The New Covenant
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[SLIDE 1] Introduction
If you have your Bible, then please open to Luke 22:14. We’ll jumping around the Bible today. There won’t be slides today, but this would be an encouragement for you to know where things are in the Scriptures.
In light of the celebration of the Lord’s supper after the sermon, let me read Luke 22:14-20.
14 And when the hour came, he reclined at table, and the apostles with him. 15 And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. 16 For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” 17 And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. 18 For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And he took bread, and when he had 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.” 20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Illustration
This past week, I took my car for maintenance and service. Thankfully, I have a policy that services the mechanical aspects of the vehicle.
My wife asked me to check and see if our policy can also cover the scratches outside of our car or redo the leathers inside the car.
When talking to the advisor on the counter, he told me to talk to another person at the dealership to determine if my insurance policy can cover the cost of the damage.
If you have any sort of insurance (e.g. car, health, house), you should know what it covers under the policy. If you don’t know, then it would be good to familiarize yourself with the benefits of your policy.
Not knowing what your insurance covers not only means missing out on what you're entitled to, but you are also potentially and unnecessarily paying for services that your policy already covers.
Perhaps, it may be tedious to read through insurance policies, but you have to because it’s good to know what your benefits are.
The reason why I brought up the insurance policy is because it connects to the greater insurance that followers of Jesus has.
Today, we’re going to talk about the New Covenant. And the New Covenant is like our spiritual insurance policy paid for by Christ and given to those who have trusted in Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.
But, I wonder, “How many of you are familiar with the New Covenant?”
We know the Lord’s Supper. We celebrate it monthly. We may have a general idea of the symbolism of the bread and the cup that we partake.
We may know that the bread symbolizes Jesus’ body that was given for us on the cross.
We may know that the cup (or wine in different church traditions) symbolizes the blood of Jesus that was poured out for us on the cross.
But, Jesus said something quite remarkable about the cup, “This cup is the NEW COVENANT in my blood.”
The Apostle Paul said the same thing in 1 Corinthians 11:25.
25 In the same way also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
When Christ died on the cross, He inaugurated or began or ushered in the New Covenant in the church age.
And when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper, this table is the sign of the New Covenant.
In other words, a "sign" in this sense is a symbolic representation of a spiritual truth or reality, which is the New Covenant that Christ inaugurated through His death.
Now, if you grew up in the church, you may perhaps have heard about the New Covenant or know a little bit about it, but you don’t know too much about it.
Perhaps, it’s a big word that you don’t understand.
Perhaps, it’s a fancy theological term that is only understood by Bible scholars.
However, the New Covenant is in the Bible. It’s not really a big word. It’s not a term reserved for the Theologians.
So, what I hope to be of help and encouragement to you is to explain to you the spiritual insurance policy that you have as a follower of Jesus Christ.
[SLIDE 2] The Big Idea: The New Covenant Provides Spiritual Benefits For Those In Christ.
Biblical Theology
To begin, it is important to establish the foundation for this topic, which is knowing the definition and meaning of the New Covenant.
Context
Exposition
What is a covenant?
This may be a big word for some of you, but it is a crucial term in the Bible, so I hope that you will remember this word after this service.
Perhaps, the simplest definition is that:
[SLIDE 3] A covenant is a promise that God makes with His people, and that God makes a commitment in keeping that promise.
God doesn’t just say a promise, but He’ll do it.
Some covenants were bilateral in that there were obligations and commitments for both sides.
In other words, sometimes, God makes a covenant with His people, and there’s a mutual agreement between both parties.
Sometimes, God is the one who makes a covenant with people without any reciprocation from the other party. This would be unilateral.
Interestingly enough, there are discussions and debates amongst theologians on how many covenants there are in the Bible.
[SLIDE 4] I don’t plan to get deep into the debate in this message, but let me give you five covenants that are clearly taught in the Bible without dispute.
There’s the Noahic Covenant.
There’s the Abrahamic Covenant.
There’s the Mosaic Covenant.
There’s the Davidic Covenant.
There’s the New Covenant.
When you begin reading the book of Genesis - the 1st book of the Bible - it doesn’t take you too long before you start learning about the concept of the covenant.
We are introduced to the Noahic Covenant.
After God flooded the earth, God makes a covenant with Noah and his offspring that He will never destroy the earth with the flood again according to Genesis 9.
And the sign (or visual representation or symbol) of that covenant is the bow in the cloud. Some would say that the rainbow represents the bow that God was talking about.
In the Noahic covenant, God is the one who makes a covenant with humanity. And despite the fallen nature of humanity, God does not demand reciprocation from the other party.
Later in Genesis 12: we are introduced to an important character in the book of Genesis: Abraham.
And God makes a covenant with Abraham.
Theologians call it the Abrahamic Covenant.
God made a promise to Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3
1 Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2 And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
God asks Abraham is to trust God.
God reaffirms His covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15.
Abraham did not have children with his wife, Sarah.
But, God makes a unilateral promise to Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars.
This covenant involved a unique ritual where animals were cut in half, and God (not Abraham) passed through the pieces as a symbol of His commitment to fulfill His promise.
Such ritual was so serious that whoever breaks the covenant, let him end up like this animal cut in half.
God takes His covenvant with His people very seriously. It was a life or death commitment, so to speak.
And then in Genesis 17, God instructed Abraham that all males, including himself and his descendants, should be circumcised as a sign of the covenant between God and Abraham's descendants.
It was a way to remind them that they are a part of the covenant community of God’s people.
Fast forward to the book of Exodus, we are introduced to the Mosaic Covenant.
In Exodus 19, God makes a covenant with the nation of Israel, who descended from their forefathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
After God rescued His people from the slavery of Egypt, God brought them to Mount Sinai and made a covenant with them.
God will bless the nation of Israel, but there is also a stipulation or requirement on Israel’s part in this covenant agreement.
God said to them in Exodus 19:4-6
4 ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine; 6 and you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the people of Israel.”
So, Israel was required to walk in obedience to God and keep His covenant. Hence, God gives laws for His people to keep, such as the Ten Commandments.
However, if Israel failed to keep their covenant, then God will not bless them, but rather curse them. That’s also part of the agreement.
Centuries later, God makes another covenant in 2 Samuel 7. It is called the Davidic Covenant.
God entered into a covenant with both David and Israel, assuring them that the Messiah, who is Jesus Christ, would descend from David's lineage and the tribe of Judah.
This Messiah would establish an everlasting kingdom. Christ will physically sit on the throne of David in Jerusalem in the future millennial kingdom.
The Davidic Covenant is unconditional, meaning that its fulfillment doesn't hinge on obedience from David or Israel.
Instead, the certainty of these promises relies entirely on God's faithfulness.
And we come to the New Covenant. And the first time that the New Covenant is mentioned in the New Testament is Jesus’ words:
20 And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
However, in the whole Bible, the New Covenant wasn’t first mentioned in the New Testment.
In fact, it was first mentioned in the Old Testament.
God spoke these promises to the prophet Jeremiah, and Hebrews 8 quotes Jeremiah.
31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Why was God establishing the New Covenant?
Since we have the word, “new,” it presumes that we have an old covenant.
The Old Covenant only refers to the Mosaic Covenant.
And the reason why God established a New Covenant was because the Old Covenant - requiring the Israelites to faithfully keep the law - did not have the power to transform the hearts of God’s people.
In fact, Israel failed to keep the Mosaic Covenant, the Old Covenant. They have broken their covenant with God.
They have sinned individually and as a nation.
Yet, God did not always immediately judge and punish His people. God was also merciful and gracious to His rebellious people.
Sometimes, His people would repent and turn back from their rebellious ways through the prophets and kings.
However, the rest of Israel’s history tells us that they continued to break all of God’s laws.
They have perverted God’s law.
They have ignored God’s law.
They have failed to be a holy nation as God called them to be.
They have failed to keep their agreement of the covenant when God was faithfully keeping His.
Israel was steeping deeper and deeper into their own depravity until one day God was no longer slow to anger.
He poured out His judgment and wrath on His people by exiling the Israelites from the Promise Land.
Yet, God promised His remnant people that He will restore the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
God will make a new covenant with His people, not like the Mosaic law.
32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord.
And by making a new covenant, God is replacing the old covenant - the Mosaic covenant - with the new covenant.
Other prophets, such Isaiah and Ezekiel, mentioned about the concept of the New Covenant.
They talked about the lasting covenant, permanent covenant, and the perpetual covenant, but they’re all referring to the New Covenant.
Centuries later after Jeremiah, Jesus came to do the will of His Father in His earthly ministry.
On the night before Christ was arrested and crucified, He celebrated the Passover meal with His disciples.
During that night, Christ instituted what is known as the Lord’s Supper.
And when Christ talked about the cup, it symbolizes Christ’s blood that is poured out as a sacrificial offering.
Jesus Christ fulfills the New Covenant by dying on the cross.
And Jesus sealed the new covenant once and for all by shedding His blood as an atoning sacrifice.
Hence, the author of Hebrews would say this in Hebrews 8:6-13 in fronting the Jewish believers who are tempted to fall back into the old covenant system of the law.
6 But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is as much more excellent than the old as the covenant he mediates is better, since it is enacted on better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion to look for a second. 8 For he finds fault with them when he says: “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 9 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant, and so I showed no concern for them, declares the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 11 And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” 13 In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
Based on this text from Hebrews, I want to draw a sharp distinction between the failure of the old covenant and the certain success and benefits of the New Covenant.
In the New Covenant, God puts His laws into the minds and hearts of His people (in verse 10).
In the Old Covenant, the laws were written on tablets of stones, but not in the hearts.
After God gave Israel the law, what did they do afterwards? They started worshipping an idol by creating a golden calf.
That’s because they lacked the heart to obey God and His law.
Under the New Covenant, God grants His people the divine enabling to keep the law of God out of the desires of their hearts, which encompasses their will, desire, motivation, thoughts.
Under the New Covenant, it has the power to change a hardened heart.
In Ezekiel 36:26-27, God made a promise that parallels with the New Covenant found in Jeremiah.
26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
Under the New Covenant, the Holy Spirit has the power to transform a sinner’s whole being so that they will have the internal desire, power, and passion to know God and obey Him.
In the New Covenant, it carried with it the power to fully and completely forgive sins. It says in verse 12 that “God will be merciful towards their iniquities, and God will remember their sins no more.”
However, the sacrificial system under the old covenant could not provide full and complete forgiveness of sins.
Hebrews 10:4, “For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.”
Then, what’s the point of the sacrificial system?
It only took away sins temporarily, but not completely. It was not meant to be a permanent solution for the problem of sin.
Not only that, the sacrificial system - with the animal sacrifices and shedding of blood - (while it may look rather barbaric) it was also meant to show the seriousness of sin and the need to have our sins atoned for by animal sacrifices.
Lastly, the sacrifical system under the old covenant ultimately pointed and foreshadowed the better and ultimate sacrifice that began the New Covenant, which is the Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God.
I’ll mention one more benefit briefly (I could go on the list).
Under the old covenant, the law kept worshipers at a distance from God whereas the New Covenant invites us to draw near to God and have a personal relationship with Him.
In the old covenant, if you know the construction of the tabneracle and the temple, there was a veil that divided Israel from the Holy of Holies.
And only once a year, during the Day of Atonement (which is what Jews are currently celebrating now known as Yom Kippur), only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies where the presence of God is, but the law kept the Israelites at a distance because of their own sinfulness and God’s holiness.
However, Jesus’ death has torn the veil that divided people from God, so that through Jesus Christ, we can draw near to God to receive grace and mercy.
Verses 10-11, “And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbour, and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the last of them to the greatest.’
So, because of the greatness and benefits of the New Covenant, the author of Hebrews says in verse 13, “In speaking of a new covenant, he [Jesus] makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.”
Application / Conclusion
As I slowly wrap, let me remind you of the Big Idea: The New Covenant Provides Spiritual Benefits For Those In Christ.
You may be wondering, “why am I laying out the covenants that the Bible talks about? Why should you care about the term, “covenant?”
Well, it may be easy to just simply say, “it’s in the Bible, so you should care.”
One of the Christian jargons that Christians often use is that God wants to have a relationship with us.
But, let’s ask ourselves, “How is this relationship reflected?”
When Christians say that "God wants to have a relationship with us," it reflects the heart of these biblical covenants.
Covenants highlights the profound plan of God to be in communion with His creation.
These covenants reveal that God is not a distant, impersonal deity but a loving and relational God who establishes His covenant relationship with His people.
And now, as Christians, we are under the New Covenant because of Jesus’ sacrifice.
Not knowing what the New Covenant is can lead you to miss out on the spiritual benefits that you actually have in Christ.
And as a result, the enemies of God can take advantage of your lack of understanding.
It's like you end up unnecessarily "paying" for things that are already "covered in the policy!"
Perhaps, you have been going through struggles in your daily walk with Jesus. You may have fallen into sin and temptation and perhaps don’t know if God is here.
If that’s you, brothers and sisters, then you need a reminder of the benefits you have under the New Covenant.
You may carry the burden of guilt, even though God clearly states in his spiritual policy, "I will remember their sins no more."
You may feel estranged from God and His covenant people, but God clearly specifies through his spiritual contract, "I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
Sometimes, you may burden yourselves with countless man-made regulations and man-made laws, but God promises, "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts."
You need to turn away from your sins and yourself, and turn back to the Lord Jesus Christ and remember what He has done for you.
Thankfully, we get to remember Christ’s sacrifice through the celebration of the Lord’s Supper.
And it is this time where your relationship with God can be renewed.
God has been faithful to you, and He will always keep His side of the agreement.
The question is, “What is your response to what God has done?” By the grace of God, have you been walking in obedience to God by the power of the Spirit?
If you’re not in Christ, then you’re outside of the New Covenant. You don’t have this spiritual policy that I mentioned.
Hence, the promises that God has given to His covenant people do not belong to you.
You don’t have forgiveness of sins.
You are not a part of the people of God.
You don’t know God.
You don’t have God’s law written in your heart, and nothing that you do in this life can save you from the wrath of God to come.
However, the good news is that God in His grace extends this new covenant relationship to you IF you recognize that you are a sinful human being in desperate need of saving grace, and you believe in Christ as your Lord and Saviour and turn away from your sins today.
If you do, then you can experience the benefits of the new covenant.
And the evidence that you are under the new covenant is that you have a desire to love, know, and obey God.
I pray and hope that’s you this morning.