The New Covenant of Christ

This morning, I was reading chapter 8 of Hebrews, and it is an amazing chapter! In it, God describes the old and new covenants He made with His people. I had never really understood how different they were, until now. The old covenant was a list of rules and regulations used to guide the people of Israel, and to instruct them in how God wanted them to behave. The new covenant is an internal one, where God places the Holy Spirit inside of us, and it guides us to do what God desires for us to do. In reading this, I discovered several prominent changes between the old and new covenants. In the old covenant, for example, sacrifices were made by the people for their sins. Now, however, Christ sacrificed Himself so that we no longer have to sacrifice. The old covenant also focused on a physical building as the main holy place to enter into the presence of God, but now Christ reigns in each of our hearts. External standards and rules were the foundation of the old covenant, but in the new covenant, internal standards, and a new heart are what guides us. Forgiveness was earned in the old covenant, ad now it is given freely through Christ. Also, in the old covenant, only some were allowed to enter, strictly those who were not Gentiles. But now, God allows anyone and everyone to enter into His Kingdom. The change that sticks out the most to me, however, is the access to God that is available to us. In the old covenant, only the high priests were allowed to communicate with God, and even then it had to be in a very specific way. Now, we are all allowed to communicate with Christ, anywhere and anytime. How amazing is that!

After reading this chapter, I was struck by how thankful and blessed I am to be living in the time of the new covenant. I get to choose whether or not to accept Christ, and follow Him, and when I do, I a blessed with the Holy Spirit in return! What an incredible gift God grants to us. I think about all the people I have read about in the Old Testament, and I am mystified by how they serve and follow the Lord. I am always incredulous that they do not believe in God, time and time again, even though miracles are occuring all around them! It seems like a no brainer to me when, for example, a cloud is leading you by day out of Egypt, and a flame by night, that it is God, but the Israelites continued to falter. As I think more deeply about it, however, I realize that they did not have the Holy Spirit in them, telling them that it truly was God. I didn't realize how amazing the Holy Spirit really is until now. Without it, believing in Christ and His death and resurrection would simply be another theory that is thrown around, and people would search for the truth based on facts, and not faith. I am thankful that I do not have to search any longer, and that God has granted me the Holy Spirit through the new covenant He has made with all of His creations. He has truly written His laws in my mind and on my heart. If you are wondering what is so amazing about Christ's covenant, check it out in Hebrews 8: 7-12, and also in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Have a blessed day!