The New Covenant

Dear Phyllis,

Covenant is not a real strong issue with Christians today. I doubt that there is one Christian in twenty that knows what the New Covenant is. Several years ago I was preaching through Hebrews and ran into the verse that said, “This is the New Covenant”, and I asked myself, what is it? I didn't know. I asked ten missionaries and got ten different answers. Thank God, today I know, but I don't believe I have ever heard a message on this subject.

That is strange because nearly everything in our lives is based on contracts. You have to sign a contract to buy a car, rent a house, buy anything on installment, sometimes to get a job, and the most important of all – to get married. Contact are absolutely basic to any agreement between two people establishing the responsibilities of each partner.

God has used covenants (contacts) on several occasions affirming His commitment to keep various promises. One of the most basic is the covenant (contract) that God made with Israel when He brought them out of Egypt. This is the Old Covenant and the foundation stone for everything that comes later. Ironically no where is the covenant written out in clear words as you would expect but basically what it is, is “You shall be My people and I will be your God”. Fundamentally, this is a marriage contract. In referring to the Sinai Covenant, in Jer. 31:12, the Lord said, “They broke My covenant, although I was a husband to them”. Israel was the only nation that God made this covenant with, and the origin of this goes back to Abraham where God promised to bless his seed (Gen. 15:18; 22:16-18).

I believe it is because of God's covenant with Israel that the marriage relationship is so sacred. God wants to explain to humanity the nature of the relationship that He desires to have with the creatures He created in His own image; and to do that He has established the institution of marriage. A man and his wife are to be faithful to each other and to violate this covenant is one of the most serious crimes there is. I believe this is the reason why the devil has made marriage and moral purity ground zero for his attack on humanity to desecrate the image of God.

A covenant is serious business, and it is particularly critical to look at the negative side of the covenant of what God said He would do if the terms were not met. God keeps His Word – both the good and the bad.

I told Singha last week that keeping your word is the most important issue in life; whether it be in marriage, parenting, teaching, employment, or just among friends. Keeping our word is the most important issue in life. And God keeps His Word. That is why it is so important that we understand the terms of the Covenant.

The fact that God established a marriage relationship with a nation is mind boggling. The uniqueness of it; the intimacy, the security, the blessing, etc. Oh my goodness, what more could you ask? To have God as your husband and have Him be responsible for you; how can you top that?

 The terms were totally reasonable. All He was asking was that they be decent. There were only ten things that He required and they were so basic that common sense would tell you, of course, this is the way it should be. Don't kill anyone. Don't steal. Don't sleep around. Etc. What is wrong with that? That is the way it should be.

There was only one flaw in the Old Covenant. Israel wasn't up to keeping their side of the deal. It was like a kid buying a car when he couldn't keep up the payments. The Covenant required that both sides keep their end of the deal. If one side can't do it, making half a dozen new contacts won't solve anything, unless you correct the flaw with the original. God did this in the New Covenant by guaranteeing both sides would be faithful. To do that God made Jesus to be the co-signator, the mediator, the guarantor, of the New Covenant. Hebrews 8:10-12 spells this out. I have written to you about this before and space will not allow me to do it again. God never negated the terms of the Old Covenant, He just wrote a New one guaranteeing that both sides would keep their end of the contract. It was major revelation when the Lord revealed this to me. Keeping our end of the deal is the whole point of the New Covenant.

The question has been raised, “are the Ten Commandments a PROHIBITION or a PROMISE?” For a long time I didn't know the answer to that question. Thank God I know it today. Absolutely, it is a PROMISE. And to explain how this is possible, the Lord spells this out in Jer. 31:33,34. And He repeats this in Heb. 12:10-12. Basically it is Jesus living His life in us. But the 4^th point of the Covenant says. (where there was failure) “their sins and iniquities will I remember no more”.

Lynn wrote me the other day. She was commenting on my warm heart for Jesus. I wrote her back saying she obviously is greatly deceived. If she knew me as Jesus knows me, and as my wife knows me, that might call for a note of compassion and say, “poor man”. I had no idea the magnitude of my sin when I was first saved. When the Lord finally opened my eyes and saw what Jesus had done in forgiving me it was staggering. But that is not the problem. What staggers me the most is what Jesus has done since then.

Jesus said, “He who has been forgiven much loves much (Lk. 7:47). This is only reasonable. But when a person has been forgiven so much - and given such unimaginable advantages - but is unappreciative; man howdy, that is a big problem. The Lord was gracious in keeping me from a deep debauched life before I was saved. I never took drugs, never smoked, or like alcohol. I never got into gang life. All this was the grace of God. But what I have done with the grace of God since then is bewildering. I don't know anyone who has had the unusual advantages the Lord has extended to me, and now at the end of the road I have so little to show for it.

In my letter to Lynn, I shared what must be the experience of the angels in heaven keeping the books. In any account book amount received. It is good when the books balance. But in my book there is not a figure in any human language that can express the price God paid to save me. Millions of dollars would be an insult to put as a price for the Blood of Jesus. You could suggest 10 to the 900,000,000,000,000 power and that would be an insult. That God sent His Son to pay the price for my sin??? Who can take that in? Now we put that down in one column and on the other side of the ledger, the pitiful two digits figures of what I have done for Jesus is mind boggling. How is it possible that a man could have such an inexpressible indebtedness and have such a cold heart is truly mind boggling. I shared with Lynn what my book in heaven must look like. On one side we have all that Jesus has done for me and on the other side, the most significant feature is the red ink. It must be a wonder to angels how a man with such staggering red ink has any chance of heaven. But then before the final closure I believe there will be a stamp – PAID IN FULL (by Jesus). When I wrote that I burst into tears and could write no further.

What can we say? I don't know.

Thank You. bill

PS: I am in Japan – for one month.