Creation of Space in the Covenant of Grace
(The
Covenant of Grace Revisited II)
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made
the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon
disappear.
(Hebrews 8:13)
The old covenant was introduced in stepwise fashion; first
with Abraham, later with Moses. Circumcision (of the male sexual organ) was the
personal sign, while the Law and Sabbath-keeping were like signs for the whole
nation.
In my book Praying for
Rain (1998), I characterized this covenant (or, rather: this dimension of God’s covenant of grace) as
‘the Word’. From the call of Abram on the Word is central -even though it
broadens in scope- for God’s self-revelation is greatly enriched through the
different stages. First, God spoke to Abraham and his family. At Mt. Sinai, his
offspring received the Law of God, while we find the climax of the covenant in
Christ, who is described by John as the Word Incarnate[1].
He is also presented as the Super-Moses of the New Covenant[2].
In the Old Testament ‘the people of God’ is the community
that has (received) the Word of God. In the Most Holy Place –the spatial heart
of the Old Covenant worship center-, we find this represented by the two stone
tablets with the Ten Commandments.
Of course, the gift of the Good Law requires that it must be
followed. The true people of God do not just hear the Word, but they obey it.
Paul argues that the external circumcision cannot save anybody[3];
what counts is the circumcision of the heart.
The heart must be changed; the whole orientation of one’s life must be
transformed by the Spirit! Although God ‘cut’ his covenant with Abraham’s
offspring, many of them did not live like their father Abraham: with them there
was no true faith and consequently no
obedience.
God had saved the Hebrews as ‘on eagles’ wings’. Then he gave
them a promise with a condition, and he told them what his purpose was: to be
for Him a kingdom of priests and a holy
nation.[4]
A long time later, Peter writes to the community of
(non-Jewish) believers, that in them
the fulfilment of God’s purpose was taking shape.[5]
In his letter to the Romans[6],
Paul explains that the non-Jews were ‘grafted into’ the old trunk. This trunk
or stump was essentially the ‘righteous remnant’, the ‘true Israel’, chosen by grace so that God did not
abandon his plan for Israel in spite of their failure to keep the covenant.
Changes
People and Place
In Israel, every Jew could claim that he was in God’s
Covenant of Grace, for they were all children of Abraham. Yet, this implied the
duty to live like father Abraham: in trust and obedience. The boys were
circumcised (on their sexual organ), but all had to be cut to the heart. In the
Old Testament God was often angry with the sacrifices that were brought, as
they were of low quality or given grudgingly. He was not satisfied with a
dutiful obedience from cultural tradition or peer pressure. Later, Jesus told
the Pharisees that they were illegitimate
children of Abraham[7].
Also today, it does not bring any benefit to the givers nor does it please God
if some give of their time and money grudgingly,
because ‘they have to’.
We just introduced one of the important changes from the Old
Covenant to the New. Non-Jews do not need to first become Jews in order to
belong to the covenant, for all (true) Christians belong to the New Covenant
community. We need not go to Jerusalem for worship, for God’s Word has gone
from Jerusalem into all parts of the world. And wherever God is worshiped in
truth and Spirit, that is where God’s temple is.
As we noted in the article on the Noah-Covenant: After
Pentecost, all nations are called to
seek their Father-God and to live in covenant relationship with Him. There is,
therefore, simultaneously a broadening
of scope as well as a tightening of
it. The ‘hearing of the Word’ (and the giving of God’s promises) has opened up
to all nations, while now only those
who embrace the Good News and receive the transformation of the heart are the
‘royal priesthood’ that Israel was called to be. Now, Christ –as the Lamb of
God- has paid the price by his death on the cross.
The Place and the Sacrifice
The old temple and its priestly service have lost their
function through the death of Christ. In the Old Covenant, there were
comprehensive instructions for the offering of sacrifices to stress the need
for payment of their guilt, as stipulated in the covenant (and thankfulness for
God’s gracious gifts).
The curtain to the most-holy-place (the spatial center of OT
worship) fell down the moment Jesus had accomplished his mission as the Lamb of
God. Christ became the only true high priest[8],
who offered himself for all who can accept it. And now, Christians everywhere
are called to offer their lives in His service. God’s Spirit indwells the true
believers. Where they are gathered in His Name, there is the temple of God,
there His Kingdom is taking shape. The temple and the law could not offer
salvation or reconciliation with God. In Christ and his apostles, we find a
better revelation of God’s love and of his holy will. Jesus points out[9]
that all who love Jesus for the amazing Grace poured out in Him will also
follow Jesus in (voluntary) obedience to all what He is teaches.
Law and Spirit
The old prophets had already announced that one day God
would write the law on people’s hearts.
This was a reference to the Holy Spirit, who after Pentecost, would live in all
believers, from all nations.[10]
In
the Old Covenant, the Law was at the center of worship. In the New Covenant, we
have a better revelation of God’s holiness and His will for us in Christ; in
His teaching and the teaching of the apostles he then gave us.[11]
Now
read Ephesians 4: 7-10:
But to each one of us grace has been given as
Christ apportioned it. This
is why it[a] says:
“When he ascended on high, he took many captives and
gave gifts to his people.”[b] (What does “he
ascended” mean except that he also descended to the lower, earthly regions[c]? 10 He who descended is
the very one who ascended higher than all the heavens, in order to fill
the whole universe.)
The
church usually saw in this a reference to the Incarnation, to Christmas. Yet,
recently commentators stress the reference to Psalm 68 and the Jewish tradition
that saw a link to Moses, when he ascended God’s mountain to return with the
Law of God. That was God’s gift to the Old Covenant community, kept in the very
worship center of that time. If this is true, then Paul compares Moses’
ascending the mountain of God with Jesus (as Super-Moses), who ascended to
God’s throne. After the ascent, he returned (at Pentecost) by His Spirit[12] to
provide the gift of godly leadership.
At Pentecost, we see that in many people the Spirit brought
about a radical transformation: they were cut
to the heart. It was no longer the Law
that propelled them to obedience (such as we see in Psalm 119), but the Spirit drove them to their Savior, whom
they sought to serve and obey.
These were the people who were baptized.
The
Promise
“Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this
Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard
this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles,
“Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in
the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The
promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all
whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other
words, he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this
corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his
message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their
number that day.
(Acts
2: 36-41)
Note
that in line with the Old Covenant the promise (of salvation, but especially
here: the indwelling Spirit of Christ) was for all who (had) heard the Word of
God: Jews as well as converts to Judaism. They, and their families, were
counted as Abraham’s seed. And the promise was (now) also to all others who
were still to be confronted with the Gospel. Yet, although all those present at
the time had received the promise, only
those who accepted the Gospel by
faith were baptized and added to the church.
Since
Pentecost the promises finds are fulfilled in Jesus’ faithful disciples. There
we can see the Kingdom of God, for in this place Jesus, God is honored and
obeyed as King of kings.
Here,
again, we find an issue of tension for this can be applied to the (regular)
gathering of Christians as well as to the believers personally. And, although
God, the Spirit, dwells in each true believer, yet it is the task of that
believer to keep in step with Him. Christians may not become complacent or
overconfident in their status, for they must put on and use the God-provided
armor to fight against the powers of darkness, even as it is God Himself, who
fights for them.
And
it is their calling to proclaim the Good News to all people groups and to do so
in word and deed. And all those who, recognizing and confessing their spiritual
bankruptcy, are open and willing to hear the Good News may rest assured that
the Promise of salvation and the Holy Spirit are also for them! Hallelujah!
[1] 14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling
among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who
came from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John
1)
Jesus has
been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the
house itself. (Hebr. 3: 3)
[3] 28 A person is not a Jew who is
one only outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical. 29 No, a person is a Jew who is
one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the
Spirit, not by the written code. Such a person’s praise is not from other
people, but from God. (Rom.
2)
[4] ‘You
yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’
wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now if you obey me fully and
keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured
possession. Although the whole earth is mine, 6 you[a] will be for me a kingdom
of priests and a holy nation.’ (Ex.
19: 4-6)
[5] 9 ‘But you are a chosen
people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special
possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of
darkness into his wonderful light. 10 Once you were not a people, but
now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now
you have received mercy.’ (1 Pet.
2: 9-10)
[6] 17 If some of the branches have
been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among
the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, 18 do not consider yourself to be
superior to those other branches. (Rom.
11)
[9] 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. (John
15) 15 “If you love me, keep my commands. (John
14)
[10] 26 I will give you a new
heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of
stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my
Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to
keep my laws.
(Ezek. 36; comp. 11:19)
[11] But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have
been released from the law so
that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Rom.
7: 6)
But if
you are led by the Spirit,
you are not under the law.
(Gal. 5: 18)
[12] See for instance Phil. 1:19
where the Holy Spirit is also referred to as ‘the Spirit of Jesus Christ’.
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