THE NEW COVENANT Hebrews 8:6-7 the New Covenant
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New Covenant 1 THE NEW COVENANT “And I will pour out . on Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace” Key question How is the New Covenant in Christ’s blood related to the Old Covenant with Israel through Moses? Key text Hebrews 8:6-7 “But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” Key Definition The New Covenant The New Covenant is a contract outlining the way God relates to all who are identified with Christ by faith. It is centered on radical grace, the power of the Holy Spirit, and intimate community (the church). Introduction 1. The New Covenant is the basis of our understanding of the Christian life. This is in contrast to life under the Law of Moses. 2. The New Covenant guarantees a new purity, a new identity, a new inclination, a new empowerment, a new illumination, and a new unity. 3. A Biblical Covenant is an agreement which forms the basis upon which all further relationships rest. A. Key texts that speak of the New Covenant in contrast to the Old Covenant. 1. From the Old Testament. a. Jer.31:31-34 “31 Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was husband to them,” declares the Lord. 33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall by My people. 34 And they shall not teach again, New Covenant 2 each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lords,’ for they shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares the Lord, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” 1. The NC was not a part of the Old Testament period but stood in contrast to the Covenant with Moses that dominated before the cross of Christ. 2. The NC was to be characterized by an internal law as opposed to an external code. 3. The NC would involve an intimate relationship with God and a clear identity as God’s people. 4. The NC is a relationship of radical grace. b. Ezek.36:25-27 “25 Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. 26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances.” 1. The NC is to rest on what God does for us and in us not on what we do for Him. 2. The NC involves not only who we are but what we do. 3. The NC is associated with the coming of the Spirit to indwell the believer. c. Zech.12:10 “10 And I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the Spirit of grace and of supplication, so that they will look on Me whom they have pierced; and they will mourn for Him, as one mourns for an only son,” 2. From the New Testament. • Matt.26:28 “for this is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many for forgiveness of sins.” Mk.14:24; Lk.22:20 1. Jesus made it clear that the NC was linked to the cross and the forgiveness of sins. 2. The NC was to be at the center of Christian worship. • Rom.11:25-27 “27 And this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.” 1. Paul also links the NC with forgiveness of sin. 2. In this case it has to do with the forgiveness of “all Israel” after “the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.” • I Cor.11:17-34 “25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’” 1. The context suggests that the NC calls for an intimacy within the body of believers where they care for each other. 2. There is a warning in this passage to eat and drink in a worthy manner so as to not be “guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.” This probably refers to the social relationships among those who share the supper. • II Cor.3:1-18 “6 who also make us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills but the Spirit gives life.” 1. The NC is associated with the Spirit. 2. The contrast with the letter of the Law is clear and dramatic. 3. The NC is also associated with liberty (from the law). • Gal.4:21-31 “24 This contains an allegory: for these women are two covenants, one proceeding from Mount Sinai bearing children who are to be slaves; she is Hagar.” New Covenant 3 1. In Galatians Paul makes it very clear that just as Hagar was cast out in favor of Sarah, so the OC was replaced by the NC. 2. It is clear in this text that the issue is not a legalistic interpretation of the law but the whole OC that was cast out. • Heb.7:18-22 “18 For, on the one hand, there is a setting aside of a former commandment because of its weakness and uselessness 19 (for the Law made nothing perfect), and on the other hand there is a bringing in of a better hope. through which we draw near to God. 20 And inasmuch as it was not without an oath 21 (for they indeed became priests without an oath, but He with an oath through the One who said to Him, ‘The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind, thou art a priest forever’); 22 so much the more also Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.” 1. The Law (commandments) or OC was “set aside” as “useless” with respect to bringing in righteousness. 2. Jesus is associated with a New and “better” covenant. • Heb.8:6-13 “6 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” 1. It is clear here that the second (better) covenant replaced the first. 2. The promises of the OC were conditioned upon the faithfulness and obedience of man while the second covenant was conditioned upon the faithfulness and obedience of Jesus. • Heb.9:15-28 “15 And for this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. 16 For where a covenant is, there must of necessity be the death of the one who made it. 17 For a covenant is valid only when men are dead, for it is never in force while the one who make it lives.” • Heb.10:9-25 (quote from Jer.31:30-33) B. The relation ship of the Biblical covenants. 1. The Covenant with Adam (Gen.2:16-17) a. This was a conditional covenant in which life and blessing or death and cursing were made to depend on the faithfulness of Adam. b. This covenant defines man’s need for redemption. c. The subsequent covenants deal with the consequences of Adam’s failure to meet demands of this covenant. 2. The Covenant with Abram, the basis of God’s redemptive plan (Gen.12:1-4; 13:14- 17; 15:1-7,18; 17:1-8) a. Gen.15:18 “On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates;” b. This covenant is unconditional and among other things promises to bless the entire “fallen” world through Abram’s descendants. c. In Gal. 3:8,16 Paul links this covenant of promise with Christ as the fulfillment. New Covenant 4 d. This covenant with Abram is the backbone of two other covenants that are of great significance in understanding God's plan. 3. The Covenant at Sinai--the Law (Ex.20:1-31:18) a. This was a conditional covenant with Israel whereby blessings and cursings were related to Israel’s obedience or disobedience to over 600 specific commands.