Living a New Covenant Existence

Hebrews 8 provides wonderful insight into the New Covenant that Jesus established through His death, burial & resurrection. For you and I to experience a New Covenant lifestyle, we must first put the Old Covenant in its proper place.

As a child I was taught the 10 Commandments. I memorized them, could recite them, and did my best to keep them. I have no doubt that many of you lived the same way. While I have no problems with sharing the values found in them, we must be careful that we do not approach them in the same manner as the Jews. The Old & New Covenants are very different. We would be well served to know the difference.

First of all, you need to understand that the Old Covenant was established between God & Man (Israel in particular). It was an agreement between two parties. If Israel would walk in all that God commanded them - they would be blessed. However, if Israel failed to follow after God's commands - they would not receive God's blessings. In other words, the Old Covenant was an "If...then..." Covenant.
If Israel would _____________ then God would __________.
If Israel did not __________ then God would withhold ____________.
It's quite simple for us to understand because this is how we see most covenants.

Secondly, you need to know the basis for this covenant which was The Law. The Law consisted of the 10 Commandments and somewhere around 620 other laws. According to Jesus, to fall short in one was the same as breaking them all. The Law was meant as a means to establish righteousness & holiness among the people. The Law consisted of how people handled their relationship with God and others, holy days and practices, and even what to do when you had to go to the bathroom. There was a lot to the Old Covenant but Israel agreed that it would be this way. It was not God imposing a religious system on the people, it was God giving them what they asked for.

Thirdly, you need to understand that the Old Covenant was created (in my opinion) outside of relationship. Adam & Eve chose the Knowledge of Good & Evil as a means to becoming like God rather than live in relationship with Him. As soon as their eyes were opened they began to see themselves through a different lens. No longer (they thought) could God handle their nakedness. No longer could they freely come into the presence of God. No longer was walking with Him enough. They, in essence, sought to establish their own righteousness and all of humanity followed.

The NEW COVENANT on the other hand was enacted on better promises. It is a covenant that was established between God and the Son of Man (Jesus). This is a covenant that is not based upon Law but upon GRACE (the divine enablement of God). This covenant was not created outside of relationship but INSIDE relationship. It's a covenant that isn't about performance but about POSITION. You see, Jesus coming in the flesh became the Last Adam. According to Paul's writings to the early church He took Adam's place. Adam's fall led to the fall of everyone while the Last Adam's obedience lifted us up. The First Adam introduced sin & death while the Last Adam brought us grace & life. Not only that, but according to what God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah this New Covenant that was established would not be like the old one. The NEW COVENANT has been written upon our hearts. It's no longer a set of laws written upon stone or in a scroll. Instead, God chose to establish a covenant through His Son that would be within every human being. That is the beauty of the incarnation. Jesus came into our darkness, into our shame and separation, and took it all upon Himself. He found in His Father in the midst of it and all of humanity was wrapped up in His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. He is now seated at the right hand of His Father as the Son of God & the Son of Man. He is the mediator of this New Covenant - not us. He is the Faithful High Priest who offered Himself on our behalf. It was His purpose to lead many sons into glory, not just followers to a divine rule.

The NEW COVENANT doesn't need our performance because Jesus has done everything that needed to be done. It doesn't need our approval because Jesus has stated that "IT IS FINISHED!!!" The New Covenant doesn't need anything from us except our acceptance of what already is. It is a fulfilled covenant. And in establishing this covenant, according to the writer of Hebrews, the old one became obsolete. In other words, it was no longer needed. Not only has it become obsolete, it has completely vanished away!!! Our acceptance of the New Covenant does not make it true - it just means that we get to experience the reality of it. Much like the million dollars in the account that I shared with you last week, you will never know the benefits of it unless you acknowledge it.

The sad part in all of this is that I see so many believers still living in The Law. They are still living with that "If...then..." mentality. They keep performing thinking that somehow it makes them acceptable to God without the realization that they have been accepted in Christ. The decision of the Father, Son, & Holy Spirit to come into the far country of our lives and rescue us was something they chose to do before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4). It's the absolute beauty of the Gospel: Reconciliation, Redemption, Forgiveness, & Acceptance is all in Jesus. To sum up the Apostle Paul, in the same way that all of humanity suffered because of the first Adam, all of humanity is blessed through the Last Adam. Jesus' death, burial, resurrection, and ascension are so much more powerful than Adam's failure. We died with Him, were raised with Him, and have ascended with Him. The moment we believe this reality is the moment we begin to walk in the wholeness (Sozo) He paid for.

The Spirit of God testifies with our spirits that we are sons of God. Isn't that powerful? Isn't that a greater covenant? Aren't those better promises? In the end, what God gets out of all of this is you...all of you. Not just your service, not just your obedience, not just your sacrifices, but you. And you are who/what He has always wanted. Athanasius, one of the early church fathers, penned it this way: "It was unworthy of the goodness of God that creatures made by Him should be brought to nothing through the deceit wrought upon many by the devil; and it was supremely unfitting that the world of God in mankind should disappear, either through their own negligence or through the deceit of evil spirits. As, then, the creatures whom He created...were in fact perishing, and such noble works were on the road to ruin, what then was God, being good, to do?"

Let me tell you what He did: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son..." (John 3:16) What God said He would do in Jeremiah 31:31-34, He has done. If you would only believe, you could experience this New Covenant life for yourself. You will stop seeing yourself as separated from God. You would know the love of your Heavenly Father. You will discover that life is worth living and you will begin to experience LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS.

Hidden

Ephesians 4:17-18, "Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart."

As we seek to embrace a life without limits, we must understand that the two greatest inhibitors of this life are IGNORANCE & UNBELIEF. This is exactly what Paul is talking about in the verses above. The reason why the rest of the Gentile world is "stuck" in the lifestyles that they lead is because they do not know the Gospel or because they do not believe it. The beauty of the good news is that it has the power the change that. That is...if we will allow it.

Contrary to popular belief, what you do not know can hurt you. If you do not know that you are loved - you will love accordingly. If you do not know what Christ has come to accomplish - the same will be true. Regardless of the scenario, IGNORANCE plays a destructive role in our lives. Imagine a homeless man that has suddenly become a millionaire. Someone went to the bank without his knowledge, opened an account in his name, deposited a million dollars, but never told him. The result is that the homeless man remains homeless. He continues to beg for money, food, and shelter. He continues to live the life of a homeless man. However, the reality is that he IS a millionaire. He just simply doesn't know it.

Now take that same scenario (homeless man + million dollars placed into an account in his name) but this time let's say the banker comes to visit him. He tells the homeless man that someone has placed a million dollars into an account and all he has to do is come to the bank to get it. The homeless man is staggered by the possibility but he just cannot bring himself to believe this good news. I mean, who would do such a thing? The homeless man, rather than receive everything that is rightfully his, rejects the good news of the banker and continues to live his homeless lifestyle. That is the power of UNBELIEF. The difference between ignorance and unbelief is knowledge. One has it but the other does not. The one thing that these two forces have in common is that they keep the homeless men from receiving what is actually theirs.

The reality that we need to see is that each of these men are millionaires. What they do not know or do not believe doesn't change the fact that there is a million dollars sitting in an account for each of them. In other words, what they believe or do not believe doesn't change the fact that someone deposited a million dollars in their name. And while this illustration may seem like a feeble attempt to describe all the riches we have in Christ, the beauty of the Gospel is that abundant life of Jesus is ours for the taking. However, if we do not know it or do not believe it, we will never actualize it in our lives. What Jesus did through His incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension has affected all of mankind. Our faith does not make it true but our faith will allow us to appropriate all that He has done.

The point of Paul's letter is that "THIS IS NOT YOU!!!" You don't have to live like the rest of the world because you are not ignorant of what Jesus has done. You believe that He came, died, rose again, and ascended to His Father. You have received the good news of the Gospel and it has profoundly affected your life. Therefore, you do not have to live in darkness. You don't have to give in to the things of the world. You have overcome this lifestyle because of all that Jesus has done.

One of the saddest things that I have seen in the church during my lifetime are believers who are ignorant of all that they possess in Christ or they simply do not believe that these things are true. They have just enough faith to get them "saved" but not enough faith to get victory. They strive through religious ritual, traditions, and keeping the law. They have never experienced the wonder of abundant life in Christ because they still see themselves as outside of the equation.

Several months ago, I preached at a church where I had served as youth pastor. During my sermon, I shared the truth of who we are in Christ. You would have thought that I had introduced a new doctrine to many of them. They staggered in unbelief. It sounded too good to be true. It is for this reason that the church must recapture the beauty of everything that we possess in Christ. We need to understand what the finished work of Jesus is all about. AND we need to see that our lives are hidden with Christ in God:
The beauty that Jesus included us in His incarnation.
The truth that we were included in His crucifixion.
The amazing reality that we were included in His resurrection.
The wonder that we were also included in His ascension.
This is the Gospel. This is the powerful good news that we preach. This is the staggering truth of what was in the heart of God before the foundation of the world.

It's true whether we know it or not. It's true whether we believe it or not. But what we know & believe will make a drastic difference in what we experience in this life and the next. Allow Ephesians 1:4 to sink down deep into your spirit: "Even before He made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes." This is the mind-boggling reality, that even before Adam fell He chose us to be His in Christ. Part of your journey in life is discovering this reality along with all of the implication. Abundant life waits for you. Don't miss it!!!

Life in His Image

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness...' God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." Genesis 1:26-27

In keeping with the word for this year, I decided to share a message entitled "Life in His Image." I felt it was appropriate for us to go back to the beginning so that we may fully grasp the unlimited potential for this life. Being created in the image of God is no small matter. In fact, it's one of the things that gives us incredible hope for our fellow man. It has always been the confession of the church that each of us were created in the image of God. That mankind since the beginning of creation and to this day bear the indelible marks of our Creator. Without this understanding, man is left up to his own devices to create life for himself. The understanding of who God is will help you understand who you are.

For this message I decided to use a little crowd participation. I asked the simple question: What are some of the characteristics of God?
Holy
Intelligent
Creative
Relational
Gracious
Love
Etc.

As people created in the image of God, it makes perfect sense that we are also holy, intelligent, creative, relational, gracious, love, etc. The word "image" here is pivotal in our understanding. It means we bear His likeness or that we are a resemblance of Him. Whatever is a part of His image, we carry. This did not cease to happen because of Adam & Eve's fall in the Garden. We did not cease to be holy, intelligent, creative, and so on. What we lost in their fall is this understanding of ourselves. We began to see ourselves as much less that what God created us to be and we also began to see God as someone who couldn't handle us naked before Him.

The reason for this type of discussion is quite simple: We must recapture the fact that as human beings we have been created in His image. Without this understanding, life for us can lose meaning, purpose, and potential. Everything about our lives is wrapped up in Him. How we live out our existence will be according to this knowledge. Don't miss it!!!

For centuries, our conversation has been dominated by the fall of Adam. We see every human being from that perspective. We believe that since Adam fell that He was no longer holy, no longer able to love, and no longer to have a relationship with God. However, immediately after Adam's fall in the Garden, we find God coming to the man and woman He created. He clothed them, protected them, and made a promise to them. Why? I believe it's because the Father wanted them to know that He would not allow them to go into nothingness and that the dream of His creation would be realized.

I don't know of a person in this world that looks at a newborn baby & thinks that they are separated from God.
I mean...how many people could look at an infant and think that this child is far from God?
But the reality is that much of our conversation within the church has centered around these very things. We struggle to see ourselves as people made in His image AND we really struggle to see anyone outside of the church this way. But the reality is that we always bear the image of the One who has created us, just as we bear the image of our parents when they partnered together in our creation.

Knowing whose image you bear will help you to understand that love was always to be a part of you. Creativity was to always flow from your life. Being relational isn't something that you have to force because it is who you are. What we fail to realize in all of this is that when we struggle to show these traits that it's usually due to something that has happened to us. Someone told us that we were less or we believed that we could never allow this part of our nature to come out. Therefore, we live lives that embrace the lies of the enemy rather than the image of our Creator. Sin is a part of that equation as well because sin brings death. It blinds us to the reality of who God is and who we are. Why do you think Jesus died to set us free from it? It's all part of the Father's plan that His creation would return to His original intention. It was His longing for us - the love of the Creator to the created - the love of a Father for His children - a longing that would not allow His dream to die and would not allow us to reach our full potential.

Some people will take issue with the fact that I said that we are holy by nature. But that is the reality of who we are. Holiness does not just mean "moral uprightness", it can also mean "set apart." Think about the fact that vessels used in the temple were considered holy. I don't know of a dish, a bowl, or a lampstand that is morally upright. However, I do read about these things as being set apart for use in the temple. And these things were set apart IN THEIR CREATION.

As men and women created in the image of God, we were set apart from all creation. We were made holy. Does that mean we have always lived in complete relationship with our Father? Does that mean our lives have always carried a moral uprightness to them? The answer to these questions is "NO." But that does not take away from what we were created to be and become in the earth. What it does mean is that we have to recapture the beauty of the Gospel, the unconditional love of the Father, and the finished work of Christ. Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost. He did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved. The moment we realize the truth of these statement is the moment our faith says AMEN to the reality of what is true in Christ.

Our daughter was 6 years old when she confessed Jesus as Lord. She had believed for a very long time but we tried to do the good parent thing and make sure that she "really understood." Last year, she told my wife that she remembered that time. She said, "You know mom...I ALWAYS believed that God loved me and I ALWAYS believed that I was His...until you told me different." Why did we tell her different? We told her different because it had been ingrained into us that we had to confess we were sinners before we could every accept Jesus. What that means is that I had to make my daughter confess what she WAS NOT so that she could become what SHE ALREADY WAS. Do you see that? Do you see why our conversation needs to change? Do you see why we need to recapture the beauty of the Gospel? Our kids understand it. We have taught our kids since they were old enough to learn that they were loved, that they were created in the image of God, and that they belonged to Him. May we never change the narrative.

Let me say to all of God's kids that are reading this today: You are loved, you were created in His image, and you belong to Him. Allow the reality of those statements to press in on your heart. Turn away from anything that keeps you from embracing the reality of who God is and what He has done for you. Believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus. Confess Him as Lord. You will be amazed at how your life will be saved in so many ways.

Enjoy the journey: A life in the image of God!!!

*************************************************************************
Over the next few weeks I am going to do only 1 blog entry per week. I want to use this time to focus on the book that I started last year. I simply want to put my creativity into finishing it. I'm excited about all the possibilities that this year holds. May we continue to see that we possess a life without limits.

Life Without Limits

Over the past few years I have shared a "word" on the first Sunday of the New Year with our PBC Family. My intention has been to hear something from the Lord that would shape our outlook for the coming year. It allows us to gauge what God is doing in our midst and helps us to understand how He is working in our individual lives. I have yet to see these words return to Him void. Allow me to share with you what I shared with our PBC Family because it will also shape what is shared here.

I'm not sure who gets credit for the above quote, but I love it. Over the past few weeks, every time I hear Jesus in John 10:10 say that He has come so that we may have life and life more abundantly, I hear Him say that it is life without limits. The reality for each and everyone of us to embrace is that many (if not most) of the limits we place on life are self-imposed.

During the course of our lives we will often hear what we are not or what we cannot do. What we realize is that the ones who rejected this type of thinking, are the ones who achieve and become more than they could have imagined. I believe this is the mentality that the church needs to embrace. We need to see that life in Christ is unlimited. It's life filled with joy, with peace, with abundance. It's life that doesn't need religion because we understand that religion is what you do when you don't know Christ. We also understand that in Christ we don't have to live in a poverty mindset - a mindset that constantly says, "I do not have." How is that possible? It's possible because we know that in Him, and through His divine power, that we have everything we need for life and godliness. That one nugget of truth alone can open up a life of inclusion, of sharing, and openness.

The life that Jesus speaks of in this verse is the same quality of life that He enjoyed. It's an ABSOLUTE FULLNESS of life. The abundant aspect of this life tells us that it is "over & above, MORE THAN IS NECESSARY, and is spoken of in the sense of 'beyond' normal." It's life that is exceedingly, abundantly, and supremely above. It's superior, extraordinary, and surpassing life. Do you know anyone who doesn't want that type of existence?

The question you will have to answer is whether or not you believe this type of life is real or imaginary. Is it possible that abundant life can be that good, that real, and that attainable? My belief? It's absolutely REAL, absolutely that GOOD, and absolutely that ATTAINABLE. Do you think that Jesus would make this statement if it were not true? And according to the witness of Scripture, God wouldn't make any promise that wasn't "YES & AMEN" in Christ.

Over the course of this year it is my prayer that we will understand why our lives are so good, so full of glory, so majestic, and at the same time such a mess. We will learn how to change how we think, how we speak, how we interact with others, and how we live in relationship with God. Yes, my friends, the word for this year is LIMITLESS. I'm excited for all of us to encounter this in our journey.

I trust everyone is enjoying a Happy New Year already. Exciting things are on the horizon. Have a blessed day!!!