The Covenants of Love

Stay safe.

Indeed, as we heard in the sermon, God is yearning for closeness.

God, God indeed is striving and is doing everything possible to have a close relationship with you and I.

Now, the Bible is structured with a lot of covenants.

There are various covenants in the Bible. Have you wondered why there are covenants in the Bible? Why not just God's law? I mean, is the law enough? Why are there covenants as well?

Why are there covenants in addition to God's law?

Now, you and I know that if it was just the law, which one of us has not sinned? And the wages of sin is death. So, we all would be condemned to death.

In fact, eternal death. And that will be the end of the story.

So, if it was just the law, that would be the end result. So, why covenants?

Covenants are there because they define what God requires of us through a contract, through a contractual obligation, to one reconcile us and to bless us so that he can have that close relationship with you and I, that he desires.

A covenant, in other words, is a contract in which he has promised to do certain things.

On a conditioner, we do our parts of the contract. It's like when you buy a car. You sign a contract. Maybe it's the bank or whatever, or a financial institution says, okay, you lend me the money so I can have the car, but my part of the contract is I'll pay you over x, y, z period of months or whatever years, and then the car belongs to me. You make a contract. You do your part. I do my part. So, it's a contract between two so that we can have some end result.

That's why there's covenants. What is the end result? The end result is God wants to bless us. With what? With a personal relationship between him and I, and him and you, and him and us, as his children, as a family.

And so, for him to bless us with that, there's got to be, first, some type of reconciliation payment in the words, some paying of the fine, of the penalty of us breaking the law. But if you break a law, a traffic law, whatever it is, and there's a penalty, you've got to pay for it just because you say, well, I'll now obey all the laws of traffic, doesn't pay for the fine. So, you've got to pay for that fine. Now, you and I cannot pay for that fine because life for life, and the life is in the blood. So, you and I cannot pay for that. So, God has provided a way to pay for us on the condition that now we do something different. And what is different? We actually obey his laws. We actually, it's nothing different than obeying the very same laws that we should have obeyed in the beginning anyway. And that's what the covenants are all about. The covenants are there because God wants to bless you and I.

For our own good, because he loves us, because God is love. He just wants to bless you. I mean, sometimes we don't really understand it. But if you are a dad or a mom, particularly a mom, and you have that tiny little baby, and you with that motherly love only want the best for that tiny little baby, you will do everything for that tiny little baby. Don't you, as a mother, you will go climb any mountain for the good of that tiny baby. That is the love that God has for us. We are his tiny little babies.

And that is the kind love, the kindness, the graciousness, the grace of God. That's just that love that he has for us. And because of that, he only wants to bless us. Like, you only want the best for your tiny little babies when they grow up. And so, as parents, we start to learn a little bit of the love of God towards us through being parents. As children, maybe we don't fully understand the love of the parents afterwards us, but that's why we all have to go through that stage and one day become parents and start to learn what it's all about. So why covenant? A covenant is there so that God can bless us. In other words, a covenant is there so that God can have a relationship with us because he's yearning for that closeness, as we heard in the sermon.

He is pursuing that closeness with everything that he's got. Indeed, he gave his life. Christ gave his life for us. Everything is God for that. And so, let's look at some of the covenants and see that linkage, how God wants to bless us. The first covenant that we may look very briefly at is in Genesis chapter 9, which is after the flood. And then we see there was a covenant with Noah. And in Genesis chapter 9, we start reading in verse 12. In Genesis chapter 9. In verse 12, and God said, this is the sign of the covenant which shall make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for perpetual generations.

I'll set my rainbow in the cloud, for it shall be for a sign of this covenant, of this agreement, of this contract between me and the earth. And it shall be when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud. And I'll remember my covenant which is between me and every living creature of all the earth. The waters shall never again become a worldwide flood to destroy the whole earth. There will never be a worldwide flood. In other words, is a coverings agreement to bless the people who are already thinking into the great hope of the future that God does not want mankind to die.

That God wants to have a relationship with mankind. So, really, thinking along those lines that God wants to bless, but in this case being through a flood. And it says, verse 16, the rainbow shall be in the cloud and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.

So, God has made this everlasting covenant with every creature and he points already to that hope. But now let's look at another covenant which, for instance, we could look in more than one place, but let's look at, for instance, in Genesis 17. Just a few chapters ahead in Genesis 17, which is a covenant made with Abraham when he was 99 years old, as we read in verse 1. The Lord appeared to Abraham and said to him, I am the Almighty God, walk before me and be blameless and I'll make my covenant between me and you and will multiply you exceedingly.

In other words, I will bless you. I want to bless you. And then Abraham fell on his face and talked with God saying, as for me, beyond my covenant is with you. And God talked with him saying, a bigger pardon, as for me, beyond my covenant is with you and you shall be a father of many nations. No longer shall your name be called Abraham, but your name shall be Abraham, for I've made you a father of many nations.

I will make you exceedingly fruitful. I'll make nations of you and kings shall come from you. In other words, I want to bless you. But is it just to bless Abraham? He says, no, because I'll make nations out of you. And look at it in verse 7. And I'll establish my covenant between me and you and your descendant, as it should be. In some other Bibles, it talks about your seed.

Your seed, your descendant, which represents Christ. Descendant days Christ after you, in their generations, for an everlasting covenant to be God to you and your descendant, or descendant after you, as it shows elsewhere as being the seed. So the promise is to the people through number one, Abraham, but also through the seed. Why? Because Abraham, in a sense, is the first, but the seed is the second, which is Christ, is the one that fully fulfilled the covenant and never broke anything in that covenant.

It's perfect. He fulfilled that covenant completely. So we see two stages, a duality in this promise. First to Abraham, but also ultimately through the seed to go to every nation. And as you look further into this covenant, you see that through Abraham, then this covenant was given to Israel later on, as we'll see in Exodus. The covenant was given to Israel as a nation. So it was to Abraham and to the seed, because the seed completely fulfilled that covenant. Then to Israel as a physical nation, so that Israel as a physical nation could be a leading nation to bless the whole world, all the other nations.

As we'll see, Israel as a nation completely and utterly failed. So a new spiritual nation was raised in place of Israel, which is spiritual Israel. And so we have the seed, through the seed, spiritual Israel, so that through spiritual Israel the whole world can be blessed, which will happen so in the world tomorrow. So you can see this duality in here already being introduced.

So let's look at that blessing of the nation of physical Israel, which is in Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19. Exodus chapter 19, it's after Israelites have been 40 years in the wilderness.

They left Egypt, they went through the wilderness, and now they get to Mount Sinai. And in Exodus 19, we're going to read in verse 5, The seed and descendants of Abraham is going to work through them, and so that with them there'll be a leading nation, an exemplary nation, a model nation that all other nations could look up to and follow so that God could bless the whole world. And what did they do? They utterly failed. They utterly failed. But what you see is God's business to them. In Exodus, we can see. And then look at in verse 8 of chapter 19. Then all the people answered together and said, all that the Lord has spoken, we will do. In other words, they signed a contract. The contract says, this is where the blessings are left, and all they have to do is obey my law. And the people said, yes, sir, we'll do it and sign the contract. Yes, we'll do it. And then you can see through the next few chapters an outline of that covenant. And then the conclusion of that covenant is in chapter 24. So if you look at Exodus 24, Exodus 24, starting in verse 3, so Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the judgments and all the people answered with one voice and said, all the words which the Lord has said, we will do. So these chapters from Exodus 20 through 23 are basically that covenant. And they say, yes, we'll do it. And verse 4, and so Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and he rose early in the morning and built an altar, etc., there. And then a little lightning, verse 7 says, then you took the book of the covenant and read in the earring of the people. And they said, all that the Lord has said, we will do and will be obedient. And Moses took the blood, sprinkled on the people and says, this is the blood of the covenant. Why blood?

Because the covenant, a little earlier, if you read just a few chapters before, it says, blood for blood, life for life. And because we have sinned and broken, it requires blood. And so there had to be blood to cover for the sins. Why? Because it's already pointing to Christ. It's already pointing to Christ. So there had to be blood. In other words, points to a future payment to reconcile mankind.

So that's the old covenant. The old covenant was made with Israel, with a nation, was built upon the promise of the covenant originally made with Abraham. And it was like phase one with the physical nation. As you and I know, they failed. They failed. So now Christ comes back, comes to earth some 2000 years ago. And let's read how he seals that new covenant. And that, for instance, the one possibility is looking at Luke chapter 22. So we'll look at there. Luke chapter 22 and verses 19 and 20.

Luke chapter 22 verses 19 and 20.

Luke 22, 19 and 20.

And he took the bread and gave thanks and broke it and gave it to them. Says, this is my body, which is given to you. Do this in remembrance of me. And we're in the sermonette. Why they sufferings and that's representing the body. The sufferings that tries to suffer for us. And then in verse 20, for our healing, in verse 20, likewise he also took the cup, also after supper. It was after the meal, you know, so this was done after supper. Saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is shared for you. So this new covenant has the blood, but it's Christ's blood. And it's represented here by this cup of wine, given, symbolic, symbolizing Christ's blood.

So what do we have here? What we have now is a spiritual nation being formed.

As we, as Christians, are becoming the new Israelites in the spirit, we become a spiritual Israel, not a physical Israel, replacing the physical Israel that failed. And so what do we have is a covenant, a covenant for God to bless us. How can you bless us? By providing the sacrifice to reconcile us because of our sins, and to provide us an opportunity to bless us, because he promises to bless us. He's got great promises of eternal life in this new covenant. He promises to bless us if we just meet the conditions of that covenant. That's why there's covenants. Covenants because God loves us.

As I call it in the title of the sermon, Covenants of Love, because God is yearning for a closeness with us, and he loves us. He has that outstanding loving kindness towards us.

But there has to be repentance. There has to be a change. Yes, there has to be a change. That's why before baptism we review all the points about repentance and change.

And then in good faith we baptize you, and God sees the hearts. But God expects you now to fulfill your part of the agreement that you've done with God. And the ball's in your court. It's not the minister's court. I did it in good faith.

Now it's up to you whether you're going to follow or not. See, you and God, you made a contract with God. I'm just an idiot in a sense doing that contract for you. If you are not obeying and following, then you've got to answer to God, not to me. And that's a thing that we all need to remember. So, what is the goal? What is God's goal towards us? What we've seen, it's a closeness. It's a relationship. As John puts it in 1 John 3, look at how John puts this relationship. 1 John 3. Beyond what manner of love? Brethren, God has laughed towards us.

The Father has bestowed on us that you and I should be called the children of God. We are God's children. Granted, we're not yet born again. We've been begotten, but we're not yet born again. Just like when you were begotten for the first time, you were as an embryo in a mother's womb, but you were already, my children or whatever it is, if you were the father, you would call them, this is my child. But it's not my child. It's still in a mother's womb. But you do not yet appear what you will be because you have not yet been born. We have not been born again yet because that's at the resurrection. And at the resurrection, when Christ comes, we'll then appear like we will be because then we'll be born again.

Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. And you and I are flesh and blood. If you don't think you're flesh and blood, then maybe you don't feel the pains I feel. We all flesh and blood. But one day we'll be spirit. And one day we'll be different. We'll be born again.

And so, continuing there, we should be called the children of God. Yes, we are already the children of God. Therefore, the world does not know us because it did not know Christ when it was on the earth. Beloved, now we are the children of God.

And it has not yet been revealed what we shall be. In other words, we're not yet born again. We are begotten, but we're not born again yet. But we know that when He is revealed, it was when Christ comes back at the Second Coming, we'll be resurrected, and then we'll be turned into spirit beings. Also, we are alive, and we've been remaining faithful till the end. We'll be transformed into the new body. So that when He's revealed, we shall be like Him. In other words, we'll become spirit beings like He is a spirit being. And we shall see Him as He is. Because the spirit beings will be able to see spirit beings today. You and I cannot see spirit beings. We can't see Him as He is now as a spirit being.

And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies Himself just because He's pure.

This is such a great hope that helps us as we make this contract, which is the new covenant which we made at baptism. If this is really burning in our minds, we will strive to overcome.

But this has got to be burning in our minds.

We're not going to be lackidized. We're going to be hot because there's no second chance.

There's no second chance. This is it, boys, quote-unquote. I don't mean to degrade anybody by saying that, but I'm just saying this is it. Man, lady, this is it. This is it. If you've made that commitment, this is it. And don't say, oh well, I'm struggling. I can't overcome. You can because you've got God's Holy Spirit and use it. Don't quench it. So brethren, what is the goal? The goal is God wants to bless you and I, to be a family, to have a relationship with him, to be yearning for that relationship. We really got to do that. And how does he make that possible? Through reconciling sacrifice, which is through the blood of Christ, and the self-purification that it says he who has hope, he need, purifies himself. Self-purification, how? With the help of God's Holy Spirit. You and I cannot do it. We need the Holy Spirit that sanctifies us.

Brethren, God wants to bless you. God wants to give you all of the best.

So what's the problem?

The problem is, yeah, the problem is, yeah, we slipping up and we better jack ourselves up and get ourselves right and ask God for more help. Ask for that daily bread, which is God's Holy Spirit, and so that through the Holy Spirit we ask God, lead us not into the way of temptation, but lead us into the right way, not into the way of our carnal flesh weakness, but lead us in the right way, as we should be praying daily. So the question is, can we understand why the law is not sufficient?

Because the law only tells us what's right and wrong. It only tells us what's correct and incorrect. The law, it only says, this is right and this is wrong. The law does not help us to pay the fine. And what's our fine? Death. The law, spiritual law of God's Ten Commandments, gives us a fine. What is that fine? Death. Does the law pay for that fine? No. I'll give you an example. If you drive under the influence of alcohol, and you are caught, the law is not very kind towards you, and you end up going to jail, or whatever, depending on different circumstances, and the law, and the judges, and all the other things. But the point is, you are not looked in a very nice way. And you are in deep trouble. And there are many others, examples. You're in deep trouble. Now, if you go to the judge and say, oh well, but I've never driven a gang without drinking alcohol, and one driver, does that pay for the fine? No. The law does not pay for the fine. The fine could be being in jail for a certain period, and a period of probation, and I don't know what else, or a certain final, in certain money, whatever the judge and the law of the state may be applicable. But the law does not pay for the fine. The law does not make you right with the governing entity. Put it another way.

In other words, the law does not make you clean and right and just. You need somebody to pay for that fine. You see, we all make wrong choices in our life. I mean, Adam and Eve made the wrong choice yet. They had two trees, and they select the wrong tree. They made the wrong choice! Well, to the Israelites, God says, I give you life and death, you know, it was two trees, a tree of life and a tree of death, and choose life that you may be blessed. And what did Israel do? They chose death. Brethren, you and I all, daily, through different things that happen to us in our lives, have a choice to make decisions daily.

And we have to choose life. Sometimes it's hard. Nobody said it's not hard, but you've got to do the right choice.

But sometimes we make the wrong choice. Now, if you are continuously doing the wrong choice, that's what I call you. You're probably not making effort because you're practicing and living the wrong way. But if you are continuously making the right choice, but occasionally you slip, it's what it says, you know, you're walking in a light, but occasionally you fall. And yeah, I mean, Kathy was in Dallas sometime recently, and she was walking during the day, and there was some grass, and some underneath the grass, the floor got a little bit uneven. She couldn't see it because she didn't know that area, but because it got a bit uneven, she fell and tripped. Did she want to drop? No! Was she walking in the light? Yes! Did she intend to do that? No, but she tripped. So God says, if you are trying to do the right thing, but occasionally trip, then we've got an advocate to help us. But that is very different than you deliberately trying to actually fall, and walking in the darkness, and trying to fall, and putting yourself into danger. That's very different. So if you and I are trying to walk in the light, and if you're doing the right things, but occasionally with trip, we have this covenant of blood that helps us to reconcile and pay for it, and puts it right, because the Spirit is right. And we have the extra help, which is God's only Spirit, to help us going the right way. You see, the problem, though, is that mankind, in general, mankind, in general, has something missing. It's a missing ingredient. And that missing ingredient is God's only Spirit. Because mankind, in general, they don't want to obey God because they don't have God's only Spirit. Now, if you turn with me to 1 Corinthians 2, 1 Corinthians 2, Paul here gives a simple analogy. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse 11, says, For what man knows the things of a man, except the Spirit of man, which is his name?

In other words, you and I understand the things of man. For instance, you can understand some scientific things, you can understand and appreciate music, you can understand maybe art, and other things of man, because you and I, we have the Spirit of man. Now, if you take a bear or a baboon and start teaching them maths and science and all these things, I doubt you'll be very successful.

Why? Because they don't have the Spirit of man.

You see, it's the Spirit of man that makes the difference.

So, God has given to mankind the Spirit of man, the breath of life, the Spirit of man, and because of that breath of life, that Spirit of man, you and I can understand the things of man.

And I think it's very easy for us to understand that some sort of living being that does not have the Spirit of man, like a bear or a cat or whatever animal it is, an elephant or whatever it is, cannot understand the things of man because they don't have the Spirit of man. But you and I can.

We can understand that. But that is the same principle that Paul is giving YAH in the next section of the same verse when he says, even so, no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. In other words, you can talk till you go blue in the face to a leopard and you won't be able to understand one plus one is two.

And you can try till you're blue in the face will not understand. Likewise, you cannot talk to a human being to go blue in the face about the things of God. And they will not understand unless God's Holy Spirit is around them or in them. That is the analogy that Paul is giving you.

So if you are baptized, you've got God's Spirit in you. If you're not baptized yet, God's Spirit is working with you around you and is helping you to understand these things. Only with God's Spirit can you understand. If you don't understand God's Spirit, if you don't have God's Holy Spirit either in your or around working with you, it's like talking to a wall. And you can preach to that wall as much as you want and it's blank.

It's blank. You try and convert some of your friends and you can convert. If God's not working with them of God's Holy Spirit, it's like you're drawing a blank.

I'm sure all you all know what I'm talking about. They just don't get it because they don't have God's Holy Spirit working with them. That's why.

You see, mankind has got a missing ingredient.

And that is the lesson of the nation of Israel. That is the lesson of the nation of Israel. God gave them the best law. All even gave them, told them to write the law on the wall and to write them on the front door and write the law everywhere and to put tassels to remind them of the law and all these things.

Did it make a difference?

Soch, zero, nothing.

Why?

Because they didn't have God's Holy Spirit.

You see, so if you get to people and some people say, oh well, you need tassels. Well, if you need tassels, then you've got a problem because you don't have God's Holy Spirit to actually prick your heart. That's the problem.

You see, those physical things were done there to these realites to remind them because they had the lack of this ingredient, the missing ingredient, which is God's Holy Spirit. And the lesson to mankind is that without God's Holy Spirit, you could be genetically the best breed of mankind if that was the case.

And I don't want to say that was the case because then that's interpreted incorrectly by some people. So what I'm saying is it could be the best breed. But if you don't have God's Holy Spirit, you will not get it. And Israel failed because they did not have God's Holy Spirit. And that is the lesson to us.

But to you and I, God is now, to you and I, God is now writing his law in our hearts and in our minds. It's not on a wall, not in tassels for you to look at, but he's writing it in a heart and in a mind.

And that is a blessing. And that is the new and living way. It's a new and living way. It's not that old way.

Turn with me to Hebrews chapter 8. Hebrews chapter 8. Reading verse 10.

In other words, God is taking lack of better words. He's taking a spiritual cutting tool. Some sort of a very special spiritual cutting tool and circumcising our hearts by changing our hearts and our minds.

So that it's in YAH that we want to obey God.

That's the new and living way. It's not something written on a wall or something else. It's YAH. It's YAH.

We need to understand that. That is something very special.

And it's not just in the mind.

Because if it's in the mind, you and I have seen a lot of people that have a lot of knowledge. And knowledge pops up and they're intellectuals. And they know all the scriptures back and forth, but they don't practice them because they're intellectuals. It's going to be in YAH as well. It's a matter of the heart. It's a matter of the heart.

And if you just look at the few verses before, reading verse 7 through 9 of Hebrews 8.

Because finding fault with them.

Whose fault was it in old covenant with these relights? Was them? Was these relights?

He says, Behold the days are coming, says the Lord, I'll make a new covenant with the house of Israel, with the house of Judah, 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 did not continue in my covenant and I disregarded them, says the Lord. They did not obey. Yes, they had the Lord written on the walls, they had all the tassels, they had all the things, but that was useless. Useless!

Brethren, are those people lost? No, they're not. And that's a different story that maybe I'll cover another day. They're not lost, because God is very merciful, so He can show mercy to everybody. But that's a different story.

But the point here, the point here, is they are consequences. They are consequences. You've got to remember they are consequences. And we now have a new covenant. Those people have consequences, serious consequences when they disobeyed. Now, you and I have the new covenant. Even more serious consequences will they be if we disobey. Look at verse 6 of the same chapter, and it says, But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry inasmuch as He is the Mediator, talking about Christ of a better covenant, which is establishing better promises. You see, they have promise of the promised land.

We have promises of the promised land, which is God's kingdom. It's a better promise, which is eternal life.

They did not have a promise of eternal life. Our promise is much higher.

But they are consequences as well if we disobey. Because now He's giving us that tool. That's why we say, Do not quench the Spirit. When the tool is pricking your heart to say, Don't do it, don't quench it.

Because there are serious consequences.

Now, was this only to Israel, therefore? Was this covenant only made to Israel? No. If you turn with me to Galatians chapter 3, verse 8, Galatians chapter 3, verse 8, it says, And all structure, for seeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preach the gospel to Abraham before hand, saying, In you all nations shall be blessed. God wants to bless everybody. And through Abraham, and obviously through his seed, which fulfilled all the requisites of the covenant, which was Christ, and so that was sealed, Christ sealed it, because he actually fulfilled all the requisites.

But the promise right there, right up front, was that God in the end wants to bless every person.

God wants to bless every nation. Not just Israel, not just us, but God wants to bless us all. So how is it that he makes us right with him to actually be part of this covenant? How does he make us right with him? Because remember the covenant is about blood, and it's about the promise we're going to do apart. So how does he make us right? He makes us right through this blood. Turn with me to Romans chapter 3. Romans chapter 3.

We'll start reading in verse 20.

Therefore, by the deeds of the law, no flesh shall be justified in his sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. No law can make you right. No law can pay the penalty for you. No law. You can obey the law as much as you want. It will not pay the fine.

You can obey the traffic laws as much as you want, will not pay the fine of the previous times that you've broken the law. The law does not pay.

But he says, for the law, by the law is the knowledge of sin. You know, as the law tells us what's right and what's wrong, what you can do, what you can't do, what you can't do. The law says, when you drive, you've got to put on a seat belt. That's what the law tells us. The law does not pay the fine if you drive without a seat belt. It just tells you that you must drive with a seat belt. That's all the law does.

Why don't people understand that? I mean, it sounds so simple. Yeah, but Satan is there mixing everything up and confusing the whole world, you see?

Continuing then in verse 21. But now the righteous of God, apart from the law, is revealed, being witnessed by the law and the prophets. You know, it was the righteous of God, which is Christ, what He stands for us, is revealed, apart from, you know, the law. But it is witnessed by the law and the prophets. Why? Because it's witnessed by the sacrifices that were pointing to Christ. They were to witness the sacrifices, the killing of lambs and goats, etc., was only temporary pointed to Christ. But the spiritual law, there's no change there.

But thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, thou shalt not lie, etc. There's no change in that.

But there was another law, which was added because of transgressions. And that law that was added, witnessed, pointed to Christ, because that law that was added involved sacrifices and offerings, which pointed to the real sacrifice, to the real blood, which was Christ. So it was witnessed by that law. So even the righteous of God, through the faith of Christ, it should read the faith of Christ. Why is it through the faith of Christ? Because Christ was the Word.

He emptied Himself of all His divine power. He came to earth. He died.

Why did He do that?

Because He had absolute trust that the Father would resurrect Him. If He did not trust that the Father would resurrect Him, in other words, if He didn't want to have faith that the Father would resurrect Him, He wouldn't have not done it. But He had absolute trust and confidence in it. It was the absolute faith. Jesus Christ had faith that the Father would resurrect Him, because He was obedient and the Father therefore resurrected Him.

So it says, yeah, even the righteousness of God, through the faith of Christ, to all and on all who believe. So, there's from faith to faith, yeah, all on all to believe. We've got to believe in Christ, that He's done this, but He believed, therefore it's given to us as a gift. It's nothing that I have done or you have done. His blood is a gift to us, but you and I have to believe that that's good enough. We have to trust in that as well, just from faith to faith. For there is no difference. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Being justified freely by His grace. We are justified freely by His kind love and concern and care. He's done all this for us through the redemption. It was the buying back that is in Christ Jesus of what He did for us.

Whom God set forth as a propitiation, in other words, there's something to cover as the passover, to pass over, to let our sins be passed over, a propitiation by His blood through faith. To demonstrate His righteousness because of His forbearance, God has passed over the sins that were previously committed. In other words, He propitiated, He passed over the sins that were previously committed. That's what it is. It's by His grace and by His, through faith, all done through the faith. To demonstrate at the present time, He is righteousness. It's not my righteousness. It's not your righteousness. It's not you, how many times you do whatever push-ups a day or whatever. It doesn't make you any more righteous or less righteous. It's Christ's righteousness. But that doesn't mean you now can commit adultery. No. That doesn't mean now that you can lie or steal. No. But that does not make you right. That does not pay the fine. What pays the fine, what makes us right, is Christ's righteousness, given to us for free, granted to us as righteousness. That through faith, that's granted to us as righteousness. And He says, yeah, that He might be just and a justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where is boasting then?

Is it excluded? By what law? Of works? No. But by faith, by the law of faith. Therefore, we conclude that a man is justified, is made right with God by faith, apart from deeds of the law.

In other words, all the deeds and things that you may want to do will not pay for the price of your death.

They will not pay. And Paul is emphasizing this because the people, particularly the Jews, had this feeling that all, they've been, they suffered so much, all the suffering, therefore we need a king, we don't need a savior. We just deserve now a king and to be the top nation in the world. That was a problem with the Jewish people.

Verse 31, do we then might void the law through faith? Certainly not! On the contrary, we establish the law. In other words, yeah, you've been forgiven, but now you better not lie. You better not commit adultery. You better not steal. You better not have wrong thoughts of hatred and things like that.

We establish the law. You see, it's the covenant that now establishes the law.

And look at Galatians chapter 3 verse 19, where we are at the moment a little earlier in Galatians. Galatians chapter 3 verse 19.

What purpose then the law serve?

It was added because of transgressions. So what law is he talking about? Because if the law was added because of transgressions, it means that there must have been a law that defined away transgressions. So it's talking about the law, ceremonial law. The ceremonial law, the law of ceremonies and rituals and sacrifices and things like that, all those extra added-on laws were added because they have sinned.

And so they added why? To show them that they needed to be cleansed. They needed to be washed. Did it wash them in the mind, in the conscience? No. It washed them physically but not spiritually.

Why? Because it pointed to the real sacrifice, which is Christ. The real sacrifice is Christ. It's what it cleanses spiritually.

And continuing then, reading them, it was added because of transgressions. So the seed, you know, was still Christ, should come to whom the promise was made. The promise was made to Abraham and the seed. The seed fulfilled all the commandments, so the promise was made to the seed. And it was appointed through angels, in other words, messages by the hand of a mediator, which obviously was Moses and the different messages under him. So we can see that that law of the of ritual ceremonial law was added.

All right. And that law pointed to Jesus Christ and pointed to the Holy Spirit. Because it pointed to the need of a reconciling sacrifice and also pointed to the need that they needed something to remind them of the law because just putting on walls and doing whatever else they did was not good enough. It needed the Holy Spirit to write it in their hearts. And so through that, they now would then be the children of God. That is the process through this new covenant that we then can be inheritors of Abraham and then inheritors of God. As you read, for instance, in Romans 8, when it says we are hairs or inherent hairs of God and coheirs of Christ because then we become his children and therefore we have that promise. So, brethren, Jesus Christ kept all the conditions of the covenant. He never sent. You can read that in Hebrews 4.15. He never sent. And indeed, there's no other name under heaven on earth by which we can be saved. You can read that in Acts 4.12. There's no other name. There's no Muhammad or whatever it is. None. Only Jesus Christ. Only Jesus Christ. He's the only one that fulfilled that promise. So, it's only one through him. And so, it is important that we understand that the old covenant was, in a sense, a shadow to the new covenant.

The old covenant was actually a shadow of the reality. Luckily, it's as if I have a glossy eye and there's a strong light. There's a shadow here. The old covenant was only a shadow. The new covenant is the reality. And the new covenant is got perfect sacrifice, which is Jesus Christ's sacrifice, and gives us the Holy Spirit, which is a helper that helps us to change. Let's look at that now. Let's look at a few points of that, explaining that in Hebrews 9 and 10.

So, let's go to Hebrews 9 and 10.

We're starting in verse 1. It says, Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service, and the earthly sanctuary. Then it describes different things that the old covenant had. It was the first covenant that had the ark, and they had the golden part, and they had Aaron's rod, and all those things, and the tablets of the covenant, between verse 1 and 4, it describes that. But look then in verse 9. In verse 9 it says, That old covenant, with all those physical things, in Hebrews 9 verse 9, it was symbolic, it was symbolic for the present time, in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered, which cannot make him, who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience. Now, this is important. This is important for us to understand. That old covenant had those gifts, had those bulls, and lambs, and goats, and whatever it is, offerings, and different rituals, and ceremonies, etc., cannot make him, who performed the service, perfect in regard to the conscience.

That is the key line. That old covenant could not make the people right with God, could not make them justified, could not make them reconciled, could not make them at one, could not make that relationship that God so much looks for bound together, perfect, could not make it.

It says it was symbolic, because it continues with it, concerned only with foods and drinks and various washings and fleshy ordinance, imposed until the time of Reformation. Those sacrifices of the old covenant could not make people perfect in regard to the conscience. In other words, they did things to the flesh, but not to the conscience. In other words, they did things to the flesh, but not spiritually, spiritually, spiritually, our conscience, our clean conscience, clear conscience, was not clear with the old covenant, until the time of Reformation, which is when Christ came and established the new covenant. Verse 11, it says, But Christ came as high priest of good tidings to come, with greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands. That is not of this creation, not of the blood of goats and calves, but with his own blood, he entered the most hiding place, once for all having obtained eternal redemption. You see, so the old covenant, those sacrifices, only pointed to the real sacrifice, which is Christ, and was done once and for all, once and for all.

Let's jump a little further ahead.

We can see he's the high priest.

And, oh, and look at, oh yeah, I want to read verse 13 and 14. Yeah, I want to read verse 13 and 14. For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of the isler, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh.

In other words, it's okay for the flesh, but not spiritually, not the conscience. How much more shall the blood of Christ, move through the eternal spirit, offer himself without spot, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

You see, as we saw in verse 9, that old covenant was not perfect, would not make us perfect in regard to the conscience. But it's saying, yeah, in verse 14, that the new covenant through Christ's blood makes us perfect in regard to our conscience, because it cleanses our conscience.

And that is beautiful. Brethren, if you and I have repented of past sins, and if you really have repented, Christ's blood cleanses our conscience. What a blessing!

You don't have guilt feelings. It's washed. It's clean. That sacrifice is perfect, spiritually speaking. It's perfect to clear our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God. Yes, now we've got to serve the living God. So we should go on to Hebrews chapter 10. It says, For the law, having a shadow of things to come, and not of any image of things, can never, with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect the law, the law of ceremonies, the law of sacrifices, the law of rituals, through those sacrifices that they did, can never make somebody perfect.

Now, you and I have seen in previous chapters, talking about in regarding to the conscience, in regarding to our spirit, to our minds, our clear conscience. It cannot make us perfect. That old law could not, but Christ, through His sacrifice, can.

Look at verse 2. For then, would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshippers, once purified, once made right, once made justified, would have had no more conscience. It's regarding to our conscience, would have no more consciousness of sense.

But in those sacrifices, there is a reminder of sins every year, for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. In other words, that offering was not perfect, but Christ's offering is perfect. It's perfect, and it's perfect in matter of conscience and cleans our conscience.

And then we'll go a bit further into verse 9. Then He said, Behold, I have come to do your will, O God. In other words, as you read it, what we see is the word was given a body, which was Christ, Jesus Christ. The word was given a body, and the word became Christ, who was given that physical body, Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to earth to do God's will. And then He said in verse 9, Behold, I've come to do your will, God. And therefore, that seed, Jesus Christ, completely fulfilled God's will. And then He takes away the first, then He may establish the second. So that first covenant is now taken away and established a new covenant through Christ is established. Verse 10, By that will, that will of God, that will of God, we have been sanctified. In other words, we have been made at one. We're made set apart. We are now special.

Through the offering of the body of Christ, once for all. Why? Because that sacrifice is perfect, and cleans our conscience as we saw. And so through that, we are now sanctified. We are made just.

And every priest, and continues, and every priest stands ministering daily and offering, repeating the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. This was before the temple was destroyed. And then he continues a bit further. I'll read in verse 14. For by one offering, by one offering, which one offering? The offering of Jesus Christ's body. By one offering, he, God, has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. By that one offering, God has perfected us. In other words, as we saw, as perfection, as far as the conscience, from dead works, it's perfect offering and cleanses us completely.

Forever, for those who are being sanctified. Yes, we're still being sanctified. Why? Because through God's Holy Spirit, we are changing, we are repenting, we are sanctified through the Holy Spirit. We, with God's Holy Spirit, we still see we've done a few things wrong, and we correct ourselves, and we get ourselves right. We're being sanctified. That's a process. It's a sanctification of the Holy Spirit, as we see in 1 Peter 1, verse 1 and 2. It's a sanctification of the Holy Spirit. But God, through Jesus Christ's sacrifice, which is perfect, has perfected us forever. In other words, has cleaned our conscience forever of our sins, and we are clean. We are justified. We are now just before God. We have a relationship with God. And that's why it says a little bit later in verse 19, and it says, therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way. What is this new and living way? It's through the sacrifice of Christ, with the help of God's Holy Spirit, not the old way with different things and rituals and sacrifice, but it's the new and living way, which He has consecrated for us through the veil that He's flesh.

Therefore, it says, verse 22, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience. Our conscience, He's still talking about conscious, of our conscience being completely clean. We can come to Him with a new and living way, which is the new covenant. And brethren, what a blessing it is for God to give us this covenant of love that washes away our sins, that cleanses us, that makes us perfect to Him. You know, it was completely clean and reconciled. And yes, we're still growing and overcoming and being sanctified. And that's why He concludes Hebrews 13, in verses 20 and 21, by saying, Now, may the God of peace, who brought up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete, make you perfect. Yes, we're still not perfect. Our conscience has been made perfect, have been clean, completely, clean, clear conscience. But we are still in the process of sanctification. So make you complete, make you perfect, in every good work, to do His will, according to working in you, that is well pleasing in His sight through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. So, brethren, why the covenant?

Because God wants a relationship. Because God is loved. Because He wants us to become perfect. Be your perfect like your Father in heaven is perfect. He wants us to become perfect. Our past sins, He perfectly cleanses us. He's perfectly cleanses us. But He's given us a covenant, more than just the laws. Because by the law, we always sin and welcome them to death. But God, through the covenant, defines the conditions, number one, for Him to reconcile us and bless us. And two, for us, to merely just do the laws that we should have done anyway. God makes a promise through His covenant to bless us. Why? Because He's loved.