Covenant People - a name often used for the Hebrew/Israelite people, Abraham's descendants. The Israelites/Hebrews were chosen by God as instruments of His redemption of the world. - Gen. 12:1-3 - Israelite is a descendant of Israel or Jacob. Israelites were considered to be children of the "Covenant" faithful servants of the Lord, and heirs to the promises made to Abraham.
"You are to keep this feast in the seventh month. For seven days you are to live in shelters: all natives of Israel must live in shelters, so that your descendants may know that I made the sons of Israel live in shelters when I brought them out of the land of Egypt. I am Yahweh your God." - Lev. 23:42-43 -
What I (apostle Paul) want to say now is no pretense; I say it in union with Christ Jesus - it is the truth - my conscience in union with the Holy Spirit assures me of it too. What I want to say is this: my sorrow is so great, my mental anguish so endless, I would willingly be condemned and be cut off from Christ if it could help my brothers of Israel, my own flesh and blood.
They were adopted sons, they were given the glory and the covenants; the Law and the ritual were drawn up for them, and the promises were made to them. They are descended from the patriarchs and from their flesh and blood came from Christ who is above all, God for ever blessed! Amen. - Rom. 9:1-5 -
Let me put a further question then: is it possible that God has rejected His people? Of course not, I, an Israelite, descended from Abraham through the tribe of Benjamin, could never agree that God had rejected His people, the people He chose specially long ago. Do you remember what sacred scripture says of Elijah - how he complained to God about Israel's behaviour? Lord, they have killed your prophets and broken down your altars, I, and I only, remain, and they want to kill me. What God say to that? I have kept for myself seven thousand men who have not bent the knee to Baal.
Today the same thing has happened: there is a remnant, chosen by grace. By grace, you notice, nothing therefore to do with good deeds, or grace would not be grace at all!
What follows? It was not Israel as a whole that found what it was seeking, but only the chosen few. The rest were not allowed to see the truth; as scripture says: God has given them a sluggish spirit, unseeing eyes and inattentive ears, and they are still like that today. And David says: May their own table prove a trap for them, a snare and a pitfall - let that be their punishment; may their eyes be struck incurably blind, their back bend for ever. Rom. 11:1-10 -
But in the New Testament, those who believe and baptized in the Lord Jesus Christ ( In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ) are people of a "New Covenant."
The institution of the Holy Eucharist/Holy Communion/Holy Mass by the Lord Jesus Christ. Then Jesus Christ took some bread, and when He had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, 'This is my body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of Me.' Jesus Christ did the same with the cup after supper, and said, 'This cup is the "New Covenant" in My blood which will be poured out for you. - Luke 22:19-20 -
Before God, we are confident of this through Christ: not that we are qualified in ourselves to claim anything as our own work: all our qualifications come from God. God is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this "New Covenant" which is not a "Covenant" of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. - 2 Cor. 3:4-6 -
Throughout history, God's 'covenant people' were meant to be an example of spirituality to the world.
Unfortunately, much of the God's first chosen people, that is, Israelite/Hebrew/Jew (Jacob) history was marked by periodic sinning and disobedience of the "Covenant Law." Israelite history began badly with an idolatrous act. The people made and worshiped a golden calf while Moses was still on Mount Sinai. - Ex. 32:1-35 -
After their punishment, the "Covenant" was renewed and work began on the building of the "Tabernacle." The structure was portable, and it moved with the Israelites whenever they wandered in the wilderness. Subsequent Hebrew/Jew temples were to reflect something of its structure.
In the 'Wilderness Years' and because the Israelites disobeyed God by refusing to enter Canaan. - Num. 14:30-35 - they were compelled to wander for a generation in the wilderness. These aimless wanderings are summarized in Numbers chapter 33. The people apparently moved between various oases in the Sinai wilderness. After Aaron's death - Num. 20:22-29 - the Israelites moved steadily toward Moab in 'Transjordan' and prepared to conquer Canaan.
The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half of Manasseh, who owned large herds, were allowed to settle in the conquered Transjordan lands and to raise their cattle. The remainder of the Israelites prepared to cross the Jordan River at Jericho and occupy the Promised Land. Moses was not permitted to lead the Israelites to victory because he had not carried out God's will properly. Deut. 32:51 - Instead he was allowed to view Canaan from the summit of Mount Nebo. After this, Moses died and was buried in Moab. - Deut. 34:6 -
Jericho was like a town under siege when Joshua, who had been commissioned as leader shortly before Moses died, advanced to overthrow it. He obeyed God's instructions regarding the attack upon the fortress like city that guarded the entrance to Canaan. The Hebrews marched around it daily for six days and it collapsed dramatically on the seventh day. - Josh. 6:12-20 -
The next assault was on nearby Ai. This offensive, however, met with disaster because an Israelite named Achan had defied God's instructions about not taking plunder from Jericho. When his sin was discovered, he and his family were stoned to death, after which Ai was overthrown. - Josh. 7:25 -
Shortly afterwards, Joshua was tricked into sealing a covenant with the neighboring 'Gibeonites'. This was followed by a defense of the royal city of Gibeon against the attack of five Canaanite kings who resented the pact made with Joshua. The kings were captured and executed. - Josh. 10:16-27 - Then Joshua proceeded to conquer the south land, where Lachish and Hebron were important cities. Jerusalem, however, was not captured at this time, nor was Megiddo in central Palestine.
The final phase of occupation involved northern Palestine, where Joshua was confronted by a military group led by Jabin, king of Hazor. Perhaps, because the Israelites were anxious to keep the cities intact, none were destroyed except Hazor, the chief city of the north. This policy proved costly in later years. Although, the Israelites had occupied the Promised Land, they had not conquered the people completely. Once the Canaanites were able to re-establish themselves, they presented serious problems for the Israelites.
After Joshua died, individual charismatic leaders known as 'Judges' provided leadership for the Hebrew nation.....
Page 16
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Friday, March 31, 2017
Thursday, March 16, 2017
The New Testament makes a clear distinction between covenants of Law and covenants of Promise. Saint Paul or Apostle Paul spoke of these "Two Covenants" that is, one originating "from Mount Sinai" the other from "the Jerusalem above."
Saint Paul or Apostle Paul also explained explicitly that the covenant established at Mount Sinai, the Law, is a "ministry of death" and "condemnation" - a covenant that cannot be obeyed because of man's weakness and sin.
You want to be subject to the Law? Then listen to what the Law says. It says, if you remember that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave-girl, and one by his free-born wife. The child of the slave-girl was born in the ordinary way; the child of the free woman was born as a result of a promise. This can be regarded as an allegory: the women stand for the two covenants.
The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar - since Sinai is in Arabia - and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem that is a slave like her children. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since sacred scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife.
Now you, my brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise, and as at that time the child born in the ordinary way persecuted the child born in the Spirit's way, so also now. Does not scripture say: Drive away that slave-girl and her son; this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with the son of the free woman? So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife. - Gal. 4:21-31 -
Does this sound like a new attempt to commend ourselves to you? Unlike other people, we need no letters of recommendation either to you or from you, because you are yourselves our letter, written in our hearts, that anybody can see and read, and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ Jesus, drawn up by us, and written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on the tablets of your living hearts.
Before God we are confident of this through Christ: not that we are qualified in ourselves to claim anything as our own work: all our qualifications come from God. He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant which is not a covenant of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded.
Then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! For if there was any splendour in administering condemnation, there must be very much greater splendour in administering justification. In fact, compared with this greater splendour, the thing that used to have splendour now seems to have none; and if what was so temporary had any splendour, there must be more in what is going to last for ever.
Having this hope, we can be quite confident; not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not notice the ending of what had to fade. And anyway, their minds had been dulled; indeed, to this very day, that same veil is still there when the old covenant is being read, a veil never lifted, since the Lord Jesus Christ alone can remove it.
Yes, even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord Jesus Christ, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ who is Spirit.
Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part. On the contrary, we will have none of the reticence of those who are ashamed, no deceitfulness of watering down the word of God; but the way we commend ourselves to every human being with a conscience is by stating the truth openly in the sight of God.
If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ Jesus, who is the image of God.
For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. It is the same God that said, "Let there be light shining out of darkness" who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. - 2 Cor. 3:1-18, 4:1-6 -
The "New Covenant" God has made with mankind, based on the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ. The concept of a new covenant originated with the promise of the prophet Jeremiah that God would accomplish for His people because they did detestable things that God's never ordered. In other words, the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah greatly sinned against Yahweh and the old covenant.
For the sons of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but displease Me from their youth up (the sons of Israel, in fact, have done nothing but provoke Me by their actions - it is Yahweh who speaks.) Yes, from the day when it was built until today, this city has been such cause of anger and of wrath to me that I mean to remove it from My sight, because of all the wickedness the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have committed to provoke Me; they, their kings, their nobles, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.
They turned their backs to Me, never their faces; and though I taught them so urgently, so persistently, they would not listen and learn the lesson. They have put their abominations in the Temple that bears My name to defile it. They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, there to make their sons and daughters pass through fire in honour of Molech - something I never ordered, for it never entered My thoughts that they would do such detestable things - and so they have led Judah into sin. - Jer. 32:30-35 -
Under this "New Covenant" God would write His Law on human hearts. This promised action suggested a new level of obedience, a new knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a new forgiveness of sin. The "New Covenant" accomplished what the old covenant could not, that is, removal of sin and cleansing of the conscience.
The New Testament which itself means "New Covenant" interprets the fulfillment and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as bringing this promised "New Covenant" into being. In the New Testament, the Gospel According To Saint Luke, when Jesus ate the Passover meal at the Last Supper with His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the cup as "The New Covenant In My Blood".
Then Jesus took some bread, and when Jesus had given thanks, broke it and gave it to them, saying, "This is My Body which will be given for you; do this as a memorial of Me." Jesus did the same with the cup after supper, and said, "This cup is the "New Covenant In My Blood" which will be poured out for you. - Luke 22:19-20 -
When the apostle Paul recited the tradition he had received concerning or pertaining to the Last Supper, he quoted these words of the Lord Jesus Christ about the cup as "The New Covenant In My Blood." Thus, if a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation.
For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, "This is My body which is for you; do this as a memorial of Me." In the same way He took the cup after supper, and said, "This cup is a "New Covenant In My Blood." Until the Lord Comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming His death, and so anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord Jesus Christ unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everyone is to recollect himself and herself before eating this bread and drinks this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. In fact, that is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you have died. If only we recollect ourselves, we should not be punished like that. But when the Lord Jesus Christ does punish us like that, it is to correct us and stop us from being condemned with the world.
So to sum up, my dear brothers and sisters, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another. Anyone who is hungry should eat at home, and then your meeting will not bring your condemnation. - 1 Cor. 11:23-34 -
The reason, therefore, why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned, is that the law of the spirit of life in the Lord Jesus Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending His own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law's just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.
The unspiritual are interested only in what is unspiritual, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things. It is death to limit oneself to what is unspiritual; life and peace can only come with concern for the spiritual, That is because to limit oneself to what is unspiritual is to be at enmity with God: such a limitation never could and never does submit to God's law. People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God.
Your interest, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to Him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if the Lord Jesus Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through His Spirit living in you.
So then, my brothers and sisters, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live. - Rom. 8:1-13
The "Covenants of Promise" are God's guarantees that He will provide salvation in spite of man's inability to keep his side of the agreement because of his/her sin. ("....... do not forget, I say, that you had no Christ Jesus and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. But now in the Lord Jesus Christ, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ............") - Eph. 2:11-22 -
The provision of a Chosen People through whom the Messiah would be born is the promise of the covenants with Adam and king David. - Gen. 3:15; 2 Sam. 7:14-15 - The covenant with Noah is God's promise to withhold judgment on nature while salvation is occurring. In the covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless Abraham's descendants.
These many covenants of promise may be considered one covenant of grace which was fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension ushered in the new covenant under which we are justified by God's grace and mercy rather than our human attempts to keep the law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Mediator" of this better covenant between God and human beings.
Jesus' sacrificial death served as the oath, or pledge which God made to us to seal this "New Covenant". The Lord Jesus Christ is determined to give us eternal life with Him, in spite of our unworthiness. This is still God's promise to any person who turns to Him in repentance.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices everyday, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people because He has done this once and for all by offering Himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath which came after the Law, appointed the Son - the Lord Jesus Christ - who is made perfect for ever. - Heb. 7:26-28 -
The Letter To The Hebrews ( A Letter Addressed To A Jewish-Christian Community) gives the "New Covenant" more attention than any other books in the New Testament. It includes quotations from the Old Testament. The "New Covenant" accomplished what the old covenant could not: removal of sin and cleansing of the conscience. The work of Jesus Christ on "The Cross" fulfills the promises of God and thus makes the old covenant "Inefficacious".
Page 15
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Saint Paul or Apostle Paul also explained explicitly that the covenant established at Mount Sinai, the Law, is a "ministry of death" and "condemnation" - a covenant that cannot be obeyed because of man's weakness and sin.
The first who comes from Mount Sinai, and whose children are slaves, is Hagar - since Sinai is in Arabia - and she corresponds to the present Jerusalem that is a slave like her children. The Jerusalem above, however, is free and is our mother, since sacred scripture says: Shout for joy, you barren women who bore no children! Break into shouts of joy and gladness, you who were never in labour. For there are more sons of the forsaken one than sons of the wedded wife.
Now you, my brothers, like Isaac, are children of the promise, and as at that time the child born in the ordinary way persecuted the child born in the Spirit's way, so also now. Does not scripture say: Drive away that slave-girl and her son; this slave-girl's son is not to share the inheritance with the son of the free woman? So, my brothers, we are the children, not of the slave-girl, but of the free-born wife. - Gal. 4:21-31 -
Does this sound like a new attempt to commend ourselves to you? Unlike other people, we need no letters of recommendation either to you or from you, because you are yourselves our letter, written in our hearts, that anybody can see and read, and it is plain that you are a letter from Christ Jesus, drawn up by us, and written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on stone tablets but on the tablets of your living hearts.
Before God we are confident of this through Christ: not that we are qualified in ourselves to claim anything as our own work: all our qualifications come from God. He is the one who has given us the qualifications to be the administrators of this new covenant which is not a covenant of written letters but of the Spirit: the written letters bring death, but the Spirit gives life. Now if the administering of death, in the written letters engraved on stones, was accompanied by such a brightness that the Israelites could not bear looking at the face of Moses, though it was a brightness that faded.
Then how much greater will be the brightness that surrounds the administering of the Spirit! For if there was any splendour in administering condemnation, there must be very much greater splendour in administering justification. In fact, compared with this greater splendour, the thing that used to have splendour now seems to have none; and if what was so temporary had any splendour, there must be more in what is going to last for ever.
Having this hope, we can be quite confident; not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites would not notice the ending of what had to fade. And anyway, their minds had been dulled; indeed, to this very day, that same veil is still there when the old covenant is being read, a veil never lifted, since the Lord Jesus Christ alone can remove it.
Yes, even today, whenever Moses is read, the veil is over their minds. It will not be removed until they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now this Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, with our unveiled faces reflecting like mirrors the brightness of the Lord Jesus Christ, all grow brighter and brighter as we are turned into the image that we reflect; this is the work of the Lord Jesus Christ who is Spirit.
Since we have by an act of mercy been entrusted with this work of administration, there is no weakening on our part. On the contrary, we will have none of the reticence of those who are ashamed, no deceitfulness of watering down the word of God; but the way we commend ourselves to every human being with a conscience is by stating the truth openly in the sight of God.
If our gospel does not penetrate the veil, then the veil is on those who are not on the way to salvation; the unbelievers whose minds the god of this world has blinded, to stop them seeing the light shed by the Good News of the glory of Christ Jesus, who is the image of God.
For it is not ourselves that we are preaching, but Christ Jesus as the Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. It is the same God that said, "Let there be light shining out of darkness" who has shone in our minds to radiate the light of the knowledge of God's glory, the glory on the face of the Lord Jesus Christ. - 2 Cor. 3:1-18, 4:1-6 -
The "New Covenant" God has made with mankind, based on the Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Jesus Christ. The concept of a new covenant originated with the promise of the prophet Jeremiah that God would accomplish for His people because they did detestable things that God's never ordered. In other words, the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah greatly sinned against Yahweh and the old covenant.
For the sons of Israel and of Judah have done nothing but displease Me from their youth up (the sons of Israel, in fact, have done nothing but provoke Me by their actions - it is Yahweh who speaks.) Yes, from the day when it was built until today, this city has been such cause of anger and of wrath to me that I mean to remove it from My sight, because of all the wickedness the sons of Israel and the sons of Judah have committed to provoke Me; they, their kings, their nobles, their priests and their prophets, the men of Judah and the citizens of Jerusalem.
They turned their backs to Me, never their faces; and though I taught them so urgently, so persistently, they would not listen and learn the lesson. They have put their abominations in the Temple that bears My name to defile it. They have built the high places of Baal in the Valley of Ben-hinnom, there to make their sons and daughters pass through fire in honour of Molech - something I never ordered, for it never entered My thoughts that they would do such detestable things - and so they have led Judah into sin. - Jer. 32:30-35 -
Under this "New Covenant" God would write His Law on human hearts. This promised action suggested a new level of obedience, a new knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, and a new forgiveness of sin. The "New Covenant" accomplished what the old covenant could not, that is, removal of sin and cleansing of the conscience.
The New Testament which itself means "New Covenant" interprets the fulfillment and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ as bringing this promised "New Covenant" into being. In the New Testament, the Gospel According To Saint Luke, when Jesus ate the Passover meal at the Last Supper with His disciples, the Lord Jesus Christ spoke of the cup as "The New Covenant In My Blood".
When the apostle Paul recited the tradition he had received concerning or pertaining to the Last Supper, he quoted these words of the Lord Jesus Christ about the cup as "The New Covenant In My Blood." Thus, if a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation.
For this is what I received from the Lord, and in turn passed on to you: that on the same night that He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ took some bread, and thanked God for it and broke it, and he said, "This is My body which is for you; do this as a memorial of Me." In the same way He took the cup after supper, and said, "This cup is a "New Covenant In My Blood." Until the Lord Comes, therefore, every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are proclaiming His death, and so anyone who eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord Jesus Christ unworthily will be behaving unworthily towards the body and the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everyone is to recollect himself and herself before eating this bread and drinks this cup; because a person who eats and drinks without recognising the Body is eating and drinking his own condemnation. In fact, that is why many of you are weak and ill and some of you have died. If only we recollect ourselves, we should not be punished like that. But when the Lord Jesus Christ does punish us like that, it is to correct us and stop us from being condemned with the world.
So to sum up, my dear brothers and sisters, when you meet for the Meal, wait for one another. Anyone who is hungry should eat at home, and then your meeting will not bring your condemnation. - 1 Cor. 11:23-34 -
The reason, therefore, why those who are in Christ Jesus are not condemned, is that the law of the spirit of life in the Lord Jesus Christ has set you free from the law of sin and death. God has done what the Law, because of our unspiritual nature, was unable to do. God dealt with sin by sending His own Son in a body as physical as any sinful body, and in that body God condemned sin. He did this in order that the Law's just demands might be satisfied in us, who behave not as our unspiritual nature but as the spirit dictates.
The unspiritual are interested only in what is unspiritual, but the spiritual are interested in spiritual things. It is death to limit oneself to what is unspiritual; life and peace can only come with concern for the spiritual, That is because to limit oneself to what is unspiritual is to be at enmity with God: such a limitation never could and never does submit to God's law. People who are interested only in unspiritual things can never be pleasing to God.
Your interest, however, are not in the unspiritual, but in the spiritual since the Spirit of God has made his home in you. In fact, unless you possessed the Spirit of Christ you would not belong to Him. Though your body may be dead it is because of sin, but if the Lord Jesus Christ is in you then your spirit is life itself because you have been justified; and if the Spirit of Him Who raised Jesus from the dead will give life to your own mortal bodies through His Spirit living in you.
So then, my brothers and sisters, there is no necessity for us to obey our unspiritual selves or to live unspiritual lives. If you do live in that way, you are doomed to die; but if by the Spirit you put an end to the misdeeds of the body you will live. - Rom. 8:1-13
The "Covenants of Promise" are God's guarantees that He will provide salvation in spite of man's inability to keep his side of the agreement because of his/her sin. ("....... do not forget, I say, that you had no Christ Jesus and were excluded from membership of Israel, aliens with no part in the covenants with their Promise; you were immersed in this world, without hope and without God. But now in the Lord Jesus Christ, you that used to be so far apart from us have been brought very close, by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ............") - Eph. 2:11-22 -
The provision of a Chosen People through whom the Messiah would be born is the promise of the covenants with Adam and king David. - Gen. 3:15; 2 Sam. 7:14-15 - The covenant with Noah is God's promise to withhold judgment on nature while salvation is occurring. In the covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless Abraham's descendants.
These many covenants of promise may be considered one covenant of grace which was fulfilled in the life and ministry of Jesus Christ. His Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension ushered in the new covenant under which we are justified by God's grace and mercy rather than our human attempts to keep the law. The Lord Jesus Christ is the "Mediator" of this better covenant between God and human beings.
Jesus' sacrificial death served as the oath, or pledge which God made to us to seal this "New Covenant". The Lord Jesus Christ is determined to give us eternal life with Him, in spite of our unworthiness. This is still God's promise to any person who turns to Him in repentance.
To suit us, the ideal high priest would have to be holy, innocent and uncontaminated, beyond the influence of sinners, and raised up above the heavens; one who would not need to offer sacrifices everyday, as the other high priests do for their own sins and then for those of the people because He has done this once and for all by offering Himself. The Law appoints high priests who are men subject to weakness; but the promise on oath which came after the Law, appointed the Son - the Lord Jesus Christ - who is made perfect for ever. - Heb. 7:26-28 -
The Letter To The Hebrews ( A Letter Addressed To A Jewish-Christian Community) gives the "New Covenant" more attention than any other books in the New Testament. It includes quotations from the Old Testament. The "New Covenant" accomplished what the old covenant could not: removal of sin and cleansing of the conscience. The work of Jesus Christ on "The Cross" fulfills the promises of God and thus makes the old covenant "Inefficacious".
Page 15
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Monday, March 13, 2017
Yahweh said to Moses, 'Leave this place, with the people you brought out of the land of Egypt, and go to the land that I swore to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob/Israel I would give their descendants. I will send an angel in front of you; I will drive out the Canaanites, the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, the Jebusites. Go on to the land where milk and honey flow. I shall not go with you myself - you are a headstrong people - or I might exterminate you on the way.' On hearing these stern words the people went into mourning, and no one wore his ornaments.
Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Say to the sons of Israel, "You are a headstrong people. If I were to go with you, even for a moment only, I should exterminate you. Take off your ornaments, then, that I may know how to deal with you!"' So, from Mount Horeb onward, the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments. - Ex. 33:1-6 -
The activities of the Israelites tribes during the period between their departure from Egypt under Moses and the time when they encamped by the Jordan River, ready to be led into Canaan by Joshua. The period of time covered by these events is traditionally 40 years.
God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Horeb) and entered into a relationship with the twelve tribes, which bound them to God, Himself and made them, in effect, the nation of Israel. The relationship was in the form of a "Covenant".
This "Covenant" is fundamentally important for Israelite history. Through it a number of independent tribes were bonded together into one Hebrew/Israel nation and given a specific destiny as the "people chosen by God" as a channel for divine revelation. The Israelites, however, were not to behave just like any nation of the ancient world. All of these were pagan, following depraved and corrupt moral practices as part of their worship. The Israelites were to live as a religious community in which each member cared for the others.
Throughout their history, God' covenant people were meant to be an example or model of spirituality to the world. This, rather than political activity or territorial conquest, was to be their true destiny. Unfortunately, much of Israelite history was marked by periodic disobedience of the covenant laws. In fact, Israelite history began badly with an idolatrous act. The people made and worshiped a golden calf while Moses was still on Mount Sinai. - Ex. 32:1-6 -
After their punishment, the "Covenant" was renewed and work began on the building of the "Tabernacle". The structure was portable, and it moved with the Israelites whenever they wandered in the wilderness. Subsequent Hebrew/Israel/Jew temples were to reflect something of its structure.
After the rebellion had been put down, Moses went up into Mount Sinai again and there received the "Ten Commandments" a second time. - Ex. 20:1-21, Deut. 5:1-22 -
Yahweh said to Moses, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain, and I will inscribe on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by morning, and come up to the mountain of Sinai at dawn; await my orders there at the top of the mountain. No one must come up with you, no one be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and herds may not graze in front on this mountain.'
And so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and, with the two tablets of stone in his hands, he went up the mountain of Sinai in the early morning as Yahweh had commanded him. And Yahweh descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with Him there.
Moses called on the name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, 'Yahweh, Yahweh, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands He maintains His kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin; yet He lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father's fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.' And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. 'If I have indeed won Your favour, Lord' Moses said 'let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as Your heritage.' - Ex. 34:1-9 -
"THE COVENANT" - EXODUS 20:1-21, DEUTERONOMY 5:1-22 -
Yahweh said, 'I am about to make a Covenant with you. In the presence of all your people I shall work such wonders as have never been worked in any land or in any nation. All the people around you will see what Yahweh can do, for what I shall do through you will be awe-inspiring. - Ex. 34:10 -
When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai - as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands - he did not know that the skin of his face was radiant after speaking with Yahweh. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron with all the leaders of the community came back to him; and he spoke to them.
Then all the sons of Israel came closer, and he passed on to them all the orders that Yahweh had given him on the mountain of Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he went into Yahweh's presence to speak with Him, Moses would remove the veil until he came out again. And when he came out, he would tell the sons of Israel what he had been ordered to pass on to them, and the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he returned to speak with Yahweh. - Ex. 34:29-35 -
Covenant refers to an agreement between two people or two groups that involves promises on the part of each to the other. The concept of covenant between God and His people is one of the most important theological truths of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. By making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless His descendants and to make them His special people.
Abraham, in return, was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which God's blessings could flow to the rest of the world. - Gen. 12:1-3 - Even before Abraham time, God also made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He would not again destroy the world by flood. - Gen. 9 - Another famous covenant was between God and David, in which David and his descendants were established as a royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel. - 2 Sam. 7:12, 22:51 -
This covenant agreement reached its highest fulfillment when Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of the line of David, was born in Bethlehem about a thousand years after God made this promise to David the king.
A covenant, in the scriptural/biblical sense, implies much more than a contract or simple agreement. A contract always has an end date, while a covenant is a permanent arrangement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person's total being.
The word for covenant in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into the meaning of this important idea. It comes from a Hebrew root word which means "to cut". This explains the strange custom of two people passing through the cut bodies of slain animals after making an agreement with each other. - Jer. 34:18 -
A ritual or ceremony such as this always accompanied the making of a covenant in the Old Testament. Sometimes those entering into a covenant shared a holy meal. - Gen. 31:54 - Abraham and his children were commanded to be circumcised as a sign of their covenant with God. - Gen. 17:10-11 - Moses sprinkled the blood of animals on the altar and upon the people who entered into covenant with God at Mount Sinai.
To Moses God had said, 'Come up to Yahweh, yourself and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down in worship at a distance. Moses alone must approach Yahweh; the others must not, nor must the people go up with him.
Moses went and told the people all the commands of Yahweh and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, 'We will observe all the commands that Yahweh has decreed.' Moses put all the commands of Yahweh into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, 'We will observe all that Yahweh has decreed; we will obey.' Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. 'This' he said 'is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you, containing all these rules.' - Ex. 24:1-8 -
The Old Testament contains many examples of covenants between people who related to each other as equals. For instance, David and Jonathan entered into a covenant because of their love for each other. This agreement bound each of them to certain responsibilities. - 1 Sam. 18:3 - But the striking thing about God's covenant with His people is that God is holy, all-knowing, and all powerful; but He consents to enter into covenant with man, who is weak, sinful, and imperfect.
In the Old testament, God's Chosen People confirmed their covenant with God with oaths or promises to keep the agreement. At Mount Sinai, the nation of Israel promised to perform 'all the words which God has said". - Ex. 24:3 - When the people later broke this promise, they were called by their leaders to renew their oath. - 2 Kin. 23:3 - By contrast, God does not break promises. His oath to raise up believing children to Abraham is an "everlasting" covenant. - Gen. 22:16-17, 17:17 -
The New Testament makes a clear distinction between....
Page 14
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Then Yahweh said to Moses, 'Say to the sons of Israel, "You are a headstrong people. If I were to go with you, even for a moment only, I should exterminate you. Take off your ornaments, then, that I may know how to deal with you!"' So, from Mount Horeb onward, the sons of Israel stripped themselves of their ornaments. - Ex. 33:1-6 -
The activities of the Israelites tribes during the period between their departure from Egypt under Moses and the time when they encamped by the Jordan River, ready to be led into Canaan by Joshua. The period of time covered by these events is traditionally 40 years.
God appeared to Moses on Mount Sinai (Horeb) and entered into a relationship with the twelve tribes, which bound them to God, Himself and made them, in effect, the nation of Israel. The relationship was in the form of a "Covenant".
This "Covenant" is fundamentally important for Israelite history. Through it a number of independent tribes were bonded together into one Hebrew/Israel nation and given a specific destiny as the "people chosen by God" as a channel for divine revelation. The Israelites, however, were not to behave just like any nation of the ancient world. All of these were pagan, following depraved and corrupt moral practices as part of their worship. The Israelites were to live as a religious community in which each member cared for the others.
Throughout their history, God' covenant people were meant to be an example or model of spirituality to the world. This, rather than political activity or territorial conquest, was to be their true destiny. Unfortunately, much of Israelite history was marked by periodic disobedience of the covenant laws. In fact, Israelite history began badly with an idolatrous act. The people made and worshiped a golden calf while Moses was still on Mount Sinai. - Ex. 32:1-6 -
After their punishment, the "Covenant" was renewed and work began on the building of the "Tabernacle". The structure was portable, and it moved with the Israelites whenever they wandered in the wilderness. Subsequent Hebrew/Israel/Jew temples were to reflect something of its structure.
After the rebellion had been put down, Moses went up into Mount Sinai again and there received the "Ten Commandments" a second time. - Ex. 20:1-21, Deut. 5:1-22 -
Yahweh said to Moses, 'Cut two tablets of stone like the first ones and come up to me on the mountain, and I will inscribe on them the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke. Be ready by morning, and come up to the mountain of Sinai at dawn; await my orders there at the top of the mountain. No one must come up with you, no one be seen anywhere on the mountain; even the flocks and herds may not graze in front on this mountain.'
And so Moses cut two tablets of stone like the first and, with the two tablets of stone in his hands, he went up the mountain of Sinai in the early morning as Yahweh had commanded him. And Yahweh descended in the form of a cloud, and Moses stood with Him there.
Moses called on the name of Yahweh. Yahweh passed before him and proclaimed, 'Yahweh, Yahweh, a God of tenderness and compassion, slow to anger, rich in kindness and faithfulness; for thousands He maintains His kindness, forgives faults, transgression, sin; yet He lets nothing go unchecked, punishing the father's fault in the sons and in the grandsons to the third and fourth generation.' And Moses bowed down to the ground at once and worshipped. 'If I have indeed won Your favour, Lord' Moses said 'let my Lord come with us, I beg. True, they are a headstrong people, but forgive us our faults and our sins, and adopt us as Your heritage.' - Ex. 34:1-9 -
"THE COVENANT" - EXODUS 20:1-21, DEUTERONOMY 5:1-22 -
Yahweh said, 'I am about to make a Covenant with you. In the presence of all your people I shall work such wonders as have never been worked in any land or in any nation. All the people around you will see what Yahweh can do, for what I shall do through you will be awe-inspiring. - Ex. 34:10 -
When Moses came down from the mountain of Sinai - as he came down from the mountain, Moses had the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands - he did not know that the skin of his face was radiant after speaking with Yahweh. And when Aaron and all the sons of Israel saw Moses, the skin on his face shone so much that they would not venture near him. But Moses called to them, and Aaron with all the leaders of the community came back to him; and he spoke to them.
Then all the sons of Israel came closer, and he passed on to them all the orders that Yahweh had given him on the mountain of Sinai. And when Moses had finished speaking to them, he put a veil over his face. Whenever he went into Yahweh's presence to speak with Him, Moses would remove the veil until he came out again. And when he came out, he would tell the sons of Israel what he had been ordered to pass on to them, and the sons of Israel would see the face of Moses radiant. Then Moses would put the veil back over his face until he returned to speak with Yahweh. - Ex. 34:29-35 -
Covenant refers to an agreement between two people or two groups that involves promises on the part of each to the other. The concept of covenant between God and His people is one of the most important theological truths of the Sacred Scripture/Holy Bible. By making a covenant with Abraham, God promised to bless His descendants and to make them His special people.
Abraham, in return, was to remain faithful to God and to serve as a channel through which God's blessings could flow to the rest of the world. - Gen. 12:1-3 - Even before Abraham time, God also made a covenant with Noah, assuring Noah that He would not again destroy the world by flood. - Gen. 9 - Another famous covenant was between God and David, in which David and his descendants were established as a royal heirs to the throne of the nation of Israel. - 2 Sam. 7:12, 22:51 -
This covenant agreement reached its highest fulfillment when Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of the line of David, was born in Bethlehem about a thousand years after God made this promise to David the king.
A covenant, in the scriptural/biblical sense, implies much more than a contract or simple agreement. A contract always has an end date, while a covenant is a permanent arrangement. Another difference is that a contract generally involves only one part of a person, such as a skill, while a covenant covers a person's total being.
The word for covenant in the Old Testament also provides additional insight into the meaning of this important idea. It comes from a Hebrew root word which means "to cut". This explains the strange custom of two people passing through the cut bodies of slain animals after making an agreement with each other. - Jer. 34:18 -
A ritual or ceremony such as this always accompanied the making of a covenant in the Old Testament. Sometimes those entering into a covenant shared a holy meal. - Gen. 31:54 - Abraham and his children were commanded to be circumcised as a sign of their covenant with God. - Gen. 17:10-11 - Moses sprinkled the blood of animals on the altar and upon the people who entered into covenant with God at Mount Sinai.
To Moses God had said, 'Come up to Yahweh, yourself and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel and bow down in worship at a distance. Moses alone must approach Yahweh; the others must not, nor must the people go up with him.
Moses went and told the people all the commands of Yahweh and all the ordinances. In answer, all the people said with one voice, 'We will observe all the commands that Yahweh has decreed.' Moses put all the commands of Yahweh into writing, and early next morning he built an altar at the foot of the mountain, with twelve standing stones for the twelve tribes of Israel.
Then he directed certain young Israelites to offer holocausts and to immolate bullocks to Yahweh as communion sacrifices. Half of the blood Moses took up and put into basins, the other half he cast on the altar. And taking the Book of the Covenant he read it to the listening people, and they said, 'We will observe all that Yahweh has decreed; we will obey.' Then Moses took the blood and cast it towards the people. 'This' he said 'is the blood of the Covenant that Yahweh has made with you, containing all these rules.' - Ex. 24:1-8 -
The Old Testament contains many examples of covenants between people who related to each other as equals. For instance, David and Jonathan entered into a covenant because of their love for each other. This agreement bound each of them to certain responsibilities. - 1 Sam. 18:3 - But the striking thing about God's covenant with His people is that God is holy, all-knowing, and all powerful; but He consents to enter into covenant with man, who is weak, sinful, and imperfect.
In the Old testament, God's Chosen People confirmed their covenant with God with oaths or promises to keep the agreement. At Mount Sinai, the nation of Israel promised to perform 'all the words which God has said". - Ex. 24:3 - When the people later broke this promise, they were called by their leaders to renew their oath. - 2 Kin. 23:3 - By contrast, God does not break promises. His oath to raise up believing children to Abraham is an "everlasting" covenant. - Gen. 22:16-17, 17:17 -
The New Testament makes a clear distinction between....
Page 14
Faith . Hope . Love - Welcome donation. Thank You. God bless.
By bank transfer/cheque deposit:
Name: Alex Chan Kok Wah
Bank: Public Bank Berhad account no: 4076577113
Country: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
I have through years of reading, pondering, reflecting and contemplating, the 3 things that last; FAITH . HOPE . LOVE and I would like to made available my sharing from the many thinkers, authors, scholars and theologians whose ideas and thoughts I have borrowed. God be with them always. Amen!
I STILL HAVE MANY THINGS TO SAY TO YOU BUT THEY WOULD BE TOO MUCH FOR YOU NOW. BUT WHEN THE SPIRIT OF TRUTH COMES, HE WILL LEAD YOU TO THE COMPLETE TRUTH, SINCE HE WILL NOT BE SPEAKING AS FROM HIMSELF, BUT WILL SAY ONLY WHAT HE HAS LEARNT; AND HE WILL TELL YOU OF THE THINGS TO COME.
HE WILL GLORIFY ME, SINCE ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. EVERYTHING THE FATHER HAS IS MINE; THAT IS WHY I SAID: ALL HE TELLS YOU WILL BE TAKEN FROM WHAT IS MINE. - JOHN 16:12-15 -
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)