June 11, 2006
GOOD THINGS TO COME
Hebrews 9:11

   "But Christ being come an high priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building; neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by His own blood He entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." (Hebrews 9:11-12). The "good things to come" concern the priestly ministry of Christ and were not then in effect. And they are still future today for they have not been fulfilled.
   These good things have to do with a change of dispensation. The New Covenant would replace the Old. The dispensation of Moses' law with its covenant, tabernacle, priesthood, sacrifices and ritual of "carnal ordinances" were imposed only "until the time of reformation" when Christ, the royal priest-king of the order of Melchisedec, would reign (Heb. 9:10).
   This glorious time has been referred to in many ways in the Bible. The Lord mentioned an "age to come," which would be characterized by much forgiveness (Mt.12:32). Later He spoke of "the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, "a time when the twelve apostles would also share His administration (Mt. 19:28). In Acts 3:19 & 21 Peter referred to "the "times of refreshing" and the "times of the restitution of all things" (Acts 3:19,21).
   Hebrews 2:3 called it "so great salvation." Hebrews 10:1 says the law had only a "shadow of good things to come." Abraham "looked for a city," and "Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come" (Heb. 11:10, 20). It should be clear that all these "coming things" are what God has promised. In every dispensation they are the believer's hope. As God has changed His dispensations or administrations, the Old Covenant giving way to the New, the believer's hope also changes.
   Upon Israel's refusal of the ministries of Peter and Paul during the Acts period, God set the nation aside. "The salvation of God [was] sent to the Gentiles, and...they will hear it" (Acts 28:28). The Old Covenant was done away, the New was put on hold. God's grace revealed from heaven to Paul governs us today. "At that time [we Gentiles] were...aliens from the commonwealth of Israel...strangers from their covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus" we are "made near by the blood of Christ," simply under grace.

Ivan L. Burgener