All Has Been Accomplished! The New Covenant Has Come :: Sermon on the Mount {Week 8}

As a junior in college I almost failed my Cell & Molecular Biology Lab. We were learning about histology and the assignment was to make slides of different types of tissue. But the problem was in order to make slides, the tissue had to be fresh. And you should have seen our faces when the Professor entered the lab carrying a cage with two big rats inside! He plopped it on the black table along with two pot-holder-type mitts and a guillotine, leaving us to slaughter the rats and harvest the tissue all by ourselves. And if it hadn’t been for the deal we made with the guys in the class, I would have certainly failed.

I’m not so good at blood and guts, at least when it comes to killing things. I can handle the sight when it involves saving a life or helping someone, but to slaughter an animal to kill it, I’m no good.

So it’s a good thing I wasn’t a Levite in the days of Moses and Joshua, because I would have failed at that too.

You see, back then, the Levites were responsible for all the law-keeping. And God made a covenant with the Israelites that was packed full of requirements—things the people had to do to be in right relationship with God. There were over 600 laws they had to keep, many of which involved sacrificing animals.

I know, it sounds gross … I would agree! But it’s important for us to understand why God had them do it so we can fully appreciate His entire plan.

Back in Genesis, when Adam and Eve sinned, man died spiritually and separated himself from a direct relationship with God. But God didn’t give up, He initiated a plan and decided to pursue one group of people, the Israelites, and make them His own. And it is through them, He wanted to bless all the people of the world.

The problem was His people were lame! They struggled to obey God and follow the laws of the covenant (which wasn’t surprising because there were so many) but honestly they blew it on some of the most simple points!

They would follow the law for awhile and then they’d get lax and worship other gods. And they vascillated in their faithfulness for years. So God sent prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah (and many others) to prophesy about the future–to warn the Israelites of what would happen to them if they didn’t turn from their evil ways. But over time, they refused to listen.

So the people’s disobedience made them guilty in the sight of God. And that guilt just remained and couldn’t be removed. So God set up a means to teach the Israelites about the importance of obedience by having them sacrifice an animal, one which was free of defect–one that represented something pure and innocent – exactly what God wanted them to be.

And even though it was the people who deserved punishment for their sin, they sacrificed an innocent animal on their own behalf, which provided a means for the forgiveness of their sin. The blood of the animal didn’t remove their guilt, but covered it, and served as a symbol setting the stage for the moment in time when God would provide the final sacrifice—the one whose blood would permanently cover our sin once and for all time … His Son, Jesus.

And Jesus came. And in Matthew 5, as He sat on that mountain, He told His disciples…

 

Matthew 5:17-18 (ESV)

Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly I say to you, unless heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot shall pass from the law until all is accomplished.

 

 

And you know what?

He did it. He accomplished it all.

Jesus verified and fulfilled the Law and the Prophets. And as followers of Christ today, we’ve been released from the Law of the Old Covenant.

And a New Covenant has come–a covenant of the Spirit of life, not of the law of the flesh.

Jesus came to write His law on the tablets of our human hearts–on our spirits, instead of on tablets of stone (like the ones on which Moses wrote the law). And this is good news … we no longer have to sacrifice animals in order to have a right relationship with God!

Because of God’s great love for us, because of the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross, because of His resurrection and His judgment which destroyed the temple … because Jesus did all He said He would do, when He said He would…

A New Covenant has come.

We have eternal life.

We are free.

No longer are we clothed through the process of obeying the letter of the law. Instead, we stand clothed in the righteousness of Christ, forever reconciled with God, because through Christ, all has been accomplished.

And as a challenged-animal-sacrificer, I’m so thankful for that!

 How has the accomplishment of Christ changed you?

From what have you been set free?

Continuing on in memorizing the Sermon on the Mount, with Ann and this community. Join us?

This week on to Matthew 5:19-20 (ESV)…

 

{WEEK 9}

 

Matthew 5:19-20 (ESV)

Therefore, whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

 

t w r o o t l o t c a t o t d t s w b c l i t k o h b w d t a t t w b c g i t k o h f i t y u y r e t o t s a p y w n e t k o h

 

 

Other posts in this series:

Continuing on, in the counting of One Thousand Gifts {#1446-1465} with Ann and this community, and the Joy Dare of 2012…with May’s printable.

#1446 Children running and playing on a warm evening

#1447 Breathtaking clouds in the sky

#1448 A Friday afternoon run with the wind and the view

#1449 Online friends who mean so much to me

#1450 A job I love that is so meaningful to me

#1451 The near-end of my first homeschooling year

#1452 A brave 4 yr old who got her “fighter-warriors” (vaccinations) for school

#1453 Beginning to teach my youngest to read

#1454 Evening little league games with family

#1455 Help with laundry

#1456 Having a mentor

#1457 An answer to an earnest prayer

#1458 My good morning girls emails

#1459 Reading my Bible every day…today #650 and counting…

#1460 The anticipation of She Speaks

#1461 Chewing on the Sermon on the Mount every day

#1462 Reciting with my 2nd & 4th grader…us all memorizing together

#1463 Podcasts helping me know lemonade and that I’m not going “nuts”

#1464 The gift of eternal life and the fact that all is accomplished

#1465 How I’m clothed by the righteousness of Christ, by His Grace…because Mercy Found Me…

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 *Photo Credit: Nottingham Vet School, flickr creative commons

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