I’m a New Covenant Christian.
I say this without shame, with full understanding of the implications.
I believe that the New Covenant is not simply a new administration of the same covenant as the Old, but rather is a truly and radically NEW Covenant, based on the blood of Jesus Christ, completely fulfilling the Old. As we’re told in Jeremiah, Hebrews, Galatians, Colossians, and other places, the Old Covenant, by design, was not good enough. The New Covenant is better. Better. Better. In every way.
I believe that the New Covenant is not simply one more covenant in a series, to be one day superceded by yet another covenant, but, as resonates throughout the Scriptures is rather the final one, because nothing could possibly be Better.
Last time I blogged, it was to describe the wonders I beheld in the sacrificial system of Leviticus in 1994 when I studied it and found Jesus. This was a truly important step in my Christian growth.
What I didn’t happen to mention is that when I left Leviticus in 1994 to study Hebrews, I never returned, except for reference, until 2011. This year, reading through the Bible with my church family.
Is there benefit to reading the types-and-shadows parts of the Bible? Yes, because the outline and copy they show is definitely the outline and shadow of the One who was at that time yet to come.
But once the shadow is replaced by substance, then we’ll glance at the shadow, but gaze on the substance. Once the photograph of the lover has been replaced by the lover Himself, we’ll glance at the photo, but we’ll fix our eyes on the Lover.
Praise God for the glorious New Covenant, through whose Author we can see Jesus Christ, who is, as Hebrews implies, the features on the face of God. We won’t give equal time to continuing to delineate the outline of the Hero and trace a copy of Him when we can look up and behold Him in His glory.
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Interesting thoughts from your friend Sharon…. I agree with her with much of it, yet, still think about passages like the one from 1 Cor 10:11 and Romans 15:4, both of which indicate all that God laid down for us in the past was to teach US, ie, New Covenant believers, through the lessons and instructions that came through the Old Covenant. God still speaks in precious ways through His OC, mostly in ways that make me extremely grateful for Jesus and the New Covenant in his blood! (I can’t imagine NOT reading Isaiah or the Psalms on a regular basis.)
LOVE LOVE LOVE what she said about the 10 commandments. I am always incredulous by how many believers see the 10 commandments as essential and central to the Christian walk. As for me, I look to Jesus for the commands He gives me – the commands of Christ, as in Gal 6:2 and Sermon on the Mount and His commands related to loving God and others.
So…. I do understand where she’s coming from, but she takes it a bit beyond where I’d be willing to go.
Thanks for sharing this!
Perhaps she goes a little beyond . . . but it’s interesting to get a discussion going! As I said elsewhere, I’m primarily referring to the types and shadows. These things are good to know, but also good to be kept in balance, which is not equal with the weight due to the fulfilment of the reality of those types and shadows.
It’s been a few years since I’ve read Leviticus but when I read it I was most struck by the similarities between the directions for how to sacrifice and how Jesus fulfilled that sacrifece. The way God laid down to sacrifice a bird is so closely mirrored in the way Jesus spread his arms to be sacrificed for our sins. I didn’t think until I read your words how Jesus was fulfilling the old covenant in the creation of the new. Thanks for making me think.
And you just gave me a new perspective on the sacrifice! Thank you, Cassondra.