S17P16 – When Jesus walked in: the new covenant

Mark 14: 23-24

And when He had taken a cup [of wine] and given thanks, He gave it to them, and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the [new] covenant, [My blood] which is being poured out for many [for the forgiveness of sins].

If there is a new covenant, then we expect that there was an old covenant. In the book of Hebrews, Paul speaks of the first covenant, which is the Law. Its replacement was necessary because of its fault. The Law had no power to save but only the power to condemn [2 Cor. 3:7-10; Rom. 8:1-4]. Through the blood of Jesus, as He fulfilled the old covenant, a new covenant was formed to bring not condemnation but salvation. Where the old covenant was written in stone, the new covenant is written on the hearts of those who believe. The blood of Christ poured out for us is the sacrifice that seals the new covenant.

We no longer live according to the Law but according to Christ in us. When God made this new covenant, He caused the old covenant to become obsolete [Heb. 8:13]. This does not mean that there is no value in the Law. Those commandments speak to the character of God and provide us with an image of how far we are from that character within ourselves. However, we do not live in reliance upon the Law. We live in reliance upon the salvation that we have obtained in faith through Jesus Christ. What the Law could not accomplish, the blood of Jesus Christ has made possible for us.

God has made a way where there was none. Where the old covenant brought condemnation, the new covenant brings salvation. This covenant is new only in that it replaces the old, but it was God’s plan since before the foundations of the earth [Eph. 1:4]. The arrival of Messiah was no afterthought. It was planned and purposed. Father, remind us that we rely on the new covenant for our salvation, the spilled blood of Jesus Christ, and that this perfect sacrifice is sufficient to cover all our sins.