New and Old Covenants

11 September 2016

Dear Phyllis,

Last week I concluded my message with the statement, “What God is after is a people created in His own image with the same character. How is that possible”. I will try to answer that question this week.

We see that the Old Covenant and the New are the same. Basically what it is is a marriage covenant between God and His people (Jer. 31:31-33). The words of the covenant are “I will be your God and you shall be My people” (Heb. 8:10). In Jer. 31:32 The Lord says, “I was an husband unto them”, and the whole book of Hosea is devoted to this relationship. And in the NT believers are called the Bride of Christ (Jn. 3:29; Rev. 21:2). In the OT God's Covenant was with Israel and He said they would be “a particular treasure unto the Lord, a Kingdom of priest and a holy nation” (Ex. 19:5,6). In the NT Peter reminds us that “we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, and a peculiar people” (1Pet. 2:9). The only difference is that in the OT God's covenant was exclusively with Israel but in the NT it is open to all people – whosoever will come (Jn. 3:16; Rev. 22:17). But the same basic requirement of being the same character as God is there in both covenants. It could not be otherwise. It would be impossible for any being to be closely related, and have fellowship with God unless they were on the same page with the same spirit. The only difference between the two covenants is how that character was to be produced and maintained. In the OT the one requirement of the Covenant was “IF you obey My voice” (Ex. 19:5) and the definition or object they were to obey was the Ten Commandments.

I believe that 95% of our preaching today and presentation of the Gospel is badly misdirected. Almost the entire thrust of our salvation message is forgiveness of sin – Jesus died in our place. This business of telling people that “if you believe that Jesus died in your place and accept Him as your savior, you can have eternal life” - and then go on living like the devil - is nonsense. Joe Carroll used to say, “The most important message today is not, 'Have you accepted Christ?'; but 'Has He accepted you?'”. The purpose of the Covenant was to bring man into a right relationship with God – not get sinners into heaven.

Of all the New Testament writers John comes the closest to presenting the basics of the New Covenant. John said, “The things that we have seen and heard declare we unto you that ye also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ” (1Jn. 1:3). How is it possible to have fellowship with God? This is the purpose of the Covenant. In the OT God choose Israel to be His people. But sin destroyed that. It wasn't until Jesus came that for the first time in 4,000 years God had a person with whom He could actually have fellowship. Jesus was of the exact Spirit as the Father and His character was the animation of God's commandments. It was not just a matter of keeping the Law, but this was exactly what Jesus was.

As I have said before, any covenant, or agreement, between two people is dependent on both parties keeping their side of the deal. The Old Covenant failed because of mans inability to keep God's commandments. It was to correct that flaw that God made a New Covenant in which He could not only guarantee His own faithfulness to the Covenant, but man's part also. He did this in an amazing way. In the Old Covenant the Law was written externally on stone, but in the New Covenant God said He would write His Law internally in our hearts(Heb. 8:10). How did He do this? He sent the very Spirit of His Son to live in our hearts. The very nature of Jesus now lives in us and this guarantees our performance fulfilling our part. Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:6; 9:15); and He is also the Surety (Heb. 7:22). As the Mediator He is the one who makes it work, and as the Surety He is the one who is responsible to make sure it is done. If a 16 year old boy bought a car and his father was the co-signatory, his dad would be the surety. If the boy failed to keep up the payments the father is responsible that the terms of the contract are fulfilled.

If this is true why is it that most Christians live on such a low level? Andrew Murray says it is because of ignorance and unbelief. Ignorance in that they have never heard that such a life is possible, and unbelief because they refuse to, or cannot, believe what God has promised in His Word actually true. I would like to add two more. One is lack of desire to have Jesus be all and all; to allow Him to live His life in me. And the other is outright love of sin. We love our sin so much we don't want to see it done away with. To such “Christians” I can only say they are living in a delusional world with Alice in Wonderland. And regardless of how loudly and frequently they may say “Lord, Lord”, in the last day Jesus will say, “Depart from Me ye that work iniquity, I never knew you” (Mt. 7:23).

God has done a wonderful thing in making a Covenant with man that not only guarantees His performance but ours also. He has done this by making His Son to be the Mediator and Surety of the Covenant to make sure that our side of the deal is fulfilled. For our part, to experience this life, all we have to do is move over and allow Jesus to take the wheel of our life and believe that God will do for us – and IN us – all that He has promised. When this happens we are brought into a right relationship and can have fellowship with God.

It has taken God many years to make this message clear in my mind but I find His fellowship an inexpressible blessed experience.

Arigato gozaimasu (thank you), bill