Title: HOW TO OPERATE WITH THE NEW COVENANT SYSTEM

HEBREWS 8:

09 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by hand and led
them out of the land of Egypt. THEY DID NOT REMAIN FAITHFUL TO MY COVENANT SO I TURNED MY
BACK ON THEM, says the Lord.

10 But this new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day, says the Lord;

I will put my law in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be
my people.

13 When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he had made the first one obsolete. It is now OUT
OF DATE AND WILL SOON DISAPPEAR.

The new system was the final covenant system God has given. Not just to the Jewish community but to
everyone in this world, including you and me. Therefore, we should not cling to the old covenant but let
us embrace the new and final one God has given us.

Let us see some differences between the old and the new:

OLD (Covenant given to Moses)

1. gifts and sacrifices made by sinners

2. focused on physical building for worship

3. a shadow

4. limited promises

5. failed covenant

6. EXTERNAL standards and rules

7. limited access to God

8. legal cleansing

9. continual sacrifice

10. forgiveness earned

11. repeated yearly

12. available to SOME

NEW (Covenant fulfilled through Christ)

1. self-sacrifice by guiltless Christ

2. focused on the REIGN OF CHRIST IN THE BELIEVER’S HEARTS

3. a REALITY

4. unlimited promises

5. fulfilled covenant by Christ

6. INTERNAL STANDARDS- A NEW HEART

7. unlimited ACCESS TO GOD

8. PERSONAL cleansing

9. Conclusive sacrifice

10. Forgiveness FREELY GIVEN

11. completed through Christ’s death

12. Available to ALL

APPLICATION

1. Christ was guiltless but he was the one who paid your sins. Love and honor him for what He’s done.

2. God is directly involved in your life and he is not interested with actions that are not backed-up by the
heart.

3. Our relationship with Christ is real and eternal. No matter what you’ve done, he loves you STILL.

4. He has personal promises to us, let us not doubt it but believe it till the end.

5. Christ has gone through a difficult situation. He was “crying blood” in prayer that the “cup will pass
him” but he said, “Your will be done.” (it was hard to die for other’s sins but He died for us because the
he was the only solution. He fulfilled his purpose even when it was EXTREMELY PAINFUL AND HARD.)
Therefore, if Christ met his agreement with God, we do not have the right not to do so.

6. God sees both actions and motives, when the new covenant came, we are not accountable to the law
anymore, but to GOD HIMSELF. Therefore, in whatever you do, be sure to glorify and choose God no
matter how hard. Do not do your devotional, prayer, cell group, church worship as religious acts but as a
proof of you LOVE TO GOD.

7. God has become PERSONALLY AVAILABLE TO US. Therefore, let us become personally available to him
and not cease in prayer.

8. We do not need somebody else to pray for the forgiveness of our sins. Let us therefore pray with all
our heart and not do the things we have already asked for forgiveness again.
9. Christ’s sacrifice was perfect and final. Do not seek for pleasure in this world for it will never fill you
but destroy you.

10. The forgiveness of our sins is not earned by our actions but it was given the moment we received
Christ as our Lord and savior. So then, we do good things as an expression of our thankfulness and love
to Christ and as a result of the Holy Spirit that is within us.

11. Christ death has made us personally close to God. Let us not make God, Christ and the Holy spirit
pained by our sins everyday but happy by our holy lives every moment.

12. The new covenant has become available to all, including you. No matter what you’ve done in the
past, you are welcome in God’s Kingdom.

In summary, the old covenant was all about external things to do that was mandatory and was backed
up by laws. In fact, failing to do these religious acts could cause you your life. But these things only made
the people turn their hearts from God for they have become more particular by actions but never made
a personal relationship with God. These people did not make God happy but instead, they filled him with
pain through their sins. The new covenant on the other hand involves personal relationship which
makes us enjoy God’s presence and obeying Him with all our hearts. This new relationship is filled with
love and not religiosity. We are able to do all these, through the holy spirit that lives with in our hearts.
That’s why when we received Christ, we do not feel at ease when we sin but we feel totally guilty and
bothered. It’s the holy spirit that helps us, renews us and changes us. Therefore, not having the holy
spirit and not giving importance to our relationship with God makes our hearts dull and unresponsive.
THAT’S WHY DEVOTIONALS, CELL GROUPS AND THE COMMANDS OF OUR LEADERS BECOME A BIG
BURDEN FOR US TO DO. Let us then, strengthen our lives with God through PERSONAL prayer,
understanding and reading the bible and deeper conversations with God in our hearts.

Application:

Holy spirit, I am weak in flesh but strengthen me in my spirit. Help me fight against the devil through
being filled with you. Help me enjoy my relationship with Christ. Change me more each day. Amen.