When God speaks of a new covenant or agreement, He makes
the first one obsolete (out of use). And what is obsolete (out of use and
annulled because of age) is ripe for disappearance and to be dispensed with
altogether. (Hebrews 8:13 AMP)
This letter to the Hebrews sets
forth the all-inclusive revolution or reconstitution which God made when He
brought His Son, Jesus Christ, into the world - that is, the religious
revolution. This revolution, which was rejected by Judaism, has been almost
entirely overlooked or lost sight of by Christendom since Apostolic times. The
entire present system of Christianity as generally accepted would be impossible
if the meaning of this letter were received as a heavenly revelation in the
power of the Holy Spirit. That is - if it came into the heart by the Spirit's
power with the effect of a revelation in the same way as the Apostle Paul came
to see who "Jesus of Nazareth" is, then a Christian-Judaism, or Judaistic-Christianity
(which Christendom so largely is) would be impossible; as it became in his own
case. The Letter to the Hebrews is only one other aspect of the battle fought
out in the Letters to the Romans and Galatians.
In the light of such a
spiritual eye-opening a whole lot of things would go: but being a "heavenly
vision," there would be no tears, no sense of loss, and no fond farewells. The
gain and joy would rather put all such things into the category of a worn-out
and no-longer-to-be-desired suit of clothes. In saying this we are only
contemplating the full-tide of spiritual life known before any of these things
came into being. These things only came in when the fullness of the Spirit had
gone out, and, being an artificial substitute, they can never but be limiting
things in the realm of Divine purpose. And yet, behold how these things have
become the very nature of traditional and organized Christianity! So much so
that to touch them in any way which threatens their existence is to meet
something more bitter and formidable than any persecution from the world. This
is not said carelessly. Religion can be, and is very largely, a terrible force;
and Christianity has become a religion. There are very few communities of
Christians - even the most evangelical, and spiritual - who wholly escape the
tendency or propensity to persecute or ostracize other bodies of Christians who
might be regarded as rivals in their field of activity... "God... hath at the end of these days spoken... in His
Son." But the new era and new order had brought out a new and mightier-than-ever
conflict.