A covenant is a contract, the strongest kind of
contract. A blood covenant is the strongest kind of covenant.
Historically blood covenants have been used over the millenia by
various tribes and cultures to seal critical relationships. For
example, two men who respected each other might cut slits in their
hands and then tightly grasp those hands together, co-mingling the
blood. They then regarded each other as blood brothers and were to
treat each other as such. Many cultures had such rituals in which
covenant relationship was established by blood. Respect for blood
covenants appears to be deeply embedded in the psyche of the human
race.
The Mosaic Covenant, given by God to the ancient Hebrews at Mt.
Sinai, was sealed by the blood of sacrificial animals and
established one of the most important covenants ever made with man.
It was a Covenant of Law that brought blessing when kept and curse
when broken. This covenant, sometimes referred to as the Old
Covenant, brought with it knowledge of God's expectations for man
and revealed man's sinful nature. But it did not provide the
righteousness of God. It was, as the apostle Paul said, a
schoolmaster to lead us to Christ. Though important in God's plan
for his children, it was the forerunner of the way of faith through
Christ that would bring an entire new dimension to everlasting
spiritual life.
With the death and Resurrection of Jesus and the outpouring of
the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, a new and everlasting
Covenant was given by God. It too is a blood Covenant given through
the sacrifice of our Lord at the Cross of Calvary. His blood was
shed for us and is sprinkled on our hearts, cleansing our
consciences as we accept Him as Lord and Master of our lives. As
the Mosaic Covenant was sealed by the blood of animals and the New
Covenant was made effectual by an immeasurably better sacrifice
through the very blood of the Son of God Himself, the New Covenant
is forever established as the superior Covenant. It is eternal and
imparts the very righteousness of Christ Himself to the believer.
Since the Covenant is sealed by the Holy Spirit through the blood
of Jesus Christ, it is inconceivable that a better covenant could
be found. There could be no sacrifice that could be more sacred.
There could be no life imparted that could be more precious. As His
blood now flows in the believer, the believer has a blood brother
in Jesus Christ and has become part of the family of God. The
believer now belongs to a fellowship of multitudes of blood
brothers and sisters who are partakers of the richness of life in
our Lord. The blood of Jesus in our veins serves to break down all
barriers of sectarianism, racism, and dogma as we find our eternal
family only in the Spirit of God.
The Promise
The Prophets of Israel had knowledge that such a Covenant would
one day be given to the people of our Lord. They looked forward to
that time with anticipation. Jeremiah made specific mention of it
when he prophesied:
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will make a
new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of
Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their
fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out
of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I
was an husband unto them, saith the LORD: 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. And they shall teach no more every man his
neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for
they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest
of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I
will remember their sin no more. (Jer. 31.31-34)
Jeremiah spoke of several aspects of this New Covenant quite
pointedly. The New Covenant was not to depend on external law, or
rulebook relationship, so to speak, to express the will of God as
had the Mosaic Covenant. Instead, the law, the torah, was to be
written in man's innermost being -- in his heart and in his mind.
It would give man perfect union with God in which he would truly
know His Creator through His Presence permeating his innermost
being. The believer would no longer be reliant on man as his
teacher, but would have God Himself as his Rabbi. He would know His
Lord. He would know Him in a deeply fulfilling way. Further, he
would know of a certainty that his iniquity had been forgiven,
placing him in right standing with a most Holy God.
Assurance
We have fulfillment of these promises through Jesus Christ . The
believer may have the assurance of the Holy Spirit that his sins
have been forgiven. Further, Jesus said that we have no need that
any man teach us. He promised us the Holy Spirit, the Comforter,
who would surely lead us into all truth. And by faith we may have
our own personal Pentecost in which God immerses us in His Spirit,
writing His New and Living Way on our hearts and minds. As we are
given blood relationship with Christ Jesus, we have perfect union
with Him made available to us through the faith imparted by Him to
our believing hearts. We may follow Him and come forth in His very
image.
The Prophet Isaiah provided additional vital insight about this
life giving new Covenant:
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will
hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant
of the people, for a light of the gentiles; to open the blind
eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that
sit in darkness out of the prison house. (Isaiah 42:6-7)
Isaiah spoke clearly that Christ Himself is given as the
Covenant. Our Covenant is Jesus! Now we can understand that the
Kingdom of God is within us as Jesus proclaimed. The very nature of
God Almighty has been placed within us, the Life of Christ. The
Holy One of Israel makes the Kingdom of God manifest in our lives.
Isaiah adds emphasis to this knowledge of our Covenant:
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard
thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will
preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people
... (Isaiah 49:8)
This is astounding if we but reflect upon it. What God is
promising with the New Covenant is the Gift of His divine
nature.
What will God do for His beloved children, those to whom He has
imparted His very Essence? Those who are His Sons and Daughters?
Scripture is full of the promises of God that are made available to
His children, the joint-heirs of Christ. But what gift could be
greater than Christ Himself living in our hearts? Jesus promised us
the Gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the Gift of His very Nature
and enables us to be formed in the image of Christ as we walk
faithfully with Him.
The Prophecy
Isaiah writes further of the heritage of those who come into New
Covenant relationship in Christ and partake of His
righteousness:
Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into
singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child:
for more are the children of the desolate than the children of
the married wife, saith the LORD.
For thy Maker is thine husband; the LORD of hosts is his
name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the
whole earth shall he be called.
For the LORD hath called thee as a woman forsaken and
grieved in spirit, and a wife of youth, when thou wast refused,
saith thy God.
For a small moment have I forsaken thee; but with great
mercies will I gather thee.
In a little wrath I hid my face from thee for a moment;
but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith
the LORD thy Redeemer.
For this is as the waters of Noah unto me: for as I have
sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth;
so have I sworn that I would not be wroth with thee, nor rebuke
thee.
For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed;
but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the
covenant of my peace be removed, saith the LORD that hath mercy
on thee.
O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted,
behold, I will lay thy stones with fair colours, and lay thy
foundations with sapphires.
And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of
carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.
And all thy children shall be taught of the LORD; and
great shall be the peace of thy children.
In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be
far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror;
for it shall not come near thee.
Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me:
whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy
sake.
Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in
the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and
I have created the waster to destroy.
No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and
every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt
condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and
their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.
The Precious Gift
This New Covenant, identified with the righteous nature of our
God, is what Jesus was speaking about when He promised us of the
Gift of the Holy Spirit, as recorded in the gospel of Luke
(11:13):
If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto
your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the
Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
Before Jesus was crucified and resurrected, He told His
disciples that He was not going to leave them alone but would send
another, just like Himself, as He spoke of the Comforter, the Holy
Spirit. He told the disciples that this Spirit had been WITH them
but would be IN them. In other words, the Spirit would INDWELL
them. It is the Holy Spirit that writes God's Law on our hearts. By
immersion into the Spirit of God, by baptism in His Holy Spirit,
God comes to indwell us and make us partakers of the New Covenant
relationship with Him. When some speak of or sing when Jesus came
into my heart, to what are they referring? They are talking about
the Gift of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. They are proclaiming
the New Covenant in Christ Jesus.
The New Covenant was first given to the followers of Jesus on
the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was poured out from on
high. Fittingly, the Mosaic Covenant was given on the same Day of
Pentecost many centuries before when Moses received the Law on
tablets of stone. The Mosaic Covenant gave an external Law for man
to follow. But with the New Covenant, the Law is written on the
believer's heart by our indwelling Lord. We receive the Law of
Christ, the Law of Love, not an external rulebook of
commandments and ordinances.
Pentecost
Several weeks after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, His
faithful followers were gathered together in Jerusalem when the Day
of Pentecost arrived and the promised New Covenant was given. The
rejoicing of that day is remembered in the Book of Acts where the
earthshaking event was explained by the apostle Peter as he quoted
from the Prophet Joel (Acts 2:16-21):
But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour
out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters
shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your
old men shall dream dreams:
And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out
in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the
earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapour of smoke:
The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into
blood, before the great and notable day of the Lord come:
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on
the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Is knowledge of what God has done for us important or should we
just relax and coast through life, assuming He will work out all
the details? After all, He is the Author and Finisher of our
Faith.
No, let us not be lax but press in to the Kingdom of God..
Knowledge is important! As the Author of our Faith, He has told us
of His express will that we know the scriptures and His promises to
us. In the book of Hosea (4:6) we read:
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...
We are called to learn of these matters. We need not only
knowledge of the New Covenant, but should have assurance that we
are partakers of it also, Baptized in the Holy Spirit, indwelt by
the living Christ.
May God richly reward your pursuit of such knowledge as you
commune with our Lord knowing He is faithful in all His
promises.
Jesus is our Lord and our God!
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