Christ Is The New Covenant
God made the New Covenant with Israel through their Messiah.
In x Parts
Christ is the New Covenant
Why then the law? It was added because of transgressions, until the offspring should come to whom the promise had been made, and it was put in place through angels by an intermediary. Now an intermediary implies more than one (party), but God is one. [Gal. 3:19-20]
According to the passage above, the Law was to serve “till the Seed should come.” The word, added, means to place alongside. What was the Law placed alongside of? It was placed alongside the Abrahamic Promise. The Law was to remain in force until the Seed should come, to whom the promise was made.
Even the great dispensational teacher, Lewis S. Chafer, admits that the Law was a parenthesis, or as he says, “ad interim,” between Israel’s coming out of Egypt and the first coming of Christ. He states,
“The Mosaic system was designed to govern Israel in the land and was an ad interim form of divine government between that gracious administration, described in Exodus 19:4, and the coming of Christ.”
“It still remains true that the law as an ad interim system did come to its end and a new divine economy superseded it.”
(Dispensationalism by Lewis Sperry Chafer)
The definition of ad interim is,
Ad interim is a Latin phrase that translates to "in the meantime" or "temporarily." It describes an action, appointment, or arrangement that is provisional and intended to last only until a more permanent solution or decision can be made. [lsd.law]
With this I heartily agree. The Law came to an end, with the coming of Christ, the promised seed. A “new divine economy” or order began, which is the Messianic Kingdom of God.
Give Thee For A Covenant
Christ Himself is seen as the New Covenant in His Very Person. It is in His blood that the New Covenant is established [Matt. 26:27-28; Luke 22:20; Mark 14:23-24; Heb. 9:12, 10:29, 13:20]. The prophets spoke of the Messiah, the Servant of the LORD, as being given “for a covenant of the people.”
I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles [Is. 42:6].
God had given the Messiah for a covenant of the people (Israel), to be a light for the nations. The Messiah is the Covenant for both natural Israel and the nations.
Thus saith the LORD, In an acceptable time have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages [Is. 49:8].
Again, the LORD has given the Messiah for a covenant of the people, Israel. He did this to cause His people to enter their heritages, though they appear to be desolate. In Messiah Jesus, all the promises of God are “Yes and Amen” [2 Cor. 1:20].
Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David. [Is. 55:3]
Here the Messiah is to be made an everlasting covenant with the people, even the sure mercies of David, which point to God’s promise to raise up an eternal King of the Davidic line [Jer. 33:17; 2 Sam. 7:12-16].
Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts. [Mal. 3:1]
Here we see two messengers spoken of. First, the messenger who prepares the way, John the Baptist, who came in the spirit of Elijah. Second, the One he prepares the way for, the Messenger of the Covenant, the Lord Jesus.
But God is One
There is another way we must look at Galatian 3:20. Paul states,
Now a mediator is not a mediator of one (one party alone), but God is One. [Gal. 3:20]
Most read this as saying that God is one of the parties of the covenant, and of course, this is correct. However, if we dig a little deeper, we will see something glorious. In this statement, Paul is reinforcing the Hebraic confession, that "The LORD is echad." [Deut. 6:4]
We have already stated that the New Covenant was between God and Israel. We have also stated that Christ Jesus is the one and Only Righteous Israelite who can be the covenant representative of the house of Israel. So in a very real sense, the New Covenant is between God and His Son, the Perfect Israelite.
The New Covenant is an agreement God made with Himself.
As stated earlier, God knew if you wanted something done right, you have to do it yourself. God sent His Own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, made of woman, made under the Law, of the seed of Abraham, of the seed of David. Hence His Son would be the Last Adam. Christ would be the One Righteous Israelite with whom He could make covenant. Jesus would be the Firstborn among many brethren.
God told Israel the New Covenant would not be like the covenant they broke. It would be different and superior to the Sinai covenant. The book of Hebrews describes the New Covenant as better, stronger, and more excellent.
One of the major differences between the Old and the New, is that man cannot break the New Covenant. He cannot break it because he is not a named party to it. The only parties who can break the New Covenant is God or His Son, Jesus, the Messiah of Israel.
Simply put, the only way the New Covenant can be broken, is if God has a falling out with Himself, which will never happen. If that were to happen, a broken covenant would be the least of our worries. This is why the New is better, stronger, and more excellent.
God sent His Son, to answer the cry of Job, when he said,
There is no arbiter between us, who might lay his hand on us both. [Job 9:33 ESV]
Christ reaches out to both God and man. He is the Apostle of God, representing the Father’s interest, while being our great high priest, after the similitude of Melchizedek, representing the Covenant Community in the presence of God.
