The new covenant was consummated with better sacrifices and with the blood that speaks better things. Christ offered Himself as one sacrifice (Heb. 9:14; 10:12). This one sacrifice, viewed from its various aspects, may be considered many sacrifices. As Christ is the eternal Son of the living God incarnated to be the Son of Man who offered Himself to God through the eternal Spirit, so His sacrifices are better than those of animals. The animal sacrifices were shadows which could never take away sins (Heb. 10:11), but His sacrifices are real and have put away sin once for all (Heb. 9:26).
None of the sacrifices offered by the Levitical priests could put away sin. Even the Old Testament predicted in Isaiah 53:10 and 12 that Christ would come to be the sacrifice for sin, that is, to replace and terminate the Levitical sacrifices. Christ, the unique sacrifice, has done this. Therefore, the book of Hebrews tells us many times that Christ has dealt with sins once for all (1:3; 2:17; 7:27; 9:26; 10:12).
All the sacrifices offered according to the law were a shadow of Christ. At the fullness of time, Christ came with a body of blood and flesh to replace those sacrifices of the law. In the flesh He offered Himself to God once for all to take away sins. Hebrews 10:7, 9, and 10 say that it is the will of God to take away the first, the animal sacrifices of the Old Testament, so that the second, the sacrifice of Christ of the New Testament, might be established to replace the sacrifices of the Old Testament. Therefore, in the new covenant Christ, the unique sacrifice, is the reality of all the offerings. According to the divine principle, God’s covenant required both the blood and the offerings. Christ is both the Shedder of the better blood and also the offerings for the enacting of the new covenant and to make this covenant a will full of divine bequests.
Having considered Christ’s person in the new covenant, we see that in the new covenant Christ is everything. He is the Apostle, the High Priest, the Shedder of the better blood, the Mediator, the Surety, the Maker and Executor of the new testament, and all the offerings. Through Him, the all-inclusive One, the new covenant has become a new testament with many bequests for us to enjoy and experience through the Spirit.
In the apostles’ preaching Christ is the triumphant Victor. This is described in 2 Corinthians 2:14: “Thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in the Christ, and manifests through us the savor of the knowledge of Him in every place.” Here Paul uses the metaphor of a procession held in honor of the victory of a Roman general. Concerning this verse Conybeare has this to say: “The verb here used means to lead a man as a captive in a triumphal procession; the full phrase means, to lead captive in a triumph over the enemies of Christ.…God is celebrating His triumph over His enemies; Paul (who had been so great an opponent of the gospel) is a captive following in the train of the triumphal procession, yet (at the same time, by a characteristic change of metaphor) an incense-bearer, scattering incense (which was always done on these occasions) as the procession moves on.” God always leads the apostles in such a triumphant way in their ministry. The word “us” refers to the conquered captives in the train of Christ’s triumph, celebrating and participating in His triumph. The apostles are such captives; their move as captives of Christ in their ministry for Him is God’s celebration of Christ’s victory over His enemies. Their move and their ministry for Christ is like a triumphal procession from one place to another under God’s leading. Paul and his co-workers were Christ’s captives, bearing the fragrant incense of Christ for His triumphant glory. They had been conquered by Christ and had become His captives in the train of His triumph, scattering the fragrance of Christ from place to place.
Paul once fought against Christ, the heavenly General, but eventually he was defeated, subdued, and captured, and thereby became a captive of Christ. Saul of Tarsus fought against Christ, against God’s economy, and against the churches. But while he was fighting, he was defeated and subdued by Christ on the way to Damascus. After Saul was captured, he was placed in Christ’s triumphal procession as one of the captives in a train of defeated foes. This indicates that the proper ministry of the New Testament is a triumphal procession celebrating Christ’s victory. The ministry of the New Testament is to testify of Christ as the triumphant Victor.