THE NEW COVENANT

Jesus brings us a New Covenant, having displaced and fulfilled the Old Covenant. Heb. 10:9.
As the Old Covenant was sealed with circumcision, the New Covenant is sealed with the New
Birth.
The Old Covenant had the Levitical Priesthood.
The New Covenant has Jesus as the High Priest, and we as the royal and Holy Priesthood. 1
Pet. 2:1-10.
The first priesthood had a temple in which God dwelt in the Holy of Holies with the Ark of the
Covenant. Ex. 40.
In the New Covenant our bodies are the temple of God, and the Spirit dwells within them.
The word "Atonement" means "to cover." It is not a New Testament word, it does not appear
in the New Testament Greek. Why?
Because the blood of Jesus Christ cleanses, instead of merely covering.
The first covenant did not take away sin, it merely covered it.
It did not give Eternal Life or the New Birth. It gave a promise or it.
It did not give Fellowship with God. It gave a type of it.
It gave protection to Israel as a nation, it met their physical needs. God was Israel's Healer,
Provider, and Protector.

JESUS IS OUR REPRESENTATIVE MAN

THE FATHER SENT JESUS INTO THE WORLD

John 3:16 -- "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever
believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life."

THE BIBLE STATES THAT JESUS WAS IN FACT THE WORDS OF THE FATHER

John 1:1-5 -- "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word
was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being by Him, and apart
from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was
the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend
it."

JESUS, GOD'S WORD, BECAME HUMAN AND LIVED AS A MAN

John 1:14 -- "And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

MARY WAS THE HUMAN MOTHER & GOD WAS THE SUPERNATURAL FATHER

Luke 1:26-38 -- Read the account of the angel Gabriel visiting Mary and telling her that she
will have a child from God even though she was a virgin.
 It was God's eternal plan from the beginning to be able to have an intimate fellowship with His
created Man and have mankind be able to enjoy all the glorious things that God could provide
because of that loving relationship between God and man. But because of the rebellion of
Adam and Eve, sin entered the world and destroyed that intimate loving relationship because
God, in His perfect state of holiness, cannot have fellowship with sin. In order to fix this
situation, God had to find a way to restore mankind to a state or condition where this intimate
fellowship could be re-established. His solution to the problem was finding a human that was
as holy as God Himself and one without sin that could represent the human family as a
covenant "representative" and enter into a covenant relationship with the Father. THIS WAS
JESUS - THE SON OF MAN.

As seen in the Scriptures above, God so loved the human family that He sent His Word to be
wrapped in flesh and born as a human being. The Scripture declares that Jesus is the Word
that became wrapped in flesh and became part of the human family. As such He would grow
and experience every aspect of human life just as we do. He would experience everything a
child experiences, a teenager experiences, a grown man would experience. Jesus also had
His free will to choose just as we do. He experienced all the temptations, the pains, the
emotions, the distresses, the joys, the privations, the limitations, everything that we
experience through our lives. Yet He made the choices not to yield to the temptations and sin.
He perfectly identified with humanity, as a part of the human family, and yet did it without
sinning. He became our example of how to live as a human and still enjoy a complete and
total loving relationship with God. He became the perfect representative for the human family.
In order to do this He had to give up all the attributes of His being God when He came to the
earth and live as a mere mortal human. If He hadn't, He could not be that perfect human that
would become the representative for the human family.

Philippians 2:5-11 -- "Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who,
although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be
grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the
likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming
obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore, God highly exalted Him, and
bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY
KNEE SHOULD bow, of those who are in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

Now that God had prepared the perfect human that could realistically be the representative
for the human family, there were still two things that had to be done before this covenant
making could be completed.

 Pay the penalty for sin in the human family

 Break the power of Satan and sin over the human family

Romans 3:23 -- "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."

Romans 6:23 -- "For the wages of sin is death, ..."

1 John 3:8 -- "The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of
the devil."

Now that we know Jesus has been born as a human and has lived as a human and has
perfectly identified with the human family, we know that He can be the representative of the
human family.

The fact that Jesus became the "Substitute" for us in paying the penalty for our sin and
rebellion to God is absolutely incredible and in addition to that He became our " Substitute" in
entering the covenant with God. Let's take a few minutes and look at what actually occurred.
There were actually two parts to the substitution that Jesus performed on the cross.

Romans 6:23 -- "For the wages of sin is death."

Hebrews 9:22 -- "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with
blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sin."

John 1:29 -- "The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Behold the Lamb
of God, that takes away the sin of the world."

PART I -- HE PAID THE PRICE FOR OUR SIN

No matter how much we have difficulty believing it, God's penalty for sin is death, yet every
human being commits sins because of our fallen sin nature. We have inherited the sin
nature of our forefather, Adam. His nature was corrupted when because of his rebellion he
severed himself from the life of God and by living in the kingdom of darkness he deteriorated
and devolved into a being like his new master, Satan. Because of this every human born after
Adam and Eve inherited this sin nature. Remember the scripture says in Romans that we are slaves
to whoever it is we obey - either Satan or God.

Romans 6:23 -- "For the wages of sin is death."

God knew this and because of His great love toward mankind He did make a way for this sin
problem to be dealt with -- cover it with blood so He didn't see it.

Remember that under the Old Covenant Law they had the Atonement in which an animal
would be killed in place of a human and that blood was a substitute for the humans that had
the sin. Instead of someone dying to pay the penalty for the sin a lamb was substituted so that
the human could go free.

It was the job of the High Priest to, once a year on the Day of Atonement, to take the blood of
a lamb for the people and present that blood to God as a sacrifice to cover, or pay for, the
penalty of sin. The people were required to bring a sacrificial lamb as perfect as possible to
be killed as a substitute in their place.

When John saw Jesus in the scripture above he called Him the Lamb of God that had been
prepared to shed His blood as the sacrificial lamb of God for the human family. He was to be
our substitute to pay the penalty for man’s sin. Keep in mind that Jesus did not just “bear our
sin” on the cross, He BECAME SINand that caused the Father to actually turn His back on
Jesus and reject Him from fellowship.
2 Corinthians 5:21 -- "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might
become the righteousness of God in Him."

Matthew 27:46 -- "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"

This had to be the most painful event any individual has ever experienced throughout all of
eternity. It literally broke the heart of Jesus so that He had to cry out in agony.

How could anyone love so much as to give up his life in such a gruesome death as the
crucifixion for someone like the human race that hated him so much? That demonstrates the
incredible love that God has for us.

Romans 5:8 -- "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet
sinners, Christ died for us."

1 John 3:16 -- "We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us;"

PART II -- THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT

The second part of the reason for Jesus’ death on the cross was the actual cutting of the
covenant. The spilled blood of Jesus is called the “blood of the everlasting covenant”.

The new covenant that was made on the cross was a little different than the covenants prior
to it because there was only one person involved -- Jesus. Let me explain because this is
incredible.

Remember when we talked about making a covenant in earlier pages there were two
individuals that were “representatives” or “covenant heads” that actually made the covenant
on behalf of themselves, or as a substitute on the behalf of a group of others. This is amazing
because it was the reason Satan could not understand what was happening on the cross
because it was a “mystery” to him. If he had known what was happening he would never had
Jesus crucified. He would have tried to kill all the people who were trying to kill Jesus so that
Jesus could not have shed His blood, but Satan didn't know what was actually happening on
that cross.

1 Corinthians 2:7-8 -- "but we speak God's wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which
God predestined before the ages to our glory; the wisdom which none of the rulers of this age
has understood; for if they had understood it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory;"

In Scripture, Jesus was called both the Son of Man and the Son of God. He was born of a
virgin birth to a human mother -- so He was human. He was also the Word of God that was
sent to be wrapped in flesh -- so He was God.

John 1:1 -- "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was
God."

John 1:14 -- "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory,
glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth."

Luke 1:26-38 -- the foretelling to Mary of the divine conception of her son Jesus
THEREFORE, JESUS WAS THE "REPRESENTATIVE" AND THE "SUBSTITUTE" OF
BOTH THE HUMAN FAMILY AND GOD IN THE SAME BODY.

He was fully man and He was fully God.

When the blood of Jesus was spilled on the cross the blood of the human family and
the blood of God were spilled and mingled together establishing the everlasting new
covenant in His blood. It sealed the covenant between two formerly hostile parties:
God and the human race.

YOUR POSITION IN CHRIST IS TO BE "IN HIM" - WHAT DOES THAT REALLY MEAN?

To be "in Him" is your position in Christ. This "position" was given to you as a result of
God's grace when He became our "representative" and our "substitute" in making the blood
covenant we call the New Covenant in His blood. It is a blood-covenant that produces what I
call the "great exchange". But many of the Christians I have met over the past 35 years have
very little understanding of these amazing realities provided to us by the grace of Jesus
Christ. For you to experience what the Bible says that you are and what you
have because of your position in Christ there must be an understanding of the difference
between your position and your experience in your walk with Jesus.

Understanding the principle of your position in Christ is the key to spiritual growth and
living the dynamic Christian life with power and miracles like Jesus said we can.

God uses His faith to see the end result when He speaks His Word. In God’s
plan of redemption of humanity His desire is to create a family that are just like His son,
Jesus. He has designed His plan and is executing His plan every time someone enters into
covenant with Jesus by being "born again" and bowing before Jesus as the Lord of lords
and the King of kings. The Father sees His vision coming to pass.

But what does this have to do with our “position in Christ”?

The Scriptures say things like the following:

Ephesians 2:6

-- "and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in heavenly places, in Christ Jesus.

1 John 4:17 -- "as He is, so are we in this world."

Colossians 3:1 -- "If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things
above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God."

Philippians 3:20 -- "For our citizenship is in heaven."

Philippians 4:13 -- "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."

Colossians 1:13 -- "For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to

the kingdom of His beloved Son."
 Colossians 3:3 -- "For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God."

Ephesians 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."

Romans 8:1 -- "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."

1 John 1:7 -- ", and the blood of Jesus His son cleanses us from all sin."

Romans 8:2 -- "For the law of the Spirit of life in Jesus Christ has set you free from the law of
sin and death."

1 John3:2 -- "Beloved, now we are the children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what
we shall be."

THEY ARE TRUE FROM GOD’S PERSPECTIVE. THIS IS THE MAGNIFICENT BENEFIT
OF HIS GRACE. THESE SCRIPTURES ARE A SAMPLING OF HOW GOD SEES YOUR
POSITION IN CHRIST.

Ephesians 2:8 -- "For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of
yourselves, it is the gift of God;"

* Grace is the gift of God -- it is His unmerited favor, or His free gift that you don’t really
deserve. I believe His grace is the Holy Spirit whom He has given us as a free gift. It is
Him giving us the desire and the ability to do His will and live the life He has called us to. This
is all done by the Spirit of God living within us causing us to be in union with God Himself.

Philippians 2:13 -- "for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good
pleasure."

Remember, we were called out of the kingdom of darkness and born again into the kingdom

of God and we are now learning to live a new life in a new way under the Lordship of Jesus.

All of these truths listed above have been given to you, or done for you, because of God’s gift
of grace towards you. He sees you as the recipient of all these realities.

GOD’S VIEW POINT:

 1. ETERNITY -- no beginning or ending -- everything is NOW

 2. YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN IN JESUS -- when He sees you He sees Jesus
 3. HE SEES YOU AS A COMPLETELY FINISHED PRODUCT -- totally transformed
into the image of Jesus

THE PROBLEM IS YOUR VIEW POINT:

 1. EVERYTHING IS MEASURED BY TIME AND SPACE

 2. YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THIS EARTH
 3. NOT LIKE JESUS -- LOTS OF ROOM FOR CHANGE -- HARD TO BELIEVE THIS
IS TRUE
Your experience in life is viewing history only in the present. You look back at the past and
forward to the future. But God is not bound by time or space, He created it, and is able to view
history as a completed act. Past, present, and future are all within God’s “eternal present”
viewpoint.

Revelation 1:8 -- "I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was
and who is to come, the Almighty."

John 8:58 -- "Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.'"

The covenant meal is an especially important part of entering into a blood covenant with
another person or group because it is a picture of the two parties becoming one. It is usually
the final part of the "traditional" ceremony, but it can be done at any time to symbolize the
"oneness" being created. If you refer back to the traditional steps in making a blood
covenant, you will see that bread and wine are normally used as symbols representing the
body and blood of each party being consumed by each other thereby becoming one in union.

THE WEDDING COVENANT CELEBRATION

The most common example we see of this type of covenant meal ceremony taking place is at
a wedding reception with food to eat and the wedding cake. At some point in time during the
reception the cake is cut. The bride and groom each take a piece of the cake and feed it to
each other. Then they take a glass of champagne or wine and give it to each other to drink.
This is the symbolic act that is a picture of the vows they just made to each other where they
declared they will become one in union until death do they part. This is covenant.

THE LAST SUPPER

Luke 22:19-20 -- "And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and
gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of
Me.' And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup which is
poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

Jesus and His disciples had gathered together to celebrate the Passover meal as was the
requirement under the Law. But at this gathering Jesus, knowing it was going to be His last
meal with His closest friends, did something unexpected. He had a covenant meal with His
disciples. Notice that apparently they knew what was going on because none of them asked
any questions about what Jesus was doing when He said "this is my body" and "this is the
new covenant in My blood."

Soon after this Jesus was taken away to give His life on the cross and spill His blood to make
a way for all who would to enter into covenant with God through Him.

THE EARLY CHURCH

The Church that formed after the resurrection and for the following 200 years met together in
homes and shared their lives together in a relationship called community. This was called
"community" because they shared all things in common as an exchanged life and they were
in "unity" with one purpose - exalt Jesus and expand His kingdom. During their meetings in
the homes they usually had meals together and at the meals would also celebrate what Jesus
had done for them with a covenant meal in remembrance of their covenant relationship with
Jesus and with each other.

This was the typical way the Church met in the early days until the Church began to
assimilate pagan practices in the third century. The Christianity that essentially conquered the
Roman Empire was a home-centered movement filled with the life of the Holy Spirit.This
Church was built on relationships, not on meetings and buildings.

The covenant meal is all about remembrance of the covenant relationship and the grace
given to us by Jesus.

WHY DOES THE MODERN INSTITUTIONAL CHURCH DIMINISH THE REAL

IMPORTANCE OF THE COVENANT MEAL IN ITS MEETINGS?

I don't think God ever intended His Church to become what it is today because we have lost
so many of the relational aspects that the Church is to represent to a lost world. All the world
sees is a group of people who go to various religious meetings in a building that the
Christians themselves call "the church".

In today's church we many hundreds of denominations that all do things independently of one
another. Their basic doctrines say they believe in much of the same, yet there is no unity
among them. Why not? Why is the "Church" that Jesus died to give birth to so fractured and
separated?

In the final High Priestly prayer of Jesus just before His sacrifice He asked the Father to make
us "ONE IN UNITY - THAT THE WORLD MAY KNOW".

John17:22-23

-- "And the glory which Thou hast given Me I have given to them; that they may be one, just
as We are one; I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, that the world
may know that Thou didst send Me, and didst love them, even as Thou didst love Me."

John 17:21 -- "that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that
they may also be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me."

The covenant meal reminds us of our covenant with God and with other members of the
family of God. It was instituted by Jesus in a meal setting, it was continued by the early
Christians in a meal setting, and done in a context where we look at each other and relate to
each other on an intimate basis. But because of our "buildings" and the style of meetings we
have in those buildings we have lost our intimacy with our brothers and sisters in God's family
and have relegated the covenant meal, or communion as many call it, to a token experience
at the end of a Sunday meeting with a thimble of grape juice or wine and a small wafer or
cracker of some sort.

Because we have done this the Church as we see it today has many feeble, weak, sickly
people because we have not rightly understood the significance of the covenant meal and
have not rightly understood that the Body of Christ is to be One Body in union with Jesus and
with each other each other part in our communities. 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.