12. Jesus Fulfills the New Covenant

LESSON TWELVE

JESUS FULFILLS THE NEW COVENANT

by Steve and Terri White

Lesson One described the model covenant. In this lesson we are going to compare the model covenant with the New Covenant.

MODEL COVENANT

NEW COVENANT

1. Parties making covenant:

Tribe A - skilled in warfare

Tribe B - scholars

1. Parties making covenant:

God

Mankind

2. The two tribes decide the terms of the covenant.

2. God alone decides the terms.

3. Each tribe chooses a person to represent its tribe. All of Tribe A is "in" its representative (and the same for Tribe B) when they make covenant. For every member of the tribe to be in the representative, means that everything the representative does in making the covenant is counted as if each tribal member is doing it too.

3. God’s representative is Jesus.

Man’s representative is Jesus.

We were "in" Jesus when He fulfilled the New Covenant -- we did everything Jesus did in fulfilling the covenant.

2 Cor. 5:21 "For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

Eph. 1:3 "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ."

Eph. 2:13 "But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ."

4. Each representative pledges his life and loyalty to the other.

4. God will never leave us or forsake us; He remains forever committed to us.

Matt. 28:20b ". . . I am with you always."

Heb. 13:5b

5. Exchange of weapons:

Tribe A - promises to defend Tribe B and to teach Tribe B military skills

Tribe B - promises to educate Tribe A

Symbols (to represent what they each will do for the other) are exchanged.

(i.e., sword/scroll)

5. We have nothing to offer except our sin, so Jesus offered His sinless self to God for us. In turn, God accepts us as if we are Jesus, on the basis of what Jesus did as our representative -- we were in Him when he fulfilled the covenant. (We give God our sin and He gives us His righteousness!)

2 Cor. 5:21 "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

2 Cor. 5:19 ". . . God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself. . ."

6. Blood sacrifice: Each representative cuts himself in the same place. They put their open wounds together so that their blood mingles. Each representative bears scar to remind him of the covenant. An animal is also sacrificed in ancient covenants. It is cut in half, and the representatives walk in a figure-eight around the two animal halves.

6. Jesus was our blood sacrifice:

Heb. 9:12 ". . . with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all."

Eph. 1:7 "In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. . ."

He bears the scars: John 20 & Luke 24 Jesus showed His disciples His hands, feet, and side.

7. Covenant meal is eaten. It usually consists of bread and wine.

7. Jesus ate the Passover with His disciples; we partake of Communion.

Luke 22:15-20

I Cor. 11:17-34

8. Name exchange:

Tribe A becomes Tribe AB.

Tribe B becomes Tribe BA.

They become one.

8. We take on Jesus’ name and are one with God when we are born again.

Eph. 3:14,15 "For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named."

I Cor. 6:17 "But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit [with Him]."

9. Each tribe keeps the covenant even if it kills them.

9. Jesus died for us: He died the death of a sinner, so that we would not have to die. (We were in Him when He hung on the cross.)

Heb. 9:15 ". . . He is the Mediator of the new covenant by means of death. . ."

Gal. 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live. . ."

10. If one tribe does not keep the covenant, then death follows the covenant-breaking tribe.

10. God knows that we cannot keep the covenant in our own power. Jesus keeps the covenant through/in us.

Gal. 2:20 ". . . The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God. . ."

Rom. 6:11 ". . .count yoursleves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus." ". . .count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus."

When Adam was lowered out of his pure spirit existence and entered this physical world, his spirit dwelt within him, yet encased within the outer flesh. There was no separation between Adam and God – no carnal barriers, just unbroken fellowship. However, after eating the forbidden fruit, the Spirit of God which had been in union with man's spirit sank low into the hidden depth of his being. Thus, the whole human race through all its centuries of history would always be inwardly miserable, always knowing they were missing the mark (sin) - seeking a phony identity. Always at the heart of every person, however covered up, is a sense of separation from God - The Lie. That alone was God’s judgment on His disobedient children, a judgment totally for their benefit. It was God’s desire that the consequences of Adam’s sin would cause humanity to remember who they are.

Jesus, the New Covenant representative for both God and man, was the second man Adam (Rom. 5:18 ). Although, He was born of a woman, His Father was Almighty God (Matt. 1:20-25), and Jesus never believed The Lie of humanity’s separation from God. He knew that He was one with the Father: "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30 ). His work on the cross redeemed mankind from the shackles of The Lie, enabling every person to be set free -- righteous, holy, and blameless (II Cor. 5:17). With blinders off, humanity is now free to understand that each person is one spirit with the Lord (I Cor. 6:17 ). The cross places us in Christ, creating a 'new race' that walks in unbroken fellowship with Him with no sense of separation from God, that is one with Him, setting us free (John 6:48-51, 57; John 17:14-17; I John 5:18; Rom. 8:11;). This 'new race' goes far beyond the glory of unfallen man in the Garden ( I Cor. 15:45 -57).

The New Covenant is totally dependent on Jesus keeping it. Romans 11:36 states it this way: "For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen." In other words, what God starts, He continues and finishes, and then He gets all the glory. Thus, we rest from our own works, and watch the Holy Spirit work. Then it is all glory to God! "There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His." (Heb. 4:9, 10)

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