CYPRESSWOOD CHURCH OF CHRIST
August 9, 2009
25424 Aldine-Westfield, Spring, TX. 77373
www.blakehart.com/cypresswoodbulletin.htm
www.cypresswoodchurchofchrist.com
PETITIONS AND THANKSGIVINGS:
God’s will for our congregation Various friends, relatives and co-workers
Our military, nation and leaders The upcoming school year
COVENANTS OF GOD (9)
“By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:13).
We have been looking at the four main covenants found in the Old Testament or the Hebrew scriptures. Each of those covenants built on the former as God responded to the continuing sin of people. God’s plan in all of this was the redemption of creation. The last covenant that we must consider is the New Covenant found in Christ. There are similarities and differences between the five covenants.
The Hebrew writer is emphasizing that, among other things, Jesus has given us a better covenant. All of the covenants were leading to this covenant in Christ. We find in this last covenant that sin is finally and once for all dealt with in the sacrificial offering of Jesus. It is through this sacrifice that we become a holy nation living holy lives in the presence of God through His Holy Spirit. Each of the four Old Testament covenants certainly had this in mind (see Exodus 19:5-6, et al.).
We find that the promises made to Abraham are fulfilled in Christ as well. Paul makes use of the word “seed” to express in singular form that the seed that would bring blessings is Jesus Christ. Among the blessings found would be the peace of God, the forgiveness of sins, and new life as new creatures. This covenant relationship is expressed in different ways.
One question we could ask is what about the Jewish people? Where do they stand today? We find as Paul argues this question that the Gentiles as wild olive branches have been grafted into the natural olive branch of Israel (Romans 11). What does he mean by this? That is Paul’s discussion in Romans 9-11. The Gentiles have become a part of the new covenant of God. What to do with the Gentiles was a debate of the early church until Acts 15 settled the matter. What to do with the Jews has been a debate every since. The way I see it right now is that God has a special place in His heart for the Jewish people and continues to bless nations that bless Abraham’s seed (plural). There is still the matter of relationship. Jews need to recognize and respond to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah.
Then there is the matter of Hebrews 8:13 where the writer states that the first is obsolete and will soon disappear. What is he talking about here? We have often seen this as doing away with the entire Old Testament by saying that we are to be New Testament Christians. The Old has become unimportant. But what we miss in our statement about New Testament Christianity is that the Bible of the first century church was the Old Testament. That presents problems to our statement and is something we will have to think through. However, when looking at these covenants, maybe we have thrown out the baby with the bath water. Let me suggest some things by looking briefly at the covenants.
The covenant made with Noah included the sign of the rainbow. Since we still have rainbows, can we say that this covenant no longer exists? Since the world as not been destroyed by a flood again, it appears to me that this covenant remains active.
The covenant made with Abraham has its fulfillment in Christ but it also appears to be an ongoing covenant. Through Abraham’s seed will come blessings and we continue to receive blessings through his seed, that is, Jesus Christ. We also see that holy and righteous living was important under this covenant and remains so today. We also looked briefly at the land promise a couple of weeks ago. So I would say that this is still a fulfilled but active covenant.
The covenant with Moses, better known as the Law of Moses, is a covenant made with Israel at Mt. Sinai. Included in that covenant was a variety of customs, food laws, and sacrificial laws that involved Israel in a way that they could be a holy nation before God. It is in this aspect that Jesus has superseded this covenant making it null and void. We no longer depend on high priests and animals sacrifices in our relationship with God. Jesus is the final sacrifice that deals with sin. Yet there are parts of the Old Covenant that we can learn from such as holy living, covenant keeping, and any number of other aspects. Part of our problem has been reading this covenant as exclusively a law rather than as a relationship which included legal aspects. While we are not under this covenant, which Paul calls good in Romans 7, we certainly can learn and even apply any number of teachings to our lives. How consistently we are in this is a matter of debate. It is a covenant made with a nation leading ultimately to the redemption of humankind and creation.
The covenant made with David included holy living by the king as he led the nation. Jesus is now King fulfilling this covenant and yet continues to reign as King, so we could say that this covenant is still active in some aspect.
The New Covenant has aspects that include promises. We understand that we are awaiting our final redemption. We have been redeemed and yet there is an aspect of redemption that we look forward to (see Romans 8:18-25; 1 Corinthians 15:36-58). There are promises to be fulfilled just as God has fulfilled or kept His promises in the past. Our hope or confident expectation is in our trust that God will accomplish all that He wills. We live under this new covenant.
In general we have understood the distinctions between the covenants. Yet it is not as cut and dry as we have like to think. There are aspects that we can draw from to better understand the covenant we now live under. God is the Author of all of these covenants and they are meant to be studied and understood in their historical, cultural, and theological contexts. It is a challenge for us to work through all of this and see what can be learned and applied.
George B. Mearns