In conclusion we want to see how the ministry of God’s Spirit in the lives of Jesus’ followers stands in the context of the entire Old Testament.
m) The Holy Spirit is the hallmark of the new, eternal Messianic Covenant [New Testament] between God and the followers of Jesus:
Over the centuries, God has made various covenants with individuals and entire peoples. In the light of our meditations,
3 covenants have our special attention:
— 1. God’s eternal Covenant with Abraham
The first book of the Bible gives us an account of God’s covenant with Abraham, the patriarch of the people Israel: “Then God said to Abraham, ‘As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come.’”
Genesis 17:9)
God promised Abraham that this covenant would be an eternal covenant: “God replied, ‘Sarah, your wife, will bear you a son. You will name him Isaac, and I will confirm my everlasting covenant with him and his descendants” (Genesis 17:19).
Furthermore, God promised Abraham that because of his obedience to God the entire earth would be blessed through his offspring [i.e., Jesus the Messiah]:
“[God] said, ‘I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore ... and through your offspring [Jesus Christ, the Messiah] all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me’” (Genesis 22:16-18).
— 2. God reaffirms his Covenant with Abraham on Mount Sinai with the people of Israel. This covenant is called the Mosaic or Sinai Covenant
After Moses delivered God’s people Israel out of Egypt’s captivity, God made a covenant with them in the desert at Mount Sinai. The hallmark of that covenant was the gift of the Law [including the Ten Commandments].
The ratification of that covenant was carried out through animal sacrifice. In fact, this covenant was a renewal of God’s eternal covenant with Abraham: “Then Moses sprinkled the blood from the basins over the people and said, ‘This blood confirms the covenant the LORD has made with you in giving you these Laws.’”
(Exodus 24:8)
— 3a. God fulfils his eternal Covenant with Abraham in his Messianic Covenant with Israel
Centuries later, God promises to make a new covenant [New Testament] with his people Israel, based on the eternal covenant God made with their ancestor Abraham:
“‘The day will come,’ says the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt [i.e., the Sinai Covenant]. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the LORD.
‘But this is the new covenant [Messianic Covenant] I will make with the people of Israel on that day,’ says the LORD. ‘I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people’” (Jeremiah 31:31-33).
The hallmark of this new eternal covenant between God and Israel is the gift of God’s Holy Spirit:
“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols.
And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you.
I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my Laws and do whatever I command” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
Moses was the mediator between God and his people Israel when God made the Sinai covenant with them. Jesus Christ [the Messiah] is the mediator of the new Messianic Covenant between God and his people Israel:
“... Christ [the Messiah] 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 [Sinai covenant]” (Hebrews 9:15).
The Sinai covenant was a temporal renewal of God’s eternal covenant with Abraham. The new covenant would be the eternal fulfilment of God’s covenant with Abraham:
The Sinai covenant was ratified by animal blood, this new covenant would be ratified by the blood of God’s Son, Jesus the Messiah.
At the end of the Passover meal on the evening before Jesus died, he took the last of the four special cups of wine and said to his friends: “This cup is the new [messianic] covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you’” (Luke 22:20).
— 3b. The eternal Messianic Covenant [New Testament] is not only for all the Jews who follow Jesus the Messiah, but also for all non-Jews [Gentiles] who follow him
God had promised Abraham that through his offspring [Jesus the Messiah] all the nations on earth would be blessed (see above Genesis 22:16-18). God fulfilled that promise by means of the new Messianic Covenant.
When God ratified that by the blood of his messianic Son, he invited not only Jews but also non-Jews [Gentiles] to enter into that new covenant. All covenant partners would receive forgiveness of their sins and the gift of God’s Spirit. Together they would become a new people, called the Body of the Messiah [the Body of Christ].
The apostle Paul explains all this to the Gentile [non-Jewish] followers of Jesus in Ephesus (modern Turkey):
“Don't forget that you Gentiles used to be outsiders by birth. You were called "the uncircumcised ones" by the Jews, who were proud of their circumcision, even though it affected only their bodies and not their hearts.
In those days you were living apart from Christ [the Jewish Messiah]. You were excluded from God's people, Israel, and you did not know the promises God had made to them. You lived in this world without God and without hope.
But now you belong to Christ Jesus. Though you once were far away from God, now you have been brought near to him because of the blood of Christ.
For Christ himself has made peace between us Jews and you Gentiles by making us all one people. He has broken down the wall of hostility that used to separate us. By his death he ended the whole system of Jewish law that excluded the Gentiles (i.e., the Sinai Covenant).
His purpose was to make peace between Jews and Gentiles by creating in himself one new person from the two groups. Together as one body, Christ reconciled both groups to God by means of his death, and our hostility toward each other was put to death.
He has brought this Good News of peace to you Gentiles who were far away from him, and to us Jews who were near.
Now all of us, both Jews and Gentiles, may come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God's holy people. You are members of God's family.
We are his house, built on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. And the cornerstone is Christ Jesus himself. We who believe are carefully joined together, becoming a holy temple for the Lord.
Through him you Gentiles are also joined together as part of this dwelling where God lives by his Spirit” (Ephesians 2:11-22).
Have you entered into this new covenant with God?
Did you receive forgiveness of your sins through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ and have you received God’s Spirit as the hallmark of this new and eternal Covenant?
With this meditation we are coming to the end of our interruptions (meditations 18-33).
Next week we will return to our original theme: how does God change our rebellious and proud hearts into a Christlike life of love towards God and our fellow man?
The Bible verses Genesis 17:9, Genesis 22:16-18, Hebrews 9:15 and Luke 22:20 are quoted from the ‘New International Version’. All other texts are quotes of the ‘New Living Translation’.
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