Christian Living

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Covenant This,
Part 3; Covenant Between Jesus & God

Matthew 26:26-28 “26 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27 Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 For this is My blood of the New covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

Now we finally arrive at the New Covenant, the eternal bond between Messiah and Almighty which we have been given access to through adoption. Unlike covenants between men, Christ cannot fail the Father, And I AM cannot fail the Son. Unlike the covenant between God and men, the nation is Christ and those who are his bride. What we have is what the prophets and the righteous of old could only dream and pray for. Now we stand on equal ground with Christ in God’s eyes, not because of our own works or righteousness but by the bonds of covenant. The perfect covenant which God ordained to fulfill and supersede the first. For the old was merely pictures and shadows, now we have salvation, light and life. As we remember the old spoken of in

Hebrews 8:7-13 “7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”

Here we see that the destiny of the first was to usher in last. And none of this is by our own religious strivings or merit. This is the scaffolding of our faith, how could we truly have faith in Jesus without the covenant. He would not be bound by his words, His promises would be meaningless. And our walk would be as it were through a tunnel with no end. He suffered so we could become like Him in every aspect of character, love, power, faith identity and access to the Father. And because it was by His blood It can never be broken despite the actions of those who bear His name and mark. As is speaks of in

Hebrews 9:11-15 “11 But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12 Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13 For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15 And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.”

He is the mediator of the covenant, our champion, the head of our household. This is not for him alone but for all those who call on His name and receive adoption into His household in the earth and in eternity. He has brought salvation and light to us all and most of all the invitation to be one with Him as he is with God. Just as He prayed in

John 17:20-23 “20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

Though it is a free gift we do have our responsibilities that must coincide with our life in the covenant. We can read the sermon on the mount in Matthew chapters 5,6 and 7 to see how we are to conduct ourselves openly and privately as members of the covenant. Yet along with the responsibilities come the benefits, through the covenant we have access to the same power as Jesus operated in while on the earth. It is actually one of our calls and responsibilities of the new covenant to exercise these gifts to bring others into the kingdom of Christ through the New Covenant which is the Gospel. Let us read

Mark 16:16-18 “16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover."

1 Corinthians 12:8-10 “For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:”

Just like the covenants between men we have been given both the coat (covering, anointing) and the weapons (Ephesians 6:13-18 13 ) of Christ. And now because of that He has promised to destroy the devil and all its works and gave us authority to triumph over its forces. He is continuing what He started with the twelve disciples in

Luke 9:1-2 Then He called His twelve disciples together and gave them power and authority over all demons, and to cure diseases. 2 He sent them to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick

Then Jesus released the 70 others in the same manner as its written in Luke 10:1, and again in the upper room the 120 faithful ones received the guarantee of the covenant which is the indwelling of the Holy Spirit , then the 8000 in the streets during Pentecost received adoption into the new covenant. And this continues even now to all those who believe in Jesus the Messiah to the ends of the earth. As I said before the gifts and benefits of the covenant are not for our own entertainment or for building our own monuments. It is so that those outside can see the love, power and mercy of a Living God moving through the lives of mortal men and women. And for them to become jealous of the great things given to us, so when they ask how and why, we can respond because we repented and accepted the gift of atonement and adoption given to us from our Savior. So we can repeat the words spoke by Peter at Pentecost

Acts 2:32-39 “32 This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses. 33 Therefore being by the right hand of God exalted, and having received of the Father the promise of the Holy Ghost, he hath shed forth this, which ye now see and hear. 34 For David is not ascended into the heavens: but he saith himself, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, 35 Until I make thy foes thy footstool. 36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. 37 Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? 38 Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. 39 For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call.”

It is not a matter of theological upbringing or denominational allegiances, it is a matter of what Christ has already done. It is the plain truth of what is freely ours in His Covenant with the great I AM. All these things are available to us yesterday, today and forever. We are Christians, we are Christ-like, little-Christ’s, we are commanded to be a mirror image of Jesus in thought, action and belief. All that is left for us is to believe and accept what has been said into our hearts and lives. And to receive our inheritance so we can go out and share the free, blood soaked, unhindered message of the Gospel. In its fullness with truth, love and power.

Written by Cameron Conway
http://revolutionarysrant.blogspot.com
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Revolutionarys-Rant/155457674486542?ref=mf

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