Fanning the Flames

Remember those TV ads from when you were a kid?  They were always promoting something that was “new and improved”.  New and improved struck me a few days ago when I was thinking about the old and new covenants.  We know that the new covenant is new – it’s in the name – and we know that it is an improvement over the old covenant.  The book of Hebrews outlines some clear covenant comparisons and spells out for us what is “better” about the new covenant.

• Jesus brings a better hope (Hebrews 6:19-7:19),
• Jesus is a better priest (Hebrews 7:21-8:2),
• Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant (Hebrews 8:4-13),
• Jesus is a better sacrifice (Hebrews 9:11-28),
• Jesus is a better offering for sin (Hebrews 10:1-16), and
• Jesus’ new covenant is built on better promises (Hebrews chapter 11).

With all the “better” that the new covenant brings, why are folks hesitant to embrace all of the promises and provisions of the new covenant?  Why are we still drawn back to an old covenant mindset and practice.  Why do we try to mix the two covenants together?

Let’s examine the old and new covenants as if they were laundry detergent.  I am going to use Tide as our laundry detergent, not to promote a product, but as a useful shorthand for laundry detergent.  The old covenant is what I call “original Tide”.

So how does the laundry process work with original Tide?  Generally speaking, we notice that our clothes are beginning to smell bad or have become dirty with spills or stains.  So we wash them with our original Tide.  They clean up well.  The smell good.  They look good.  We are good to go for another week, month, or whatever.  At any rate, it is a bit of a job to do this laundry process over and over.  But it is a job that needs to be done if we want clean clothes to wear.

Now let’s say the Tide people come along with a “new and improved” Tide.  But this Tide is unlike any “new and improved” that you have ever experienced.  Here is how it works.

When you wash your clothes for the first time with new and improved Tide, they stay clean for the rest of your life.  You never have to wash these clothes again, ever.  Washing your clothes just one time in new and improved Tide produces clothes that are always fresh, always clean, completely free of stains or offensive odors.  In fact, you can’t mess this up if you tried.  There is nothing you can do to these clothes that would ever have them required to be washed again.

On top of that, these washed one time in new and improved Tide clothes will never wear out.  They will never need to be replaced.  For the rest of your life, these clothes will smell fresh and look perfectly clean after just one washing.

Is that a laundry detergent you would like to have?  Well, I can see that you want to say “yes”, but I also see the skepticism in your eyes.  And those eyes are saying to me, “No thanks, Jay.  There is literally no way this kind of power could exist in a laundry detergent.  It is impossible to create a detergent this new and improved that my clothes would never need to be washed ever again.  I will pass on this crazy idea.  I will stick to my original Tide and my usual laundry routine.”

Why would someone turn down the new and improved Tide?  Because it sounds too good to be true.  And believing that it is too good to be true, they pass on the opportunity.  Do you see the analogy with the new covenant?

Under the old covenant, sin was an ongoing issue.  Sins needed to be confessed.  Punishment needed to be handed down.  Sacrifices needed to be offered.  Acts of penance needed to be carried out.  And it was an over and over pattern that needed to be repeated just like the job of washing our clothes over and over again.  And for some reason, we feel like this is just the way things are, the way things should be, the way the spiritual world works.

But under the new covenant, all of this “over and over” has been removed.  Jesus died once for all, exchanging His righteousness for our sin; sin that He has taken away for good.  “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (II Corinthians 5:21).  God calls this great exchange a thorough, one-time, washed clean.  “He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit” (Titus 3:5).

Do you see the picture, clearly explained throughout the New Testament?  You have literally been washed clean by the one-time sacrifice of Jesus and your embrace of His gospel message.  You have been washed clean by the one-time cleansing of the new and improved new covenant.  You are now identified as righteous (Ephesians 4:24), holy (Colossians 3:12), blameless (Colossians 1:22), clean (Acts 15:9), and perfected (Hebrews 10:14) in Jesus.

But just like our laundry analogy, we often see this picture of grace as just too good to be true.  And I get it.  It seems too supernatural, too out there, too other worldly, too impossible to be true.  Do not let your skepticism stop you.  Do not let what you have been taught about some connection to the old covenant stop you.  Do not let “too good to be true” stop you.

Yes, it sounds too good to be true.  BUT IT IS TRUE!  All of it is true.  All the promise and provision of the new covenant is true.  And it is being given to you by the grace of God.  Believe it, receive it, embrace it, and soak it in.  It is yours, free to everyone who believes!  And yes, no more wash cycles required!

Here before us is another radical difference between the old and new covenants.  The old covenant was a “ministry of death” (II Corinthians 3:7).  The new covenant is a ministry of life.

The image and experience of death is all over the old covenant.  From Korah’s rebellion against Moses when the ground opened up and swallowed up the bad guys and all their household (Numbers 16:32) to the discovery by Moses of the golden calf when he ordered 3000 idolaters among the Israelites to be killed (Exodus 32:28) to stonings for breaking the Old Testament Law (Numbers 15:36) to priests whose service came to an end due to death (Hebrews 7:23) to the sacrifice of thousands of animals year after year.  And these illustrations just scratch the surface of the death experience in the Old Testament.  One of the hallmarks of the old covenant was the stench of death.

The new covenant, on the other hand, is saturated with the promise of life.  Jesus made this comparison between the covenants in John chapter 5.  “You search the Scriptures [Old Testament] because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life” (John 5:39-40).  The Pharisees searched the Old Testament scriptures looking for life.  But all they found was death.  True life would only be found in Jesus.

Jesus is the life of the new covenant.  Jesus is the great giver of life to all who believe.  In the gospel of John, for example, the life imparted by Jesus Christ – life eternal and abundant – is a constant theme.  As in …

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men” (John 1:1,4).  Jesus and the life He imparts was there from the beginning.

“He who believes in the Son has eternal life” (John 3:36).  A straightforward “if-then” regarding belief and eternal life.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life” (John 5:24).  Believe, and we literally cross over from death to life!

“Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst’ ” (John 6:35).  This is quite the never hungry, never thirsty promise.

“For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day” (John 6:40).  It is not God’s wish, it is not God’s hope that those who believe in Jesus attain eternal life.  No, it is God’s will, God’s determined plan that eternal life is the promise for those who believe in Jesus.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life” (John 6:47).  Another “if-then” regarding belief and eternal life.

“I am the bread of life” (John 6:48).  Jesus is the provision of this life eternal and abundant.

“Simon Peter answered Him, ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life‘ ” (John 6:68).  Peter acknowledges that Jesus’ words are the very words of eternal life. 

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  Jesus’ promise of abundant life stands in contrast to Satan’s plans to steal, kill, and destroy.

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies’ ” (John 11:25).  Jesus’ own resurrection will be a picture of the resurrection life for us.

“Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me’ ” (John 14:6).  Jesus is the only way (a theme repeated over 20 times in John’s gospel).  Jesus says this because it is true; no hidden agenda.  If we believe Jesus, the truth about Jesus, we will have life.

“This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (John 17:3).  Believing that Jesus is the Christ and that God sent Him is at the heart of the promise of eternal life.

“These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name” (John 20:31).  Finally, John reveals his purpose in writing this gospel; that we would recognize Jesus as the Christ, believe that He is the Son of God, and by believing experience life in the name of Jesus.

And may I just add that this resurrection life of Jesus now lives in us by virtue of the promise and provision of the new covenant.  Resurrection life delivers a promise about our past – we have been set free from the penalty of sin.  Resurrection life holds a promise about our future – life with Jesus forever because our sins are forgiven.  And resurrection life delivers a promise about our present – freedom from the power of sin in our walk today.

Can I implore you?  Leave the stench and punishment of death, ensconced in the old covenant, behind.  Let it go!  Jesus defeated death once and for all at the cross.  Jesus defeated the power of sin and death, driven by the Old Testament Law, at the cross (I Corinthians 15:56).  His death was the end of death, the last blood to be spilled.  Embrace the new.  Embrace the promise of the new covenant.  Embrace the resurrection life of Jesus in you.

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 28

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions.  He was crushed for our iniquities.  The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.  All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way.  But the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him” (Isaiah 53:5-6)

The book of Isaiah is the “gospel” of the Old Testament, and Isaiah 53 is the heart of the gospel message.  I encourage you to read the entire chapter.  You will see Jesus all over the page.

Look at these New Testament passages about Christ that echo Isaiah’s prophecy.

“He was pierced through for our transgressions.” (Isaiah 53:5)

“Christ was delivered up for our transgressions.” (Romans 4:25)

“He was crushed for our iniquities.” (Isaiah 53:5)

“He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross.” (I Peter 2:24)

“By His wounds we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:5)

“By His wounds you were healed.” (I Peter 2:24).

“The Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” (Isaiah 53:6)

“Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many.” (Hebrews 9:28)

Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53.  His suffering accomplished our justification.  And His suffering came to an end when His sin offering was completed.

“When His soul makes an offering for guilt [our guilt], He shall see his offspring [those who have gone astray who have believed and returned as His children]; He shall prolong His days [death is not the end, the servant will live forever]; the will of the LORD shall prosper in His hand [all of this will be accomplished according to the will of the Father]” (Isaiah 53:10).

Jesus is the suffering servant who suffered and died in our place.  And God placed on Him the iniquities of us all.

Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 27

” ‘Just as I swore in the time of Noah that I would never again let a flood cover the earth, so now I swear that I will never again be angry and punish you.  For the mountains may move and the hills disappear, but even then My faithful love for you will remain.  My covenant of blessing will never be broken,’ says the LORD, who has mercy on you” (Isaiah 54:9-10).

“There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (I John 4:18).

The book of Isaiah is probably the clearest presentation of the gospel in the Old Testament.  We will explore two of those prophetic passages, today and tomorrow.

Here in Isaiah 54, we have a beautiful preview of one aspect of the coming new covenant; God will never be angry with you or punish you.  God swore this with the same force as His promise to never flood the earth again.  And you can take both of these promises to the bank.  After the flood, God swore that He “would never again let a flood cover the earth.”  And in the coming “covenant of blessing that will never be broken” (the new covenant), God swore that He would “never again be angry with us or punish us.”  All of this is accomplished by “God’s faithful love.”

This is so revolutionary.  There is such a fear among believers of God’s anger, God’s judgment, and God’s punishment.  But it is not going to happen.  Not on my authority, but on the authority of the gospel.  And the faithful love of God, shed abroad to us, is why this will not happen.  Look closely at the I John 4 passage.  The whole chapter is a celebration of the love of God.  And one of the outcomes of this incredible love is:

“By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world.  There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love” (I John 4:17-18).

Will Jesus undergo any punishment at the judgment?  No, and because “as He is, so also are we in this world”, neither will we.  We “have confidence in the day of judgment”, we have no fear in the day of judgment, “because fear involves punishment.”  And we have it on God’s sworn promise that He will “never again be angry and punish you” (Isaiah 54:9).

What a promise and provision of the new covenant!  Our friend, David Moss, summarizes these Isaiah verses so well.  “When God swore to never flood the earth again, He placed a sign in the sky, a rainbow, as a reminder of His promise.  When God swore to never be angry with us or punish us under the New Covenant, He placed a sign in the sky, the cross, as a reminder of His promise.”

The blood of Jesus is the seal of the prophesied covenant of blessing, because Jesus was there from the beginning!

The Old Testament and the New Covenant   Part 26

“Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to the king, ‘If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up’ “ (Daniel 3:16-18).

“In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (I Peter 1:6-7).

Around 600 BC, the king of Babylon raised an imposing golden image of himself on the plain of Dura.  King Nebuchadnezzar instructed all his government officials to worship the statue when the music played.  Three Jewish exiles among the group refused to worship.  Nebuchadnezzar offered them a second chance but they did not need one.  Their mind was made up, they would worship God alone.

Look at their incredible statement of faith at the top of this page.  In essence, they were saying, “We have faith to believe that God can deliver us from the furnace, but even if He does not, we are all in.”  Staring at what appears to be certain death in the furnace of blazing fire, this is quite a claim.  Notice that their faith is not tied to their physical rescue, but to the God who is in control.  With or without physical deliverance, their faith is in the one true God alone.  Their faith is not dependent on an outcome.  It is dependent on a person; the character and person of God Himself.

But God did deliver them from the fire.  When the king peered into the furnace, “Nebuchadnezzar answered and said, ‘Look!  I see four men loosed and walking about in the middle of the fire without harm, and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods!’ ” (Dan 3:25).  I believe the fourth person in the fiery furnace was Jesus Himself coming to their rescue.  And He is coming to your rescue in the fiery trials of life.

His rescue may not be a physical deliverance from your trials.  But His presence and peace are always with us, available to deliver us from the fires of fear, shame, guilt, anxiety, and loss.  “And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:20).

Jesus was in the fiery furnace, because Jesus was there from the beginning!