Gods Plan of Salvation | Page 9

people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made
with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead
them out of Egypt, because they broke covenant, though I
was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. (31:31-32),
and in Ezekiel the promise of a new heart, a new spirit
(36:36-37) who would teach them to obey the Law.
The New Covenant
If, in the Old Covenant, we see the key-point of its
institution in the sacrifice of animals, and the sprinkling of
blood on the altar (before God) and over the people, then
we must look to the shedding of the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His death was the sacrifice. (Rom 3:25)
Here was the sacrifice. Here was the sacrifice presented,
not by man (according to God’s ordinance), but by God
himself. Moses offered the blood of animals to God; Jesus
Christ offered his own blood to the Father.
Here his blood is shed over the hearts of those who
believe. Actually the phrase ‘sacrifice of atonement’ in the
NIV is not a good one. Better is the KJV ‘propitiation’ (the
sacrifice which sets aside God’s wrath at our sins), and
which completely takes our sin away: ‘atonement’ implies
not the removal of our sin, but just it being covered from
view. Those who have faith; these are the members of the
new covenant people; these are the ones to whom God in
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Christ pledges himself; these are the ones to whom God
says ‘You are my people and I am your God’
The key here is that it’s not what we offer God which
ensures our place in the Covenant; it’s not what we
provide that pleases him. It is what he provides. But this
does produce within the believer’s heart a change. We’ve
already looked at the promise of a new covenant.
Note two things:
1. God puts his law in our minds. No longer is the law an
external weight sapping our energy in trying (and not
succeeding in) keeping it. It is written into our minds and
(on our hearts). It is internal; a wellspring for action; a
source of energy.
2. He writes it on our hearts. Actually, the key here is the
boundary-treaty. Do you remember that the tablets of the
Commandments were placed on the Ark of the Covenant?
W ell, now the law is placed so that as God looks at our
hearts he sees the law and is pleased with its keeping by
his Son. As we look out to him, so we see it too. It's there
as a constant reminder. The trouble is, we still fail to keep
it!
One other point to remember is the mediator of the
Covenant. Moses was the mediator of the Old. He it was
who sprinkled the blood of the animals on the altar and on
the people. He it was who interceded for the people when
they made the Golden Calf. But in the New Covenant,
Jesus is our Mediator. It was his blood. He sprinkles it on
our hearts; he sprinkles it on the heavenly altar. This cup
is the new covenant in my blood which is poured out for
you (Luke 22:20), he said in words redolent of those
spoken by Moses at Sinai. And 1 Tim 2:5 reminds us
“there is one mediator between God and man, the man
Christ Jesus.” And Romans 8:34 reassures us that Christ
Jesus is interceding for us.
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The other point is that in this New Covenant. Jesus is the
Great High Priest of this new Covenant. This is where we
come back to the High Priestly sacrifices on the Day of
Atonement. They are no longer required. Heb 8:13 says
that by calling the covenant ‘new’ he has made the first
one obsolete
Remember that the High Priest had to go into the Most
Holy Place once a year for atonement of the people’s
sins, first having to offer a sacrifice for his own. Then if he
reappeared safe and well, the people knew that God was
pleased with the sacrifice and they were O.K. for another
year. But it was an unsure, precarious place to be in. If we
string together a few verses from Hebrews 9, we will see
how absolutely secure we are.
“He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and
calves; but He entered the Most Holy Place by his own
blood, having obtained eternal redemption”
“How much more then will the blood of Christ, who
through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to
God cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to
death.”
“For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was
only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself to
appear for us