ARE YOU LIVING THE NEW COVENANT LIFE IN CHRIST?
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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 set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant. – Hebrews 9:15
Jesus is the consummate Redeemer of all humanity. The Lamb of God paid the ransom for our sins with His life. He initiated the dawn of a new era… an era of grace… an era of forgiveness… an era of eternal hope.
Jesus is our Intercessor. His sacrificial death ushered in the New Covenant. A covenant is a promise, a bond, a sacred agreement. Our Savior acted as intermediary of this New Covenant between God and mankind, providing reconciliation with the Father.
The New Covenant is a fulfillment of the Old Covenant. The sacrificial system was a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice of Christ once for all. For the Law could not save. Righteousness could not be gained by adhering to the Law. All fall short of perfection. A perfect Savior was needed, the Lamb without blemish.
Only through Christ can true righteousness be attained. Living under the New Covenant of grace brings eternal forgiveness of sins to all who believe. God’s laws are no longer written on stone tablets but on minds and hearts. Believers are granted direct access to the Father as kingdom children… with the promise of life everlasting.
While teaching to the people one day, Jesus shared two analogies to enlighten them about living under His New Covenant…
No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. – Mark 2:21
Jesus always brought home His messages to the people with illustrations from their day-to-day lives. Garments were valuable in biblical times, so proper ways of mending were well understood. The new cloth represents the New Covenant… so revolutionary, so unlike the Old Covenant that it could not be merely tacked on to the old religious ways.
This life of grace was not a patch to fix the failings of the prevailing religious system. It could not mesh with the entrenched, legalistic rules and traditions of Judaism. This new promise was transformational in scope, changing hearts, minds and lives. It offered a new way of living. For we are new creations in Christ. The old is gone, the new has come (2 Corinthians 5:17).
No one puts new wine into old wineskins; or else the new wine bursts the wineskins, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But new wine must be put into new wineskins. – Mark 2:22
Jesus shared a second, highly relatable analogy. In biblical times, wine was not stored in glass bottles. Instead, newly tanned goatskins were used, sewn around the edges to form watertight bags. The inherent natural oils made the hides pliable and flexible.
The process of wine fermentation creates carbon dioxide gas that increases the internal pressure of the wineskins. New wineskins could safely expand to accommodate the fermented wine. Yet old wineskins, taut and brittle with age, tended to rupture from the gas pressure as the wine fermented. Thus, the wine was lost and the wineskins rendered unusable.
Jesus referred pointedly to the Jewish leaders in this illustration. For they had specific expectations of the Messiah. Their understanding was that His coming would free them from Roman rule… and His message would complement the beliefs and practices of Judaism.
Yet Jesus was bringing something new that would not fit into the religious traditions of the time. Like old wineskins, the hearts of the Jewish leaders had become rigid, inflexible… unwilling to accept the message of the true Messiah in their midst. Instead, they chose to cling to their religion at all costs.
The new wine symbolizes the blessings and the freedom of salvation in Christ. Believers are the new wineskins… redeemed, justified, made holy and righteous by His sacrifice… renewed, refashioned, transformed vessels for the new life. We now live under His law of love and His covenant of grace.
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you. – Ezekiel 36:26
Living under Christ’s New Covenant is a life led by His Spirit, the Holy Spirit… the promise living within every believer. We have His presence guiding us on our Christian walk… reminding us of His words, counseling us in our choices and decisions, comforting us in our troubles and sufferings.
With spiritual rebirth comes a new heart… one that is humble, yielding, open, receptive, loving… one that reflects the heart of Jesus. We live by His kingdom principles and values. His thoughts become our thoughts, His ways our ways as we grow toward Christlikeness.
God’s throne of grace is open to us as believers because we abide with Christ. We believe with eyes of faith. Jesus has reconciled us to a holy God through His holiness. As disciples, we embrace living under His New Covenant… our present life of abundance and our hope of everlasting salvation.
† Eternal Takeaway – Jesus ushered in the New Covenant welcoming all who believe †
