When Jesus came, He drew a line and split time in half – BC and AD.
There are also other lines that were drawn – major changes that happened when Jesus was born. There is a then before Jesus, and there is a now after Jesus.
In this message, Pastor Jamie Nunnally shares how Christmas brought a covenant.
Hebrews 8:6 NET “But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises.”
What is a covenant?
A covenant is a binding, mutually accepted arrangement that manages the relationship between individuals or groups. A covenant is a forever promise.
God uses covenants to govern His relationship with humanity.
Jeremiah 31:30-34 “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33
(600 years passes)
Luke 22:20 “After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.”
There are two main salvific covenants between God and man.
Hebrews 8:10,12
The old covenant was designed to bring about behavior change. The new covenant is designed to bring about personal relationship.
You can’t mix covenants.
2 Corinthians 3:7-11
Romans 3:21-24 NET
You must die to the old to walk in the new.
Romans 7:6 But now we have been released from the law, for we died to it and are no longer captive to its power. Now we can serve God, not in the old way of obeying the letter of the law, but in the new way of living in the Spirit.
Too many Christians are trying to live in the new covenant with an old covenant mindset. Jesus didn’t die so that you could have a relationship with the rules.
The new covenant was the greatest gift we could ever get from God.
You are forgiven, you are cleansed, you are empowered, you are blessed, you are healed, you are protected, you have a home in Heaven, and you can know God personally.
Hebrews 10:22-23 “let us go right into the presence of God with sincere hearts fully trusting him. For our guilty consciences have been sprinkled with Christ’s blood to make us clean, and our bodies have been washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.
God did all the heavy lifting for your salvation.
Are you living in God’s new covenant?