ruling. He is ruling at God's right hand for all of eternity.
He is holding the universe together in and by the power of God.

That's who Jesus is. Everything holds together in him, Colossians tells us.
That's what Jesus is doing now.

Jesus sat down, but he also, did you notice? He serves. Have you ever thought
about this?

Jesus is still serving you. The scriptures tell us that when Jesus came to this
earth, he told us that he didn't come to be served, but to serve. And this
scripture reminds us that Jesus is still serving.

It talks about the sanctuary here, the true tabernacle. We're going to talk
about that some more this week and next week. This place of worship, this place
of recognizing God's dwelling is to be with us.

This is a tabernacle that's set up by God and not by man. And what's Jesus doing
there? Well, there's so many things, but we've already looked at the fact, as
we've studied through these verses, these chapters, that he's there interceding
for you.

He's praying for you. That he's there waiting for you to be with him for all of
eternity. I just have a question, though, for you before we end this look today
at what Jesus is doing now.

He sat down, he's ruling, he serves, he's interceding. I have a question for
you. What does Jesus look like right now?

Have you ever thought about that? What does the eternally existent Christ look
like? All the evidence of scripture points to the fact of Jesus still existing
in his resurrected body in heaven.

Acts 1-9 says he ascended to heaven in bodily form. Acts 1-11 says he's going to
return, be seen by everybody in bodily form. Acts 7-55, Stephen saw him sitting
at God's right hand, so he must have had some bodily form, not just be a spirit.

In Philippians 3-21, Paul indicated Jesus now has a glorified body, a glorious
body. Now, of course, it is a part of the great mystery of God's greatness, what
we're talking about here. But a part of that mystery is that Jesus still lives
in his resurrected body in heaven, the eternally existent Christ.

But beyond that mystery, just the thought of that mystery, take a moment to
think about the reality of this truth. That means that one day you will be able
to see his nail-scarred hands. One day you will be able to look into his
joy-filled eyes.

One day you and I will be able to walk beside him and talk about eternity. It
means that one day you'll be able to wrap your arms around him and give him an
awe- filled hug saying, "Thank you for what you've done for me. " Jesus, he
lives in heaven now.

He is ruling and he is serving for all eternity. Let's thank him. Jesus, thank
you for who you are.

Thank you for your wonderful grace and mercy that we saw in your life on this
earth. And Lord, here we're reminded that we're going to see it in all of
eternity. Help us to look forward to that day, to live our lives now with a
deeper sense of hope, a deeper strength of love for the people around us, a
stronger faith in our lives because we're looking at life through the eyes of
where we're going to be someday with you, the one who is ruling for us, who is
serving for us even now.

Thank you, Jesus, for who you are. In your name we pray. Amen.

Tomorrow we're going to look together at some amazing truths about this true
tabernacle.