NEW COVENANT
CHRISTIANITY OASIS HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS NEW COVENANT STUDY. MOST HAVE HEARD OF THE NEW COVENANT IN THE BIBLE BUT ARE NOT AWARE OF HOW THIS NEW COVENANT AFFECTS US. THERE IS AN OLD COVENANT AND A NEW COVENANT ALSO KNOWN AS THE OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT. THE NEW COVENANT REALLY PLAYS A MAJOR ROLE IN YOUR CHRISTIAN WALK. LET'S SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF THE NEW COVENANT AND HOW IT APPLIES TO US, SHALL WE?

BOOK OF GENESIS

CHAPTER 17

            We’re back again, and this Daily bread story takes us further into the life of Abram.  To refresh you about where we were last time, Hagar, Sarai’s handmaid had just given birth to Abram’s son Ishmael when Abram was 86 years old.

            Now we pick up our story again, when Abram is 99 years old, and God appeared to Abram again.  And God told him, I am the Almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. 

            Hold on, you may say, nobody can be perfect except God.  That is quite true; however, one can control themselves and practice only those qualities that are godly:  faith, honesty, charity, sincerity, righteousness, etc.  So God is asking for us to strive to be perfect.

            God continued, And I will make my covenant between me and you, and will multiply you exceedingly.  So God was still unwavering about keeping his promise to Abram that He first made 24 years before about having a son. 

            Abram fell on his face and God told him more.  Abram would be a father of many nations.  His name would no longer be Abram but he would now be called Abraham and God’s Covenant would be everlasting, to be a God to him and to his descendants after him forever.  All the land of Canaan, God gave to him as an everlasting possession.  And God told Abraham to keep His covenant and for his descendants to keep His covenant in their own generations.  

            As for Sarai, God changed her name to Sarah.  Then he promised again that He would bless her and give Abraham a son born from her. 

            Abraham said in his heart, shall a child be born to a man who is 100 and a woman who is 90?

            And Abraham said, O that Ishmael might live before you! 

            But, God said ... Sarah will most certainly have a son, and you will call him Isaac: and I will set up my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him, God told him.  As for Ishmael, I’ve heard your concern.  I have blessed him and will multiply him exceedingly; he will be the father of twelve princes and I will make him a great nation.  But my promise is with Isaac, which Sarah will give birth to at this set time in the next year.  Then God went up from Abraham.

            Can you imagine the relief in Abraham’s heart when he heard God’s promise again?  All of the moments of wondering if he heard God correctly, or maybe God had forgotten, have now come to a screeching halt.  Come back again and find out what happens as Abraham continues on with renewed faith and hope to a future of bright promises.    

             God made covenants with man and mankind. His old Covenant was the Old Testament. But then ... God made a New Covenant and called it the New Testament ...

THE NEW COVENANT

Jesus went to Matthew's house and many followed.  There were a lot of sinners there who sat down to eat with Jesus and His disciples.  When the Pharisees (Religious leaders) saw it, they asked the disciples, Why does Jesus eat with sinners?  Jesus heard, and answered them, "People who are well don't need a doctor, but the sick do.  But you go and figure out what this means:  I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, because I came to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous." (Matthew 9:10-13) Jesus gave us words to ponder when He said "But you go and figure out what this means: I will have mercy, and not sacrifice" ... But what did He mean? Let's find out. Jesus also said ... No man sews a piece of new cloth on an old garment, or the patch will shrink and the tear will be worse. Neither do men put new wine into old bottles or the bottles break and the wine runs out and the bottles are ruined, but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are saved. (Matthew 9:14-17) What was Jesus saying? He was teaching of the New Covenant (Testament). You can't have a new game with the same old rules or you'll just have . . . the same old game. He was showing them that in this New Covenant ... Sacrifice is being replaced by mercy now. What Jesus was saying was, God is putting a new promise into new hearts and both will be saved. Remember Jeremiah 31:31-34: THE NEW COVENANT. Accept this TRUTH and share it with others.

Did you know that just as the Bible has 66 books, that the book of Isaiah has 66 chapters? In addition, the Bible is divided into two sections, the Old Testament (LAW) and the New Testament (GRACE). The Old Testament has 39 books and the New Testament has 27 books. The book of Isaiah is divided in like manner. The first 39 chapters are based on laws and punishment. The last 27 chapters foretell of the promise of the coming Messiah (Jesus)... Cool huh? Is this just a coincidence or a form of prophecy of the Old Covenant ending and a New Covenant being instituted?

A Covenant is an agreement between two parties. In this case the agreement was between God and man. It was based on LAW given to the people by God, through Moses. The Old Testament is based on this Old Covenant and the New Testament is the New Covenant. Our Father told us in the Bible that we will KNOW that He is God cuz He tells us things that will happen before they occur. Did our Father prophecy, through His servants the prophets, of the coming of this New Testament? ABSOLUTELY ... In Zechariah 11:7-14 He tells us that He will break His Old Covenant (Old Testament) and even prophesied the timing that the Old Covenant would end and the New Covenant would begin. He said that the Jewish people would consider His worth as ... 30 pieces of silver. (The amount the Jewish Religious leaders paid Judas to betray Jesus) Now that's just too wild. God prophesied through a prophet hundreds of years before it happened. He KNEW the people would trade Him up and even told the exact amount. So, as our Father promised ... He will prove HE is God by keeping us posted as to what will be, by revealing it to the prophets.

But our Father did not stop there ... In Jeremiah 31:31-34 ... He said that He will make a NEW Covenant (Testament) and explains what it will be. He said that He would place the LAW within our hearts and forgive all of our sins and remember the sins no more. Now this does NOT mean that the Law is of no effect, rather it is saying that when you believe in Jesus, God will place the laws within your heart. It is confirmed that He had performed this act in the New Covenant (Testament) in Hebrews 8:6-8 ... It says that God found the Old Covenant to possess faults and that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (Testament) Think of it this way ... The Old Covenant is kinda like a bride who married a man and obeyed out of fear but lacked a foundation of Love ... The Marriage failed just as many marriages on earth do now for the same reasons. A marriage based on fear and obligation is as nothing compared to one based on LOVE. The marriages with a foundation in LOVE can overcome all trials and tribulations the world will throw at em. It is ETERNAL. God said that He looked down on Earth and He could not find one soul that had done good. NO, not one. Soooooo, in order to save His children, He had to sacrifice His Son Jesus as to establish a NEW blood Covenant worthy of cleansing the sins of the people ... In the days of Moses, blood was sprinkled on the people to establish the Old Covenant. (Kinda like a blood pact between friends) Now, in the New Covenant, it is the blood of Jesus that established the New Covenant. In this marriage ... It is different in that the bride would CHOOSE to obey their husband because they loved Him in FAITH because of what He has done for them. He sacrificed His life so that those he loved might LIVE. This marriage will prove to be worthy and ETERNAL. They will make it through the trials and tribulations that the world will throw at em cuz ... They LOVE Him. That brings us to today with the CHOICE of Faith and Love ... Is not our Father AWESOME?

 

CONTINUE TO THE NEXT STUDY

SARAH WILL HAVE A SON