The Better Covenant

The Better Covenant And Moses took the blood, and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words. Exodus 24 v 8 An agreement is made between people and is signed with ink. A covenant is made between God and man and is signed in blood. It is a living document that lasts forever. Both are written down but while an agreement is civil in nature, a covenant is divine and sacred in nature. Moses took blood of a sheep and sprinkled it on the people to sanctify them and to seal the covenant between Jehovah and Israel. Jehovah’s promises would hold good for Israel as long as they individually and collectively obeyed the letter and spirit of the Old Covenant of Law. It required the obedience of law- the ten commandments and other directions given in the first five books of the Bible. The New Covenant of Love was sealed with the blood of the blemishless sacrifice, the Lamb provided by God –Jesus of Nazareth. Hereafter, whoever from any nation who believed in this new covenant and obeyed the call to faith in Jesus would be saved forever. The only requirement of the new covenant is faith in God and His Word in flesh and blood –Jesus and the ministry of the Holy Spirit. It begins in faith and ends in a love relationship with the Triune Creator –Saviour –Redeemer- Comforter-God. We are now part of a better covenant than the one instituted under the leadership of Moses. In fact, it is the complete and perfect covenant. As part of this covenant,none of us falls short of God's glory. Even today we can see evidence of covenants in vogue in the universal observance of the seventh day as a day of rest in all nations and cultures. Marriage is also a covenant observed and honoured universally. Marriage is a foreshadow of the marriage feast of the Lamb. Jesus revealed Himself as the Bridegroom of Blood. Symbolically and in the spirit we can sprinkle His shed blood on ourselves, on all we have and all we do in order to perfect it and make it acceptable in the sight of God. His power, grace and love operates in all that concerns us. He consummates or perfects us. Prateep V Philip