|
*March 1 - 7 |
The New Covenant |
 |
|
*March 1 - 7 |
The New Covenant |
|
MEMORY TEXT: " 'Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah' " (Jeremiah 31:31, RSV).
A CARTOON in a magazine years ago showed a business executive in an office standing before a group of other executives. He was holding a box of detergent in his hands, showing it to the other men and women. He proudly pointed to the word New that was displayed in large red letters on the box, the implication being, of course, that the product was new. The executive then said, "It's the 'New' on the box that is new." In other words, all that changed, all that was new, was simply the word New on the box. Everything else was the same.
In a sense, one could say that the new covenant is like that. The basis of the covenant, the basic hope that it has for us, the basic conditions of it, are the same as what was found in the old covenant. It has always been a covenant of God's grace and mercy, a covenant based on a love that transcends human foibles and defeats.
THE WEEK AT A GLANCE: What parallels exist between the old and new
covenants? What role does the law play in the covenant? With whom were the
covenants made? What does the book of Hebrews mean by a "better covenant"?
(Heb.
8:6). What relation is there between the covenant and the heavenly sanctuary?
*Please study this week's lesson to prepare for Sabbath, March 8.
Read Jeremiah 31:31-34 and answer the following questions:
1. Who instigates the covenant?
2. Whose law is being talked about here? What law is this?
3. Which verses stress the relational aspect that God wants with His people?
4. What act of God on behalf of His people forms the basis of that covenant
relationship?
It is clear: The new covenant is not something much different from the old covenant made with Israel on Mount Sinai. In fact, the problem with the Sinai covenant was not that it was old or outmoded. The problem, instead, was that it was broken (see vs. 32).
The answers to the above questions, all found in those four verses, prove that many facets of the "old covenant" remain in the new one. The "new covenant" is, in a sense, a "renewed covenant." It is the completion, or the fulfillment, of the first one.
Focus on the last part of
Jeremiah
31:34, in which the Lord says that He will forgive the iniquity and the
sin of His people. Even though the Lord says that He will write the law on
our hearts and place it within us, He still stresses that He will forgive
our sin and iniquity, which violates the law written in our hearts. Do you
see any contradiction or tension between these ideas? If not, why not? What
does it mean, as
Romans
2:15 put it, to have the law written within our hearts?
(Matt.
5:17-28).
| Looking at the verses for today, how could you use them to answer
the argument that somehow the Ten Commandments (or, specifically, the Sabbath)
is now made void under the new covenant? Is there anything at all in those
texts that makes that point? If anything, how could one use those texts to
prove the perpetuity of the
law? |
At the time when the southern kingdom of Judah was about to end and the people taken into Babylonian captivity, God announced through His prophet Jeremiah the "new covenant."
This is the first time this notion is expressed in the Bible. However, when the ten-tribe northern kingdom of Israel was about to be destroyed (some one hundred fifty years before the time of Jeremiah), the idea of another covenant was mentioned again, this time by Hosea (Hos. 2:18-20).
Read
Hosea
2:18-20. Notice the parallel between what the Lord says there to His
people with what He said in
Jeremiah
31:31-34. What common imagery is used, and, again, what does it say about
the basic meaning and nature of the covenant?
At moments in history when God's plans for His covenant people were hampered by their rebellion and unbelief, He sent prophets to proclaim that the covenant history with His faithful had not come to an end. No matter how unfaithful the people might have been, no matter the apostasy, rebellion, and disobedience among them, the Lord still proclaims His willingness to enter into a covenant relationship with all who are willing to repent, to obey, and to claim His promises.
Look up the following texts. Though they do not specifically mention a
new covenant, what elements are found in them that reflect the principles
behind the new covenant?
Ezek. 11:19 _____________________________________________________________________
Ezek. 18:31 _____________________________________________________________________
Ezek. 36:26 _____________________________________________________________________
The Lord will provide" 'a heart to know that I am the Lord' "(Jer. 24:7, RSV). He will" 'take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh' " (Ezek. 11:19, RSV), and will give" 'a new heart" and "a new spirit' " (Ezek. 36:26, RSV). He also says, " 'I will put My Spirit within you' "(vs. 27, NASB). This work of God is the foundation of the new covenant.
| If someone came to you and said, "I want a new heart, I want the law
written in my heart, I want a heart to know the Lord—but I don't know
how to get it," what would you say to this
person? |
"'And the foreigners who join themselves to the Lord, to minister to him,
to love the name of the Lord, and to be his servants, every one who keeps
the sabbath, and does not profane it, and holds fast my covenant—these
I will bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer;
their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will be accepted on my altar;
for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples'
"(Isa.
56:6, 7, RSV).
Jeremiah states that the new covenant is to be made with " 'the house of Israel' "(vs. 31:33). Does this mean, then, that only the literal seed of Abraham, Jews by blood and birth, are to receive the covenant promises?
No! In fact, that was not even true in Old Testament times. That the Hebrew nation, as a whole, had been given the covenant promises is, of course, correct. Yet, it was not done in exclusion to anyone else. On the contrary—all, Jew or Gentile, were invited to partake of the promises, but they had to agree to enter into that covenant. It is certainly no different today.
Read the above texts in Isaiah. What conditions do they place on those
who want to serve the Lord? Is there really any difference in what God asked
them and what He asks of us today? Explain your answer.
Though the new covenant is called "better" (see Wednesday's lesson), there really is no difference in the basic elements that make up both the old and new covenant. It is the same God, who offers salvation the same way, by grace (Exod. 34:6; Rom. 3:24); it is the same God who seeks a people who will by faith claim His promises of forgiveness (Jer. 31:34; Heb. 8:12); it is the same God who seeks to write the law into the hearts of those who will follow Him in a faith relationship (Jer. 31:33; Heb. 8:10), Jew or Gentile.
In the New Testament, the Jews, responding to the election of grace, received
Jesus Christ and His gospel. For a time they were the heart of the church,
the "remnant, chosen by grace"
(Rom.
11:5, RSV) in contrast to those who were "hardened"
(vs.
7, RSV). At the same time, the Gentiles, who formerly did not believe,
accepted the gospel and were grafted into God's true people, made up of
believers, no matter to which people or race they belonged
(vss.
13-24). So the Gentiles "at that time separated from Christ, alienated
from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise"
(Eph.
2:12, RSV) were brought near in the blood of Christ. Christ is mediating
the "new covenant"
(Heb.
9:15, RSV) for all believers, regardless of nationality or race.
Yesterday we saw that, regarding the basic elements, the old and new covenants were the same. The bottom line is salvation by faith in a God who will forgive our sins, not because of anything worthwhile in us but only because of His grace. As a result of this forgiveness, we enter into a relationship with Him in which we surrender to Him in faith and obedience.
Nevertheless, the book of Hebrews does call the new covenant "a better covenant." How do we understand what that means? How is one covenant better than the other?
Where did the fault lie with the "failure" of the old covenant?
Heb.
8:7,
8.
The problem with the old covenant was not the covenant itself but with the failure of the people to grasp it in faith (Heb. 4:2). The superiority of the new to the old lies in that Jesus—instead of being revealed only through the animal sacrifices (as in the old covenant)— now appears in the reality of His death and high-priestly ministry. In other words, the salvation offered in the old covenant is the same offered in the new. In the new, however, a greater, more complete revelation of the God of the covenant and the love that He has for fallen humanity has been revealed. It is better in that everything that had been taught through symbols and types in the Old Testament has found its fulfillment in Jesus, whose sinless life, His death, and High-Priestly ministry were symbolized by the earthly sanctuary service (Heb. 9:8-14).
Now, though, instead of symbols, types, and examples, we have Jesus Himself, not only as the slain Lamb who shed His blood for our sins (Heb. 9:12) but who stands as our High Priest in heaven ministering on our behalf (Heb. 7:25). Though the salvation He offers is the same, this fuller revelation of Himself and the salvation found in Him, as revealed in the new covenant, make it superior to the old.
| Read
Hebrews
8:5 and
10:1.
What word does the author use to describe the old covenant sanctuary services?
How does the use of that word help us understand the superiority of the new
covenant?
Think about this: Why would knowing about Christ's life, death, and
high-priestly ministry on our behalf give us a better understanding of God
than one would get merely from the earthly sanctuary-service ritual of animal
sacrifices?
|
The book of Hebrews places a heavy emphasis on Jesus as our High Priest in the heavenly sanctuary. In fact, the clearest exposition of the new covenant found in the New Testament appears in the book of Hebrews with its emphasis on Christ as High Priest. This is no coincidence. Christ's heavenly ministry is intricately tied to promises of the new covenant.
The Old Testament sanctuary service was the means by which the old-covenant truths were taught. It centered around sacrifice and mediation. Animals were slain, and their blood was mediated by the priests. These, of course, were all symbols of the salvation found only in Jesus. There was no salvation found in them in and of themselves.
Read
Hebrews
10:4. Why is there no salvation found in the death of these animals?
Why is the death of an animal not sufficient to bring
salvation?
All these sacrifices, and the priestly mediation that accompanied them, met their fulfillment in Christ. Jesus became the Sacrifice upon which the blood of the new covenant is based. Christ's blood ratified the new covenant, making the Sinaitic covenant and its sacrifices "old" or void. The true sacrifice had been made, once and for all (Heb. 9:26). Once Christ died, there was no more need for any animals to be slain. The earthly sanctuary services had fulfilled their function.
Read
Matthew
27:51, which tells how the veil in the earthly sanctuary was torn when
Jesus died. How does that event help us understand why the earthly sanctuary
had been
superceded?
Tied, of course, to these animal sacrifices was the priestly ministry, those Levites who offered and mediated the sacrifices in the earthly sanctuary on behalf of the people. Once the sacrifices ended, the need for their ministry ended, as well. Everything had been fulfilled in Jesus, who now ministers His own blood in the sanctuary in heaven (see Heb. 8:1-5). Hebrews stresses Christ as High Priest in heaven, having entered by shedding His own blood (Heb. 9:12), mediating in our behalf. This is the foundation of the hope and promise we have in the new covenant.
How does it make you feel, understanding that, even now, Jesus is ministering
His blood in heaven on your behalf? How much confidence and assurance does
that give you regarding salvation?
|
FURTHER STUDY:
In partaking with His disciples of the bread and wine, Christ pledged Himself to them as their Redeemer. He committed to them the new covenant, by which all who receive Him become children of God, and joint heirs with Christ. By this covenant every blessing that heaven could bestow for this life and the life to come was theirs. This covenant deed was to be ratified with the blood of Christ. And the administration of the Sacrament was to keep before the disciples the infinite sacrifice made for each of them individually as a part of the great whole of fallen humanity."—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, pp. 656, 659.
"The most striking feature of this covenant of peace is the exceeding richness
of the pardoning mercy expressed to the sinner if he repents and turns from
his sin. The Holy Spirit describes the gospel as salvation through the tender
mercies of our God. 'I will be merciful to their unrighteousness,' the Lord
declares of those who repent, 'and their sins and their iniquities will I
remember no more'
(Heb.
8:12). Does God turn from justice in showing mercy to the sinner? No;
God cannot dishonor His law by suffering it to be transgressed with impunity.
Under the new covenant, perfect obedience is the condition of life. If the
sinner repents and confesses his sins, he will find pardon. By Christ's sacrifice
in his behalf, forgiveness is secured for him. Christ has satisfied the demands
of the law for every repentant, believing sinner."—Ellen G. White,
God's Amazing Grace, p.
138.
|
||||||||||||
SUMMARY: The new covenant is a greater, more complete, and better
revelation of the plan of Redemption. We who partake of it partake of it
by faith, a faith that will manifest itself in obedience to a law written
in our hearts.
Rued Dave Soreno
Lagoyloy village is nestled in the thick mountain forests of southern Philippines. The villagers had recently moved their village to a new location, where they can get clear spring water. Large logs lie scattered around the newly cleared land, and temporary homes with palm leaf roofs are slowly giving way to more permanent structures. But the school teachers' home is not yet finished. The floor boards are not nailed down, and when it rains, the palm leaf roof leaks.
Every afternoon the children gather in our little home for worship. We sing songs, recite memory verses, and worship God together. One of their favorite memory verses is Jeremiah 33:3, "Call upon Me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things which thou knowest not."
One afternoon the children gathered for worship as usual. Soon the air filled with singing. We noticed dark clouds gathering on the horizon. "Children," I said, "the rain is coming, and our roof is not yet waterproof We should dismiss, so you will not get wet when it rains."
"No sir," some of the children responded, "God will keep us dry! Let's just pray."
"Let's continue, sir!" the rest of the children chorused.
The sky grew darker; lightning flashed, and thunder roared as the children folded their hands to pray. "Lord," I said, "please hold the rain until we finish our worship, so that we will not get wet. In Jesus' name, Amen."
As worship progressed. I prayed again. "Lord, please honor the simple faith of these children, so that they may know that You are the true and living God."
We sang one more song as the first big drops of rain fell on the roof. As the speaker stood to talk, I could hear the sound of a heavy downpour in the distance. All around us it rained, but no more raindrops touched our house. God held back the rain.
"You see, sir," the children told me after worship. "God answered our prayers!" And He did. Our earnest prayer for these people is that they will accept Jesus as the author of their salvation as well as the One who held back the rain.
Rued Dave Soreno is a student missionary from Mountain View College, in southern Philippines. He is teaching at the Lagoyloy Mission School in a mountain village in southern Philippines.
Join the SSNET moderated email discussion group. You are also warmly invited to join a group discussion of this lesson Sabbath morning with your local Seventh-day Adventist congregation.
Editorial Office: 12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver
Spring, MD 20904.
Principal Contributor: Based on previous work of Gerhard F Hasel
Editor: Clifford Goldstein
Associate Editor: Lyndelle Brower Chiomenti
Editorial Production Manager: Soraya Homayouni Parish
Art and Design: Lars Justinen
Pacific Press Coordinator: Paul A. Hey
Copyright © 2003 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. All Rights Reserved.
This page is Netscape
friendly.
SSNET Web Site Home page.
Directory of adult SS quarterly
Bible Study guides.
Prepared for the Internet by the SSNET Web
Team.
Last updated January 18, 2003
.
