1: New Testament and Old Testament: 1st (En)
Today we are sharing with you a translation and summary from the worship message of the Power City Church on February 19, 2022.
This paper is the first part.
The study of salvation is the study of Jesus Christ, and the study of salvation is the core of Christianity and the most important study of human life. We need to know deeply what the redemption/salvation that Jesus has done for us is.
“2 For if the word spoken by angels was stedfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompence of reward; 3 how shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him;”
📖Hebrews 2:2-3 KJV
🟢 There are two things here.
Number 1: there is the Law of Moses given by the angel. Under that law, every transgression and disobedience receives a just recompense of reward, like it is said that an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. There is no forgiveness in the Law; it is supposed to punish for every evil deeds.
And No. 2: The great salvation that Jesus has given us allows us to escape from the law. How can we escape the law given to us by angels if we neglect so great salvation?
“6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah:”
📖Hebrews 8:6-8 KJV
The phrase "better (in Japanese version, "even more superior")" refers to Jesus' authority, saying that Who has authority is He. Thus, it is not comparing the levels of the two covenants, but rather, continued to use the term to refer to what Christ had done, as the author of Hebrews did consistently throughout his epistles.
In Hebrews, the phrase "better" is used many times to refer to what Christ has done, which is permanent and eternal, unlike the first covenant, which had "fault”. The word "better" means eternal and is used in the same way as the word "perfect" in Hebrews.
The author also uses the term "once" in the book of Hebrews to describe the eternal nature of Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus' sacrifice is "better," meaning it is eternal, and Jesus' sacrifice is "once," meaning it only takes one sacrifice to do it all, one sacrifice having an eternal impact. And this word, "perfect”, It describes the eternal nature of this sacrifice and what those who believe in it have received.
🟢 Eternal covenant, the author of Hebrews uses words like better, new, eternal, to describe the covenant in Jesus' blood. On the other hand, the covenant God made with their ancestors, the covenant He made when He took their hands to bring them out of the land of Egypt, refers to Exodus 12.
Does Abraham appear in Exodus 12? No, Abraham died in Genesis 25:8. Therefore, Abraham was not part of the covenant that took people from Egypt to the Promised Land.
So, what covenant was the author of Hebrews speaking of when he said "the covenant of the beginning"? Let us look at that covenant in context.
“For if that first covenant had been faultless (Hebrews 8:7)”
“For finding fault with them, he saith,(Hebrews 8:8)”
Observe that the covenant is rendered "finding fault with them”(looking for error).
This indicates that the covenant looked for and found fault with the people and that the covenant condemned them.
Did you know that it is only in the Old Covenant that we see the weaknesses, mistakes, and sinful acts of people like Abraham? People like Moses, people like David, people like Isaiah are in the Old Covenant, but you never see their wrongdoings recorded in the New Testament.
All their misdeeds are recorded in the Old Covenant. Why? Because the old covenant is a covenant of fault-finding. Because there is no forgiveness of sins, there must not be even one sin, and it is a sin-finding covenant.
So, for example, if you read the Old Testament, you will see that Moses killed someone and buried him in the sand. And the next day, when he tried to mediate a dispute between two people, one of them looked at Moses and said, "Do you want to kill me like you killed the Egyptian yesterday?" and Moses, terrified that what he thought was his secret was known, ran for his life. (Exodus 2:11-15)
But there is no such record in the New Testament. If you read The New Testament Bible,
“24 By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter; 25 choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt: for he had respect unto the recompence of the reward. 27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” (Hebrews 11:24-27 KJV)
The New Testament never record that Moses left Egypt because he killed someone. The New Testament records Moses' faith, not his sin.
So when those who believed in Jesus and had faith in Christ in the Old Testament appeared in the New Testament writings, there was no record of their errors, but only recorded like "By faith Moses…", "By faith Rahab…", "By faith Samson…".
Samson, for example, he committed suicide and murder at the same time. But still, in the New Testament, Samson is one of the ancestors who got a good description by faith.
Why does the New Testament record faith and not fault/wrongdoing? Because all the faults of believers were punished upon Christ Jesus.
So, recording your mistakes in your mind would be double entry by based on the Old Testament, which is the fault-finding covenant, this is not right.
And God is not a God of illegitimacy, but of justice. His justice has punished all men's wrongs upon Christ, and His love has forgiven all believers in Christ by His perfect gift, Christ! Amen.
“8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; Because they continued not in my covenant, And I regarded them not, saith the Lord.
12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, And their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
📖Hebrews 8:8-9, 12-13 KJV
So the arrival of the new covenant retired the first covenant. The Bible used the word "old" to explain to the reader that the first covenant was no longer in use, that it had expired.
Yes, God had a plan for forgiveness and salvation through Jesus from the beginning. Then, why was the Old Covenant made with our ancestors?
“15 And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. 16 For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. 17 For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. 18 Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. 19 For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, 20 saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you.
22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. 23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. 24 For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us:
27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: 28 so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.”
📖Hebrews 9:15-20, 22-24, 27-28 KJV
What was in the law represented "the patterns of things in the heavens" and "the figure of the true”.
The blood of animal sacrifices, the testamentary arrangements, the presentation of sins, the commandments... the true sacrificial work and the true sacrifice for the forgiveness of sins, which the law implies as its pattern/figure were made by Jesus, whose blood and death fulfilled the "new= everlasting and perfect covenant," and by this new covenant we are who have inherited eternity. That is the salvation of Christ.
(To be continued in Part 2)
(From the tract distributed on April 2nd, 2022)
