
Many people don’t use them anymore. Checks. A document that orders a bank, financial institution (or credit union), to pay a specific amount of money from a person's account to the person in whose name the check has been issued. Printed on checks is “Pay to the order of.” If you write “cash” in this blank space, and the check amount in numeric form, the bank will pay you in cash. Metaphorically, upon our baptism, our Lord Jesus Christ has written us a check, though it will not be paid to us in US dollars, pounds, euros, or yuan; it will be paid in eternal life! And, it’s a check that will NEVER bounce; it is absolutely GUARANTEED! And the glorious signature on the bottom line reads Jesus Christ of Nazareth! It was signed in the royal blood of our Savior.
The Blood of the New Covenant
God’s living word──the Holy Bible──is like a legal document. And it can be likened to an unsigned check with YOUR NAME on it as the payee. Not just any signature will do ── only One Signature will deliver the goods. The everlasting signature of the glorious family of God – the Elohim (God our Father, and our Lord Jesus Christ).
True Christians who have truly repented, been properly baptized, having hands laid upon them, and who received the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38; 3:19), have already claimed this heavenly check of the glorious New Covenant, signed in the precious blood of our Savior Jesus Christ.
Our Lord Jesus is called in God’s living word, “the Messenger of the Covenant.” – Malachi 3:1. The Messenger of the New Covenant! The few who now accept the terms and conditions of the New Covenant, when they hear its Message preached, may rightfully claim the heavenly check written with blood.
Our Lord Jesus’ last Passover, He stated, “’ This cup is the New Covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.’” – Luke 22:20. The apostle Matthew likewise wrote, “’ For this is My blood of the New Covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.’” – Matthew 26:28. The apostle Paul called this supreme sacrifice for us “the blood of the everlasting Covenant.” – Hebrews 13:20.
Is our Lord Jesus’ New Covenant──with all its terms and conditions──in full force today?
Let’s turn to the Book of Genesis and begin with this Book where the word “covenant” is mentioned for the first time.
The Noahic Covenant
This agreement is before all others. Notice it in Genesis chapter 9.
“Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: 9) ‘And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you.’” – vs. 8-9. A “covenant” is an agreement between two spoken or written parties. A contract. Usually, as all the biblical covenants later were, it is confirmed or documented in writing.
What was this covenant that the LORD God made with the patriarch Noah?
Verse 11 – “’ Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.’”
NEVER AGAIN will the LORD God allow a flood to envelop this Earth. This is the agreement that the LORD God made with the patriarch Noah and all his descendants.
There are some cases in a covenant that contains a reminder. Like in the form of a sign or a symbol. Such as ── “And God said: ‘This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: 13) I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. 14) It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; 15) and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.’” – Genesis 9:12-15.
So, when the LORD God looks down and sees a rainbow it reminds Them of the original agreement ── the original contract ── They made with the patriarch Noah and his descendants so long ago.
Then there was a series of important covenants made with the patriarch Abraham, whom the LORD God called out from among his own people──
“Now the LORD had said to Abram: ‘Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2) I will make you A GREAT NATION; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3) I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
4) So Abram departed as the LORD had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.” – Genesis 12:1-4.
There’s not enough room in this article to go through every single covenant the LORD God had made with Abraham. An article of great importance that contains much information is “Freedom ── A True Blessing From God” and “Why So Many Don’t Understand Pentecost.” Patriarch Abraham and his descendants (through his son Isaac) were promised by the LORD God first the land of Canaan (which is Palestine; the Promised Land), and then that the original promise continued expanding until it encompassed “all the families of the earth” Notice ──
“For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law (the law of Moses), but through the righteousness of faith.” – Romans 4:13.
So notice the terms and conditions of this most important of the covenants that the LORD God made with Abraham. And it is the only one that has a specific date ──
“When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, ‘I am Almighty God; walk before Me and be blameless. 2) And I will make My covenant between Me and you, and will MULTIPLY YOU EXCEEDINGLY.’ 3) Then Abram fell on his face, and God talked with him, saying: 4) ‘ As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of MANY NATIONS.’” – Genesis 17:1-4.
Patriarch Abraham’s part in this dated covenant was to be spiritually mature before the LORD God (recall, ‘walk before Me and be blameless’), and by keeping all of the LORD God’s commandments, statutes, ordinances, and judgments. Later, the LORD God said that he had – “’ because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.’” – Genesis 26:5.
And the LORD God’s part in this covenant was to give Abraham and his descendants a great inheritance (Genesis 17:5-8).
Patriarch Abraham was promised by the LORD God an inheritance that far extended past his own physical life. It had to do with the very inheritance of future world history ── both physically and spiritually. Be sure to read our two free articles, “Our Roots” and “From the Beginning… God’s Master Plan.”
The Old Covenant
The prophet Moses led the LORD God’s people through the Exodus and the kingdom of Israel was brought into being. In the 19th chapter of the Book of Exodus, the terms and conditions of the Old Covenant were spelled out to the children of Israel. And these terms and conditions were very simply stated ──
“’ Now therefore, IF you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine.’” – vs. 5.
Prophet Moses spoke to the elders of the people, and everybody quickly agreed to the terms and conditions of the covenant. The children of Israel all said with one voice, “’ All that the LORD has spoken we will do.’” – vs. 8.
In the following chapter, the LORD God spoke the Ten Commandments to the children of Israel, later to be codified onto two stone tablets. Now, every one of these Ten Commandments was already in full force from the time of Adam and Eve ── long before the Old Covenant. We have a couple articles that are of great interest here. “’ Under LAW’ or ‘Under GRACE’?” and “Personal From… ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’”.
In chapter 21 and then through to chapter 23, the civil codes were given. Then, in chapter 24, the Old Covenant was formally ratified. And then after all that, the prophet Moses came to all the children of Israel ── “So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD [as in the Ten Commandments; chapter 20], and all the judgments [notice chapter 21 through to 23]. And all the people answered with one voice and said, ‘All the words which the LORD has said we will do.’” – Exodus 24:3.
Then, the Old Covenant – the agreement – was put in writing ──
“And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. …” – vs. 4.
Formally Sanctioned in Blood
Then, an elaborate ceremony followed ──
“And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5) Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6) And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar. 7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, ‘All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient.’” – Exodus 24:4-7.
Then, “Moses took the blood sprinkled it on the people, and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words.’” – vs. 8.
In this case, the covenant was purified with the blood of animals. “And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.” – Hebrews 9:22.
Recantation
It had hardly been formally sanctioned in blood when the children of Israel broke the Old Covenant for the first time ──Exodus 32. There were temporary additional promises by the children of Israel to ‘do all that the LORD has said, and be obedient’ – but eventually that all ended when all the twelve tribes (the kingdom of Israel and the kingdom of Judah) were taken into captivity by Gentile nations and dispersed.
Also, there were some temporary promises when a righteous king would inherit the throne. One of great significance was in the days of Josiah – king of Judah. “Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the LORD, to follow the LORD and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and with all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant.” – 2 Kings 23:3.
But, sadly, the peoples’ promises to the LORD God were all too soon forgotten.
Throughout their history the KINGDOM OF ISRAEL and the KINGDOM OF JUDAH had broken the LORD God’s Old Covenant and suffered from military conscription, the loss of land, destruction of their cities, captivity, and famine. Truly, the curses that automatically occur when a kingdom, nation, country, or province TRANSGRESSES THE RIGHTEOUS LAW OF GOD! For the LORD God adamantly says, “’ IF you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments, and perform them, … For I will look on you favorably and make you fruitful, multiply you and confirm My covenant with you.’ … ‘But IF you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments … then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven more times for your sins.’” – Leviticus 26:3, 9, 14, 24.
These are the inevitable results that the LORD God built into God’s Law ── all of which are summed up in the Ten Commandments. And, reiterated by our Lord Jesus Christ – (Matthew 22:37-40; Mark 12:29-31; Luke 10:27).
A New Covenant In the Making
The prophet Jeremiah ── under the divine inspiration of the Spirit of God ── preserved for us the LORD God’s thoughts on the fact that the children of Israel broke the Old Covenant time and time again. It was a vicious cycle.
And, the prophet Jeremiah wrote the LORD our God’s eventual solution ──
“’ Behold, the DAYS ARE COMING, says the LORD, that I will sow the House of Israel [the “lost” ten tribes] and the House of Judah [the Jewish people; as in the tiny nation called Israel in the Middle East] with the seed of man and the seed of beast. 28) And it shall come to pass, that as I have watched over them to pluck up, to break down, to throw down, to destroy, and to afflict, …’” ── in an article entitled, “ ’Blow the Trumpet’!” I go into detail concerning this, ‘to root out and to pull down, To destroy and to throw down, To build and to plant.’
“ … ‘so I will watch over them to build and to plant, says the LORD.’” – Jeremiah 31:27-28.
When will this building and this planting actually occur? Sadly, a great many people wrongly assume it occurred on May 14th, 1948, when Israel became a nation. But, we can read on to see the right answer ──
“’ Behold, the DAYS ARE COMING, says the LORD, when I will make a New Covenant with the House of Israel and with the house of Judah ── 32) not according to the covenant that I made with the fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.’” – Jeremiah 31:31-32.
Truly, the Old Covenant was in a sense a marriage agreement between the Lord God and His people ──the kingdom of Israel. A beautiful picture of this is in Ezekiel 16, and His thoughts about it.
Verse 33 – “’ But this is the covenant that I will make with the House of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’”
A key understanding of the time element is in verse 34 – “’ No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they ALL shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.’”
Truly, truly there are no nations in this 21st century world that know the LORD God! Instead, this world and all of its nations, countries, and provinces, are saturated in wickedness ── “We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.” – 1 John 5:19.
The LORD God’s living words ── spoken and recorded here by the prophet Jeremiah ── is speaking of a time yet in the future. At the beginning of the Millennial Reign of our Lord Jesus Christ!
Sadly, multiple billions of people are being erroneously taught that the New Covenant is already in full force and in effect on Earth today. Yet, God’s living word clearly tells us otherwise.
Today, instead of people wholeheartedly turning to the LORD God with proper repentance and reaping the glorious benefits of faithfully obeying, people by in large react to the preaching and teaching of the True Gospel exactly as the prophet Ezekiel spoke about ──
“And you, son of man [a true servant of God who speaks His Word, His Truth, and His ultimate Plan], do not be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you dwell among scorpions; do not be afraid of their words or dismayed by their looks, though they are a rebellious house. 7) You shall speak My words to them, whether they hear or whether they refuse, for they are rebellious.’ … ‘But the House of Israel will not listen to you, because they will not listen to Me; for all the Hose of Israel are impudent and hard-hearted.’” – Ezekiel 2:6-7; 3:7.
Sadly, our Lord Jesus’ true gospel is greeted with outright rebellion and disdain. I’ve had people literally laugh in my face and mock the LORD God!
“’ As for you, son of man, the children of your people are talking about you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses; and they speak to one another, …” ── and sadly, there are some who were at one time faithful servants of the LORD God that are now trying to destroy your reputation. Or, as the LORD God continues, “ … ’everyone saying to his brother, ‘Please come and hear what the word is that comes from the LORD.’ 31) So they come to you as My people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them; for with their mouth they show much love, but their hearts pursue their own gain.’” – Ezekiel 33:30-31.
This certainly does not sound like national repentance and humility to the LORD God ──terms and conditions of the glorious promise of the New Covenant.
Billions are taught that this “Christian Dispensation” is the time of the New Covenant, and wrongly assume that this “Christian Dispensation” has replaced the Old Testament. Billions are taught and assume that the New Covenant began with our Lord Jesus Christ’s ministry on earth. And they carelessly ass ⁄ um ⁄ e that “Christianity” (in whatever facet of this world’s Christianity they belong) is under the terms and conditions of the New Covenant today, which they ignorantly believe frees them from any obligation to obey the LORD God!
God’s living word clearly speaks of a future time when our Lord Jesus Christ will confirm the terms and conditions of His New Covenant (of which He is called the “Mediator’) ── writing the Law of God in the spiritual hearts and minds of humanity, in their “inward parts,” with the human nations ──including the House of Israel and the House of Judah!
So, the formal consent of the New Covenant ── to the peoples for whom it is proposed ──is to occur after the glorious and powerful second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, with the House of Israel and the House of Judah. And, as other Scriptures teach us, also with the Gentiles, who, when called by Father God, are converted and become “Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”!
As the apostle Paul spoke of ──under divine inspiration ── “In that He says, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.” – Hebrews 8:13.
A New Covenant is being confirmed between our Lord Jesus Christ and those in whom He places His Spirit ── His Laws, statutes, ordinances, and judgments are being written in our minds and hearts of those who truly obey His commandments, who properly repent, and are properly baptized. But, this is by invitation today ── it is not on a global scale.
Billions who continue to assume that this present evil age is that of the New Covenant for this world as a whole have clearly NEVER properly studied God’s living word that shows our Lord Jesus Christ has completed ONLY the first half of His ministry. The ministry of confirming the covenant with many for ONE WEEK. Notice ──
“Then [H]e shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK [Wednesday] He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. …” – Daniel 9:27.
Our Lord Jesus Christ’s large ministry is yet ahead!
This is not yet the LORD God’s time to try and convert the whole world. The LORD God is not writing His Law, statutes, ordinances, and judgments in the hearts and minds of all the people of either the House of Israel or the House of Judah. TODAY IS NOT THE ONLY DAY OF SALVATION. □
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