In order to see the new covenant we must first see the old covenant. Hebrews 8:7 says. “For if that first covenant was faultless, no place would have been sought for a second.” The old covenant had fault because it was weak and unprofitable (7:18). Why was it unprofitable? Because it was only a photograph of the reality and not the reality itself. Moreover, the old covenant perfected nothing (7:19). The old covenant could not perfect anything because it was merely a shadow. Suppose I sent you my photograph and you believed in it and said to it, “Brother Lee, talk to me. Don’t you know that I love you? Why don’t you love me? What’s the matter with you, Brother Lee? I have talked so much to you, but you won’t say a word to me.” How foolish it would be for us to address a photograph in this way. But many of the Judaizers were just this foolish, dealing with the picture, the old covenant, and expecting much from it in return. The prophet Jeremiah, however, prophesied that there would be a better covenant (Jer. 31:33-34). The prophecy of Jeremiah came about because fault, weakness, and unprofitableness were found in the old covenant.
Referring to the old covenant, Hebrews 8:13 says, “In saying new, He has made the first old. Now that which is becoming old and growing decrepit is near to disappearing.” When Jeremiah prophesied of the coming new covenant, that indicated that the old covenant had become old and decrepit. It might have been that Jeremiah realized the weakness and unprofitableness of the covenant and was deeply burdened about this matter. So God had an opportunity to come in and say through him, “Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, and I will consummate a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (8:8). That might have been a great comfort to Jeremiah. Not only was the old covenant decrepit, but it was also near to disappearing and eventually was disannulled, abolished. I am so happy for the Hebrew brothers and sisters among us because they are no longer with the decrepit old covenant but with the refreshing new covenant.
Christ is the Mediator of a better covenant (8:6). The new covenant is better than the old covenant, just as the reality of a person is better than his photograph. The old covenant, like a photograph, had only the outward form, but the new covenant, like the real person, has the inward life with all its reality. The old covenant was lifeless, but the new covenant is constituted with the indestructible life. Everything in the new covenant is much better than the things in the old covenant because everything in the new covenant is the reality. Hence, it is a better covenant.
The new covenant has been enacted upon better promises. These promises are given in Jeremiah 31:31-34 and are quoted in Hebrews 8:8-12 and in 10:16-17. In these promises there is the law of life, not the law of dead letters, there is the blessing of having God and of being His people, and there is the inward ability of knowing God. All these three things are of the divine life imparted into us in God’s regeneration. Furthermore, in these better promises there is the forgiveness of sins, not just the covering of sins as under the Mosaic law. The forgiveness of sins, being the putting away of sins, is better than the covering of sins, which never removed the sins. Because of the imparting of life and the forgiveness of sins, these are the better promises.
The new covenant has replaced the old covenant (8:7, 13). When a real person comes, he replaces his photograph, for the reality replaces the picture, the shadow. The old covenant had fault and became old, decrepit, and near to disappearing, and the new covenant has been consummated to replace it. Now it is meaningless for anyone to still remain in the old covenant.