“Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return to the LORD, and He will have compassion on him, and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.
“‘For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,’ declares the LORD. ‘For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.'” (Isa 55:7-9)
Journal,
Ever watch someone trying to put together a project without the aid of the instruction sheet. Of course they didn’t need it – Instruction sheets are for dummies. Well, if they were so smart, why were there parts left over? Those left over parts likely determined how the project was supposed to work.
I’m convinced that many of our struggles in life can be directly contributed to not learning to live according to the designers manual. We have too many left out pieces.
One problem new covenant believers have is not understanding the new covenant walk of faith. As a result many stumble through life trying to live new covenant Christianity on an old covenant level. Are you one of those people?
Then you have those who seem unable to hear from God for themselves, so they continually run to and fro looking for some prophet to give them a word from the Lord. Are you one of those kinds of believers?
The problem is that you are not learning to live new covenant Christianity according to the Designers manual.
Have you ever stopped to consider why Paul said,
“Therefore from now on we recognize no one according to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according to the flesh, yet now we know Him in this way no longer. Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these [new] things are from God…” (2Co5:16-18 nasb)
The Last Adam
There is so much I would like to share with you. Before I go any further I want to challenge my readers to take time to read a series of studies that I’ve provided entitled, ‘The New 
Adam Race.’ These studies will help direct you to a better understanding of our new covenant walk with Jesus Christ.
Here they are in the order you need to read them:
Part #1 – http://www.christianchallenge.org/hebraic-foundations/HF032-1.html
Part #2 – http://www.christianchallenge.org/hebraic-foundations/HF032-2.html
Part #3 – http://www.christianchallenge.org/hebraic-foundations/HF032-3.html
Part #4 – http://www.christianchallenge.org/hebraic-foundations/HF032-4.html
The Turning Point of the Cross
When Paul said that ‘old things had passed away,’ he was speaking of the covenant of Moses. It has been replaced by the covenant of the cross. The former covenant was temporary. It was made for the natural man. Jesus likened it to ‘old wine skins.’ You cannot put new wine into old wine skins. The old skins would burst asunder and be of no value to anyone. The new covenant was entirely new. It had to have its own covenant expressions.
It is not that the former covenant was without value. The former covenant continually pointed to the eternal covenant to come. The distinguishing mark of the new covenant, however, hinges on the word ‘spiritual.’ Out of the cross came a new creation of spiritual people. These new people of God must have their own spiritual covenant. They must have a covenant that is suited to a people who carry in themselves the very nature of Christ.
God’s new people are a heavenly people. Our birth is a birth from above. Our names are recorded in God’s heavenly book, the book of the Lamb. We have a new heavenly-spiritual nature instilled in the deep of our inner life.
The Letter Kills – The Spirit Gives Life
So as I said before, it is not a matter of the former covenant of Moses having no value for believers today. There are many lessons we can learn from Moses and the prophets. However, the apostle said that when we view the former covenant, we must view it through the lens of our the new covenant in Christ.
The issue stems from the fact that we are an entirely new creation. Before the cross, there had never been anyone on this planet who could share the spiritual completeness that is to be found in a true Biblical Christian. We are a heavenly people walking in earthly bodies.
This is why the apostle Peter said that when the prophets of old spoke of Christ and God’s new people to come, that they were not speaking of anything that they could share at that time. The new heavenly covenant was specifically designed for the people of the cross.
This is also why Paul chided the Corinthians for all their misbehavior. Listen:
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men?” (1Co3:1-3)
Did you catch it? New covenant believers are born from above. We are not to live like mere men. We have a covenant that is out of this world. (Not intended as a pun.) The new covenant is entirely a covenant of the Spirit and of grace.
The word spiritual comes from two Greek words that speak of invisibility and power.
The apostle said:
“But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. “ (2Co3:15-18)
And again,
“Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Co4:16-18)
Well, its time to move on. But how can I leave without leaving you a wonderful song that speaks to the new creation in Christ. Take time for Sarah Sadler singing, “I Am a New Creation.” Here it is:
Remember – There is much love in Jesus Christ.
Be sure to read the Designer’s manual often.
Buddy
Views: 27
