When Adam sinned, God still sought him out. (Gen. 3:9) Love was the motivating factor behind God’s promise (Genesis 3:15; Nahum 1:9) that the damage to the relationship caused by sin (Isa 59:2) would ultimately be undone ; that the power of Satan over our lives (John 8:34; Romans 6:16,20; 2 Peter 2:19) would be reversed and the power of death(Ezek. 18:4,20; Romans 5:12; Romans 6:23) would be overcome . How was God to accomplish all this while at the same time honouring justice, love and mercy? Through Jesus Christ.
The plan of redemtpion was not an afterthought, an emergency crisis plan developed after the fall of Adam. It was a “revelation of the mystery kept secret through times eternal” (Romans 16:25 RV) and the book of Revelation says…KJV Revelation 13
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
KJV 1 Peter 1
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you…
Forseeing the apostasy of Satan and his deception of Adam and Eve causing their fall, God had already prepared to meet the crisis. So great was His love for man that He covenanted to give “His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
This covenant was to be shown in types and symbols. They were a “lesson book” for the people of Israel (Gal. 3:24,25) and beginning from the very first sacrifice slain by God Himself to clothe Adam and Eve (Gen 3:21) the people of Israel were to learn (or should have learned) three vital lessons.
1. That sin results in death. It is inevitable, a natural progression, not an arbitrary judgement, but a sure result of rebellion against the only source of life.(Hebrews 10:1-4, Hebrews 9:22)
2. That the constant shedding of innocent blood was to teach man an abhorrence and hatred for sin and thus encourage the people to repent and turn away from it (Isa 1:11-20; Ezek. 18:21-23)
3. The symbols, sacrifices, and services of the sanctuary were a prophetic picture of a coming saviour; they were a depiction of the gospel of grace. (Gen. 22:8; Isa 53:6,7)
And how were these promises, this covenant, to be appropriated by the individual personally? By faith. (Hebrews 11:6) Was Israel at any time justifiied or saved by works of the law? No. Not at all. A big error they did make however was to attempt to do just that. Making a promise that was
…a. Impossible
…b. Not required of them…Nowhere in all of scripture doors God require anything of man other than faith, for it is faith in God promises only that brings about the obedience essential to our ultimate salvation
Exodus 19
8 And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the LORD….
Israel began to rely on their obedience and in their participation in these services and sacrifices etc rather than in the grace and mercy of God. This is very similar to the Catholics reliance on sacraments and ritual. (Rom. 10:3-8; Heb. 2:4). This is what the apostle Paul’s letter to the Galatians was all about.
What then, does all this mean for us living as we know in the “New Testament” times? What is this New Testament, or covenant? God’s love has not changed, nor His purpose in undoing all the works of Satan. (1 John 3:8) Therefore the new covenant must involve a new method by which He is to be able to fulfil His promises. Why? Because the old covenant was based on faulty promises. Were God’s promises faulty? Surely not, no, but rather the peoples' promises. (Heb. 8:6,7) The people had misjudged the part they were to play in the covenant. In Exod. 19:5,6 God promised (again) that He would make of them a mighty nation and a holy people, and their response was in the form of a faulty promise. They answered, “all that the Lord hath spoken we will do”. (Exod. 19:8) Unfortunately they had little idea of what they promised. God said that He would perform and establish His covenant; but rather than thanking Him and surrendering themselves in faith and acceptance to His promise, they said they would perform His promise. Just like Abram and Sarai when introducing Hagar into the transaction between God and Abram. In a sense they were introducing a mediator, much as has Rome done which is the spirit of Antichrist. This was not Abraham’s covenant to alter or ammend. This was God’s covenant, and like all covenants or testaments, once blood is spilt that testament can never be changed. History reveals of course the abject failure of Israel’s promise, failure to such an extent that Israel didn’t even recognise the very God of the covenant when He visited…we are all well aware of what they did to their own Messiah.
Therefore God had to make a new covenant with the house of Israel, based on better promises (Heb. 8:9,10) Today, God’s promises remain. He still would bring us power and victory over Satan and sin, but the method by which He would accomplish this has changed. The just however must still live by faith.
The old covenant, the old method by which God was to save His people and establish righteousness and obedience to His commandments was through the Mosaic law. Circumcision, sacrifices and burnt offerings, the annual sabbaths and feast days and the accompanying services of the sanctuary etc (Hebrews 9:1-7), comprised God’s method to teach His people, the nation of Israel, the ways of righteousness. They were His lesson book. Israel was to look upon these as the gospel of mercy and in faith look ahead to their Saviour, their Messiah. The new covenant is still by faith, not in a coming Saviour, but in a risen Saviour, Who writes His holy moral law in our hearts and minds. (2 Cor. 3:3) Thus, through Jesus, Satan is conquered, and his power over us is broken. Justice is satisfied, and God looks upon us as if we had never sinned. God gives us the new birth experience and the power to overcome sin. (1 John 3:9; 2 Peter 1:3,4). He dies in our place, and we, by faith die with Him. (Romans 6:1-7) And the result is what Adam and Eve had before the fall: a loving personal relationship with our Creator. Only today, by God’s grace and mercy, we are closer to Him than Adam and Eve could have ever wished for, for we have His Spirit abiding within. (Coll. 1:27)
Therefore God shows that His love is unconditional. He died while we were yet sinners. But His promises are not unconditional, nor have they ever been. Adam and Eve found that out.
Obedience is a prerequsite to our ultimate salvation. While Christ is “made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor 1:30) yet the only ones who are perfected or sanctified are those who fully accept His grace. True, He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for them” (Heb 7:25) yet those who would be saved must come unto God and “lay hold upon eternal life”. (1 Tim. 6:19) When we accept Him, we are justified; His righteousness is imputed to us and we stand before God just as if we had never sinned. But only those who follow on and experience Him as an indwelling power, and who continually appropriate His grace for victory over their sinful natures, are sanctified or perfected.
