The festivals and ceremonies even the Passover pointed to Christ, and He fulfilled it as Messiah and sacrifice at the cross. Now Christians usually don't realize that sin created problems not only for man but for God as well. God could have allowed for penalty to be done for the wages of sin and Adam and Eve been wiped out, but God in His righteousness was ready to redeem us through Christ sacrifice and show He is just before the universe. He had to uphold His death sentence and still save man from death. That the universe looks at whether God is just by even in judging the words and actions of God on this is clearly shown:
Romans 3:4
God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be
justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
Psalm 51:4
Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be
justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest.
Now Paul states that God did not consider the first covenant to be faultless:
Hebrews 8:7 King James Version (KJV)
7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second.
Was God Himself at fault, or His law, now God and His law is perfect. There is only one possibility left, its man who did not fulfill his part of the agreement, which was perfect obedience to God's law. Paul presents the dilemma for God in that He himself is righteous and that he justifies him who has faith in Jesus:
Romans 3:26 King James Version (KJV)
26 To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus.
The incarnation of God's son, and His death at the cross, and man's salvation through acceptance of God's gift, are the fundamentals of the new covenant to which Paul refers. They contain the basic provision for a covenant by which God can achieve His goal, to bring righteousness back to man without sacrificing the principles of His eternal moral law. Lets look at the promises of the new covenant:
Jeremiah 31:33 King James Version (KJV)
"33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."
We also see it repeated in Ezekiel:
Ezekiel 36:26 King James Version (KJV)
26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
These promises are a divine provision covering not only a transformation of man but also God's participation in it. Look back at Hebrews 8:6:
Hebrews 8:6 King James Version (KJV)
"6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises."
Notice that the covenant Christ mediates is better, since it is enacted "
on better promises."