The New Covenant

The first time a prince of the court of heaven meets an earthly
child of God, the flight to earth marks the dawn of a new day. It is the
beginning of a New Covenant and the fulfilling of God’s promise to
His people. The angel Gabriel was sent into the region of Galilee to a
place called Nazareth to a virgin engaged to be married to a man
whose name was Joseph. He and his espoused fiancée were from the
house of David and her name was Mary. The angel came into the
room of Mary’s home and said to her, “Rejoice, highly
favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!”1
We can imagine her surprise with the angel’s appearance and the
manner of his greeting. Then the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call His
name JESUS. He will be great and will be called the Son of the
Highest; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David. And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His
kingdom there will be no end.”2

The great message of the New Covenant is conveyed as a decree
of the great high God that was ordained in the incarnation predicted
centuries before by the prophets. It was announced to her as an
imminent event that will occur through her, a virgin, under a
staggering set of circumstances. The idea of having a child and still
being a virgin had her asking a lot of questions. “How can this be,
since I do not know a man?” And the angel answered and said to
her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the
Highest will overshadow you; therefore, also, that Holy One who is to
be born will be called the Son of God.”3 Then the angel reveals to
Mary that her barren cousin is also with child, proving that nothing is
impossible with almighty God. Then Mary consented, “Behold the
maidservant of the Lord! Let it be to me according to your word.”4

Through the birth of Christ, our heavenly Father once more
establishes His covenant with not only Israel but all the Gentile
nations. This new promise is based on blood and promises Israel that
their religious beliefs will change to accommodate the foundations of
its blessings. This type of change cannot occur without the shedding
of blood so for the New Covenant to come into effect, an acceptable
sacrifice will have to be made. A King is coming to bring the
blessings of this covenant to Israel. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of
Zion! Shout, O daughter of Jerusalem! Behold, your King is coming
to you; He is just and having salvation, lowly and riding on a donkey,
a colt, the foal of a donkey… He shall speak peace to the nations; His
dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of
the earth.5 It will be fulfilled after Israel’s conversion at the second
return of Christ.

There is a four-hundred-year gap between Malachi and Matthew;
however, in the way the theme of the Bible goes, there is no gap at all.
Matthew is a continuance of Malachi. The law of the Old Testament
was not abolished at the birth of Christ, but at His death He is the
fulfilment of the law so there is an unbroken continuality between the
prophets and the Gospels. In fact, in all logicality the New Testament
begins with Acts. In the Gospels we do not find an account of the life
of Christ but different interpretations of the facts of who He really is.
In Matthew He is the King, in Mark He is presented as the Servant, in
Luke He is the Son of Man, and in John He is the Son of God.

He is to take the vow of a Nazarite. He is not to consume any
fermented drinks, not to cut His hair, and is to avoid defilement by
contact with corpses. The Greek word Jesous, or Jesus, is the
counterpart of the Hebrew word Yhoshua, or Joshua. Joshua was the
person in the Old Testament who delivered Israel out of the
wilderness and into the holy land where God would bless them as a
nation fulfilling the Abrahamic Covenant, the same land that God
gave to Abraham and his descendants. When the angel announced the
birth of Christ to Mary, his message contained three specific
references to the Davidic Covenant. And your house and your
kingdom shall be established forever before you. Your throne shall be
established forever.6

It is God’s intention to establish His kingdom in heaven here on
earth through Israel by fulfilling the promises He has made to that
nation. Before we come to the ministry of the Messiah, we must first
take up His forerunner, John the Baptist. John’s voice would not be
heard in the temple like most prophets. No, John would be heard in
the desert. The temple became the dwelling place of God’s glory, but
because of the Israelis’ sin God left the temple. John did not dress like
a priest with fashionable robes but wore a camel-haired cloak with a
leather belt tied around his waist. He did not eat the flesh of the
temple sacrifices but locust and wild honey.

The Greek word bapitzo comes from the root word bapto which
means to dip or to dye. It is a common word for those who are in the
trade of dyeing cloth. They would prepare the cloth first by bleaching,
then by dipping it into dye. The significance of the word is not on the
dipping part but on the results of the procedure. The word figuratively
means to change identity, to change appearance, or to change our
associations. To the Israeli mind it also meant to cleanse as well as to
consecrate a new identity.

From the beginning, God’s call to all who would listen is to
repent. It was no different with John the Baptist. We are to turn away
from what we know is wrong and turn toward God. This is the same
principle we discussed earlier when we studied Deuteronomy 28-30.
Before we can receive God’s blessings, we must turn back to Him and
turn away from sin. John the Baptist would preach “the kingdom of
heaven is near,” or is right at our doorstep with the coming of the
Messiah. The only thing that was preventing the coming of the
kingdom of heaven was the repentance of the nation Israel.
When people would hear the sermons of John, they would be
divided into two groups. There were the religious leaders, the
Pharisees and Sadducees, who through their self-righteous confidence
already considered themselves accepted by God. They denied being
sinful and had no need for John’s baptism. They felt by virtue of their
physical birth they were already sons of Abraham and saw no need to
confess their sins and receive forgiveness. They believed they were
already members of the kingdom of God.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to
his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to
flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruits worthy of
repentance, and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham
as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to
Abraham from these stones. And even now the ax is laid to the root of
the trees. Therefore, every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut
down and thrown into the fire.”7 Who may stand in the holy place of
God? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up
his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive blessing
from the LORD, and righteousness from the God of his salvation.8

The second group took to heart John’s message and turned toward
God. These were the outcasts of the church and were acceptable to
John. So, the people asked him, saying, “What shall we do then?” He
answered and said to them, “He who has two tunics, let him give to
him who has none; and he who has food, let him do likewise.”9 They
bore the evidence of genuine repentance and were brought into a right
relationship with God and they were accepted into the Messiah’s
kingdom.

God has given the Israelis many signs over the years. One was
circumcision, which was an outward sign that a person was related to
Abraham. Another was the Sabbath. Keeping this day Holy was a sign
that a person was related to Moses and the law. With John the Baptist
the new external sign was baptism. John made it apparent that when
the Messiah comes, He would have a new sign to identify God’s
people. He will give His Holy Spirit to all those who believe on His
name. John baptized with water, but through the sacrifice of Jesus
Christ on the cross He will baptize with Spirit. The Spirit is the
identifying sign today that we belong to God.

John, preaching in the wilderness, was waiting for the presence of
the Messiah so he could submit to His authority. It was this
submission of authority that would reveal the identity of the Christ
and it was at great reluctance that John baptized Jesus. Then Jesus
came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him. And
John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and
are You coming to me?” But Jesus answered and said to
him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all
righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.10 The law says for a priest to
be consecrated to office they should go through a ritual cleansing so
here Jesus Christ was formally admitted into the office of Messiah.
Another great sign of the Christ was the ministry of the Spirit.
When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the
water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the
Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And
suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased.”11 The baptism of Jesus was
performed so that He might identify Himself with the believing
remnant of Israel. He, in being baptized, identified Himself with
sinners where people would come to John and confess their sins. In
doing so they admitted that they needed a Savior. The Holy Spirit of
God anointed Christ to all the functions of the Messianic office. God
confirms with John and all the others who witnessed the event that
Jesus was the Messiah.

Freshly embodied by the Holy Spirit, Christ makes His way out to
the desert. I believe that a forty-day fast is a rite of passage for anyone
who wishes to be fully indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Christ does it
like no other I have seen. He goes forty days without food and water,
a feat that I do not believe is humanly possible. Here we have the
Creator of all existence being tempted by a subordinate angel that did
not recognize Jesus as to His divine authorship of creation. I don’t
know if Lucifer’s fallen state blinded him or if, like many of us, he
was blinded by his own ability. It was after the temptation that
Christ’s right to rule, establishing authority over His creation, was
demonstrated. When John’s ministry ended with his imprisonment
and later beheading, Christ’s public ministry began.

1.) Luke 1:28
2.) Luke 1 29-33
3.) Luke 1:34-35
4.) Luke 1:38
5.) Zechariah 9:9-10
6.) 2 Samuel 7:16
7.) Matthew 3:7-10
8.) Psalms 24:4-5
9.) Luke 3:10-11
10.) Matthew 3:13-15
11.) Matthew 3:16-17