A covenant is an agreement between two parties. In this context, it is God having a covenant with His people. To have a New Covenant means that there was an Old Covenant which may have been good yet has lived out it’s time and allowed space for the new one to come to effect.

God in His wisdom had set up a Covenant with His children in the Old Testament times called the Mosaic Covenant or the Old Covenant. God’s law was written down for everyone to study and keep. It also provided a sacrificial system where the blood of animals would cover up sins so that people could remain in fellowship with God. This covenant was good enough to express God’s grace, mercy, longsuffering and love to the people. A major characteristic of this covenant was that God worked a lot through prophets and mediation for people through high priests.

The New Covenant

The New Covenant was prophesied by Jeremiah in the Bible in Jeremiah NIV verse 31:31 ” The days are coming,” declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.” In verse 33 of Jeremiah, this scripture says, “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord, I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.”  It therefore meant that the law of duty was no longer to be written on tables of stone but it was to be written on each and everyone’s heart. An instance recorded in Isaiah 1:11 inform us that the LORD had no pleasure in the act of sacrificing animals to remain in good standing with Him.

When we fast forward to the New Testament times, in Luke 22:19 – 20 we hear Jesus informing His disciples about His death on the cross and that His blood was to be an integral part of the New Covenant. It is believed that at this time Jesus inaugurated the New Covenant.

The New Covenant comes with liberation to the people that they no longer have to read the ‘dos and don’ts of the Mosaic law but to have it written in their hearts and have power within to reference and do the will of God. The promise of this internal treasure is written in Hebrews 8:10 where the Bible says, “I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.” As opposed to recalling the laws from memory, children of the New Covenant will have to answer to the call to obedience to God’s laws not only from their minds but also from their hearts.

The tradition of high priest offering animal sacrifices for people’s sins fell off. Hebrews 10:4 says, “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins.” The blood of Jesus offers a complete solution to the cleansing of sin 1 John 1:7. The blood of Jesus opened up the gate to the Most Holy Place for everyone to access it at will Hebrews 10:19.

The New covenant also comes with the benefit of having a personal relationship with God. In Hebrews 10:19-25, God declares that He shall be the God of His people and the people shall be His own. Therefore, God is no longer the God of everyone but God of each of His people. The New Covenant has opened up the grace of God to all men and women from every tribe, tongue and people from nations across the expanse of the globe. This allows Christians to live in unity of brotherhood as neighbors even when the physical distance is miles apart. No one has justifiable reasons to neglect this gift of God given freely for all to enjoy Hebrews 2:3.

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