You can listen to this sermon here.
The
New Covenant – Fullness in Christ.
Even
a casual read of the Bible reveals several covenants. Many books have been
written about them. One covenant, the New Covenant, stands as the answer to
everything that is wrong, God’s final Word on making all things right. The
glory of being in Christ Jesus is revealed in this covenant, which binds Christ
and His church together, providing redemption and eternal salvation for
sinners. The sign of the New Covenant is circumcision not made with human hands
followed by water baptism (Colossians 2:11-12). The Lord's Supper is another
sign within this covenant, reminding us of its Author and His return (1
Corinthians 11:25). One dear brother I count as a friend helps us see this:
Baptism serves as an outward sign of the
inward grace of regeneration and union with Christ. It is less than meaningless
if there is no inward grace to reflect. Jesus said, “This cup is the new
covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20). What Jesus is saying is that this cup of
wine represents the new covenant he is going to ratify by shedding his blood.
This cup becomes the sign of that covenant.
Every time we take communion we should rejoice that we are heirs of the
new and better covenant that was ratified by his blood.
In
Hebrews 7-9 the New Covenant described, contrasted with the Old Covenant, so we
can see it more accurately. Chapter 9:1 even the first covenant had
regulations for worship and an earthly place of holiness. What follows is a
description of the tabernacle of the Hebrew religion, featuring lampstands, a
table and bread, the Most Holy Place with the ark of the Mosaic covenant
containing the tablets of testimony, the golden vial of manna, and Aaron's
staff. Levitical priests ever making sacrifices that would cover sin for a time
but never able to take away sin. All of these forms of worship are summed up in
verse 9 as symbolic for that age and “imposed until the time of reformation”
(verse 10). There will be no re-institution of those types and symbols as the
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was sufficient, satisfying God the Father and
finishing the redemptive work announced in Genesis 3:15, bringing that
reformation.
when Christ appeared as a high priest of
the good things that have come, then through
the greater and more perfect tent (not
made with hands, that is, not of this creation [speaking here of His body of flesh]) he entered once for all into the holy
places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own
blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance,
since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed
under the first covenant. (Hebrews
9:11-12 & 15)
We hear evidence of it every time a police siren howls. The priceless sacrifice of the Son of God makes no sense if there’s no need. The question we must address is, what is the problem that requires this act? Humanists and politicians will tell you that man is intrinsically good – all he needs is a good education and good examples. The politicians need to say this because it makes people feel good about themselves and it creates demands for their services – education and public service announcements. Humanists are the unrighteous people Paul wrote about in Romans 1 who suppress their knowledge of the truth by their unrighteousness. The Bible tells us what the problem is – man has rebelled against Holy God and is by nature at war with God (Rom 5:10) and spiritually dead (Eph 2:1), hurtling towards physical death (Rom 6:23).
We see this played out in front of us on the TV news all the time. Someone does something outright horrible and none of their family or neighbors could accept the news. It’s the same virtually every time. The murderers amongst us seem so normal. The mother whose adult son is arrested cannot admit he would do such a thing. Yet every day these normal sons and daughters demonstrate the Word of God to be true – man is, by nature, hostile towards God and sinfully wicked in his fleshly desires.
The Apostle summed this up for the fine folks in Corinth: For as by a man came death … in Adam all die … (1 Corinthians 15:21-22) and Rome: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned … death reigned from Adam to Moses … many died through one man’s trespass … the judgment following one trespass brought condemnation …because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man … one trespass led to condemnation for all men … by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners… (Romans 5:12-19).
