[July 26, 2026] In Christ Alone

Jul 26, 2026

Devotional

Day 1: When the Curtain Closes on Act One

The old covenant was like a play’s first act—necessary but incomplete. Temple rituals and animal sacrifices pointed forward like shadows, but Jesus’ arrival marked the final act. Just as you can’t understand a story by only watching half a play, clinging to old systems misses their fulfillment. The new covenant isn’t an upgrade; it’s the destination the law always pointed toward. What once required constant effort now rests on Christ’s finished work. [04:15]

“But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises.”
(Hebrews 8:6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you been tempted to treat faith like a checklist of rituals rather than resting in Christ’s completeness? How might shifting from “doing” to “receiving” change your walk this week?

Day 2: The Mirror That Can’t Wash Faces

The law exposed flaws like a mirror reveals dirt, but scrubbing with rules never cleansed hearts. Jesus didn’t come to hand out better mirrors; He became the living water. Religious striving keeps people staring at their reflection, while the gospel turns their gaze to the One who says, “I’ll make you new.” Sacrifices and temples were temporary tools, not solutions. [16:35]

“For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second.”
(Hebrews 8:7, ESV)

Reflection: When have you tried to “fix yourself” through guilt or effort instead of embracing Christ’s cleansing? What practical step can you take today to receive rather than perform?

Day 3: Love’s Question in Every Room

The law of Christ reduces every decision to one question: “What does love require here?” Not abstract ideals, but the gritty patience that forgives coworkers, the courage that speaks truth to friends, the kindness that disarms arguments. This law isn’t carved on stone but written on hearts—not a burden, but a compass. Love isn’t a feeling; it’s the Son’s DNA shared with His siblings. [23:49]

“Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
(Galatians 6:2, ESV)

Reflection: What difficult relationship or decision needs you to ask, “What does love require?” How might acting on that question disrupt your comfort for the sake of Christ?

Day 4: Model T Faith in a Tesla World

Holding onto obsolete covenants is like driving a Model T on a freeway—nostalgic but ineffective. The temple’s destruction in 70 AD wasn’t a tragedy; it was God removing training wheels. Jesus rendered old systems unnecessary, not because they were bad, but because they were fulfilled. Clinging to yesterday’s methods blinds us to today’s living Priest. [15:19]

“In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
(Hebrews 8:13, ESV)

Reflection: What “old ways” of relating to God (guilt, bargaining, ritual) do you need to release? How can you lean into the new covenant’s assurance today?

Day 5: Pizza, Prayers, and the New Community

The church isn’t a club for the polished but a family where pizza deliveries to hospitals become sacraments. New creation community means seeing people through Christ’s eyes—not resumes, politics, or pasts. When homegroups visit the sick before pastors can, they prove the Spirit’s work: love isn’t a program but the pulse of Christ’s body. [29:14]

“From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. […] If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.”
(2 Corinthians 5:16–17, ESV)

Reflection: Who in your life needs to be seen not by human labels but as Christ’s new creation? How can you actively “be family” to someone this week?

Sermon Summary

Hebrews 8 asks the young Jewish believing church to stop trying to go back to act one. The act one, act two picture says the old covenant was real, important, and God-given, but it was never the destination. The temple, the sacrifices, the high priest, the law of Moses, and all the commands were mile markers pointing to Jesus. Jesus in the new covenant is act two, the fulfillment of everything act one was pointing toward.

The author of Hebrews warns a persecuted church not to say, “Life was better in Egypt.” The old temple was still standing, the sacrifices were still happening, and pressure was pushing these believers backward. Hebrews 8 says the first act is over, not because God trashed it, but because Jesus fulfilled it.

Jesus has become the true high priest. As priest king, Jesus represents God to people and people to God. Jesus is “God’s yes” to his people, and Jesus is the believing person’s yes back to God. The true tabernacle is not set up by man, and the true temple is not a building. Jesus is the temple, Jesus is the priest, and Jesus is the sacrifice.

The old covenant was faulty because it could point out dirt, but it could not wash the dirt away. The law was a mirror, not soap and water. Jesus does what the mirror could never do. The gospel is not man climbing a ladder up to God; the gospel is God coming down in Jesus. Religion says, “If obedience is good enough, acceptance may come.” The new covenant says Jesus has already brought acceptance, so a new life can begin.

The new covenant is between the Father and the Son, ratified by the finished work of Jesus. The Father and Son now invite people into that eternal covenant by faith. The new creation receives the law written on the mind and heart, not as 613 dos and don’ts, but as the law of Christ. That law is love.

Love keeps asking, “What does love require of me?” The new community no longer measures people by race, money, looks, grades, power, politics, or human standards. The Spirit forms a people who practice the one anothers, bear burdens, make disciples, and live from identity in Christ alone.

Key Takeaways

1. Act One Is Over The old covenant was never trash; it was type and shadow, mile markers pointing to Jesus. Hebrews 8 refuses to let believers camp at the signpost when the destination has arrived. Going back to what was fulfilled is not faithfulness; it is fear dressed up as nostalgia. [04:52]
2. Jesus Is The True Temple Jesus does not merely improve the temple system; Jesus fulfills the temple, the priesthood, and the sacrifice. The center of worship is no longer a building, because the risen Christ has become the meeting place between God and man. Religious motion without relationship can keep its own liturgy, but Jesus gives access to the Father himself. [10:59]
3. The Law Cannot Wash Dirt The law shows what is wrong like a mirror shows dirt on a face. A mirror can reveal the problem, but it cannot cleanse the person standing in front of it. Jesus brings the soap and water the law could never provide, because transformation requires more than exposure. [16:52]
4. Love Asks Its Hard Question The law of Christ is not vague niceness; it is love pressing into real relationships and real pressure. Love asks, “What does love require of me right now?” That question cuts through self-protection, scorekeeping, and excuses, because love takes its shape from the patient, kind, forgiving life of God. [23:34]
5. Identity Begins In Christ Alone The new creation does not always feel new, but faith does not take orders from feelings. Christ gives an identity deeper than money, race, grades, looks, work, or what the world says. Every other label has to be worked backward from Jesus, because only Jesus loves perfectly and infinitely.

## [31:50]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[01:39] - Star Wars or Lord of the Rings?
[02:53] - Hebrews and the Jewish Church
[04:15] - Act One and Act Two
[05:31] - Hebrews 8 and Better Promises
[08:22] - Behold, All Things New
[09:03] - Jesus the True High Priest
[10:59] - No Temple Needed
[13:41] - The New Covenant Promise
[16:35] - The Law as a Mirror
[21:00] - New Creation Hearts and Minds
[23:34] - What Love Requires
[26:21] - A New Community in Christ
[29:57] - Fruitful Disciples Who Multiply
[31:50] - Identity in Christ Alone

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading

Hebrews 8:1-13
“Now the point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, a minister in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; thus it is necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if he were on earth, he would not be a priest at all, since there are priests who offer gifts according to the law. They serve a copy and shadow of the heavenly things. For when Moses was about to erect the tent, he was instructed by God, saying, ‘See that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown you on the mountain.’ But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. For he finds fault with them when he says: ‘Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.’ In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” [05:39]

Jeremiah 31:31-34
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” [07:09]

2 Corinthians 5:17
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”

Observation questions

In Hebrews 8, what words or phrases show that Jesus’ priesthood and covenant are being contrasted with the old system?
According to Hebrews 8 and Jeremiah 31, what specific promises are included in the new covenant?
What are some of the “act one” things that pointed forward to Jesus, and how are they described? [04:15]
What examples are given to show the difference between a law that exposes sin and Jesus who actually cleanses and transforms? [16:52]

Interpretation questions

Hebrews 8 says the earthly priests served “a copy and shadow of the heavenly things.” What does that help a group understand about the role of the temple, sacrifices, and priesthood in the old covenant? [06:21]
If the first covenant was good and God-given, why does Hebrews still say there was a need for a second covenant? What was the real problem? [16:24]
Jeremiah 31 says God will write his law on the minds and hearts of his people. How is that different from simply being handed commands from the outside, and why does that matter for real change? [21:24]
2 Corinthians 5:17 says that anyone in Christ is a new creation. How can that be true even when a believer does not feel very new? [31:05]

Application questions

Many people are tempted to go back to old patterns when life gets hard. What does “going back to act one” look like in a person’s life today? Where is the pull toward fear, nostalgia, or religious performance showing up right now? [04:52]
Jesus is the true temple, the true priest, and the true sacrifice. Where is there a temptation to substitute motion, routine, or church habit for real relationship with Jesus? [12:27]
The law can show the dirt, but it cannot wash it away. When failure or sin becomes obvious, is there a tendency to hide it, manage it, or try harder on one’s own? What would it look like instead to bring that place honestly to Jesus? [17:19]
The new covenant says acceptance has already been secured in Jesus. How would daily life change if a person really believed that obedience flows from acceptance, not toward it? [18:19]
The law of Christ asks, “What does love require of me?” In one difficult relationship right now, what might love require that self-protection does not want to give? [23:34]
The new community does not measure people by race, success, money, looks, power, or politics. Which of those categories most easily shapes the way people are viewed, and how can the group practice seeing one another through Christ instead? [26:33]
Identity begins in Christ alone. Which other labels or pressures most often compete with that identity right now—work, family expectations, appearance, grades, politics, past failure, or something else? What would it look like this week to work backward from being in Christ? [31:50]

Sermon Clips

51s

“``Here's the important thing if we're gonna get this this morning. The law of Christ to you and me as his followers, the law of Christ continually asks you and I a question, continually. And we have to be listening for that question. You say, well, what's the question? The question is, what does love require of me in any and every situation? What's love requiring of you in your difficult relationships, a difficult marriage, a difficult work environment? What is love requiring of you? To fulfill the law of Christ is to walk in love.”

49s

“Jesus didn't come to create a new religion. He did not come to create a religion. He came to end religion, truly. Religion is man's attempt to appease It's a ladder climbing up each rung of the ladder to try to get to god. But the gospel is god comes to us. We don't we didn't go to him. He comes to us. Religion is man made. Religion is, hey, if you do all the thou shouts and thou shalt nots, then I'll accept you. That's that is religion. religion and rituals without love and relationship is just empty.”

51s

“Here's the good news. In the new covenant, God turns towards people and he looks away from our sin because sin was dealt with through Jesus. Jesus put an end to sin. Romans eight says, when Jesus was on the cross and they put those nails in his hands and his feet, they bound him to the cross. You know what he was doing? He was binding himself to you and to me, binding himself to us. Let that sink in this morning. He is bound to you with a promise, with a fulfillment.”

42s

“And I used this illustration that this morning, when you got up to get ready for church, brushed your teeth, washed your face, you looked into a mirror. When you saw dirt on your face, you didn't take the mirror off the wall and try to rub off the dirt. used the mirror to see where the dirt is, and then you used soap and water to wash. You needed something different than the mirror to make you clean. You hear the gospel there. We need something more than law to transform us.”

64s

“Jesus is the fulfillment of the tabernacle in the wilderness that wandered for years. Jesus is the fulfillment of the temple. He's the fulfillment of the high priest. I was reading from a guy named Tim Keller about this passage, and he said, picture a conversation between ancient Roman person and an early Christian, an early Christ follower. And that the Roman would say to the Christian and ask the question, where's your temple? Because temples were common in ancient religions. Where's your temple? And the Christian would respond, we don't have a temple. We don't need a temple. Jesus is our temple. As a matter of fact, we are his temple, his church, and we individually are the temple of God now. We don't need a building, we are the temple of God.”

35s

“What is this law he's talking about? It's the law of Christ. We see this in the New Testament. There is the law of Christ. What is the law of Christ? It is love. The law of Christ is love. Jesus said, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. He started there. That's the law of Christ. Galatians six two, bear one another's burdens and there thereby fulfill the law of Christ.”

34s

“The problem with the first covenant was the rituals and rules didn't transform. That's why God gave a new covenant. The gospel is that through Jesus, through his life, death, and resurrection, he has accepted already. You're in the beloved and he says, go live like this now. Follow me. Follow my son. Christianity isn't a religion, it's a person. So important.”

56s

“Here's the thing about the new covenant that's super important. This covenant, the new covenant is between the father and the son. It's Hebrews 13 calls it the eternal covenant. Jesus was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world. God had this whole plan in mind And so the father and son have a covenant. Jesus ratifies that covenant through his finished work on the cross, through his life, death, and resurrection. And now the father and son say, come in to my covenant. Come in to this new covenant. Jesus in the upper room, when he the first, you know, Lord's Supper said this represents the blood of the new covenant shed for you.”

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