A Word about the Greatest Negotiator

Today we will continue in a series of messages from the Book of Hebrews that I am calling the Greatest of All Time. In this episode, we will see that Jesus is the Greatest Negotiator.

One advantage of a life in ministry is that you can experience different cultures in different places. I think that’s why when I visit a new place that I enjoy going into the grocery stores there. To me, when I experience a new place or culture, the more mundane facets of life are often more interesting than tourist attractions or other, more esoteric offerings. When I go into a marketplace, I can find interesting differences between our way of life in the United States, and the new culture that I have the opportunity to explore.

For example, in Europe, any tax on an item in a shop is already figured in before a price tag is placed on that item. Shoppers have no need to multiply a price for an object by a percentage to know their final bill. What you see on the price tag is what you pay. Simple.

On the other hand, markets in Africa or other developing regions of the world are just the opposite. Nothing has a price tag on it, and haggling over what something costs is a way of life. No one ever pays the first price that the sellers offer, and the buyers are expected to make a counteroffer. This process continues until the sellers cannot go any lower or they will lose money, and the buyers must decide to pay-up or walk away. While I was never good at this process; my wife excelled at it. Frankly, I like the European method best, because it is less complicated and I am a simple person.

When missionaries return from overseas after learning to negotiate prices in that way, some confusion can result. A missionary kid (MK), who was home from Africa on furlough, once went to a big box store in the USA. This MK filled a shopping basket with items that could not be found in the country where the MK’s family served. At the check-out, the teller said, “That will be $165.99,” and the MK countered with, “I will give you $90.00.” The teller insisted that the MK pay the full amount, only to hear the child protest, “But, these are American dollars I have here!”

That missionary kid learned early in life how to be a negotiator, although that effort failed at the big box store. What the writer of Hebrews tells us in Chapter 8 is that, as we have seen before, Jesus is the Greatest Negotiator.

Let’s begin our study by reading Hebrews 8:1-6:

Now the main point of what is being said is this: We have this kind of high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle that was set up by the Lord and not man  For every high priest is appointed to offer gifts and sacrifices; therefore it was necessary for this priest also to have something to offer. Now if He were on earth, He wouldn’t be a priest, since there are those offering the gifts prescribed by the law. These serve as a copy and shadow of the heavenly things, as Moses was warned when he was about to complete the tabernacle. For God said, Be careful that you make everything according to the pattern that was shown to you on the mountain. But Jesus has now obtained a superior ministry, and to that degree He is the mediator of a better covenant, which has been legally enacted on better promises.

The Point of the Deal:

I think it is safe to say that, from the beginning of human commerce, imitation items have been marketed and sold, disappointing naive consumers of every generation.  Ever since the first husband got a “great deal” on a “gold” ring for his wife that turned her finger green, people have been scammed by sellers who traffic in imitation goods. Remember, if a deal is too good to be true, it isn’t! When people settle for imitations, they are most often disappointed.

People often settle for imitations in other parts of their lives as well. We let the world sell us transactional relationships in place of true, heart-felt friendships. We let the world sell us on the acquisition of power, influence, and possessions as the way to find happiness. We let the world sell us fame and fortune instead of being a faithful friend of God. We let the world sell us addictive behavior as the best way to deal with stress and fear and disappointment. The first spoon from a bowl of vanilla ice cream, the greatest food known to mankind, may be heavenly, but no comfort food can provide us real comfort, and no addiction can give us true peace. 

The point of the deal, as stated by the author of Hebrews, is that Jesus is the Real Deal. The life we have on this Earth, the relationships we have on this Earth, even the structures we have on this Earth, these are all reflections of the reality of Heaven. They are good, and often even great, but they are not perfect, and they will not last.

In many ways, what we have here on Earth reminds me of the holodeck in the Star Trek television programs. The holodeck made its first appearance in Star Trek: The Next Generation, and it was a room that could become any place a person could imagine. This made it a great device for the series writers to be able to place the program’s characters in all kinds of various places, times, and situations, which made for interesting viewing. The experiences that the characters had in the holodeck were not real, however, and they were short-lived. 

Because Jesus is the Real Deal, He offers us a real relationship with God. Because Jesus is the Real Deal, He offers us the chance to live with God daily, and also eternally.  Because Jesus is the Real Deal, we can enjoy and rest in His promises which are real and eternal and perfect.

Anyone who has ever been disappointed by an imitation item knows the feeling of sadness and betrayal that buying into falsehoods and false promises gives you. Since Jesus is the Real Deal, and He is the Point of the Deal, we will never feel like we have gotten a bad deal when we buy-in to what He offers us.

Now, let’s read Hebrews 8:7-9:

For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion for a second one. But finding fault with His people, He says: Look, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not like the covenant that I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by their hands to lead them out of the land of Egypt. I disregarded them, says the Lord, because they did not continue in My covenant.

The Old Deal:

God has dealt with humanity since He created Adam and Eve and put them in the Garden of Eden. If any people ever had a deal that was too good to be true, but actually was true, it was them. They had the entire world at their disposal. All they had to do was restrain themselves from eating from one tree, but they couldn’t keep their end of the deal. 

God also dealt with Abraham. He promised to bless him and make him a great nation. All Abraham had to do was to trust God and to be a blessing to the world by sharing God’s love. That deal didn’t work out either. God held up His end of the bargain, but the Children of Israel didn’t. They were glad to enjoy the prosperity given to them by God, but they forgot their part of the covenant. Instead of being a blessing to the Egyptians, they caused their host nation to become suspicious of them. In the end, that turned out badly for the Egyptians, but if the Children of Israel had shared God’s love like He intended them to do, maybe all that unpleasantness could have been avoided.

Later, God dealt with Moses and the Children of Israel as they were about to enter the promised land. In this case, He tried something different. Until then, God gave His people a clear goal and expected them to get on with achieving it. This was how General Norman Schwartzkopf dealt with the commander and staff of the 101st Airborne Division after they had briefed him on their plans for Operation Desert Storm. His last words to them were, “You’re about to make air assault history; don’t mess it up!” One old master sergeant commented at the time, “Now, that’s guidance I can understand.”

Sadly, God’s people may have understood their part in the covenant that they had made with God, but they could not uphold it. So, God made some changes in the deal. Let’s read Exodus 19:1-8,

In the third month, on the same day of the month that the Israelites had left the land of Egypt, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai. After they departed from Rephidim, they entered the Wilderness of Sinai and camped in the wilderness, and Israel camped there in front of the mountain. Moses went up the mountain to God, and the Lord called to him from the mountain: “This is what you must say to the house of Jacob, and explain to the Israelites: ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Me. Now if you will listen to Me and carefully keep My covenant, you will be My own possession out of all the peoples, although all the earth is Mine, and you will be My kingdom of priests and My holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to say to the Israelites.” After Moses came back, he summoned the elders of the people and set before them all these words that the Lord had commanded him.  Then all the people responded together, “We will do all that the Lord has spoken.” So Moses brought the people’s words back to the Lord.

The reaction of the Children of Israel at this juncture reminds me of when we buy a new computer or download a new game or piece of software. Invariably we will be presented with a contract on screen, which in modern parlance is called a EULA or an End User License Agreement. As consenting adults, we are supposed to read, understand, and agree, to this insufferably long and binding agreement, something than none of us ever do. We simply click on the button that affirms that we read and agreed to the EULA, and away we go, having agreed to who knows what!

In this case the Lord said, “Whoa, there! Let’s talk about what this agreement is all about.” Then, for the next three chapters in Exodus, He outlined the responsibilities of His people, beginning with the Ten Commandments, and then continuing to deal with issues like worship, how to treat servants, how to deal with accidents and other injuries inflicted on one person by another, how to punish theft, sorcery, and sexual misconduct, how to treat vulnerable people, and how to honor the sabbath. Of course, God also listed His promises that He made to His people, and He warned them to avoid sin.

God gave His people some seriously complete guidance about how to live for Him. In fact, the entire Book of Leviticus was dedicated to teaching God’s people the right things to do to carry out their part of their deal with God. In the pew Bibles of the church I pastor, the Book of Leviticus spans twenty-six double column pages. God gave His people all the information that they needed to have so they would not mess up, and He explained it to them carefully. We can see their response in Exodus 24:3-8,

Moses came and told the people all the commands of the Lord and all the ordinances. Then all the people responded with a single voice, “We will do everything that the Lord has commanded.” And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early the next morning and set up an altar and 12 pillars for the 12 tribes of Israel at the base of the mountain. Then he sent out young Israelite men, and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed bulls as fellowship offerings to the Lord. Moses took half the blood and set it in basins; the other half of the blood he sprinkled on the altar. He then took the covenant scroll and read it aloud to the people. They responded, “We will do and obey everything that the Lord has commanded.” Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you concerning all these words.”

Don’t you appreciate it when a sales agent takes the time to carefully explain to you the parameters of the deal to which you are about to agree? God did that and more, and then He asked the people if they were ready to “sign on the dotted line.” They were, and they did. They said, “Yes,” and they meant “yes,” but they failed to do, “yes.”

Jesus said that we must let our “yes” be “yes,” and our “no,” be “no.” So, unlike us, God kept His part of the deal. Even more than that, God went much farther than the extra mile to make His covenant with His people work.

He dealt with them through judges, and prophets and priests and kings. He dealt with them as a single nation, and also later when they split into two nations. He dealt with them in the Promised Land, and then when they were in captivity, and also when they were restored to Canaan. Despite His stubborn love for His people, they could not keep their end of the deal.

We all know the saying, “If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.” Since the Old Deal was not working because of the failure of God’s people, God acted to create a New Deal, a deal which was guaranteed to work, because God, Himself, was going to be the guarantee.

Now, let’s read Hebrews 8:10-12. In this case, the writer of Hebrews is quoting the prophet Jeremiah, who said,

But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be My people. And each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying, “Know the Lord,” because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them. For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins.

The New Deal:

We all know the saying that “you don’t get something for nothing,” but that is not always true. One of my predecessors as director of missions in an association of Baptist churches discovered that many of the pastors there did not have any life insurance. One pastor had died, and his family did not have the money for the funeral.  So, the director of missions decided that was a problem that had to be solved.

He contracted with an insurance company to offer small life insurance policies to the pastors of the association which were sufficient to cover the costs of a funeral. These policies earned cash value from the company investing the premiums. The association would pay the premiums until the dividends grew to pay for the value of the insurance provided, and when a death claim was settled, any cash value left over would go back to the association. The pastors paid nothing out of pocket. All they had to do was to sign on the dotted line. When I retired from denominational service over three decades after these policies were written, about a dozen former pastors still held one of those insurance policies, for which they had paid nothing.

I think this is a great illustration of the New Covenant which was written in the blood of Jesus. God knew we had a debt to Him which we could not pay. He decided to pay that debt for us, without charging us anything. All we had to do is sign on the dotted line, and salvation would be ours.

I will admit to some limitations in using those insurance policies as an illustration of the New Deal offered to us in Christ, but these exceptions prove the rule:

First, those insurance policies were only offered to the pastors of churches in that one association in south Alabama. They were not available to their wives, or their families, or any of their church members. They weren’t offered to pastors of other denominations or to Baptist pastors in other counties. God, however, offers His forgiveness to all who will accept His Son as their Savior.

Also, those insurance policies were never very big, and they could not grow cash value because the cash value was absorbed by the cost of the premiums. While they were sufficient to bury someone when they were written decades ago, their value would only pay a portion of the costs of a funeral today. In the case of Jesus however, we know what the old hymn says, 

Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.

Finally, only one person is left alive in that county that knows how the system works or even how to find the files on those policies. At the time of writing, that fellow is 86 years old! He’s going strong, but he won’t live forever! Conversely, the instructions about loving God are written down for all to see, and in fact, the Holy Spirit writes God’s Truth on the hearts of all His people.

The New Deal offered by President Roosevelt to the generation of the Depression era was funded by borrowing money from the succeeding generations. God, however, is a debtor to no one, because His riches in grace are far greater than anyone can imagine, and, through His New Deal, He places those at our disposal.

Finally, let’s read Hebrews 8:12 and 13,

For I will be merciful to their wrongdoing, and I will never again remember their sins. By saying, a new covenant, He has declared that the first is old. And what is old and aging is about to disappear.

The Deadline of the Deal:

We often see deals offered to us that state that they are “for a limited time only.” Also, we will see products offered to us that have a “limited production run.” These statements appeal to our human Fear Of Missing Out (or FOMO). The impact of these marketing statements subconsciously urges us to, “Get them before they are gone!” 

One commentator pointed out that every deal is available for a limited time only, and every product has a limited production run. For example, the association of Baptist churches in south Alabama no longer offers those insurance policies to the pastors of member churches. Also, automobiles that burn leaded gas and that don’t have catalytic converters are no longer manufactured.  The lesson we take away from these facts is to “strike while the iron is hot.” If you need something and you can afford it, you should buy it while you have the opportunity. The next time you look for it, it might be gone forever.

The writer of Hebrews told us that the Old Deal was no longer on offer. Now, to relate to God, to gain His help and assistance, to access forgiveness of sins and life eternal, we must deal with Jesus. There is no other option available to us. 

How long will the offer of salvation by Christ be available? The short answer is that we don’t know. We do know, however, that someday a trumpet will blow, and Jesus will come for His people. Until then, as long as we have breath, we can choose to buy-in to Christ’s offer to us. As Paul wrote in Romans 10:9-13,

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in salvation. Now the Scripture says, Everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Conclusion:

I know a fellow who, as a young man, joined his parents in buying into a limited time offer on a time-share vacation home. Decades later, his parents are deceased and he is unwell himself and he cannot travel anymore. Yet he is unable to dispose of his time-share. It seems that time-share contracts are almost eternal!

The only other deal I know that is eternal is the one offered to us by Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. Unlike a vacation home time-share, however, no one has ever regretted taking Christ’s offer of salvation by grace through faith.

What about us? Have we dealt with Christ’s offer to us? There is no better day to do so than today.

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt