NEW COVENANT
CHRISTIANITY OASIS HAS PROVIDED YOU WITH THIS NEW COVENANT STUDY. MOST HAVE HEARD OF THE PHRASE NEW COVENANT IN THE BIBLE ... BUT DO NOT KNOW EXACTLY WHAT THE NEW COVENANT MEANS OR WHAT THE NEW COVENANT IS. DID YOU KNOW THAT GOD BROKE HIS OLD COVENANT WHICH IS THE OLD TESTAMENT AND THAT HE CREATED A NEW COVENANT AND THAT THIS NEW COVENANT IS BASED ON BELIEF IN JESUS? UNDERSTANDING THIS TRUTH IS A KEY INGREDIENT IN ASSISTING US AS WE SOJOURN DOWN THE CHRISTIAN WALK. LET US SEEK AND FIND THE TRUTH OF THE NEW COVENANT TOGETHER, SHALL WE? 

WHAT IS A COVENANT?

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 of the Bible, is based on this Old Covenant.

But, the Bible teaches us that God chose to create a NEW Covenant and this New Covenant is revealed by the New Testament.

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 Covenant?

ABSOLUTELY ...

Jeremiah 31:31-34 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 neighbour, 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.

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.

Zechariah 11:10-13  And I took my staff, even Beauty, and cut it asunder, that I might break my covenant which I had made with all the people. And it was broken in that day: and so the poor of the flock that waited upon me knew that it was the Word of the LORD. And I said unto them, If ye think good, give me my price; and if not, forbear. So they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver. And the LORD said unto me, Cast it unto the potter: a goodly price that I was prised at of them. And I took the thirty pieces of silver, and cast them to the potter in the house of the LORD.

God prophesied through a prophet hundreds of years before it happened.

Malachi 3:1 Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the messenger of the Covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, He shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

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. ... 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) ... It says that God found the Old Covenant to possess faults and that Jesus is the mediator of the New Covenant (Testament)

Hebrews 8:6-8 But now hath He (Jesus) obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He (Jesus) is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, He saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a NEW COVENANT with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.

 God found FAULT with the Old Covenant ...  
 
A BETTER Covenant was made, which had BETTER promises, as the first was NOT FAULTLESS. God found FAULT with the PRACTICES and PROMISES because His people could not abide by the first Covenant.

So in LOVE ... He made a BETTER Covenant that His people could abide by with BETTER promises.

Yes, Our Lord is PERFECT and what He does is PERFECT.

But ... A funny thing happened on the way to PERFECTION ...

Much like in we find in the book of Genesis ...

Genesis 6:6 And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth[/u], and it grieved him at his heart.

God created man and man is NOT perfect. NOT because the DESIGN was flawed, but rather because in LOVE, God gave mankind FREE WILL. Throw in the enemy of our souls and the choices from this FREE WILL altered the PERFECTION thereof.

And God ... Found fault.

So God's Perfect Covenant ... In a perfect world have been effective, but His children fell and were not perfect and in LOVE, He created an even BETTER Covenant that His children could deal with.

When God found the FAULT with the Old Covenant ... God did not change man by removing Free Will, but rather changed the COVENANT.

In this Covenant based on LOVE ...
HE will place the laws in the hearts of man.

The Old Covenant is 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. The result is divorce ... 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.

Matthew 26:28 For this is my blood of the NEW TESTAMENT, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

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.

Hebrews 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

This EVERLASTING NEW COVENANT is like a marriage that 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?

Take care and have a SON-derful day