A New Covenant

In our last installment at “new” things, we will take a minute to talk about the “new covenant”.  This is a very exciting application of the word “new”.  The old covenant was based on the law that God had given to Moses.  There is more to this theologically than I care to cover here; but in essence the agreement God made with His people was based on their agreement and their keeping of God’s law.  Jesus Christ came to fulfill the law.  By saying that He came to fulfill the law, Jesus was not saying that He kept every aspect of man’s interpretation of the law; but rather that Jesus kept the letter and the intent of the law that God had given to Moses.

But during Jesus’ observance of the Lord’s supper with His disciples, Jesus mentioned a “new covenant” in His blood.  The sacrifice of Jesus Christ pointed to a new covenant that God was making with man.  This covenant was not based on what man could or would do; but what Jesus had done.  This new covenant opened the way for future generations to enter into a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  This did not abolish the precepts of the moral law; we should still not lie or steal or commit adultery.  But Jesus pointed the way to a meaningful relationship with God through Him, not through rules and regulations.

The danger in the new covenant is that we think that it is too good to be true.  It is not too good to be true.  Rather, Jesus is too good and He is true.  Jesus is too good and true!  The new covenant allows us to have an intimate relationship with our great God.