OUR NEW COVENANT

Haley Kelly

Did you know that Old Testament and New Testament really mean Old Covenant and New Covenant? Don’t worry, I didn’t know that either until I did some research. The word testament means covenant or dispensation. Now the word dispensation means exemption from a rule or usual requirement. So now let’s check out what this “old requirement” and “new requirement” is!

If you didn’t know this already, the whole Old Testament is B.C. (Before Christ) so things were a little different. Since the people needed a way to repent and cleanse them of sin-as we all do- there was a man who was the high priest. Because sin makes us unclean, B.C. people couldn’t just go pray directly to God and ask for forgiveness. The high priest was the only one who could enter into the Holy of Holies in the temple. Once a year the high priest would make an atonement for the sins of the whole nation. If you read Leviticus 16 you will find that God spoke to Moses and gave him instructions for the Day of Atonement (Go read it! It’s legit!!).

This is the old covenant: The high priest would spend hours preparing himself to meet God on the Day of Atonement. Then he would take two goats. The first he would offer up to God as a sacrifice. Through this, God’s wrath was on the goat instead of the people and He was able to forgive them of their sins. The second goat he would use as a scapegoat and release it into the desert. The word scapegoat means someone or something who is blamed for the wrongdoings, mistakes, or faults of others. By doing this, God was removing the guilt from His people by placing it on the scapegoat.

Are you picking up what I’m putting down right now? Is this making sense to you? Okay, now let’s look at the new requirement that is given to us in the New Testament. I’m about to spoil this whole thing for you. Are you ready? The new covenant is so simple yet SO powerful!

Here is what the new covenant is: Jesus on the cross. Let me show you how this works… First, God’s wrath for sin-past, present, future- was all laid on Jesus while He was on the cross-He is the sacrifice. Therefore, when we accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, and confess with our mouths that He died and rose again, all of our sins are forgiven. Second, all our shame that comes from sin is also placed on Jesus while on the cross-He is the scapegoat. And third of all, He is our new High Priest! Through Jesus we are now able to boldly enter into His presence. Through Jesus we can be forgiven of our sins. Through Jesus all of our shame and guilt is replaced by His mercy and grace. Jesus is our dispensation. He is our exemption from the usual requirement given in the Old Testament. Therefore, we don’t need to have a Day of Atonement once a year. Nor do we need a high priest to offer a sacrifice or release a scapegoat into the desert because Jesus is all of those things!!!

Read HEBREWS 4:14-16

So are you feeling like your sin can’t be forgiven? Or like there’s no end to the shame you constantly carry? Do you feel like it’s impossible to go before God? I’ll let you in on a little secret… Jesus is the answer to all of those things!