Date of message: 04 November 2002
Subject: There Is A Better Covenant

Shalom, Boker-tov (good morning),
In the Old Testament, we can find the Ten Commandments plus a host of 653 other ceremonial laws enumerated throughout the Old Testament and Jesus Himself said that He came not to abolish the Law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5: 17). The Law (embodied in the Ten Commandments) demands that we have to keep all of them or else we are guilty of breaking them all even though we are found not to have kept just one (James 2: 10).

The Law is indiscriminate for it will not make exceptions for position or wealth; that is the reason why one always find the law represented by a woman holding a set of scales in her left hand and a drawn sword in her right and she is usually blindfolded. Disobedience to the Law meant death and if the Law were to have its way, all of us would have been dead by now since we, as humans, are not infallible. We have all sinned and fall short of God's standards.

But praise be to Jesus for He came for one sole purpose; to deliver us from our position under the Law and to grant us our freedom from the bondage of sin. Because an innocent Person died for the guilty, we have been delivered from our positions of being condemned to our new positions as righteous Children of the Father. What a dramatic change He had wrought for us. We, who deserved eternal condemnation and separation from God the Creator, are now eternally reconciled to God the Father. No longer does God the Judge see us as we are but He sees Jesus the Righteous One in each of us and He is well pleased with what He sees. That is what it means when the Bible calls us the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus.

The Old Testament is based on works. If one obeys the Law, he /she will be blessed but if one breaks the commandments, he /she will be condemned and each time he /she breaks the law, a sacrifice must be offered to atone for his /her sins. So we find a lot of killing of animals as sacrifices in the Old Testament. And yet we read that the people of Israel had to continually offer up sacrifice after sacrifice every year because the sin sacrifice was able to cover them for only one year. Their forgiveness under the Old Covenant was only temporal.
But praise be to our Lord Jesus who came and died for all our sins. Because of the Person who died, His One perfect Sacrifice is more than sufficient to cover the sum total of all the sins of the world - past, present and future. What amazing love the Father has for us.
In Chapter 10 of the Book of Hebrews, the author wrote (verses 1 - 7): -

1. For the Law, since it has only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, can never, by the same sacrifices which they offer continually year by year, make perfect those who draw near.
2. Otherwise, would they not have ceased to be offered, because the worshippers, having once been cleansed, would no longer have had consciousness of sins?
3. But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year by year.
4. For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.
5. Therefore, when He comes into the world, He says, "Sacrifice and offering You have not desired, but a body You have prepared for Me:"
6. "In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You have taken no pleasure."
7. Then I said, "Behold, I have come ( in the scroll of the Book it is written of Me ) to do Your will, O God."

Because God found fault with the system of animal sacrifices, a better solution was needed and so we read in verses 5 - 7 of the conversation between God the Father and God the Son. Praise the Lord we are able to eves-drop on the conversation between Father and Son and be able to catch a glimpse of His intense love for us.
Reading on from Hebrews 10: 14 - 17: -

14. For by one offering He has perfected for all time those who are sanctified.
15. And the Holy Spirit also testifies to us; for after saying,
16. This is the Covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My Laws upon their heart, and on their mind I will write them,"
17. He then says, "And their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more."
The Psalmist in Psalms 103: 12 said of our sins, "as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."
Jesus paid the price for our sins on the cross and since the purchase price had been paid, God the Judge cannot judge us again for the same sins. That is why we now have a new confidence - that God had removed our sins. This is a better deal than what the people had in the days of the Old Testament. For them, their forgiveness, after they had offered the sin sacrifice, was only until the next sin and then they had to offer another sacrifice for this new sin. Thanks be to God, our forgiveness is for eternity because God Himself became the Sacrifice.

The decision to accept what Jesus had accomplished on the cross lies with you. God will not force us to choose Him against our wishes. Even if only one person were to accept what Jesus had done on the cross for him, the Father would still be willing to send Him because the covenant God, YHVH, loves us too much to ignore us and to leave us with no alternatives. Remember our God is a Lord of choices. All it takes is a simple act of faith in Jesus and we will be able to enjoy the presence of Jesus in our lives.

Our Abba Father, thank you that You did not leave us as we were, without hope and separated from You. Thank you that You love us so much that You sent us Your beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who came, loved You and loved us and was obedient to You even to the point that He died for all our sins. And because of His blood, now we are made righteous before Your presence.

Thank you Lord Jesus that You took upon Your body all our curses so that we can receive Your blessings for our lives. Thank you that we are made righteous by Your righteousness and that we are now children of the LORD and joint heirs with You in Your kingdom. Come, Lord Jesus, into my heart and take up precedence over my life.

Thank You Father that because of Your Beloved Son's death, I am now a child of Yours and I am greatly blessed, highly favored and deeply loved. Thank you and I pray all these in the most precious and holy name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
If you have prayed that prayer for the first time, welcome to the Family of the Father (and it is a very large universal family). It is important that you are not alone facing your personal trials but that you can obtain good help wherever you are. Why not take the time to find your own local Christian family (local church) and worship the Father together? You will be greatly encouraged when you meet together to worship the Father, for fellowship and for the study of the Word of Christ.

The Lord blesses you and keeps you,
The Lord makes His face shine upon you and be gracious to you and all your loved ones,
The Lord lifts up His countenance upon you and gives you His shalom peace.
Numbers 6: 24 - 26

Have a blessed week ahead, Shavrou-tov
Shalom,
Andrew L W Lee
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