Category: The Words of Jesus

The Timeline of the Two Covenants

Jesus said, “The Law and the Prophets were until John; since then, the good news of the kingdom of God has been proclaimed, and everyone is urgently invited to enter it” (Luke 16:16).

The “Law and the Prophets” is a phrase Jesus used a few times in the gospels to identify the old covenant.  The law given to Moses and the Old Testament prophets that follow represent the old covenant, the old arrangement between God and man.  Jesus is saying as clearly as He can that this old arrangement ended with the coming of John the Baptist.  John was the last of the old covenant prophets.

With the coming of Jesus, everything changed in our connection to God.  Jesus proclaimed “the good news of the kingdom of God.”  And the good news is that when you believe the gospel message of Jesus Christ, your sins are forgiven, you become a child of God, and you inherit eternal life.  This good news is called the new covenant.  It describes the new arrangement that we have with God based on Jesus’ finished work on the cross.  And this new arrangement of a life set free in Jesus is ours the minute we believe the gospel.

The timeline of the covenants could not be made more clear.   According to Jesus,

Moses to John the Baptist = the old covenant.

The coming of Jesus to forevermore = the new covenant.

It really is that simple.  And the most beautiful part of all is that the invitation is open to all.  “Everyone is urgently invited to enter in.”  Believe the gospel and enter into this new covenant, this new arrangement with God.  Believe the good news and enter into His kingdom.  Jesus is inviting you.  Jesus is waiting for you.  Are you ready for your “Welcome home!”?

Guarded by God’s Name and Power

11“And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to You.  Holy Father, keep them in Your name, which You have given Me, that they may be one, even as We are one.  12While I was with them, I kept them in Your name, which You have given Me.  I have guarded them, and not one of them has been lost except the son of destruction, that the Scripture might be fulfilled.  13But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (John 17:11-13).

As we continue in Jesus’ John 17 prayer, we find Jesus preparing to leave this world.  While Jesus was in the world, He “guarded” the disciples so that none were lost (with the exception of Judas, who chose his own path of destruction).  In this prayer, Jesus now transfers His guardianship to the Father.  He asks the Father to “keep them in Your name.”  That is, to keep them with God’s power.

Throughout the Old Testament, the name of God is equated with the power of God.  “May the name of the God of Jacob protect you!” (Psalm 20:1).  “Through Your name we will trample down those who rise up against us” (Psalm 44:5).  “Save me, O God, by Your name, and vindicate me by Your power” (Psalm 54:1).  “Nevertheless He saved them for the sake of His name, that He might make His power known” (Psalm 106:8).  “Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:8).  And one of my favorites, “The name of the LORD is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe” (Proverbs 18:10).

Jesus also prays that “they may be one”.  We will see this specific request of Jesus a few times in this prayer.  Our unity as believers is of great importance to the Savior.  I believe that is why the apostles emphasize over and over the unity of the body in their letters to the churches.  “With all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” (Ephesians 4:3).

This call for unity is very serious.  Division is deadly to the body of Christ.  Too often, we separate over points of theology or over what should be emphasized in a church’s mission or which personalities to line up behind.  But we all need, with our various gifts and personalities, to come under the authority of Christ’s prayer; His prayer that we would be one.  There is no greater aspiration in the church.  Our unity is a direct demonstration of our “loving one another”.

Earlier in the evening, Jesus said to His disciples, “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full” (John 15:11).  Here in verse 13, Jesus prays to the Father requesting that their experience of His joy would indeed come to pass.  Christ’s joy IN YOU is Christ’s promise TO YOU and Christ’s prayer FOR YOU.  May you dwell in the answer to this prayer, and feel the overwhelming warmth of Christ’s joy in you.

-Excerpt from Abiding in the Father’s Love by Jay.  Click here to order a copy.  This book is a verse by verse look at Jesus’ last supper message where Jesus gives us a beautiful promise and preview of what life under the new covenant will look like.