Right from the first chapter, my sole purpose was to bring to people’s knowledge that God has made in Christ a Covenant of Grace, an eternal covenant by which a way is opened for men to come to God and receive, by faith in Jesus Christ the greatest gift; this great gift is Eternal Life! I have heard of men prepared to spend a lot of money to live few more days or months, frightened to face eternity. There is, after all, nothing more precious than life. What’s more wonderful, is that God gives it by grace, without any merit whatsoever from the object of His love. I have already mentioned several times the following verse: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in him, (Jew or Gentile) shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)

But one cannot repeat truths too often.  I should also quote the following: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) A gift is free, one never expects a bill after receiving a gift, and God gives eternal life, it’s free, and it can be yours if you believe in Christ and accept Him as Lord and Saviour! He gives it to enjoy it down here, and then forever in His presence! So, if you are still working hard to hope to get to heaven when you die, you are on the wrong road, because by good works, or by obeying the Ten Commandments, no man has ever done it and no-one will! For those who are too proud to bend the knees, and accept that God is real, and that He sent the Lord Jesus Christ to die for their sins, the future is dark!

“To receive ‘Eternal Life’ as a free gift from God, is not something vague that one may receive at death. I am always surprised to hear at funerals, folk praising the departed saying how he or she was, so good, so marvellous, making it almost a saint, being totally ignorant of the fact, that by good works, however praise worthy they may be, no man will go to heaven; one may have a lesser punishment than some worse than him; but heaven is the home of those, that have believed that Christ died for their sins, and have, with the help of the Holy Spirit, received Him as their Saviour and lived for His glory. To make sure one does go to heaven, one has to accept Jesus Christ and commit one’s life to Him. In other words, one must have lived on earth in communion with Jesus; a commitment to Christ is absolutely essential, without this sincere commitment one is not a Christian, heaven is the home of Jesus Christ the Lord of Glory and of those He will raise from the dead, or change those that are alive when He comes.

 If one hopes to go there by good works, one must be, not just as good as one possibly can, one must be perfect! To any sound minded person, this statement means that, since no-one is perfect, no-one will ever get there! This is confirmed by the following verse of the Bible which says: “For it is by grace you are saved, (or have been saved) through faith ~ in Christ ~ and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works (meaning being good or as good as poss.) so that no-one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8.) This truth goes against the grain of what people believe, what they have heard from pulpits preached by men that are not worth their salt, but what has been taught by so many, for so long, is misleading, in the light of what Jesus taught and His disciples, as recorded in the New Testament. One cannot add or take away from the inspired Word of God. What God has spoken is eternal just as He is, it shall stand until He fulfils it, I hope that God has appointed a day for you to turn to Him, if it is now, than do it!

The Gospel alone teaches that one can have eternal life right now and enjoy it right here on earth, it is the promise God, made possible by the Eternal Covenant which Christ introduced in the upper room where He ate, the Passover supper, with His disciples! It is written: “When the hour came, Jesus and His disciples reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the kingdom of God. “After taking the cup He gave thanks and said ‘Take this and divide it among you. For I tell you I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes’. And He took bread, gave thanks, and broke it, saying, ‘This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me. In the same way, after the supper He took the cup, saying: ‘This cup is the New Covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.’ (Luke 22: 14-20) The Covenant of the Law, detailed by the Ten Commandments, replaced all previous ones; this is why there are these two covenants, the Old and the New. By His death on the CROSS Jesus fulfilled the Old Covenant, from the moment Jesus breathed His last, and shed His blood, it has been abrogated, and the new Covenant is now in place!

After His death, Jesus rose from the dead, and lived on earth for forty days during which He appeared to His disciples and talked about the kingdom of God. Before His ascension to heaven from where He came. At one point, when His hour to leave them came, Jesus led His disciples out to the Mount of Olives, in the vicinity of Bethany; He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He left them and was taken up into heaven…He was taken up before their eyes, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. (Luke24 50-52 – Acts 1:9)

Thus. Jesus ended His mission on earth. His entry into heaven gave a spiritual fulfilment, to everything that happened to him on earth. All the religious practices of the Jewish Priesthood, whether before Jesus came or during His time on earth, were types of future and better promises, it is a fascinating study, too long to touch on now, but they laid the foundation to the understanding of Christ’s ministry and for this reason they had to have a spiritual fulfilment, which Christ fulfilled to the letter. Before the Message of the Gospel could be preached in its entirety, to all the nations of the world, Christ had to enter the Holy Place. The Bible says the following concerning the most important part of this fulfilment:

“When Christ came as a high priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats or calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption. The blood of goats and bulls, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those that are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through eternal Spirit, offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse your consciences from acts that lead to death, so that you may serve the living God!

         For this reason, Christ is the mediator of a ‘New Covenant’, that those that are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance ~ now that He has died as a ransom to set free from sins committed under the first Covenant.” (Hebrews 9:11-15.)

Since God is now dealing with all men under a New Covenant, it means that the Old Covenant is replaced and that God does not deal with His people, the ‘Christians’ under the terms that were required by the Old Covenant, which was given to Israel only, to prove that no-one could have kept the Ten Commandments in its entirety, it is written: ‘for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”  (Romans 3:23) God now deals with a new people, the people of the New Testament, called out from amongst all nations through the Gospel; ‘The True Church’. God says: 

“The ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs (meaning the priests of the Old Covenant) as the Covenant (the New Covenant) of which He is mediator is superior to the Old One, and is founded on better promises. For if there had been nothing wrong with that ‘First Covenant’ (The Ten Commandments) no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said: ‘

The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a ‘New Covenant’ with the house of ISRAEL and with the house of JUDAH. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to ‘My Covenant’, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.

         This is the Covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and writes them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord’, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more’. By calling this covenant ‘NEW’, He has made the ‘First One’ obsolete; and what is obsolete and ageing will soon disappear. (Parts of this passage is a quotation from Jeremiah 31:31-34). Written in (Hebrews 8:6-13)

Israel’s history reveals that the Covenant God made with them at Sinai has been violated again and again, and by their obstinacy God is teaching men of today, that it is impossible for them to obey God’s Holy Commandments, their infidelity proves also that they are responsible for their actions and that, for every sin there is retribution. God’s patience with them is a revelation to us of how long He will bear and forbear; again, and again as they cried to Him in despair, He helped them. I have chosen an extract from the book of Judges, to show how God dealt with Israel in time of need. 

“Whenever God raised up a judge for them, He was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies as long as the judge lived; for the Lord had compassion on them as they groaned under those that oppressed and afflicted them. But when the judge died, the people returned to ways even more corrupt than those of their fathers, following other gods and serving and worshipping them. They refused to give up their evil practices and stubborn ways.

         Therefore, the Lord was very angry with Israel and said, ‘Because this nation has violated my covenant that I laid down for their forefathers and has not listened to me, I will no longer drive out before them any of the Nations Joshua left when he died. I will use them to test Israel and see whether they will keep the way of the Lord and walk in it as their forefathers did.”

The rest of the History of Israel under the judges proves that Israel never changed their ways and the nations were indeed used to test Israel. God raise many judges, during three centuries, until under Samuel the people asked him to give them a King. Samuel was very displeased with the people, it appeared very offensive to him because it would lead to be their greatest rebellion, but God told Samuel: 

‘Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their King. As they have done from the day I brought them up out of Egypt until this day, forsaking me and serving other gods, so they are doing to you. Now listen to them; but warn them solemnly and let them know what the king who will reign over them will do.” …So, Samuel told them in detail what it will mean to them to have a man as king to rule over them. “But the people refused to listen to Samuel. “NO!” they said. ‘We want a king over us. Then we shall be like all the other nations, with a king to lead us and to go out before us and fight our battles.’ When Samuel heard all that the people said, he repeated it before the Lord. The Lord answered: ‘Listen to them and give them a king.”(1Samuel 8:6-22) 

During the times of the Kings the people of Israel never changed towards God, yet under the good reign of King David they become a strong and invincible people, all because of David’s love for God. But this perfect situation did not last long, for under Solomon, who reigned in place of his father David, he and Israel went back to their old ways and served and worshipped other gods. It is because of Salomon’s and the people’s sins that Jeroboam led the ten tribes of Israel to revolt against the King, and broke away to form their separate nation which continued to be called Israel; under Rehoboam, what was left of Israel was called Judah, over which reigned the son off Solomon. God did it to fulfil His promise to David that He would keep one of his descendants as King and that to His kingdom there would be no end. God sent to them, seers and prophets who warned them that God would punish them and finally He did. 

The ten tribes of Israel were taken captive by the Assyrian empire and never returned to their land. Judah and Benjamin, having been spared from such a disaster, took the wrong road as well and because of their rebellion were sent into captivity, God used   Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, just as he said He would. So, he came against them and after defeating them utterly, his army destroyed, the Palace of the kings of Israel and Judah, all the important houses in Jerusalem including the Templeand took the elite of the people captive to Babylon, but even this did not really change the heart of the people. Nevertheless, as prophesied by Jeremiah, after seventy years, God raised Cyrus, King of Persia to rule Babylon, and put into his heart to send the people of God back to their land to rebuild all that Nebuchadnezzar pulled down. 

God did it because His purposes must be fulfilled, and Israel still exists today for that very reason. God used Ezra and Nehemiah to take all the Israelites, captive in Babylon, back to their land. Christ had to come to ‘His people’ and for that purpose God’s rule over all nations to this very day. He sets up kings and governors, replaces them as He wills, so that His purposes are fulfilled. God proved to the wicked and brutal Nebuchadnezzar, whom He humbled to eat grass and live with the beast of the fields during seven years, after which He restored him to all his faculties, giving him back his kingdom, God did it to teach men: “That the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone He wishes.” (Daniel 4:25) It is God that raised up Cyrus, Darius and others, telling them to send the Jews back to their land and pay all the expenses needed to rebuild it. For centuries He bore with patience His rebellious people Israel, because all that His prophets foretold concerning the Christ had to be fulfilled in the time set by God before the foundation of the earth! 

So, under the godly leadership and influence of Ezra and Nehemiah, the people of Israel, due to their sincere repentance, experienced a time of prosperity. They rebuild the temple, the city of Jerusalem and its walls, they set up again the priesthood to function according to all the commandments given by Moses, for this was absolutely necessary to give to Israel its true identity; that period ended by conflicts and wars which saw the rise of the Grecian Empire. It changed the life style of Israel which never rediscovered its independence. The Grecian Empire was followed by the Roman Empire whose armies subdued the land to the rule of the Caesars. It was under Pilate, a roman Governor, who, with the help of a corrupt clergy, killed God’s Son Jesus Christ by nailing Him to a CROSS and with the death of Christ Israel, died, for God rejected His people and never spoke to them as He did before, until came on the scene John the Baptist, whom God sent to call Israel to repentance and prepare the people for the coming of the Messiah. The Church of Jesus Christ, God’s new people, was born in Jerusalem and the foundation of its doctrine was laid by His apostles, all were converted Jews. Thousands of Jews turned to Christ during the first years of the ministry of Christ’s apostles. It is through them that, eventually, the Gospel was preached to the uttermost parts of the world. This Israel, composed of the Disciples of Christ and those that believed in their message, is the New Israel to which were added all the Gentile converts who believed in Christ through the preaching of the Gospel. 

In A.D seventy Titus came against a revolted people, burned the city of Jerusalem, the Temple which was rebuilt under the Herod, kings of the Jews, and then he took all the people and dispersed them over the whole of the Roman empire, fulfilling all the words of the prophets including Jesus Christ. Yet in spite of it, in God’s appointed time, a remnant of Israel will welcome their Messiah, Jesus Christ and believe in Him. Christ will establish His reign and from Jerusalem He will rule the whole world with His redeemed, His Church! This is only a short resume of a very sad story, yet everything that happened to Israel was willed of God, even the death of His Son Jesus Christ, whose death has for aim the redemption of the elect, men that God gave to Him before the foundation of the earth.

The great events of the life of Jesus related to everything that was prophesied about Him in The Old Testament. From His birth to His very death He fulfilled the exacting demands of the Old Covenant. Having fulfilled it to the letter He became the ‘Mediator’ of the ‘New Covenant’ and by Him men have access to the ‘New Covenant’s blessings’. I quote again:

“The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially clean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean. How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God…In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness…….For this reason Christ is the ‘Mediator’ of a ‘New Covenant’, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance ~ now that He has died as a ransom to free them from the sins committed under the ‘First Covenant”. (Hebrews 9:13-22.)

It was Christ’s mission to submit to and obey the Ten Commandments and the religious laws as established by Moses and applied by the priesthood; this included civil laws, as well as all the sacrifices, so much so that even His death happened on the Feast of the Passover, which the Jews celebrated yearly. ‘The Passover’ was a Holy Feast, the most important in the Jewish calendar; it was commandment by God to commemorate the night He delivered them from slavery to Egypt. It was on the night that the blood of lambs was applied to the door posts and the lintels of the doors of their abodes. This was done, to save the people of Israel from the yoke of servitude and lead them to conquer the land of Canaan, promised by God to their Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It took centuries for God to fulfil His promise, but He never fails!

It was on that night that God passed through the whole of Egypt and killed the first-born male in every house whose door posts and lintels were not sprinkled with the blood of the offering, God struck every Egyptian family and thus Israel was saved to receive their inheritance, The Promised Land. The promise will be fulfilled spiritually to the New People, the new Israel, which are the Redeemed of the Lord. One day, on God’s appointed Day, the People of God will leave the earth to go to their inheritance which is heaven, God’s Country! The true Canaan! Jesus said: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them.”(Matthew 5:17) Breaking, ‘The Ten Commandments’ will always be a sin. But the blood of Jesus Christ God Son, cleanses from all sin those that are His by faith and confess their sins to Him. (1 John 1:8-10) Confession of sins must be from the heart, a true repentance, the Blood of Jesus Christ alone, cleanses from sins those that are His.

The steps we have taken since the first chapter have been necessary to discover what sin is, how it affects all human beings, and prove from Holy Scripture that, unless men repent from their sin and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, their rebellious way of life, born out of inbred sin, will lead them to a final damnation. I had to establish that no man can return to God except He does so through the way God has provided, which is Christ, and that way is through obedience to His will as specified by The New Covenant of Grace, which was taught by Jesus-Christ and His apostles. It is the New Covenant that is still in force to this day. 

The foundation of the ‘New Covenant’ is in the CROSS of Jesus-Christ, because by His blood alone, which He shed on Calvary, men can find forgiveness and cleansing from their sins, and change their way of life to serve the true and living God, through faith in Jesus Christ, His only Son! His life, given in sacrifice was the price He had to pay for man’s redemption. God, having to send Jesus Christ to this evil world to die for the sins of men, being rejected and brutally killed by His own people, which He came to save! will never forgive sins and give eternal life to people, whether they be Jews or Gentiles, unless they submit, repent from their sins and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as established in the terms of the New Covenant, which says: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved ~ and your household.” (Acts 16:31) 

God always related with man by covenants, which He made successively at different times from Eden to Calvary; they main one being the Old Covenant (The Ten commandments) which is also called the ‘First Covenant.’  After God gave the Ten Commandments, only Jews were able to approach Him if they remained faithful to the will of God as revealed to them through Moses. God made these ‘Covenants’ because of His love for men and His desire to have them live near Him and love Him, and reap the blessings of obedience to God’s will, revealed and applied by the terms of the covenants.

By obedience men could live with Him and know His love and blessings. So, all these Covenants expressed the love of God for men, they gave them the possibility to break away from the power of sin, and walk the way which guarantied His favours. God never gave up His sovereignty over His creation, which He enforced from Eden until now by the ‘New Covenant’. The Cross makes forgiveness of sin possible, the Bible says: “Without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”(Hebrews 9: 22.) Not just any blood, but the pure and holy blood of God’s dear Son, Jesus-Christ, as I have stated previously, whom John the Baptist introduced to the world as the: ‘Lamb of God’, who takes away the sin of the world.’ (John 1:29)

As God’s Lamb Jesus was nailed to the Cross on which He died. There on the CROSS on Golgotha’s hill, Jesus shed His blood, and delivered from sin all those that would believe on Him. Under the Old Law, animals were sacrificed for the sin of the guilty person, they were types of the real one, it was in view of what Jesus would do for all men on the Cross, it is His blood alone that purifies the heart from all his sins, past, present and future, and opens the way to Eternal life. The terms of the New Covenant are: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) Faith is not just believing that Jesus is real, but one has to place his whole trust in Him and accepts Him as Lord of one’s life and the Saviour to love and serve forever. One can go the church all his life and not be saved. A lot of people go to church to appear righteous. Such people spread a wrong idea of what being a ‘Christian’ really means!

I have already stated that God entered into eight successive, ‘Covenants’. He alone establishes the terms of the covenants, it is not like a compact made between two people, man’s part is to accept it and live by it, or refuse to believe in Jesus Christ and bear the consequences of disobedience. Each covenant made a way for men to approach God; to live righteously before Him through obedience to the terms of the Covenant and thus experience the blessings of divine fellowship. These Covenants set out the conditions of life and find acceptance with God. All Scriptures centres around the purpose of God as outlined in these great Covenants. By making them, God showed to man that, at all times, He remained sovereign and that men had to submit to His will to live under His blessings. The world in which men live is God’s territory; He made it and it belongs to Him, as all men on earth. He has the right to do what He wants, when He wants and how He wants to, foolish is the man that disregards it! These Covenants are as follows.

1. THE EDENIC COVENANT. (Genesis 1:28-29.)

a.   The earth to be replenished with a new order of created beings – man.

b.   The earth to be subdued by man.

c.    Man, to have dominion over all life.

d.    Man’s food to be herbs and fruit.

e.    Man, to cultivate the Garden of Eden.

f.  Man has to yield obedience to God by refraining from eating of the tree of             knowledge of good and evil. By his obedience man accept that God is sovereign and respects His rule over him!

g.   Failure to obey meant that man would die (spiritually, he did so in Eden and then physically at death. The second death will happen on judgement day, when, for rebellion and unbelief God will cast men into the lake of fire. (Revelation 20)

       Adam sinned by eating of the fruit and died; the glory of God left him, Adam’s spirit died, he and Eve found that they were naked and run to hide from God! But who can hide from God? Ultimately, before Adam and Eve were put out of the ‘Garden of Eden’ two animals were killed, lambs no doubt, and with their skins God covered their nakedness. So, they left Eden with a promise of a deliverer that God would send to set men free from sin, death and the devil.

2. THE ADAMIC COVENANT. (Genesis 3:10-19.)

a.   Fallen man bears the burden of the curse. The serpent is cursed- a despised creature.

b.   The first promise of a deliverer is given. From here the race of man divides into two     lines. 1. The line of faith and. 2. The line of unbelief, the division is decided by the attitude of men to Him; deliverance would happen by faith in the promised deliverer!

c. Woman’s state is changed. Conception is to be multiplied – Childbirth is to be in    sorrow – man becomes the head of the family.

d. The earth is cursed for man’s sake.

e. Life for mankind is to be a valley of sorrows, a shadow of the life Adam lost!

f. Man will work hard for his living, by the sweat of his brow, burden and toil.

g. The reign of death begins, it is: firstly: physical for believers or unbelievers alike. The second death is spiritual, and will be applied on all those that have not believed and obeyed God. Under the terms of the ‘New Covenant’ mentioned previously to be saved from the second death, one must accept Jesus as Lord and Saviour and live for Him!

h. Mankind rebelled against God. Abel was killed by Cain his brother. Violence filled the earth. The flood decreed, but faithful Noah was spared with his family. All creatures that breathed, man and beast perished in the flood. 

This covenant was applied for many centuries! It teaches that God’s will does not change according to man’s moods but He alone brings new things into being if and when necessary. Sin increased to such a pitch that the destruction of mankind became unavoidable. The end of each covenant was dramatic and changed history.   

3. THE NOAHIC COVENANT. (Genesis 9:1-17)

a.  Man is conditioned upon the earth again and must replenish it. God started afresh   with just one family! 

b.  The Covenant promises a continuation of days and nights and of seasons.

c.  God sets up human government. Magistrate courts are established. Man, who kills man by man his life will be taken from him.

d.  The three sons of Noah: Shem, Ham and Japheth will father all the Nations of the world. Through Shem the Redeemer will come.

e.  Never again will God destroy the world by a flood. Spring, summer, autumn and    winter will last until the end of time. The rainbow is to be a sign to remind men that God will respect His promise not to flood the earth.

f.   Man disregarded the terms of the Covenant, rebelled against God to worship various planets. It was in those days that astrology became a rebellious way of worship. All idolatrous worship stems from those terrible days. God, destroyed Babel with fire from heaven and dispersed all men on the surface of the whole earth.

4.   THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT. (Genesis 15:18)

a. Abram is called of God to leave Ur of Chaldees and walk by faith before God. 

b. Abraham to become a great nation. Dust of the earth, his natural descendants will be as the sand by the sea shore – Israel, the spiritual seed of Abraham is to be as the stars in the heavens. 

c. The blessing promised to Abraham to be firstly temporal and secondly eternal. 

d. Abraham’s name to be great, and be a great blessing. Blest will be those he blesses, 

     God to bring retribution on anyone that curses Abraham.

e. Abraham to bring blessings on all the families of the earth, fulfilled by Christ. The   Covenant God established with Abraham is an Eternal Covenant. Confirmed  and sealed by the blood of Jesus-Christ.

5.   THE MOSAIC COVENANT. Made with Israel and contained three factors.

a.   The Ten Commandments. (Exodus 20:1-26.)

b.   The judgements. (Exodus 21 :1 – 24 :11.)

c.   The ordinances. (Exodus 24 :12 – 31 :18.)

b.   Was the revelation of God’s righteousness.

c.    Was to be the rule of Israel’s social life

d.   Was the rule also for the religious life of Israel? This covenant saw its end when Jesus Christ died on the CROSS. The following Covenant did not replace the present one.

6. THE PALISTANIAN COVENANT. Deuteronomy 30:3. It governed Israel in relation to the Promised Land.

a. Disobedience will bring dispersion. (9:12-14.)

b. Repentance is predicted, true repentance will bring restauration. (30:2)

c. God will turn again to Israel. (30:3.)

d. Israel to be restored to the land. (30:5.)

e. Israel to be restored spiritually. ((30:6 – Romans 11:25-32.)

f. Israel’s oppressors will be judged (30:7) at the coming of Christ.

g. Israel’s land will know great prosperity (30:9) during the reign of the Messiah.

7. THE DAVIDIC COVENANT. (2 Samuel 7:16.)

a. David to be an established house, family and prosperity. (7:16.)

b. David to have an established throne forever. (7:16.)

c. David to have an established kingdom forever. (7:16.)

d. David’s kingdom will become perpetual when Jesus Christ is King. (7:16.)

     Disobedience to God to be visited with retribution on the guilty, but the Covenant            will not end it will remain forever.

     The kingdom of David was divided under Rehoboam son of Solomon.

     The Kingdom of David’s house was scattered sent into captivity, but David’s throne and kingdom confirmed and made sure in Jesus-Christ the only rightful heir to David’s throne.

Read: 1. The genealogy of Jesus Christ as son of David, the rightful heir to David’s throne (Matthew 1:1-17) 2. The Genealogy of Jesus Christ the Son of man, heir of all the promises God, His Father, made with the sons of Adam. (Luke 3:23-37.) 

8. THE NEW COVENANT. (Hebrews 8: 7-12.)

a. It is superior in every way to the Mosaic Covenant, mediated by the Son of God better than prophets or angels.

b. It is superior because it is established on ‘better’ promises and introduces every believer to the rest of faith.

c. It is superior because its benefits which spring from an implanted righteousness not from observance of the Law, (The Ten commandments), but by faith in Jesus Christ.

d. It is superior because our relationship to God is based on a surer foundation – the redemptive acts of Jesus-Christ.    i. Eternal redemption (Hebrews 9:12)

                                                 ii. Heavenly intercession. (9:24.)

                                                 iii. A new way to God. (10:20.)

                                                 iv. An assurance of our heavenly home. (6:20)

e. It is superior because of the perfection of the believer is attained by the perfect and a ‘better’sacrifice. (10:12-14.) Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.

f. It is superior because of eternal kingdom and eternal priesthood of believers.

     (12:28 and 13:15)

g. It is superior because it secures the gathering, by a conversion to Christ, of all the      elects. The completion of the Church will happen when a remnant of the Jews that will have survived the short rule of the anti-Christ and will believe that Jesus-Christ is their Messiah. At the return of Christ to the earth, God will take the veil off from what remains of the Israelis and they will believe on Him.

The New Covenant is the Eighth and brings its earthly application on the resurrection day of all believers; they shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. Jews and Gentiles that have believed in Jesus-Christ as their Saviour will be with Him forever. To end the awful years of the Apocalypse, and the savage reign of the Anti-Christ, as prophesied in Revelation, the last book of the Bible; with His Church, Jesus will return with His church and will begin His reign on earth as King of kings and Lord of lords for one thousand years; (read Revelation 20:1-3) it will be the seventh millennium, the perfect Sabbath a dispensation of rest and peace for the whole world. It will end by the destruction of the earth, and the creation of a New Heaven and a New Earth. PETER the great apostle of the Lord, says the following. Any other interpretation is flawed, for it requires human import of words that do not tally with many other Bible prophesies. One is always safer when one believes the Bible as it is written; human interpretation of spiritual truths has always proved to suit the mind of the flesh!

“First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. They will say: ‘Where is this ‘coming’ He promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation. But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men.

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare (or burned up)

Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed His coming. That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat. But in keeping with His promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and anew earth, the home of righteousness. So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with Him. (2 Peter 3:3-13) The way to do that is to believe the Scriptures.

One cannot choose to just ignored such statements of truth which reveal that the ungodly rebellious world is condemned already, it is dead in trespasses and sins, what is dead belongs to the kingdom of darkness which is ruled by Satan. “If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life he was thrown into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:15.) Books were opened, written before the foundation of the world; everything was decided by God in eternity, when He also wrote into the book of life the names of all His elects. The Bible shows things as they are, and passages like those quoted above reveal the negative side of what Salvation means, for from such an end Jesus saved all those that have believed on Him. There is a positive side to salvation; it reveals what true Christians are saved unto! 

I repeat that the eternal blessings of the ‘New Covenant’ are the heritage promised to those that have been saved by grace, according to God’s eternal plan. Hebrews chapter eleven lists people that have come into the Church by faith without any merits, beginning in the Old Testament, from Abel to the very last believer, whom God alone knows. True Christians are the fruits of Christ’s death and resurrection, meaning that they have found the salvation of their soul by grace alone; many have been saved before the Ten Commandments were ever given, and none was saved by obedience to all the commandments. Every Christian was a sinner as much as every other sinner, some believers have been worse sinners than many unbelievers, but they have been saved by the ‘Grace of God’ through faith, a faith that was given of God, birthed into them by the Holy Spirit! Through whose words they have been brought into the new life. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith ~ and this not from yourselves, (or anything good that one might have done) it is the gift of God ~ not by works, so that no-one can boast.” (Ephesians 2:8.) -. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is ‘eternal life’ in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 6:23.)

It is believed that the 2cd. Epistle of Peter could have been written before his 1rst Epistle was. It is an epistle of truth in the face of falsehood. The Church has known a period of severe attacks from false teachers that came mainly from Jerusalem, rebellious Jews, whose teachings were disturbing the faith of many. These men started their evil work as early as 48 A.D. At which time Paul wrote his epistle to the Galatians. Peter wrote his 1rst epistle between 62 and 68 A.D. To this day, from within the Church of Jesus Christ, false teachers have always attacked the true faith of the believers. The enemy within is always the worst one! Yet the truth has always triumphed over the lies of the devil, for it is fostered by the Holy Spirit who will never fail to lead the elect to Christ, people that no-one and nothing is able to corrupt. The 2cd Epistle of Peter begins with a forthright statement of the truth of God as it is based upon both the prophetic and witnessed Word. It warns against false teachers who will try to substitute by human words the inspired Word of Truth.  This epistle concludes with the assurance that Christ’s coming, it is a future reality that will both destroy the world and bring a new heaven and a new earth. 

The word of God, ‘the Bible’, is inspired by The Holy Spirit, for this reason He does not say the truth once only but many times, men of God wrote about the end times in the Old as well as in the New Testament, they did it over many centuries, about forty writers during a period of fifteen centuries the end of all things as prophesied by God and men of God from Genesis to Revelation! Revelation was written by the apostle John, son of Zebedee, whilst he was a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos, this happened between 85 to 90 AD. John concludes it by confirming, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, what Peter wrote about thirty years before him; this is what he wrote.   

“Then (meaning after all his visions mentioned in the previous chapters) I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a beautiful bride dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. The will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:1-4.) After all the drama of men’s relationship with men and God; what an glorious end!

These are words that conclude the New Covenant as applied by the Holy Spirit to the Church on earth the next step is heaven. The blessings of the ‘New Covenant’ continue to be fulfilled with the Church at Home with God. The promises of the ‘New Covenant’ are most wonderful, radical and to the natural man unbelievable, even Christians are not fully aware of what God has prepared for those that are His. Paul the apostle writes: “However, as it is written: ‘No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him, ~ but God has revealed it to us by His Spirit.” (Corinthians 1:9) God has used the apostle Paul to reveal to the Church some wonderful things concerning the eternal blessings of ‘The Eternal Covenant’.

The Good News, the Gospel as found in the New Testament, the second part of the Bible, never ceases to amaze me, it fills me with anticipation, because what God has planned for unworthy sinners like me, is beyond words. Through His mighty workings the Holy Spirit, He makes from weak futile creatures, that had no time for Him, men that never sought after Him, rebels and idolaters, new creatures. By the power of the Holy Spirit, men God chose before the foundation of the world, by divine appointment, meaning in God’s appointed time, hear the Gospel preached and believe In Christ. Through the faith, created in their hearts by the power of God’s word, they are born again and become sons of the living God. As they proceed in their relationship with Him, they call Him: ‘Our Father’, (rightly so) because they are born of Him, the Apostle John says: “Jesus was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, (by Him) the world did not recognise Him. He came to that which was His own (the Jews) but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, to those that believed in His name, he gave the right to become children of God ~ children born not of natural descents (or blood), nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.” (by His will) (John 1:10-13) 

Take time to think about it, it deserves your full attention, because it is out of this world! It is no wonder that natural man is lost, he cannot even grasp the least part of the wonder of this glorious salvation, for which the Holy Trinity took upon itself to work together to save men and make from sinners, sons of God. These truths are spiritually discerned, yet in his folly man tries to contend with God, he is like an ant trying to climb Everest. The plan of God to save men is out this world. No man could imagine the tiniest element of all the promises of the ‘New Covenant’, which God imparts freely to believers in Christ. Friends it is only with the help of the Holy Spirit that even Christians can deal with it, and appropriate, because it is so divine!

It is only in the Bible that man can find his true origin, and discover how God, through His love and patience has always called men to return to Him. Starting in the Old Testament, God has called men to walk before Him, and by grace saved them through faith in Jesus Christ His Only Son. “By FaithAbel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings and by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead. By faith Enoch was taken from this life, so that he did not experience death; he could not be found, because God had taken him away, for before he was taken he was commended as one who pleased God. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those that earnestly seek Him.”  (Hebrews 11: 4-6) What God did to Enoch He will do to millions of Christians, his rapture was miraculous, it will always be miraculous- that is why only God can do it. 

This chapter from the epistle to the Hebrews includes men like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and others, who saw afar off the great fulfilment of the plan of God in Christ, it ends with these words: “These were all commended for their faith, yet none received what they have been promise. God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect.” (Hebrews 11:39-40) ‘For us’ includes all those that through the Gospel have believed or will believe in Jesus Christ, He is the heir of all promises, in fact Jesus is the New Covenant for He alone has fulfilled the Law, was raised from death, is now exalted at the right hand of God, He now shares His glory with all his brothers who with Him are co-heirs of His victory.

God bore patiently the insults of constant rebellions sinners, but He always remained righteous, and He never gave up His plan to destroy sin and sin’s destroying Power. He always rewarded true repentance from sin with a forgiveness and restored men to a perfect communion with Him. The aim of the Covenants shows that God sought continually to keep man in a relationship with Him, seeking his safety from the attempts of the devil to destroy him. It takes all that God is, as revealed in the Bible, by His Names and His attributes, to gather His elects in spite of all the obstacles that the devil imagined, and does to this very day exactly what He purposed before the foundation of the Earth.  

 I believe that through all the centuries, although people lived under different compacts, God found faithful men among them who pleased Him and died in the victory of faith. Not just men like Abel, Enoch, Noah, the very few that He mentions in the Bible, but many more. I believe it because grace was applied by the Holy-Spirit to Abraham when God called him to walk before Him, just as he did it to all those that He elected before the foundation of the world. Their faith looked forward to the cross whereas men today believe in the same Christ who died on it, for the sins of the whole world. 

Adam and Eve, after they submitted to temptation, never heard the voice of God again, the spiritual part of their being in them died, and the impact of the fall was terrible. Hence every man, born of him into the world, has nothing in him to help him commune with God. Adam lived nine hundred and thirty years but during all that time He never heard God calling to Him. He returned to the ground from which he came; but his soul lives on still waiting, with all his progeny, judgement day. Nothing is said in the Bible of Adam’s spiritual state, all we have, to hope that he and Eve are saved, through the covering of their nakedness, because of their disobedience blood was shed. After all, Abel one of his sons, sacrificed to God from his flock and found grace with Him, so he must have learned something from his dad. It is to them that God gave the promise of a deliverer. Abel chose to believe in God’s promise, whereas Cain did not (Genesis 3:15.)  Faith drove Abel to sacrifice a lamb from his flock and by his faith saved his soul, for he believed in the promised deliverer, who is none other than Jesus-Christ, who offered Himself to take away sin and deliver men from its power. 

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the Law (the Ten Commandments). But thanks be to God! He gives us (believers) the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Corinthians 15:56-57.) Death and sin are powers that rule men up to this day and none can escape from their dominion. The Bible says so: “Therefore, just as sin entered the world though one man. And through sin death came upon all men for all have sinned. Consequently, just as the result of one trespass (committed by Adam) was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness, (through Christ’s death on the Cross) was justification that brings life (eternal) for all men.” (Romans 5:12-20) So a way of hope is given through faith in Christ; what can you do? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved.” (Acts 16:31) 

To such a world, ‘without hope and without God’ Jesus came first to His own people, Israel, with a ‘New Covenant’ of peace. With the Message of the Gospel, comes the promise of an imputed righteousness. Through Him, all believers have the forgiveness of sins and Life Eternal which is given by grace. Faith does not just believe that Christ exists, but true faith is a sincere commitment to Him; one surrenders one’s life and everything one possesses to Him forever. But His people, Israel, to which He began to preach the Good News, despised Him, they hated Him, they rejected Him and his message. They sought on many occasions to take Him and kill Him; they never could until in the Garden of Gethsemane, where of His own free will Jesus surrendered Himself to them, they took Him, they accused Him falsely and went as far as to condemn Jesus Christ, their Messiah to suffer cruel pains and die a merciless death of a criminal!

By rejecting Jesus, Israel rejected their God, and murdered their Messiah, God’s beloved Son! So, we cannot get out from the fact which, throughout history, shouts at of humanity, that man, in his present state, is incapable to obey the will of God. With every Covenant God made with men, from the Garden of Eden, to the CROSS of Jesus-Christ, God established His Sovereignty over mankind, and revealed by it that man could only be justified if he obeyed His will. The Mosaic covenant, ‘the Ten Commandments’, put the will of man to the test and proved that by his extreme and best efforts, he could never obtain the righteousness God requires. Hence, He gives it freely in Christ to all those that by faith in Him have been born again of the Holy Spirit, those that have are now His brothers, sons of the Living God. The Bible says it as follows: 

 “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight. In love He predestined us to be adopted as His sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with His pleasure and will ~ to the praise of His glorious grace, which He has freely given in the One He loves. In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And He made know to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure, which He purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfilment ~ to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one Head, even Christ.” (Ephesians 1:3-10) 

I have mentioned these verses before, in a previous chapter, but I do not tire from repeating them, because we can never read them enough; however sinful a man can become through his rebellious and godless nature, he will try to justify himself! The importance of what these verses are saying is immense, through His word God condemns all men, even if they may never be able to read the Bible or be in a place where it is preached, for before He hewed the Law out in tablets of stone He wrote it in the heart of man. So much so, that you, and everyone else in the whole wide world, are without excuse, because God has somehow spoken to every man, He has spoken to you, not audibly may be, although on occasion He might do it, but inwardly to the heart, but what God says is not received, and men suppress the truth and rebel against His voice, and walk on the wrong road. The only alternative man has, outside the Word of God, is the total confusion of human thoughts, out of that confusions he has invented thousands if not millions of gods, the world spiritually and politically is at a loss, eventually he will face, but too late, His maker and then he will realise the truth, that Jesus Christ is Lord!

Because of this refusal, men are without excuse, condemned to eternal damnation, because when they knew God, they decided to ignore Him, and created themselves all sorts of non-gods, which they worshipped to appease their conscience. The Word of God states it: “For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.” (Romans 1:21-23) It is pitiful to see how the wisest of men can become a right fool; he cannot ever escape from God; He will find him wherever he may try to hide, all sinners must eventually stand before God to give an account for how they lived on earth. But God is always patient, He never acts impetuously, after much warning, when the cup is full, He has to intervene to stop sin’s contamination; if unstopped, sin ends up by destroying everything. By His judgements God retards the progress of satanic warfare, for the devil desires by all his craft to stop the fulfilment of God’s plan of redemption. Nevertheless, the end will come when Jesus will have gathered all the elect.

All pagan religions and politics have sprung indirectly from the rebellious Babylonian spirit, whose rebellion is rooted in the worship of demons. Nimrod took upon himself to govern men’s future by making himself their king. To this day whether men are kings, democratic or autocratic governors, or just plain egomaniacs, none promotes obedience to God. After changing many of His laws, that have influenced many countries for centuries, men have set their own laws, without any regard to the will of God or by seeking His guidance, so much so that human life has become cheap, whether it be in the mother’s womb, or the streets of our cities! If they appear to seek His blessings, it is only cosmetic, without any desire to have God lead their lives and live in the fear of Him.  All sorts of evil practices, mixing with demonic spirits, still pollute men’s minds and their bodies, and so God has already foretold to intervene in His time and destroy this ungodly world. God cannot bless America, nor any other land, but He can bless you!

The great flood, the destruction of Babel with its demon worship, Sodom and Gomorrah, Pompey, and other cataclysms happened in history, to confirm that God is ever sovereign, and that He intervenes when His plan for the world is threatened. God has proven, as I have said it before, that He waits patiently and gives men the time to change and repent, but finally, when all pleading has ceased, He destroys evil so as to slow down its expansion and continue to fulfil His plan to save His chosen ones, and when all is fulfilled he will cast the devil into the lake of fire and all those that have served him, then Christ will be King forever. The attitude of men to Bible prophesies proves that they have never taken God seriously, what we can get out of their disregard of His laws, is that what God said has always come to pass, that is why He said: “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my word shall never pass away.” (Matthew 24:35.) This generation as all others will be taken by surprise and pass away forever!

When sin will completely corrupt mankind God will do with the world what He has said, so the worst is yet to come: Armageddon!! God’s verdict is as follows: “Therefore God gave them over in their sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than God ~ who is forever praised~ Amen. 

         Because of this God gave them over to sinful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations to unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with woman and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.

         Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind; to do what ought not to be done. They became filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife deceit and malice. They are gossips (some of it is called: freedom of the press!) Slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do those very things, but approve those who practice them.”(Romans 1: 24:32.)  

Written nearly two thousand years ago these words depict perfectly the world we live in. In the light of prophecy, we can say that the intervention of God is very near and the coming of Christ for His Church is very close indeed. The violence and depravation of Noah’s days, the evil of Babylonian astrology, and the total immoral corruption of Sodom and Gomorrah, will combine in the end times to bring the world to its predicted destruction.

I have stated humbly but faithfully, as a Pentecostal Evangelical, the true teaching of the Bible, as to God’s conclusive interventions and judgements of godlessness which always inspires moral and spiritual impurities, in which sinful men delight and never cease to resist the will of God! I deplore men’s stupidity, which will bring God’s wrath upon them, but if I can convince one man of the veracity of what God has spoken, all my work will have been worth it. This is why I simply write these things, which I believe to the very core of my being, in the light of Bible history, that they are bound to happen, it could be very soon. It is for this purpose that I have printed so much of the Bible in all the chapters, so that people, who have never possessed one, or cannot have one, can learn what God says, and how under the curse of unbelief men are driven by Satan to the final consummation. If you possess a Bible you can check the passages mentioned with the references given, and make sure that they exist. It is important for you to know, by the statements God makes in His word, how men can approach God even as this late time of history, for the door of grace is still open, and sinful men can be restored to fellowship with God through faith in Christ! God says: “Today, if you hear His voice, harden not your heart.” Pray a simple prayer of repentance and believe that Jesus died for your sins, accept him as Lord and Saviour, and if you can, get a Bible and read the New Testament!

You cannot follow the teaching of the priests in all the state churches, whether it be the Church of Rome, the Church of England, Scotland or any other land, because most of them have abandoned the way of the Lord, and like the priests in Jesus’ day, they only teach religious traditions, which may sound good, but are dead and contrary to the Word of Truth. The ideas of these false prophets will never help men out of theirs sins even if they confess them to men every day until the last. So, the future of all peoples, Jews or Gentiles, is hopeless as stated in the previous paragraph. We must always keep in mind that God has not sent Jesus to die on the Cross to make men better; He died to create a new people.

Dead men cannot get better; in the eyes of God men are condemned, dead already. It is statements of truth that show how wonderful it is for men to know what salvation really means and from what dreadful future, Jesus alone can save them from it, and to enjoy by experience, all the blessings promised by the Gospel of the ‘New Covenant’; these, are freely given, without any personal merit. It is through the Gospel that the Holy Spirit leads sinners to accept Jesus as Saviour and Lord. Jesus said: “I am come to seek and to save those that are lost”. You cannot afford to ignore the life line God is throwing to you, to save your soul before you drawn! believe in Christ NOW and commit your life to Him. 

The New Covenant is also called the Eternal Covenant.

Some men believe that the ‘New Covenant’ was given by God as an afterthought. They say: ‘That God seeing, how miserably the people of Israel failed in obeying the Law, (the Ten Commandments) He had to think of something else, a kind of plan b, such a statement is heresy, what absolute Rubbish! The coming of Christ into the world, to save the people that God gave Him, was decided before the world was ever created, I am mentioning the world as we know it. There is a most wonderful chapter in the Gospel of John, chapter seventeen which by itself reveals great truths as to what was decided in that special Council, when the Holy Trinity decided on the details of God’s wonderful plan of salvation and the destruction of all evil and the evil one, Satan. In this plan, God set times for every major event of history. God the Father conceived the plan, God the Son came into the world to reveal it; hence we have the Gospel, and God the Holy Spirit applies it. When Christ’s passion was over and God raised Him from the dead, His part of the plan of God, which applied to Christ’s time on earth was fulfilled. Since His ascension God’s plan continues to be fulfilled on behalf of His saints, which Jesus represents at the right hand of God! 

While Jesus was with His disciples in the upper room on His last Passover feast, He said to them that he would go back to His Father who sent Him and said: “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now. Where I am going, you cannot come. Simon Peter asked Him ‘Lord, where are you going’? Jesus replied: ‘Where I am going, you cannot follow me now, but you will follow me later.” (John 13:31-38.) They knew that He came from God and why, for he often told them the purpose of His mission, but they did not know at that time that He was to return to heaven, where He came from, nor did they know when. Where Jesus was going is made plain to them in the following chapter, where He says: ‘Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms (or many mansions KJV); if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you.” (John 14:1-4.) Then He revealed to them that He would return to earth to take them to heaven.

In Christ’s prayer, which He offered to God audibly, as recorded in John 17, reveals plainly that the time had come for Him to return home, and this is what he says: “Father the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. For you granted Him authority over all people that He might give eternal life to all those you have given Him. Now this is eternal life; that they might know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. And now Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began.” (John 17:1-5) 

Men look at the CROSS as being a big mistake, the worst of all crimes. But although the high priest, Caiaphas and the priesthood generally, with the rulers of the Jews and the teachers of the Law, are guilty before God for killing his Son, Jesus, yet the CROSS and all that Jesus fulfilled on it, was willed of God. All that Jesus did on earth He did to glorify God, His Father, before the eyes of the people of Israel and its leaders, now He was going to glorify Him and Himself as He never did before. On the CROSS Jesus defeated Satan, the power of sin and by His resurrection brought life out of death and destroyed it forever.  There Jesus changed humanity completely and fulfilled every promise His Father made in the Old Testament and the words of all the prophets of the Lord came true. The following verses are part of the message that Peter preached on the day of Pentecost to the thousands that came to see what happened to them, they had just been filled with the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sent on them just as He promised: 

So, everything that happened to Jesus was part of God’s plan, decided before the foundation of the world. God knew everything that would happen, and that the Jews would kill Jesus His Son. Hence Peter on the day of Pentecost said: “Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through Him, as you yourselves know. This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put Him to death by nailing Him to a Cross. But God raised Him from the dead, freeing Him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on Him. David said about Him, (David was the greatest King of Israel):

“I saw the lord always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore, my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One to see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.” (Quoted from Psalm 16:8-11)

         Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of Christ, that he was not abandoned in the grave, nor did His body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses to the fact. Exalted at the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, sit here at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet’. (Quoted from Psalm 110:1) Therefore let all Israel be assured of this; God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:22-36.) 

All these statements prove clearly that everything that happened to Jesus Christ from the stable in Bethlehem and His ascension to heaven from the mount of Olives, was planned by God and that Jesus could say, in conclusion to His life on earth: ‘It is finished’ All that had been decided in heaven and expected of Christ was done, the rest belonged to the Father and in answer to His prayer, (John 17) God glorified His son, firstly by raising Him from the dead, secondly by exalting Him at His right hand where He was before his coming to earth!

Therefore, from the first sacrifice that God made in the Garden of Eden, to cover the nudity of Adam and Eve, He promised reconciliation through a ‘deliverer’, that man was to be born of the seed of a woman; He is none other than Christ our Redeemer, the Lamb of God who offered Himself for the sin of the world. That first promise, which was given to Adam and through him to all his descendants, was fulfilled in the New Testament, when Jesus Christ died on the CROSS, where He became the deliverer of all those that would believe on Him. Until now, God follows faithfully the fulfilment of the Covenanted promises, occasioned by the fall of Adam and Eve, right through to the very sacrifice of His own Son Jesus-Christ. This deliverance from the power of death, from the power of sin and from the power of the devil, is given to all God’s elects; it was faithfully prophesied and accomplished to the letter by Jesus-Christ giving His life on the Cross!

So, the New Covenant was not an afterthought, but part of God’s plan as revealed by the mouth of the prophets. Since Jesus-Christ fulfilled the Ten Commandments and the whole Law to the letter, the Mosaic Covenant has no function left. We can say that The Ten Commandments were firstly given to prove to men that by their own efforts they cannot keep them, this is outcome of the ruling power of sin so much so, that when with all his heart he would want to do what is right, there is another law that is stronger. Therefore, what man could not achieve, Christ fulfilled all the righteous demands of the law and by His death destroyed him that had the power of death, that is the devil. (Hebrews 2: 14) So, the New Covenant replaced the Old and Christ applies His righteousness to every believer, and He alone will lead them into eternity, according to the will of God. 

The Ten Commandments, because of the weakness of the flesh, could never justify and free the guilty sinner from his sins. Under the Law, one sin was enough to warrant a sacrifice, blood had to be shed; this sacrifice was the only means by which a guilty sinner was pardoned and re-established into fellowship with God and His people. This is why the Bible asks the Hebrew nation this question to conclude the whole argument: “What shall we conclude then? Are we Jews (known as the people of God) better than the Gentiles? Not at all! (Is the answer) We have already made the charge that Jews and Gentiles alike are all under sin. As it is written, ‘There is no-one righteous, not even one; there is no-one that understands, no-one who seeks God. All have turned away; (by their own free will) they have together become worthless; there is no-one that does good, not even one (quoted from Psalm 14: 1-3.) Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit. The poison of vipers is on their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know. There is no fear of God before their eyes.’ Now we know that whatever the Law says, it says to those that are under the Law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world (meaning Jews and Gentiles) held accountable to God. Therefore no-one will be declared righteous in His sight by observing the Law; rather, through the Law we become conscious of sin.” (Romans 3:9-20.)

This conclusion brings the spiritual state of Jews and Gentiles to an end; the Holy Law, 

(The Ten Commandments), as given by God through Moses, condemns the whole world, and since the death of Jesus-Christ: All men Jews and Gentiles are dead in spirit, cast off by God to eternal doom and cut off from Him forever. To be rejected by God Severed from God, that is true death. So, God now speaks to the whole world through Jesus-Christ only, He is the Living Word. “In the past God spoke to our forefather through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and by whom He made the universe.” (Hebrews 1:1-2)

When Christ died Israel also died, and their spiritual state is not any different from that of all Gentiles, for all are cut off from God, never able to repent and return to Him under the terms of the Old Covenant. There are neither priests nor sacrifices left and the Temple is no longer, it too was put out of the way. As long as the Old Covenant was in force, the Israelis could repent and return to God and be forgiven for their sins by offering a sacrifice. As for the Gentiles, they could embrace the Jewish faith and become proselytes, it was the only way, but since the death of Christ, the Old Covenant ceased to exist and the nation of Israel fell to the same spiritual level as the Gentiles. 

The Bible states “there is no righteous no not one”! It states also the following: “Because we thus judge, that if one died for all, (meaning the death of Christ) then were all dead.” (2 Corinthians 5:14. KJV) God is the source of life, being cut off from Him is being spiritually dead.  The people of Israel, together with their priest and rulers shouted: ‘We will not have this man to rule over us’…. His blood be upon us and upon our children. ‘So, the greatest and final statement is: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is Eternal Life, though Jesus-Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23.) Thus, a New Covenant was established by which all men, Jews and Gentiles alike, can now find a new life, LIFE that is Eternal, freely given by God to all that believe in Jesus Christ and surrender their life to HIM. 

Jeremiah opened the window of prophecy to this fact when he said: “The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the Covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke it. This is the Covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my law into their minds and will write it in their hearts, I will be their God and they shall be my people. No longer will man teach his neighbours or a man his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:31-34.) 

This New Covenant is for the New Nation, converts to Jesus-Christ, the first of which were Jews. It is an important factor that we must never forget. When the Holy Spirit came upon Christ’s disciples, The Church was born, and the Gospel went from that upper room to the end of the earth. The New Testament was written by converted Jews and it still is the only true reference to the faith as preached by Jesus-Christ, the head of His body the CHURCH!  It was in an upper room that Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant, where: ‘Jesus took bread gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to His disciples, saying, ‘Take and eat; this is my body.’ Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying: ‘Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood, of the New Covenant, which is poured out for many, for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matthew 26:26)

Covenants are established by God. They are not discussed with men to see if they agree with Him, not at all. Through the New Covenant God makes Himself available to men and brings them to Himself through the living way, which is none other than Jesus-Christ. Like in the Garden of Eden he wants to talk to man and for man to talk to him, fellowship with God is again possible, the wall that sin erected between God and man is broken down, through Christ’s blood sin is expiated, and the believer is reconciled to God forever! History proves that as long as man remained faithful to Him, they enjoyed his love and protection. If what Jeremiah wrote, as quoted above, was the only mention to this New Covenant, it would be enough to realise what the will of God is for the men of today. We can see clearly that no man could ever write such a thing from his own imagination; these prophets spoke by inspiration of the Holy-Spirit. Often, they did not know what it meant, nor did they know when God would bring it to pass! There are other references in the Old Testament that point to the plan of God based on the promises of a Covenant sealed forever by the blood of Jesus-Christ and not by obedience to the dead letter of the Law, but by faith in a living Saviour! Ezekiel was also inspired to mention the New Covenant: 

“I will make of Covenant of peace with them; it will be an everlasting Covenant. I will establish them and increase them in numbers, and I will put my sanctuary among them for ever. My dwelling-place will be with them; this prophecy applies to the New Created Earth (the New Jerusalem) I will be their God, and they will be my people. Then the nations will know that I the Lord make Israel (the new people of God) (The Spiritual Israel, has always been a special people, redeemed by the blood of Christ) holy, when my sanctuary is among them forever.” (Ezekiel 37:26-28.) So, Israel is a New People, sanctified by the blood of Christ, the blood of the New Covenant. There have always been two people promised to Abraham, one earthly “as the sand by the sea shore”, the second heavenly: ‘as the stars of heaven”. When the earthy people will die away in the end times, there will only remain the heavenly people, a new creation, born of the will of God. So, this is still a future promise when God will have created a new heaven and a new earth, as promised. Isaiah goes even further and this time the prophecy is addressed to the Gentile nation, or to be more precise, the Church of the redeemed, the spiritual Israel. God says: 

“For your maker is your husband ~ The Lord Almighty is His Name ~ The Holy one (Jesus – the holy seed) of Israel is your redeemer; He is called God of all the earth. The Lord will call you back as if you were a wife deserted and distressed in spirit. A wife who married young, only to be rejected, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with deep compassion I will bring you back…. I will have compassion on you, says the Lord your redeemer. To me this is like the days of Noah, when I swore that the waters of Noah would never again cover the earth. So now I have sworn not to be angry with you, never to rebuke you again. Though the mountains be shaken, and the hills removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” (Isaiah 54:5-10.) There is no mention of a temporary people, everything points to things that are forever, eternal including a spiritual Israel!

 Isaiah prophesied clearly to another people, from a different stock, to a people that He rejected for a while, at the Tower of Babel, for before Israel ever existed, and before Abraham was called to walk with God, God had a people made up of those that believed, like did Abel who figures as the first Christian, having his name among the victors in the glorious chapter of Hebrews 11, in which God mentions all believers, men of Faith, from Able who was faithful to the promise of the New Covenant. That chapter ends with words that unify into one body the whole of God’s family: “And these all, (that is all those mentioned in Hebrews 11) having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise; God having provided some better things for us, that they without us should not be made perfect (or complete.) (Hebrews 11:39-40. KJV.) All the epistles were written to Christians, converted Jews and Gentiles, ‘the better things for us, as mentioned apply to all believers in Christ.

The Bible teaches that there never was a man that could be justified by his obedience to the Ten Commandments, God only and always, even under the Old dispensation, saved men by grace through faith in Jesus the promised deliverer. This is why David says: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord does not count against him and in whose spirit is no deceit. (Psalm 32:1-2.)  And God proves that this statement fits the believers and says though the writing of the Apostle Paul, centuries later: “Now when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift, but as an obligation. However, to the man who does not work but trusts God who justifies the wicked, the faith is credited as righteousness. David says the same thing when he speaks of the blessedness of the man to whom God credits righteousness apart from works: ‘Blessed are they whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.” (Romans 4:4-8.) Now just as God had to make the Covenant of Law, to reveal the dreadful power of sin and to show that no-one could ever justify himself by obedience to the Ten Commandments, He had to make a New Covenant, based on grace. Under the terms of which, the Holt Spirit leads men to Christ and saves all that believe on Him. This is why the prophecy of Isaiah as quoted in the previous paragraph, emphasizes that this is what God will do. 

Therefore, the works of the Law are out of the hands and responsibility of man, God now speaks by the Gospel and justifies freely those He calls on Christ to save them. The salvation of a soul is totally, right from the beginning, the work of God. He took the initiative and sacrificed Christ to save the lost, and this is why men can be certain of eternal life, here and now, because God cannot fail! Isaiah, under the Holy-Spirit says: “The Lord will call you back.” Who is this Lord? He is: “The Lord Almighty is His Name, your Maker. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer.” In Noah’s day God gave promises of blessings to all his descendants, the rainbow in the sky was given as a sign that He will never send again a flood upon the whole earth; it is a witness to his faithfulness. Thus, to this very day God proves to the world, by setting the Rainbow in the sky, that He remembers His Covenant to which He still remains faithful under the terms of the New Covenant. As I have stated previously.

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God is ordaining every step the believer will take to lead him out of darkness into light, to show that salvation is totally His work is made plain in the following verses; they will be enough to show, together with all references quoted before, that the way of faith was predicted fully in the Old Testament: “For I will take you from among the Heathen, and gather you out of every country, and I will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean; from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within  you, and I will take the stony heart out of your flesh, and will give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:24-27.) This prophecy is clearly fulfilled in those who believe in Christ as their Saviour and are born again to a new life, which is a work of the Holy Spirit; a people made one, called out from all nations under the sun!

Therefore, this is a prophecy given to a New People, born out of the old into a new life. God has been proving it from Abel, the first believer, and He will do it right up to the last. This new nation God will raise is mentioned in Acts of the Apostles: “The whole assembly, of apostles that met at Jerusalem, became silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul telling about the miraculous signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them. When they finished, James spoke up: Brothers, listen to me, Simon has described to us how God at first showed His concern by taking from the Gentiles a people to Himself. (This is a reference to what happened in the house of Cornelius: Acts 10.) The words of the prophets are in agreement with this, as it is written: After this I will return and rebuild David’s fallen tent. Its ruins I will rebuild and I will restore it, that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all Gentiles who hear my name, says the Lord, who does these things that have been known for ages.” (Chapter 15: 12-18. James was quoting Amos 9:10-12.) 

Hence this people, called out by God from the gentile nations, through the preaching of the Gospel, are not different from the original Church established by the apostles in Jerusalem, there were added to it by faith in the Lord Jesus-Christ, which started by the apostles of the Lord, men that like Him, were Jews and this work of God is still going on. These men were the pioneers that founded the Church of Jesus-Christ, first in Jerusalem and from there beyond it, according to the will of God. All these converts from among the Jews and the Gentiles, pagans, are the people that the apostle Peter is writing to, saying: “But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into the wonderful light. Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now have obtained mercy.” (1 Peter 2:9-10.) A New People, prepared for a New Creation, for which God made a New Covenant, a new heaven and a new earth! 

Therefore, throughout the history of men, God’s dealings with them were always on the basis of a Covenant. They were the declared ways God offered to sinners to remain faithful to Him and do His will. They were not given to select company, but they applied to every man alive under each one of them. When they finally broke the covenant, and as I have stated, men broke every one of them, God judged all of them and rejected them from His presence. This is why, it pertained to Jesus-Christ to introduce a New Covenant and He did so when, during the Passover supper He partook, with His disciples, on the evening prior to His death. It is written. “On the first day of the Feats of Unleavened Bread, the disciples came to Jesus and asked: ‘Where do you want us to make preparations for you to eat the Passover?’ He replied: ‘Go into the city to a certain man and tell Him, the Teacher says: (The KJV says the ‘Master’- which is a far better word. Teacher! He is a good teacher but He is especially a Master as well.

 “My appointed time is near. I am going to celebrate the Passover with my disciples at your house.’ So, the disciples did as Jesus had directed them and prepared the Passover. When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘Take eat; this is my body’. Then He took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them saying. ‘Drink from it all of you, this is my blood of the New Covenant (it is new in as much as it applies to a New a different people, born of the Spirit of God) which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now until that day when I drink it anew with you in my Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:17-29.) Some of these verses have been quoted already but they are made surer by their context.

The feast of the Passover was commemorated yearly by the people of Israel. It was a reminder of the night the angel of death passed through Egypt killing all firstborn of men and animals, save in the homes of the Israelis, for God said: “On that night (the night of the Passover) I will pass though Egypt and strike down every first born ~ both of men and animals~ and I will bring judgement on all the gods of Egypt. The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.” (Exodus 12:12-13.) According to God’s commandment some the blood of the lambs they killed to eat within their abodes, during the night of God’s judgement on Egypt, ‘the Passover’ was sprinkled on the door posts and the lintel and proved their faith in the words of God, so the angel of death seeing the blood passed bye, and spared from death their firstborns.  So, God chose the night of the Passover feast to make the New Covenant which Jesus-Christ inaugurated as they partook of the emblems, the bread symbolised the body of Christ the wine symbolised His blood that He was going to shed, during that awful day in which Jesus’ earthly life was ended in terrible sufferings. 

The Old Testament is a record of all the words that God uttered Himself or though anointed men and prophets, and of all His mighty deeds and miracles. The Old Testament starts with this statement: “In the beginning God!” (Genesis 1:1) and it ends with these words from the prophet Malachi to the Jews that returned from captivity: “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the decrees and laws I gave him at Horeb for all Israel. (Malachi 4:4.) Centuries of suffering due to pride and disobedience changed nothing, the Law still stood in the days of Malachi, still as ever God remains Sovereign, Jesus Christ finally came just as Moses foresaw it, fulfilling the Law He took it out of the way, and closed the Old Covenant. With the statement from Malachi ends the words of the ministry of the prophets of the Old Testament, just over four centuries before the coming of Jesus-Christ, around the year 432 BC. The Covenant God made with them ended with their rejection of Christ. Although the people could not walk according to the Ten Commandments and broke them all, it does not take away from the fact, that the Law as Given by God is Holy, it had to be to reveal the true character of sin and prove that sin is still the most potent enemy of man.

The New Testament, on the other hand, is a record of all that Jesus Christ came to say and to do, to restore fallen men to a real and living relationship with God. One of the most important things that Jesus-Christ came into the world for, is to die on the CROSS and shed His blood for the remission of sins, thus destroying the power of Satan. We shall cover all the details of this amazing Saviour in our next study. Concerning Jesus, the Bible states: “In the past, (during the era of the Old Testament) God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through whom he made the Universe. The Son (Jesus) is the radiance of God’s glory, and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven. So, He became much superior to the angels as the Name He has inherited is superior to theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4.)  The One who came down is also the One that went up, and from heaven Jesus reigns and continues to gather the elects to whom He applies the blessings of the New Covenant, by the power of the Holy-Spirit all these blessings are given to those that believe in Jesus-Christ as their Saviour.

The Gospel has revolutionized the whole area of faith, and through it, blessings are promised that the Old Covenant never could give. The righteousness which men had to work at through their obedience to the Law, and failed, is now given freely by grace to everyone that will believe in Jesus Christ. His own righteousness is now the natural heritage to all who accept and confess that He died for their sins. Having entered heaven, Jesus sat the right hand of God; from there He is ministering to the saints, which He purchased by His blood, all the rich treasure of His victory over sin, death and the devil! Jesus has all power in his control, prior to His ascension he said to his disciples: “All Power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy-Ghost: Teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” (Matthew 28: 18-20.KJV) 

The Church of Jesus-Christ is in existence by the Will of God the Father, she is under the direct leadership and protection of God the Son, Jesus-Christ, and God the Holy-Spirit, energizes her by His power, thus the New Covenant is applied to all believers, and as a Body, the Church lives in the realm of the Holy-Spirit. She is a spiritual entity and as such, under God she is invincible, endued with His eternal life! “In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God (the Father) for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation, (Jesus-Christ) perfect through suffering. Both the One who makes men holy (Jesus) and those who are made holy, (his disciples) are of the same family, (of which God is the Father). So, Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers. He says: ‘I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing praises’ (quote from Psalm 22:22) ‘I will put my trust in Him.’ (Quote from Isaiah 8:17.) And again, he says: ‘Here am I, and the children God has given me.’ (Quote from Isaiah 8:18.) (Hebrews 2: 10-13)

This true and spiritual Church, this assembly of true believers, whom Jesus calls: His brothers, this unique family of which God is the Father, is born of God, she is saved by Jesus-Christ His Son, she lives moves and exists by the power of the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Holy Trinity, and as such this Holy entity does already share Eternity with the Godhead. No power of Satan or of man can ignore her or destroy her. This is therefore a much better Covenant. All that is given to all those living members of God’s family is not a reward for good works they may have done, they are a gift granted totally by God’s grace, without merit on their part. Therefore, the Bible says: “For by grace are you saved, though faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God; not of works (such as a pious morality or any number of charitable deeds), lest anyone should boast”. (Ephesians 2:8.) 

Having dealt in part as to what the New Covenant means to the unbelieving Jew or Gentile, I want to say what it means to the believer, what is its true rapport to the person that hears the call of God and responds positively to Him. We cannot ignore the fact that God calls people to Christ, He draws men and women to the Saviour, Jesus said: “No-one can come to me unless my Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him at the last day. It is written in the prophets; they will all be taught by God. Everyone who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to me. I tell you the truth; he who believes (in me) has everlasting life.” (John 6:43-47.) Therefore, men are saved by God’s initiative, He works according to a plan that He drew up before the foundation of the world. He follows His very precise calendar; every great event happens in His set time. The death and resurrection of Jesus-Christ happened just in His time. It was at a time of a total human failure, that Jesus came to bear the sins of the world and bring salvation to a world ripe for destruction. Jesus said Himself: “I am come to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Luke 19:10.) The Bible mentions that: “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.” (1 Corinthians 15:3.); Jesus bore upon Himself the iniquities of us all, and from a physical death, which was occasioned by His crucifixion, He rose triumphant having destroyed the power of death forever. 

Even the perfect Son of God had to taste death for every man, for Him God forsook at the sight of our sins that were laid on Him, and at that moment Jesus knew what death really meant, He realised then what every sinner feels, cut off from God, to be rejected from Him is to be truly dead. But from that state of death He was the first to rise to a new life. He is now as it is stated: ‘The firstborn amongst many brethren, He is the head of the body, the Church; He is the beginning the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything He might have supremacy!”  (Colossians 1:18.) So, the believer has an eternally living Saviour, whose blood pleads constantly the pardon for his sins, past present and future, and he lives assured that one day, from the dead, he too shall rise and in a glorified body live with Jesus-Christ forever!

Concerning Jesus-Christ and His redemptive work on the Cross, we read the following: 

“The point of what I am saying is this: We do have such a High Priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the Sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.

         Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also (Jesus-Christ) to have something to offer. If He were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. They serve at the sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when He was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.But the Ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the Covenant of which He is mediatoris superior to the old one and is founded on better promises. 

         For if there had been nothing wrong with the first Covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people. By calling this Covenant New, He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and ageing will soon disappear” (Hebrews 8:1-13.) Let us consider the implications of these words

1. “The point of what I am saying” says the writer of the Book to the Hebrews. Everything that is printed in the Bible has a very important point; this truth has been affecting people throughout twenty centuries. Had God not said what is written there would not have been any hope left, the world would have ended long ago, simply because the Holy Law of God had been broken, men were done for and would have remained hopeless. Israelis, Jews and Gentiles, are proven guilty, having wilfully broken every commandment. But God does not leave things undone, the state that the world was in when He sent Jesus-Christ to it, His only Son, could not have been left in the state it was. Therefore, the words we have here before us are creative words, and Jesus spoke words of life and put into motion a new start. Yes, Hope for a hopeless, in every detail, was decided in heaven before He came to earth, and so, to a world spiritually bankrupt, Jesus came to fulfil the plan of God and create, from this putrid mass, a New People bearing His name

2. Thus believers in Christ enjoy the covering of the righteousness of Christ, so, they can say: “We have such a High Priest, who sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven, and who serves in the Sanctuary, the true Tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by man.” Among things that Jesus-Christ had to do, while He was on earth, that is from Nazareth that He left at the age of thirty, right up to the cross, was to establish a New Priesthood for which He would be the High Priest, in that function He represents every believer, who are His priests, before God in Heaven. The things he suffered, the shame He bore, to save those that would believe, one would have thought was enough. Yet according to these words quoted from the Book of Hebrews, saved and born-again people, still need the services of Christ in Heaven, where He fulfils the sacred duty of a High Priest, representing His brothers, owning them and standing in for them

3. It is said; “And who serves in the Sanctuary, the true Tabernacle.” The importance of the service of a High Priest was made plain in the life of the Israelites as they journeyed though the desert for forty years, pitching wherever God told them to, the tabernacle which they made under God’s commandment, God filled it with His glory, this ministry was continued in the Land until the death of Jesus-Christ. No one else could offer the sacrifices for the sin of the people but the High Priest, who entered the Most Holy part of the earthly Tabernacle, or Temple, with the blood of the offering once a year. The priesthood belonged to the tribe of Levi, their duties were to look after the Tabernacle and transport it from place to place, and erect it once they reached their new position. Aaron and His sons served as priests, but only Aaron, received a special anointing to represent, as their high priest, the people in the Holy place. 

Moses was told by God to build for Him a tabernacle. It is on Mount Sinai that Moses met with Him and received minutely the plan of this unique edifice; everything had to be done as God told him to. So, when the people built this tabernacle, then God came and dwelt amongst them. This tabernacle and all the services attached to it represented all that Jesus was and the true character of His ministry for his saints on earth and in heaven. The earthly tabernacle built according to the will of God shows the importance of Christ’s ministry and all He had to accomplish to make salvation a reality. Much more could be said about it, but the main thing is the fact that we cannot be kept in the blessing we have received, without the service of our High Priest. Men have so polluted the truth, in doing so, they deprived the people of the truth, which is the key that opens the door to every blessing, available to all believers by Christ and no one else. One can confess to an earthly priest every day of one’s life and never be forgiven, it is a travesty to make men believe that they do; it is a crime that God will never forgive, because men are perpetrating a lie, such men are doomed every time they mislead a person, by teaching them things that contradicts the Gospel. Promising men forgiveness for their sins, that can only be granted by God, through Jesus Christ as He fulfils His service in Heaven; a statement like this proves that a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is paramount. He does not have to offer himself again and again, for once was enough; the blood of the Cross is still potent and still necessary, in this century, for the washing away of sins committed by all true Christians still on earth!

4. I mention again, these important truths “Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. If He were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already men who offer the gifts prescribed by the Law. They serve at the sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when He was about to build the tabernacle: ‘See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain. But the Ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the Covenant of which He is mediator is superior to the old one and is founded on better promises.

         For if there had been nothing wrong with that First Covenant, (meaning the Old Covenant- the Ten Commandments) no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:

‘The time is coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their fathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them declares the Lord. This is the Covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds, and writes them on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbour or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord’, because they will all know me, from the least to the greatest, for I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. ‘By calling this Covenant “New” He has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and ageing will soon disappear.” (Hebrews 8:3-13)

We have here statements that speak of old things ending, such as the Old Covenant, with the end of the earthly priesthood of which Aaron was the first high priest and the end of their duties prescribed by the Old Covenant. The High Priest appointed for the nation of Israel, had an earthly ministry which ended at the Cross. He had to offer gifts prescribed by the Law, every day for every sin committed. Not any priest could offer these sacrifices, and not any sacrifice could be offered; only those prescribed by the Law were acceptable. Jesus could not have been a priest on earth, because He belonged to the wrong tribe. No service for God can be accepted, however sincere the servant may be, only the service of a servant appointed by God has any value in the eyes of the Almighty. So even Jesus, the Son of God came by appointement and had to fulfil His ministry according to the will of God.

New rules are the framework of the New Covenant and there are ministered from Heaven by a New High Priest, Jesus Christ, who represents His people, as stated previously. He offered himself once and for all. A true Christian is the man who has heard the call of God, touched by the Holy-Spirit he has experienced a conviction of sins, which led him to a true repentance and was followed with the new birth; all these blessings are distinct acts of the Holy Spirit, such a man has become a son of God, the life in him from then on is God’s life, eternal! The Blood of Jesus-Christ has washed away all his sins; they will never be remembered, for God has forgotten them. He is redeemed from the judgements reserved for all unbelievers, which is the second death, as mentioned before. Whilst on earth a Christian will still sin. That is a fact one has to face, but his sins will not be counted against him, as it has already been stated: ‘Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.’(Romans: 4:8.)  But they cannot be overlooked, sins must be confessed to be washed away: “If we(Christians) claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:8-9.)

A sinner repents from sins, and repentance leads him to a deliverance from sin’s power, whereas a Christian confesses his sins, and God cleanses him from the unrighteous deed. A child of God can never fall again under the power of sin, when he sins his conscience will condemn him, his communion with God will be clouded, for he will have grieved the Holy Spirit, he will feel it until he puts himself right with God! It is just like a constant washing of the hands. A Christian cannot ever be a slave to sin; it cannot ever enslave him to his reigning power. When a Christian dies his soul goes to heaven, his Father’s house, on the day of the resurrection, he will receive a glorified body such as Christ’s body, and he will never sin again, for he will be delivered from the body of sin! 

Therefore, the Bible says: “If perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood (on the basis of it the Law was given to the people), why was there still need for another priest to come ~ one in the order of Melchizedek, not in the order of Aaron? This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First his name means ‘king of righteousness’; then also, ‘king of Salem’ meaning ‘king of peace’. Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever. For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change to the Law. He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, and no-one from that tribe has ever served at the altar. 

It is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, and in regard to that tribe Moses said nothing about priests. And what we have said is even clearer if another priest like Melchizedek appears one who has become a priest not on the basis of a regulation as his ancestry but on the basis of the power of an indestructible life. For it is declared: ‘You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek’. The former regulation (Under the Old Covenant) is set aside because it was weak and useless, for the Law made nothing perfect) and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priest without an oath, but he (Jesus) became a priest with an oath when God said to Him: The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind:’ You are a priest forever.’ Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantor of a BETTER COVENANT. A Forever Priest, for a Forever Covenant, superior to the Old because it is established on ‘better’ promises and introduces us to the true rest of faith, because as God said he will never change his mind. The NEW COVENANT is superior because our relationship to God is based on the redemptive acts of Christ.The Ministry of Jesus Christ as Mediator of a New Covenant offers:

1. Eternal redemption: “When Christ came as High Priest of the good things that are already here, He went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation. He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but He entered the Most Holy place once for all by His own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.” (Hebrews 9:11-12.)  

2.  Saints are guaranteed a heavenly representative: “Christ did not enter a manmade sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.”(Hebrews 9: 24). The oneness between Christ and all those that are His, is very real and on their behalf, Christ lives forever, He owns them as his brothers, He paid the price of their redemption, and He loves them absolutely. The smallest saint, if there is such a person as a small saint? The weakest saint is beloved of the Father, who already knows all those that are His, and when they stray or sin, sadly all true believers still do, God looks at Christ and in Him he sees them as CHRIST is, and does not register their transgressions. 

To be saved is already wonderful, to be sure of life everlasting down here on this earth is terrific, but to have this strong assurance that our salvation is guaranteed in Christ is absolutely beyond what men can say, and our love for Christ deepens and our faith gets stronger each time we are told these blessed truths. With all these absolutes working in our heart, the Holy-Spirit sanctifies us more and more, and helps believers to attain a likeness to Jesus-Christ! The Holy Spirit, by His presence in very saint, and by the Word of Truth, sanctifies every child of God. Sanctification means, that they become more and more like Jesus. He gives to everyone a will to do what pleases God, and the power to do it. Thus, a believer in Christ grows in grace and in the knowledge of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. 

3.  It offers a new way to God: “Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is His body, and since we have a great Priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith.” (Hebrews 10: 19-20.) All the time we are on earth, we have to give ourselves time to pray and meditate the truth of the Gospel. To do this we must draw nigh to God and realise we have a right of entrance, by The Holy-Sprit, through the blood of Christ, into the Most Holy Place, which is the very presence of God. God is a Spirit and they that worship Him must do so in the Spirit and in truth. During the times of the Old Covenant the symbolic place where God dwelt, was the Holy Place in an earthly tabernacle, later on in the temple, that king Solomon had it built for Him in Jerusalem, all were barred, except the High-Priest could enter it on specified occasions. He alone could enter there each year and never without blood, he took the blood of the offering, and presented it to God for the forgiveness of his sins and those of the people. 

When Jesus died on the Cross, by whom all blessings are available to every believer, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom; God did it to show that the entrance into the Most Holy Placewas, from thence, opened to every believer in Jesus-Christ. This new way was inaugurated by Christ, when He entered Himself to present His blood in the Heavenly sanctuary, for the sins of all Believers, the New Holy nation, only members of the true Church, have the right of entering into the Holy Presence of God by a new and living way, to offer Him sacrifices of worship, of praise through the Holy-Spirit, in the name of Jesus-Christ their Lord. 

4. Finally: The New Covenant is superior to the Old because it gives, to every believer in Christ, the certainty that finally they shall enter, in a new, glorified body into the place where Jesus now dwells.The Most Holy Place is God’s abode which we enter spiritually every time we come to pray and worship and where we get to know God better and love Him, and Jesus-Christ, more and more. The certainty of the promise is thus expressed: “When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no-one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying: ‘I will surely bless you and give you many descendants’. And so, after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms that what is said and puts an end to the argument. Because God wanted the unchanging nature of his promise to be very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged. 

We have this hope (assurance) as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where Jesus, who went before us, has entered on our behalf. He has become a High Priest for ever, in the order of Melchizedek.” (Hebrews 6:13-20.) By the fact that Jesus is in the presence of God, behind the curtain, which is the Most Holy Place, the entering in, of those He redeemed, is only a matter of time. This promise was not given to Abraham by the Old Covenant, for it was not yet given, Abraham received the promise by grace, and grace alone gives any right whatsoever to all the redeemed, those born into the family of God by faith in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus-Christ!

The New Covenant is the Eighth and speaks of resurrection. It will reach its earthly climax in the millennium reign of Christ.

This chapter has for purpose to show that God always works on the basis of a Covenant, which gives men the directions necessary for living, with the guaranty of His blessings. Ignoring it shuts the door for any access into fellowship with God.  The promise of blessings is the best gift God can offer to men, and those that have believed have been blest with God’s greatest gift ,after that of Christ Himself, which is Eternal life here on earth and then in heaven; which Jesus called: “My Father’s House.” At the end of it all ‘He who has Christ has life, he that not Christ has not life but abides in death forever!

In the next chapter of these series, which are dealing with receiving Eternal life, we will deal with the blessings that God offers in the New Covenant to men that will believe in Christ; called: “GOD’S GREATEST GIFT”. It is possible for you to receive it according to the promise given by God in New Covenant, but we must discover all the blessings that make this life so different to all others lived by men without the great purpose that is offered by this new life. I invite all believers and those that want to believe in Christ to read the next chapter.