about the new covenant

[Donna C]

Looking at the different covenants, I'm seeing the same shared elements in all of them: grace, faith, commandments, sacrifice for sin, promises, the love of God, His help. So I've been wondering, what is really different about the new covenant. We don't have the temple system in shadow, but we have it in antitype.

When Eve listened to the enemy, and believed what he said about God, and ate of the fruit, she sinned twice, right? She first believed the lies being told, which took her out of belief in God, then directly disobeyed His command, because believing lies about God set her on a selfish path.

Well, Adam, while he had reluctance, and did what he did out of love for Eve, was really no different. At first, I thought that his love was self-sacrificing, that he gave up his life for Eve. But that was wrong. He gave up his live to be with Eve, which is very different. He was selfishly motivated, and was willing to comprimise God's commandment even though he may not have believed the lies from the serpants devious mouth.

“I saw a sadness come over Adam's countenance. He appeared afraid and astonished. A struggle seemed to be going on in his mind. He felt sure that this was the foe against whom they had been warned, and that his wife must die. They must be separated. His love for Eve was strong, and in utter discouragement he resolved to share her fate. He seized the fruit and quickly ate it.” EW 148.2

He wanted to be with Eve. So Eve's sin, immediatly brought selfishness to Adam's heart. Adam may not have believed what the enemy lied about God, but he was still self-focused when presented with this challege and distress. He loved Eve more than he loved God.

**
On an off-shoot: I was just reading the thread on divorce. What would have been the right thing for Adam to do? Well, obey God, even though Eve had now entered death. I wonder how things would have been different.

“Do you suppose that I came to grant peace on earth? I tell you, no, but rather division; for from now on five members in one household will be divided, three against two and two against three” (Luke 12: 51,52).

Would they have been divided, now unevenly yoked as believer and unbeliever?
**

The reason Jesus had to be the sacrifice, and no angel, or any other, would have been able to accomplish what Jesus did on the cross, though willing and obedient unto the death, is because God's name is what needed to be vindicated in the heart of these newfound sinners, and those who followed, who believed the lies about God. But their hearts are hardened in unbelief now. If an angle had taken His place, God would have been seen as self-preserving. He would have been seen as willing that another should die. He would have been seen exactly how the enemy portrayed Him. Any sacrifice other than God would not be seen as genuine. God's character had to be demonstrated before eyes that were now dulled and corrupt, so that they would believe that God is not selfish, that He is not self-preserving, and that He is not willing that any should die. So He gave Himself.

Jesus came that we might believe. The disciples fell in love with Jesus, and then believed that the Father sent Him. They came to know and trust the character of the Father through Jesus, and it took them a long time. But it took the cross to really understand:

“He came as a witness, to testify about the Light, so that all might believe through him” (John 1:7),

"Now they have come to know that everything You have given Me is from You; for the words which You gave Me I have given to them; and they received them and truly understood that I came forth from You, and they believed that You sent Me” (John 17:7,8).  

[Donna C]

Adam's and Eve's “unbelief” regarding who God truly is, caused them to act selfishly and choose to sin. They now reflected their corrupted belief of who they now thought God was: self-focused, a lier and looking out for Himself: “The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The same with the Israelites: “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18,19).  Unbelief leads to disobedience. It is a reflection of the lies believed about God, and the veil in our own minds that keeps us distant from Him, out of the holy place.

So, Jesus in is His condescention, and His sacrifice and what it accomplished, and, it seems, the call to us for self-sacrifice, is the difference. He corrects our unbelief.

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Jesus came that we might believe, and reconciled us to God through a renewed belief in the character of God. He reconciled us through His death, the ultimate self-sacrifice of Life itself, showing us what He is willing to do, what His will is, “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”.

“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--” (Colossians 1:21,22).

Just the fact that we believe cleanses us. Our belief unites us together with Him:

“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-7).

We are joined to Him through Christ, and are able to enter with Christ into the holy place and be in the presence of the Father. We have been allowed intimacy with God. We took the first step through faith. Believing who He is through Christ's example and demonstration of self-sacrifice, we now, “with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit” ( 1Corinthians 3:18).

And we fall deeply in love with the beauthy that unfolds before us. Every law that seemed a threatening rule becomes our eager pleasure. Through our restored belief and reconciliation, we know Him. And in knowing Him, we know His great love. It just gets better and better. Knowing and growing in His great love, we know true freedom, and are blessed with and by real life. But David knew this before the new covenant. Is that because he was a prophet?

[Donna C]

“The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

We have this.

We realize that His law is life, but only by loving Him, which means receiving Him, which =  faith. It's a beautiful circle of ever expanding and deepening love as we are unfolded in His beauty and wonder, and brought ever nearer to Him as our minds are unveiled to the reality of who God truly is. Serving Him is an absolute pleasure, because we know now what it means. It means the best love possible or imaginable.

This is what it means: “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people” (Hebrew 8:10).

This is what it means: “And they shall come thither, and they shall take away all the detestable things thereof and all the abominations thereof from thence. And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezekiel 11:18-20).

This is what it means: “Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren” (1John 3:16).   (This passage can be read as first perceiving the love of God because He laid His life down. Or it can be read that because He laid His life down, we were reconciled, and then able to perceive the love of God).

And: “No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1John 4:12).

His love is perfected in us; His law is absolute freedom and delight. In reconciling us to God, He has reconciled us to the law, and not by duty or mere decision, but by and in love.

It's such a beautiful relaxation, and our ultimate rest, to love Jesus and the Father and the Holy Spirit with a once stony heart made soft and warm (and vulnerable, but so safe with God) as flesh.

As we are attached to ourselves and the world, the idea of self-sacrifice is daunting and frightening. But as we are immersed deeper into the heart of God, which is our true baptism - “He that believeth and is baptized (in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is being “immersed” in the character of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, which is breathing, seeing, and living the  love of God, which is being “in” Jesus as He is “in” the Father. Our baptism isn't an event, but truly a new life "in" Christ) shall be saved”  - self-sacrifice becomes a closer walk with God, and we are willing to “love not ourselves unto death”, because more and more we love God.

The Israelites were called to love God and love their neighbor, but were they called to self-sacrifice? Were they called to follow that model? Is this new for children of the new covenant? I know Abraham and Isaac were called to sacrifice. Jacob sacrificed himself in His struggle with God. But what about the Israelites? I guess they were called to sacrifice their lusts in obeying the 10 commandments, and especially the priests, in the time they spent ministering for the people and the fact that they had no earthly inheritance.

?

Any help or thoughts?

Maybe there's nothing entirely new or different, except better help to draw near to God.

God bless,
Donna

[Richard Myers]

Adam's and Eve's “unbelief” regarding who God truly is, caused them to act selfishly and choose to sin. They now reflected their corrupted belief of who they now thought God was: self-focused, a lier and looking out for Himself: “The serpent said to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

The same with the Israelites: “And to whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief” (Hebrews 3:18,19).  Unbelief leads to disobedience. It is a reflection of the lies believed about God, and the veil in our own minds that keeps us distant from Him, out of the holy place.

So, Jesus in is His condescention, and His sacrifice and what it accomplished, and, it seems, the call to us for self-sacrifice, is the difference. He corrects our unbelief.

“Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Jesus came that we might believe, and reconciled us to God through a renewed belief in the character of God. He reconciled us through His death, the ultimate self-sacrifice of Life itself, showing us what He is willing to do, what His will is, “not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance”.

“And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach--” (Colossians 1:21,22).

Just the fact that we believe cleanses us. Our belief unites us together with Him:

Amen!  Yes, we believe, but more important, since the devils believe, we have no "unbelief". There is no greater sin than unbelief. The devils have unbelief even though they believe.  You have come to an important understanding, Donna. The problem is with unbelief. We must believe with the whole heart, not just a part of it. Unbelief shows a lack of faith in God and His promises.

And we fall deeply in love with the beauthy that unfolds before us. Every law that seemed a threatening rule becomes our eager pleasure. Through our restored belief and reconciliation, we know Him. And in knowing Him, we know His great love. It just gets better and better. Knowing and growing in His great love, we know true freedom, and are blessed with and by real life. But David knew this before the new covenant. Is that because he was a prophet?

Grace is everything. God's love is what moves us. We have a topic on The New Covenant Experience. It is not an easy subject. It is not "milk" but rather meat.  You are in a position to understand the difference between the old and new covenants. Let's continue this in that topic in the Bread of Life Forum.  The new covenant is the same as the everlasting covenant. That is why David knew of it and had the law written upon his heart. Abraham knew, Adam knew, Abel knew, Enoch knew, Elijah knew, Ezekiel knew, Solomon knew, and yes, King David knew. They all knew Jesus Christ as the "lamb of God".