The New Covenant

The Messianic CovenantThe last few Podcast Episodes have been about the Davidic Covenant and then a reminder of why we were looking into the covenants. One of the last things I mentioned was that it helps us to understand God’s plan to be His Ambassadors and His representatives of these Covenants, and it helps us take a look at how they play out in the Bible, in our lives and for our future.The time frame of some of these covenant promises from God overlap in History and our Future:Edenic: From the beginning of the Garden of Eden to the end of Genesis 2 when Adam sinned Adamic: Genesis 3 to as long as there is sin on the EarthNoahic: From the Ark to the end of rainbowsAbrahamic: Lasts until the end of the Millennium Mosaic: Lasted from Receiving the Law at Mt Sinai to the death of Jesus on the crossDavidic: From the days of David’s Kingdom, renewed to Mary Luke 1:31-33 and fulfilled through Jesus until the end of time. Messianic or New Covenant: Applies to ALL who are saved through Faith in the finished work of Jesus on the Cross from Adam onward. Only two of the Covenants had conditions attachedDo you remember which ones they were?One was the Edenic (Don’t eat of the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil)The Other was the Mosaic Law:  This was given solely to the People of Isreal. It ended with the Death of Jesus. Well technically it ended then. However many kept trying to crawl back under this old covenant known as the Law, rather than looking forward to the New Covenant of grace. Marriage, it’s what brings us together today. Do you recall that movie line? Marriage ceremonies have changed over the years. Currently it looks like a contract between two people that can be broken when feelings change, that is why a prenuptial agreement comes in handy today, for those who look at marriage as a contract that is breakable at one point down the road. But remember we looked at how God intended a marriage to be. In fact a marriage covenant was a representation of the Covenant relationship God made with mankind. There is no relationship with God outside of a Covenant. Are you in a covenant with God right now? If you are, do you know which one, or ones? Can you state the benefits and responsibilities of the Covenant that you are a part of with God? If not, you might want to go back through the Covenant Series again and take notes, or just check out the Blog Posts that coincide with each Episode and compare it to your Bible. Our current culture tends to look at love as something to be received. The Old Testament describes the love of God as His loving kindness, or loyal love. It is pictured in the Book of Ruth 3 times and is described as headed love or lovingkindness, loyal love, and is Expressed through actionsExpressed as genuine concern for othersDemonstrated as strong devotion to anotherThe Christian Wedding is actually filled with symbolism about the making of a covenant. We spoke of the Making of a Covenant in past Episodes. The Hebrew word for Covenant is Berith. The root word of Berith is “to cut”. A blood covenant was a formal, binding agreement between two parties. In the Old Testament it was done by the cutting of an animal, who’s blood was shed to make the agreement binding. In the New Covenant the Better sacrifice, Jesus, gave His own blood to make the covenant binding and the shedding of blood no longer necessary. Then the two parties would walk through the middle of the animal sacrificeIn Old Testament times, this ground they walk on through the sacrifice was considered holy ground. They would then pledge and promise all their rights, possessions, and benefits to the other party. They would exchange belts, and their outer coat, and take some part of the other...