The Powerful New Covenant - Part 2
Step 7: The Pronouncement of Blessings and Curses
Deut. 28 says that you will be blessed if you keep the (old) covenant and cursed if you violate it.
In the New Testament we are beneficiaries of all the blessings of God!
Phil. 4:19 - "My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus."
Rom. 8:17 - "Now if we are children, then we are heirs — heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ...."
In the New Testament we don’t find the pronouncement of curses.
Somewhere, somebody has to take the sin, the sickness, and the anger of this world and not pass it on."
Jesus took all the curses, absorbing the sin and the pain, and He didn’t pass it on.
Gal. 3:13-15 says, "Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree." 14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit."
In Gen. 15, God made a covenant with Abram. God knew that Abram would not be able to keep the covenant, so someone else walked between the halves.
"When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces" (Gen. 15:17).
Jesus walked through the halves of the heifer because he represented the spiritual descendants of Abraham.
Step 8: Covenant Meal
Jesus is our covenant meal.
In John 6:48, Jesus says, "I am the bread of life."
Jesus is talking to the Pharisees: "Your forefathers ate the manna in the desert, yet they died. 50But here is the bread that comes down from heaven, which a man may eat and not die. 51I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." (vv. 49-51).
I Cor. 11:24-29 reiterates this truth:
"When he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." 25In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." 26For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. 27Therefore, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. 29For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself."
Step Nine: The Exchange of Names
In the New Testament we take on His name - "Christ - ian."
Note that Jesus - the Son of God - chose to call Himself "the Son of Man."
Step Ten: Exchange of the Oldest Male Child
In the most painful test of his lifetime, Abram lived out this last step of the covenant relationship.
Genesis 22:1-2
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Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, "Abraham!" "Here I am," he replied. 2Then God said, "Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about."Abraham proved, by offering Isaac, that he would not withhold anything from God.
Genesis 24:16-18
"I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities [gates] of their enemies, 18and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
Ultimately this exchange of the oldest male child would be paralleled in the sacrifice of Jesus, which inaugurated the new covenant.
God promises Abraham that his descendants would be the gatekeepers - possess the gates - even of their enemies.
New Testament parallel in Matthew 16:13-19
"When Jesus came to the region of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, "Who do people say the Son of Man is?"
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They replied, "Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets."15
"But what about you?" he asked. "Who do you say I am?"16
Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."17
Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by man, but by my Father in heaven. 18And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it. 19I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."The Church has covenant authority. God supports us in our struggles against the enemy. We have Kingdom keys.