New Covenant in Relationship to the Death and Resurrection - Essay Example

THE MOSAIC AND NEW COVENANTS, IN RELATIONSHIP TO THE DEATH, BURIAL, AND RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST name: Date due: Word count: 2,006 Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1.0.Introduction 3 6.0.Bibliography 10 1.0. Introduction A concept in Christianity that significantly receives more attention than it should is the one of the covenant. Sadly, most believers today have very little or even no exposure to what can be considered the foundation of their faith. While numerous books, as well as sermons across generations of believers, have continued to emphasis on the ideas of God’s unwarranted love of death, burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ, seems as if the string by which these believers find themselves has been intertwined and overlooked. Before we go deep into analyzing the Mosaic and new covenants in relation to death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, let us first comprehend what a covenant is in biblical stipulations. A covenant is only a formal treaty between at least two parties amongst the agreed sides. According to the Hebrew Bible, a covenant is used in translating the Hebrew word birth (ברית) Meaning covenant cutting or cutting in referral to sacrificing (Barr, 1999: 4-17). 2.0. Outline of the various biblical covenants The scriptures had three major covenants namely, the covenant of Abraham, the old covenant and lastly the new covenant. In all three covenants, it is clear that God is the dominant party in his quest to establish a covenant with all his creation. It is vital to acknowledge that God’s covenant reveals his will; hence allowing humanity to look no further in order to understand God’s desires. Both the Mosaic and new covenants show how God is ready to reunite with humankind. Understanding the covenants is important in knowing a detailed between God and the Hebrews, in the Old Testament. The old covenants are found in the Old Testament; they include the covenant of Abraham and the covenant of Mosaic. The Covenant of Abraham was formed between God (YHWH) and Abram. Moreover, according to (Genesis 12:1), the covenants terms are handed to Abram when God commands him to leave his homeland Ur, to a new place. According to the scriptures of Genesis 17:9-14, Abraham is told by God to circumcise all male offspring as a symbol of the agreement. In return for Abraham’s obedience as well as that of his descendants, God’s promise to Abraham is that of making a great nation, as well as having many blessings (Pate, 2004: 29). 2.1. Mosaic covenant The second main covenant found in the Old Testament is that of the Mosaic Covenant. Exodus 19 through to chapter 24 shows that the covenant has the basis for the Torah and is the promise of God to make Israel the chosen land (Exodus 19:5-5) as long as terms of the covenant are preserved. The covenants basic terms included the Ten Commandments that were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai of which later encompassed all 613 Hebrew laws. The book of Deuteronomy contains a detailed account of the Mosaic Covenant. However, these covenants were seen as temporary until the coming of Jesus Christ according to Jeremiah 31:31, “the Lord affirmed that a time is coming for a new covenant to be made with Israel’s people as well as those people from Judah.” 2.2. New covenant The final third main covenant is the New Testament Covenant. In fact, the entire New Testament is rooted in Jesus Christ’s fulfillment and abolition of the Old Covenant and the establishment of the novel Covenant through Christ’s death, burial, as well as resurrection. It is very clear that only through Jesus Christ, that God’s final desire to reconcile his creation back to himself be accomplished. This New Covenant has been made easily available to any person that believes (John 3:16) and Roman 10:9-10 further accentuating the initial first steps. In addition, believers of Jesus Christ are to try and become like Christ (Hebrews 12:1-2) and are purposed to be in the ministry of reconciling through the great commissioning (Matt. 28:18-20). Second Ephesians sums up this process by acknowledging the beginning of man’s sin (2:1-4). The mercy of God causes him to send his son to die for humankind’s transgressions (2:4-7) while faith is through the salvation of grace (2:8-10). While the entry into the New Covenant is based on personal decision and obedience to its terms, God has promised forgiveness of sins, the indwelling of the spirit (Acts 2:38-39) as well as eternal life (c.f John 3:16; 1 Peter 1:3-9). That being said both Old and New Testament are held by the covenant concept (Mcgrath, 1994: 65). 3.0. How major themes and doctrines of the Christian faith are rooted in the Bible In further understanding, these laws, the Bible illustrates that the Mosaic Law ended with the life, death as well as the resurrection of Christ. Jesus Christ’s followers are no longer under the Law of Moses: the law of the commandments were done away with (Eph.2:15), and, in addition to this the Gentiles, do not need to pursue the decree of Moses. Mosaic Law was primarily meant for those who were not able to follow the ways of Christ, being that of the way of the Holy Spirit. Before Jesus Christ’s birth, life, death, as well as resurrection, selected people were chosen to submit to a written law. However, with the coming of the the Novel Covenant, the law will be written in the hearts, minds of the people of Israel and the Lord shall be their God, and they will be his people (Heb.8:10; Jer.31:33). In addition, keeping all the laws of Moses were very hard in that should one law be broken, then all other laws were considered broken, as well. In response to this, a solution was needed, and that was Jesus Christ himself as the solution by establishing a New Covenant of which was by the law of the Holy Spirit (Elwell, 1996: 619-620). 4.0. The work of God in Jesus Christ God sent Jesus Christ into the universe so that He could redeem man from sin. As per the Old Testament, the coming of the “Son of Man” was prophesized. The action of God sending Jesus Christ into the universe was to fulfill the prophecies as well as His work through His son Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ introduced the new covenants, which preached about love, forgiveness, mercy, patience, kindness, and other good virtues (Mcgrath, 1994: 38). The work of God in Jesus is seen through the teachings, healings, and way of life Jesus led. To sum up the new covenant, Jesus Christ introduced the Golden commandment, which is, Love the Lord God with all your heart, soul, and mind; love your neighbor as you love yourself (Matthew 22: 34- 40). Jesus Christ removed the Mosaic Law, granting righteousness for all believers; even gentiles (Rom. 10:4). The work of God in Jesus Christ mainly displays God’s love for humankind, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). 4.1. The Incarnation of Jesus Christ Jesus told them, If God was your father, ye then would love me, for I surely came from God, and not myself but from God the Father who sent me (John 8:42). Jesus passed through every rite of like just as a normal human being would do, facing the pressures of life. Jesus was incarnated as a human being so that he would fit with other human beings, understand them, and fulfill what He was sent by his father to do according to the prophecies of the Old Testament (Hafemann, 2002: 16). The Old Testament prophesied of the lamb that would come to take the sins of man and redeem man. The incarnation of Jesus ensured the fulfillment of the prophesies as his birth, life on earth, death, and resurrection (christianspiritual). Jesus Christ gave man a new and fresh beginning; as he gave mankind the Spirit (Holy spirit), as well as hope of eternal life (Titus 3: 4-7). 4.2. The Cross and Redemption The cross plays a crucial aspect in the fulfilling of the prophesies, that was His death. This gives the cross vast power as it presence signifies the death of Christ as He sacrificed Himself to save humanity. The Mosaic Law ended after Christ had fulfilled His mission, which is death and resurrection; the new law graced by the Gospels of Christ spread to all regions. The mission of Jesus was spiritually driven with the help of the Holy Spirit. This enabled the new laws to be written on their hearts, rather than in tablets of the Mosaic Law (Jer.31:33, Heb.10:16. The novel covenant introduced the spiritual law; scrapping off the Law of Moses (: Rom. 3:21, 13:8-10 & 7:6, Heb. 8:7,8 & 10:20, Col. 2:14 & 2:16 & 2:20, Phil. 3:8,9, Eph. 2:15 & 3:4,5, Gal. 2:12 & 3:5-19, and 2 Cor. 3:5,6 & 3:13,16). From this, it is evident that Jesus prepared the new leading to the new covenants by his crucifixion on the cross; transitioning the Jews to the new commandments. An excellent example of this transition from the Old to the New is in John 8: 1-11 when a woman was caught in sin. According to the Law of Moses, the woman was to be stoned to death to serve as a punishment for her deeds. When asked what to do, Jesus preached on forgiveness, because human beings sin and none is perfect; also He did not judge the woman but told her not to sin anymore (christianspiritualism). According to the new law, communion with the spirit is to be ordained by God. This is evident when Jesus Christ was on a mountain communicating with Moses and Elijah on spiritual matters. The Mosaic Law prohibited this behavior, but the new law recommends it, as long as it is God-ordained. This reveals that Jesus enabled spiritual return of lost souls (Mat. 17:1-13; Mark 9:2-13; Luke 9:28-36). This communication with Moses and Elijah was essential as it acted a symbol of the accomplishment and passing of the Law of Moses and prophecies; paving way for the new spiritual law fulfilled by crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The new covenant lay emphasizes on moral compassion of which Jesus himself was the only one that was to bring about the change by way of speech, action, and a living testimony. The new law of Christ, which was the law of the spirit, replaced the Law of Moses (Collins, 2005: 48). 5.0. Conclusion The grand redemption plan of God was to take his people and make them an example for eternity. On the other hand, the chosen people lacked spiritual and moral standards; displayed by their lack of faith, and easily influenced by stained spirits. The Mosaic Law was created to help these individuals (Gal, 3:19). Moreover, God used prophets to for revealing the coming of one who will save all humankind from sin. God’s achievement from all this was to display his love for his children and their salvation (Barr, 1999: 73). The death of Jesus Christ is considered very important and yet at the same time his resurrection is equally if not more important. If Jesus did not lose his life, then he would not resurrect. Therefore, the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ is an appendage to his death. Paul illustrated the connotation of the resurrection by stating, if the dead fail to arise then Christ is not arisen and should Jesus Christ not arise then your faith is all but in vain, and hence you remain sinful(1 Cor 15:16, 17). Therefore, our salvation does not only depend on the demise of Jesus Christ but also his resurrection (l. Romans 4:25). The resurrection is also the delineation between the old and the new covenants; which have a grand impact on Christianity worldwide. The old covenant forms the Christian heritage as it reflects God’s heart, while the New Covenant helps Christians become conscious of trust and obedience through Jesus Christ. Both the Mosaic and new covenants are linked to the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ; essential for the Christian way of life. 6.0. Bibliography COLLINS, J. J. (2005). Encounters with biblical theology. Minneapolis, MN, Fortress Press. BARR, J. (1999). The concept of biblical theology: an Old Testament perspective : based on the Cadbury Lectures delivered at Birmingham University in 1968. London, SCM Press. ELWELL, W. A. (1996). Evangelical dictionary of biblical theology. Grand Rapids, Mich, Baker Books. HAFEMANN, S. J. (2002). Biblical theology: retrospect and prospect. Downers Grove, Ill, InterVarsity Press. GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH OF JERSEY: Jesus Christ, Christian Spiritualism and God. (n.d.). GREATER WORLD CHRISTIAN SPIRITUALIST CHURCH OF JERSEY: Jesus Christ, Christian Spiritualism and God. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://christianspiritualism.org/ Jesus christ. (n.d.).www.christianspiritual. Retrieved February 20, 2014, from http://www.christianspiritual MCGRATH, A. E., & MCGRATH, A. E. (1994). Jesus: who he is and why he matters. Leicester, Inter-Varsity. PATE, C. M. (2004). The story of Israel: a biblical theology. Downers Grove, Ill, InterVarsity Press. (1982). Holy Bible the new King James version. Nashville, T. Nelson. Read More