NEW COVENANT
In Old Testament times, a Covenant was a binding legal agreement. The nature was determined by the parties involved. Between the two businessmen, it was a contract. Between nations, it was a treaty. Between the ruler and the people, it was a constitution. But between God and human beings, it was recorded as Covenant from Old Testament times. Covenants are the most important themes in the Bible because upon the Covenants only the whole redemptive story is built on. From creation, God had Covenanted with various humans in order to rescue his world. These divine-human relationships slowly moved towards chaos. In order to eliminate that chaotic divine-human relationship, God sent his only son as New Covenant (" For God so loved the world,, he gave his only Son so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life”. John 3:16) which is prophesized by prophets like Jeremiah and Ezekiel. The New Testament presents Jesus as the anticipated “anointed one” who comes to establish the New Covenant promised by the prophets. Jesus inaugurated this New Covenant with his blood (Mark 14:24, 1 Cor 11:25).
Old Covenants:
In Old Testament, Four Covenants with Noah, Abraham, Moses (Israel), and David pave a way to understand the New Covenant inaugurated by Jesus Christ in a better way. Let’s look at a glimpse of those.
Noahic Covenant:
After Adam and Eve’s expulsion from the Garden of Eden, Sin on Earth moved rapidly on a verge. In Genesis 4 Cain did a cold-blooded murder. In Genesis 6 there’s that weird story. Sin has enveloped the whole world. God sends out a destroying flood in order to sanitize the earth from wickedness, making way for a restored creation that will begin with Noah and his family. There God made a Covenant with Noah, promising that despite humanity’s evil, he would never again destroy them. He reiterates the cultural mandate (Genesis 1: 28) inviting humans to partner with him in filling and ruling his world. It’s an unconditional covenant grounded in the promise of God to never again destroy the world. For this covenant, the rainbow is given as a sign.
Abrahamic Covenant:
Evil continued to reign over the world. Genesis 9-11 traces the downward spiral of mankind, peaking the story of the tower of Babel. There, humans tried to overthrow God’s authority by building a New World centre to exalt themselves above God. God scattered them all over with different languages. Then, in a stunning act of Grace, God selects Abraham, a huge family that will inherit a promised piece of land in Canaan and bring universal blessings to all humanity through his family. For this covenant, circumcision is given as a sign.
Mosaic Covenant:
Exodus opens with Abraham’s offspring multiplying rapidly in Egypt threatens Pharoh’s ego. He forces God's people to become slave labourers in building campaigns. They cry out to God, and God hears them. God sends Moses for the mission of liberation and to lead them out of Egypt towards Promised Land. God saves and liberates Israel from slavery in Egypt and promises to make them his own treasured possession, a holy, set-apart nation. He will be their God, and they will be his people. Sabbath is given as a sign.
Davidic Covenant:
God’s people entered Canaan and eventually demanded a king so they could be like other nations. Saul from the Benjamin tribe is anointed, but fails to walk with God in his ways; so he was rejected and thrown. David the son of Jesse, from the Judean tribe, becomes a successful king who overcomes Israel’s enemies and restores the presence of God to the city of David. God promises David that he’ll give him a royal kingdom, in which the promises made to Abraham and Israel will be fulfilled through his lineage. He will rise up a descendant of him who will build a house for the Lord, and his throne will last forever.
New Covenant:
The New Covenant was introduced by the prophets in the context of total failure. The kings, the people and even the religious leaders failed to keep God’s commands. God’s covenantal people simply become covenantal breakers! The curses of the covenant came upon them, and they were exiled to Babylon. But there, too, prophets give hope of liberation, the hope of reconciliation; the hope of new life. The New Covenant is the culmination of God’s saving work with his people. He promises to make an everlasting covenant with his people in which he will write his law on their hearts, complete forgiveness of sin; put his spirit to empower them to love and obey his commands; raise up a Davidic king to rule. There are no stipulations to this unconditional covenant of grace. The New Covenant pours Unconditional Love, Unconditional Forgiveness, and Unconditional Acceptance.
Unconditional Love:
Jesus came to earth out of Unconditional Love. God whole-heartedly presented his only son for the redemption of his own creation, which is in danger. Biblical Covenants always ratify with the shedding of blood; Out of love Jesus Christ is all prepared by God and wholeheartedly shed his own blood to the redemption from sin. He lights a new definition of love through his shedding of blood. Jesus Christ as the anticipated Messiah based on the new covenant, completes his task perfectly to the core.
Unconditional Forgiveness:
At the end of covenants, there were some conditions for the covenant to be valid. But in a new covenant, there were no conditions. Laws uncover human sins, so redeeming happens through the activation of grace. The chaotic divine-human relationship is totally eliminated through the grace of God.
Unconditional Acceptance:
Everyone is accepted through Christ. Through the death of Jesus Christ, everyone is drawn near God without any terms and conditions. Equality is propagated very strongly; no one is graded as higher or lower.
So, as a Christian community, we move forward to make an egalitarian society that has the richness of love, forgiveness and acceptance. Amen.
Praise the lord
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