Eternal Covenant of Christ
“Behold, My Servant, whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; He will bring forth justice to the nations [goy ‘Gentiles’.] He will not cry out or raise His voice, nor make His voice heard in the street.
“A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish; He will faithfully bring forth justice [Judgment of the cross]. He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established justice [Judgment of the cross] in the earth; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law [Doctrines of Christ – Not the law of Moses.]
“Thus says God the LORD, who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, ‘I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You,
“’And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations [goy ‘Gentiles’], to open blind eyes, to bring out prisoners from the dungeon and those who dwell in darkness from the prison.” (Isa 42:1-7)
Journal,
The new covenant is an eternal covenant made in heaven and contracted on earth. The only way a person can experience the grace and blessings of the new covenant is to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus Christ Himself is the new covenant. When you receive Christ you receive the new covenant. This is the law of the cross.
Let’s look at an incident where the Lord sets forth the new covenant in prophetic picture-language. During the feast of tabernacles as the priestly procession goes to the pool of Siloam to bring back water to pour on the altar, Jesus stops the procession.
“If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39)
Where Jesus speaks of the outflow of living water, He is describing the new covenant life experience. The new covenant is about life. God’s new covenant people are made alive with
the life of Christ Himself.
Where it says, “the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified,” the word “given” is not in the text. What John said was, “The Spirit was not yet.” The question is, “How can this be? All the prophets had the Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit while in his mother’s womb!”
The new covenant is unlike any covenant ever given to man. The Holy Spirit in the new covenant ministers the finished work of the cross in believers. No person before the cross could have the Holy Spirit in that sense. Why is this?
“Because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
What distinguishes the new covenant from all the former covenants is that at the moment of receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters the heart of the believing one as the Spirit of the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Jesus Christ. Every believer is a Christ possessed person. (Cf. Col 1:26,27)
The Divine Imprint
Paul wrote the Galatian Christians, and said,
“My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you.” (Gal4:19)
Paul’s concern was for their inability to know and recognize the Lord at work in their lives. It was an issue of spiritual maturity
Because the Galatians believers were still immature in their walk with the Lord, they were being pulled back and forth. They were a young group. Paul said a similar thing to the Ephesian Christians. He said,
“We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects INTO HIM…” (Eph4:14)
It happens today. The immature believe is easily moved by his emotions. They tend to be restless and unbalanced. This is why young believers need a great deal of help in this area. They are easily misled.
Again this is one reason the Lord raises up pastors as servant-ministers. A pastor’s greatest job is to tenderly care for a flock. If a young believer is not under the kind of teaching that will lead him to believe deeply in his salvation and in God’s love, he will manifest a spiritual unrest.
So keep in mind that in the new covenant we have the Holy Spirit to parent us into the processes of the covenant. And it is God’s Spirit who imprints us to the Lord. Yet the Lord does use men and women to help believers make necessary spiritual transitions.
A Personal Walk With God
What does being a Christ-possessed person mean? It means that each person born of the Spirit can now judge for himself/herself that which is of God and that which is not of God. It is this discerning and judging of all things by the Spirit that allows the believer to understand the issue of life itself. This is essentially was spiritual maturity is about.
In the old covenant if you wanted to hear from God, you went to the prophet. In the new covenant there is no need for a certain body of prophets or ‘special’ spokesmen to represent God in the earth. Yes, God does place in the body certain God-called servants, but these servants have a purpose in helping believers come to a full maturity in Christ. These servant-ministers are to ever take the place of a believers personal walk with Jesus.
John explained it this way –
“As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides (permanently indwells), and you have no need for anyone* (Greek word ’tis’ means a special single someone, or a guru) to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, YOU ABIDE IN HIM.” (1John2:24-27 Please read the reference.)
Where John speaks of the believer’s ‘indwelling anointing’ he is addressing the life of Christ that abides permanently in each believer.
Paul spoke of it this way:
“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.” (Gal 2:20)
Does this mean we should not listen to others? Absolutely not. God can and does speak to us through others. What it means is that every believer can discern truth for himself. The term ‘truth’ in the New Testaments speaks of knowing the reality behind an appearance. (Recognizing the things of God.)
A Covenant of Eternal Life
I Love You Jesus
Jesus said that He came to give us life and life in full measure. Eternal life addresses eternity. It addresses a life that cannot be lost. But it also speaks of a spiritual quality of life that can can only be found in the Son of God.
Not only is Jesus the Son of God, Jesus is the very Life of God. I realize this concept is difficult to grasp. The apostles themselves walked with the life of God. They even touched the life of God. They listened to the life of God.
Listen to how John explains it –
“What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life– and the life was manifested, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was manifested to us—“ (1Jn 1:1-2)
Can you feel John’s excitement? They walked with Eternity! They walk with the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever. They walked with God.
The story does not end there. John’s excitement continues to build as he writes his letters about the life of God. Listen with your heart –
“The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
“And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
“He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
“These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.” (1Jn 5:10-13)
Only a couple of questions left –
Do you have the Son of God, or do you have religion?
What do you talk about, Jesus Christ or your religion?
Think about it.
Let this song will explain what true Christianity is all about. Lord I Lift Your Name on High.
In God’s Grace,
Buddy
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