The New Covenant

 




The New Covenant

What is a covenant? Literally, it is a contract; An agreement between two or more persons giving them legal rights, in return for certain fulfillment of obligations.

In today's world we often see marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman, as they make a legal agreement to live together as husband and wife until death do them part.

There are many other contracts or agreements such as when you purchase a home or a car; you pledge to make the payments on time and complete the assigned obligation on the agreed time and date.

In parts of the world, and in most all times, a blood covenant was the strongest type of covenant two people could enter into. It has been used in civilized as well as primitive nations to unite two people together in marriage, business or friendship.

The covenant was made when the blood of two individuals was mingled. It could be done by cutting the palms of the individuals and then the shaking of hands combined the blood. It could also be that a few drops of blood from each person were mingled in a glass of wine and then drunk by both, although the Bible forbid the drinking of blood. In either case, the blood was mixed, thus indicating that two lives were mixed. Or finally, an animal’s blood could be shed as representative of both individuals mingling their lives together. After all, “the life is in the blood.” The cutting of the skin and mingling of blood left a permanent scar as a reminder of the covenant from that time forward.

Genesis 3: tells us of God speaking to the serpent after Adam and Eve had sinned. God was cursing the serpent, but also making a covenant promise of a Savior.

The Lord God said to the serpent “Because you have done this, cursed are you above all livestock and above all beasts of the field; on your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”

I take liberty and like to view the promise was fulfilled after Jesus completed his death and resurrection by defeating the devil; with Jesus's foot on Satan's head, and the impact of his foot, gently bruising his heel.

In Genesis fifteen, when God entered into covenant with Abraham, substitutes were used. After all, God could not bleed except through a substitute. God introduced the covenant by saying He now would be Abraham’s “shield and exceeding great reward.” (Genesis 15:1).

This covenant was a "cutting," with reference to the cutting or dividing of animals into two parts, and the contracting parties passing between them.

God would be Abraham’s protector and provider from that time on. Since God and Abraham were in covenant with each other, they shared each other’s assets and liabilities.
Abraham had nothing but liabilities and God had nothing but assets. Abraham certainly got the better end of the covenant with God.

Blood was involved in all of the Biblical covenants. The blood of a heifer, goat, ram, turtle dove and pigeon were mingled to represent the blood of Christ shed for us on the cross. Through this act, God and Abraham began a covenant which is still in effect today, by faith in Jesus’ sacrifice for us. The innocent shed His blood for the guilty and has given God’s life to mankind ever since. We have been saved today "through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Hebrews 13:20).

The meaning of the word Covenant in the Bible is an agreement between God and his people, in which God makes promises to his people and, usually, requires certain conduct from them. In the Old Testament, God made agreements with Noah, giving a rainbow of promise; with Abraham, as before mentioned and with Moses as he built the tabernacle and set up the Levitical Priesthood and initiated the daily blood sacrifices to cover the sins of the people.

David and Jonathan cut a blood covenant and pledged to care for each other and their families. After King Saul's death and also his son Jonathan's death, and David now became the King, he showed kindness to Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan to fulfill his obligation to the covenant

Years ago when my husband and I were in business and suddenly we planned to be gone to Bible School in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, for a year. We visited our attorney and asked him to draw up for us an agreement for my husband's brother to run our business in our absence. The document was called a “Power of Attorney.” This tiny paper gave Douglas the right and privilege to stand in Robert's place for the business and for all work assignments. After the signatures were on the page, our attorney spoke to Douglas and said, this legal contract is a covenant that means when you are activating it, you no longer are Douglas, but in affect you are Bob Moon giving the orders and doing business. The legal document was authorizing and empowering Doublas with authority, privileges and rights.

This is exactly what Jesus did for us when he make His New Covenant effective. He gave us as believers the authority to preach the Gospel. to cast out demons, to heal the sick and to be protected from evil. It was all because of the Blood covenant that Jesus made when he volunteered to go to the cross.

God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath “that by two immutable (unchangeable) things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (Hebrews 6:7,8).

Our covenant can never be broken because it was drawn up by two sides which will never change or break the covenant, God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We joined an unchangeable covenant.

We are one with God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t tell where the Father stops, and Jesus begins or where Jesus stops and we begin. We are truly united as one.

 And the covenant cannot be broken.



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