OLD ISN'T ALWAYS GOLD!

If God is the same from eternity to eternity, if God doesn't change, pray tell, why did He do away with the Old Testament by establishing a New one? And what exactly is it that makes the New Testament new?

Source: Google Images

Here’s what I know, no human being could keep the OT Law perfectly, consequently no one could ever be righteous before God or enjoy all the benefits of that Covenant; however, that wasn't the OT Law’s fault in any way, shape or form. The OT Law of Moses was holy and perfect, but human beings were not and even to this day, aren't.

The Law only serves to show you how far you've fallen from God’s standard of righteousness but it cannot lift you up to that perfect standard. The OT Laws were unbending and inflexible and rightly so, you either kept them all or you were guilty of them all (James 2:10). Keeping some or even most of it is futile, it is all or nothing but the problem was no one could keep them all perfectly. Why? Because inherently we were sinful, we just couldn't, however hard we tried.

But God who loves us so much had a plan, and that plan was to “fix” our inherent sinful condition which is the real culprit, and to do that He sent His only begotten Son, Jesus. Jesus came into this world, born of a virgin, born without that inherent sinful nature that we all have. He lived a perfect sinless life despite being tempted in all areas just as we are, and yes, they were real temptations to Jesus the perfect man, they weren't “make believe” temptations. Though Jesus is 100% God he was also a real human being 100% while here on earth, the Word of God says:

⁶ Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; ⁷ rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! - Philippians 2:6-8 NIV
        

The very fact that Satan tried to tempt Jesus should tell us that He was an actual real human being, if Jesus was operating as God on this earth then Satan wouldn't waste his time trying to get Him to sin, Satan is not exactly smart but he’s not that dumb either. And He wouldn't have needed to wait to be baptized in and be empowered by the Holy Spirit to  begin His ministry, He would've just started immediately after birth…well as usual, I digress…

The main reason Jesus died on the cross was so that we could be reconciled to God, we were estranged from Him after Adam and Eve disobeyed in the garden, plunging the entire human race into sin which resulted in spiritual death. Jesus took care of the sin problem that had plagued the human race, He dealt with it once and for all, it is forever done. He took the sins of the whole world, not just the sins of the Christians, everyone needs to hear, know, believe this and believe in Him to be saved.

²⁹ The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! – John 1:29 NIV

Source: Google Images

By His death on the cross, Jesus established the New Covenant or the New Testament in that now when we believe in Him and confess Him as our Lord we are born-again, our spirits are recreated by His Spirit, we become children of God, new creations with a new nature, God’s nature in us. Remember what He told His disciples at the last supper?

²⁸ This wine is my blood, which will be poured out to forgive the sins of many and begin the new agreement from God to his people. – Matthew 26:28 ERV

So there you have it right from Jesus’ own lips, the New Covenant, the New Testament, the New Agreement from God to His people and it was sealed by His very own blood, it is eternal.

Normally, covenants or testaments as they were known in the olden days or contracts and/or agreements (I wish there was a stronger word I could employ here) fairly modern terms, involved two parties in agreement, they had terms and conditions as well as a seal that ratified the covenant making it both binding and effective.

In the OT, the Covenant was between God and man, with the Law of Moses being the  terms and conditions and the seal was a blood sacrifice that was offered and sprinkled on the people, later the blood would also be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat on top of the Ark of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. For the whole story on the establishment of the OT  read Exodus 19 -24 . The trouble is, man couldn't keep their end of the deal, so that Covenant wasn't benefiting man, it rather kept us in bondage through the Law, constantly reminding us of our need of a Savior.

⁷ If there was nothing wrong with the first agreement, then there would be no need for a second agreement. ⁸ But God found something wrong with the people. He said, “The time is coming, says the Lord,
when I will give a new agreement to the people of Israel and to the people of Judah. – Hebrews 8:7-8 ERV

In the NT, God in His infinite wisdom and love, makes a Covenant with Himself, now that’s a sure Covenant that cannot fail or ever be annulled  and we are the beneficiaries the moment we believe in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. In this New Covenant we don’t observe a set of do’s and don’ts to become righteous, no we are made righteous by simply believing – that’s why the Gospel is Good News, it actually is Too-Good-To-Be-True-News and guess what... it is true. Here’s what this New Covenant looks like:

¹⁰ This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel  after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God,  and they will be my people. ¹¹ No longer will they teach their neighbor,  or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. ¹² For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”  ¹³ By calling this covenant new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear. – Hebrews 8:10-13 NIV

A cursory look at what OT and the NT entail reveal a world of difference between the two Covenants, the NT being vastly superior to the OT in every way, of course.

In the OT your sins are held against you, in the NT God forgives your wickedness and doesn't remember your sins. In the OT if you obey God, then you secure your place as His, in the NT He makes you His, then you obey Him willingly and fearlessly. In the OT you approach God timidly and fearfully hoping you've crossed all your t’s and dotted all your i’s or else...in the NT He invites you to come to Him boldly that you may obtain mercy and find grace to help you. In the OT your righteousness depends on your performance, in the NT your righteousness is an irrevocable gift from God on account of Jesus’ performance, His perfect sacrifice of Himself to put away our sin once and for all. (2 Corinthians 5:21, Hebrews 10:10, Hebrews 10:14)

May our understanding of this glorious New Covenant cause our hearts to overflow with the love of God and compel us to share this Good News with others so they too can be reconciled to God through Christ and experience freedom from sin and the bondage it brings.