It Is Finished: Understanding The Covenant
John 19:28-30, “After this, Jesus, knowing that all things had already been accomplished to fulfill the Scripture, said, ‘I am thirsty’. A jar full of sour wine was standing there; so they put a sponge full of the sour wine upon a branch of hyssop and brought it up to His mouth. There fore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, ‘It is finished!’ And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”
The Apostle John has always given us a greater revelation of the life of Christ than any of the other Apostles. John’s experience at the cross of our Lord Jesus is no exception to this. John is there standing next to the cross as our Lord is dying, with Mary, the mother of Jesus and Mary Magdalene. Jesus our Lord had fulfilled all the prophesies of His coming. He had lived out the Law and the Prophets and now He was at the end of His earthly journey. He cries out that He is thirsty and they filled a sponge with sour wine (vinegar) and put it on a branch of hyssop and brought it to His mouth. Having now the ability to speak clearly, He makes one final statement, “It is finished!”
This statement was the last that our Lord uttered before His resurrection. And as He gave up His spirit, all creation moved. He had been suspended between heaven and earth and the sacrifice of the perfect man was complete. Hyssop being used to give Him a drink was not as random as you may think. Go back to Exodus 12 and you will find that it was hyssop that was used to put the blood on the door before the angel of death passed over Egypt and killed all the first born. It was this blood on the door placed there by the hyssop that prevented the angel of death from claiming any of the Hebrew first born that night of the Passover.
When we hear the words, it is finished, it makes us ask the question, what is finished? Immediately we think of our redemption for we know that's what the cross was all about, but that is just the beginning. It was the establishment of a new covenant with God Himself. God has always had a covenant with mankind, from the very beginning. Even the Holy Bible is divided into two parts: the Old Testament and the New Testament. Testament is another term for covenant. What we are looking at in the Holy Bible is the Old Covenant and the New Covenant that mankind has with God. A covenant is a legal document between two parties that is binding and has legal ramifications if either party chooses not to live up to the agreement. When Jesus our Lord cried out that “It is finished!” He was sealing His covenant with God the Father for mankind.
When you read Deuteronomy 28, you read the blessings and the cursing that were part of the Old Covenant. It was established between God and the children of Israel. When we read the Old Covenant we realize the blessings that God promised if the covenant was followed. But we also realize the consequence of not being obedient to the Old Covenant. Now let’s go to the book of Hebrews 8:6. It reads, “But now He (Jesus) has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.” This is the subject that we will be digging into this week. If we can understand our Covenant with God through the Lord Jesus, or should I say, His Covenant with God the Father that we are part of in Him, we would walk in victory over every thing that would seek to have dominion over us.
In Romans 5:6-10, the Apostle Paul demonstrates the sealing of the New Covenant, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly… God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” And Paul continues in verse 17, “For if by the transgressions of the one, death reigned through the one, much more those who receive the abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.” Do you see the victory that has been promised?
If we can grasp the New Covenant and have it open it’s secrets to us, many of the things that we have struggled with in life will give way to the life of the Lord Jesus. This is the promise. Psalm 25:14 says, “The secret of the Lord is for those who fear Him, and He will make them know His covenant.” If you have been battling things that you have wondered if you would never be free from, let’s walk together, learning who we are in the covenant of our Lord Jesus with His Father. God has promised us freedom. He is not a man that He can lie. Therefore it becomes our duty to seek out the secret of His covenant so that we can be free. I truly believe that as we become fully persuaded of what God has promised and that we believe and trust His word, we will be like the woman with the issue of blood that said, “If I can touch but the hem of His garment, I will be made whole.” And she was, for the covenant child of God, received her healing. We have so much to learn for we are in a greater covenant.
Let’s worship and pray! Oh Father God, we know that You love us. You have demonstrated this love through the Gift of Your Son. We can not comprehend this kind of love. It is beyond us. The Holy Bible has revealed You as, “God gave.” From the very beginning of time, You have given. Now we come to You, asking that You open the secrets of Your covenant to us, so that we may become the children, sons and daughters, of You. So that when the world looks at us, they see a people that walk in covenant with You, not because of great wealth or earthly prosperity that passes away, but a people that are free from the dominion of sin, death, hell and the grave. Father, teach us, lead us by the Holy Spirit. Give us ears to hear and eyes to see and hearts that comprehend so that we may believe. We ask this in the name of our precious Lord Jesus. Amen.
Dr. Alan Wiggins
Associate Pastor
No comments:
Post a Comment