Category Archives: Atonement of Christ

Angels, Atonement of Christ, New Covenant, Uncategorized

The Angel Gabriel introduces the Good News

Let’s look how the angel Gabriel, promised the Birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah  (Luke 1:4–25)

Luke started at “the beginning” (Luke 1:3). But for Jesus’ life, the beginning was not his birth, but instead the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist—the person who would prepare the way for Jesus. Zechariah’s wife, Elizabeth, was also from the priestly line of Aaron. Elizabeth descended directly from Aaron, brother of Moses and Israel’s first high priest (Exodus 28:1).

Zechariah and Elizabeth both were righteous in God’s eyes. This does not mean that they were sinless, but that they loved God and obeyed him. Luke adds the detail that they were both quite old. (Luke 1:6–7) .1 This gives each of us, as it does myself, encouragement: God can reveal a ministry to begin at any juncture in our lives. As long as we draw breath, we can serve the Lord.

I am focusing on the angel Gabriel (Luke 1:19) who delivered the unique message of the Good News about Jesus to Zechariah who is now forever known in the Gospels as the father of John the Baptist. His theophany 2 was not a dream or a vision; the angel was a royal herald of God who had brought divine insights to another nobleman of God during the exile to Babylon – Daniel. The angel appeared in visible form and spoke audible words to the Zechariah, the priest as he had done to Daniel in bygone days. (Luke 1:11)

The angel appeared as Zechariah placed the incense on the altar. At this great moment, God begins to work in a fresh way to redeem humankind by revealing his sending of the forerunner – John the Baptist – to present the One who would take sin away from the world. How appropriate to pick a moment of worship and a time when people recognised their need for cleansing from sin! 3

“Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear you a son.” (Luke 1:12–13) The angel even told Zechariah what to name the baby: John means “the LORD is gracious.” Through the birth of this son, God was gracious to Zechariah and Elizabeth, and ultimately to all people, for this son would prepare people’s hearts for the Messiah.

Luke refers to the Holy Spirit – the third person of the Trinity – more than any other Gospel writer does; it was a primary focus for him (see Luke 1:35, 41).4  That John would be filled with the Holy Spirit, even before his birth, indicates a unique choice of this child. What this signalled was the restoration of the prophetic work of the Holy Spirit that had not been present in Israel for over four hundred years (since the days of the prophet Malachi). (Luke 1:14–15)

Gabriel told Zechariah that John would go before God with the Spirit and power of Elijah – a great prophet who was known for not mincing words and for standing up to evil rulers (Luke 1:16–17 1 Kings 17–19; 2 Kings 2:9, 15; see also Matthew 11:14; 17:10–13).

John’s mission would turn the hearts of the fathers to their children. This phrase comes directly from the prophecy of the Messiah’s forerunner found in Malachi 4:5–6. Though the meaning of the phrase is not immediately apparent, it may mean that John’s messages of repentance would unify broken family relationships – help fathers in their parental responsibilities, or change the lives of disobedient children so that their fathers would approve of them. (see Luke 15:20)

As the story goes, John’s ministerial call to repentance would change the disobedient minds to accept godly wisdom by bringing many of his contemporaries back to a former or a new relationship to God.

When Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, he stated: “I am Gabriel, I stand in the very presence of God.” Gabriel had come with a critical message—Gabriel himself described it as good news. The old priest ought not to have doubted anything the angel said as Zechariah would recall that Gabriel was the angel who had appeared long ago to Daniel, immediately responding to his prayer in Babylon. (Luke 1:19; Daniel 9:21)

Though Zechariah and Elizabeth had been childless for many years, God was waiting for the right time to encourage them and take away their disgrace. Elizabeth realised that in this impossible pregnancy, God had performed a miracle. She praised God for taking away her shame of having no children (Luke 1:7, 25).

One of the keys to the narrative, as I noted above, is to recognise that a story’s characters represent certain types of people. In Zechariah and Elizabeth, we see not just historical figures but representative personalities, and we can identify with their attitudes. We can sympathise with Elizabeth’s plight of childlessness. But she also is an example of how she responds. Despite her disappointment, she faithfully serves God. Even when her situation reversed, she does not forget God but rejoices in what he has done to renew her.

From righteous Zechariah, we also learn something about walking with God. This Gospel is full of such exemplary characters.

Life Application Both Zechariah and Elizabeth are at the heart of the bridge between the past and the present. Our pain may not be the absence of a child, but many things can bring disappointment in life. Zechariah nor Elizabeth succumbed to bitterness, even though Elizabeth felt “disgrace.”

Maybe that is one reason God called them upright and blameless. But good people need to learn to rely even more on God. Sometimes the answer to their disappointment is not clear. Whether it be a severe illness, the loss of a child to premature death, a financial collapse, dealing with a child who falls away from Christ, or into calamity or a grave sin, or an unfortunate accident, the hard times are not always self-explanatory.

God never guarantees that life will be a bed of roses as the cliche goes, never comes without pain and disappointment sometime in our lives. The issue is how we handle it. Bitterness yields the fruit of anger and frustration, sapping our immediate joy from life. Conversely, by adhering to our faith, trust and dependence will cause us to find fulfilment in ways we would not even have considered otherwise.

God’s plan is a basic echo throughout the entire Gospel. Are we prepared for God and do we respond to his love through the ones he uses to lead us to him? As John pointed the way, we need to respect those who have led us in our journey – for me, it was my mother Ruth who read the old Bible stories to me as a young boy; Miss Phillips who came into Lord Elgin school and taught the good news on her felt board; the principal, Miss Couch, who had the entire school annually sing carols together in the hall; and Gordon Pfeifer, the evangelist who preached Christ crucified, and other exceptional elders such as Len Leatherdale, Pastor Mark Johnson, and more.

I’ve learned that we must sense God’s leading and act right then and there recognising our need for Him and respond to Jesus, the One who offers forgiveness to us! I have asked myself more than once: have I humbly walked before the Lord – taking the path he called me to, or have I too often opted to go my own way? If you draw breath, it is not too late to give your life to Jesus Christ as Lord of heaven and the earth, and your soul. Turn to Him, and He will turn to you.

Filled with the Spirit from birth, John testified to Jesus by kicking in his mother’s womb (Luke 1:44 when His mother Mary spoke to her cousin Elizabeth. A powerful testimony often accompanies the presence of the Holy Spirit in Luke. Those who are directed by God in the Spirit do not render testimony to God in the privacy of their own home, as the many Spirit-filled characters in the book of Acts also show. If we have the Spirit, God will be manifest in both our words and deeds.

Yet different ways for doing this exist (see Luke 7:24–35). John’s greatness is not found in his choice of lifestyle, but in the fact that in understanding his calling, he pursues it wholeheartedly and carries out God’s will faithfully.

God does not lead all people to minister in the same way. That diversity allows different types of Spirit-led ministry to impact different kinds of people. We should not make everyone minister, in the same way, similarly advocate our particular doctrines, nor with the same style. The test of ministry is not its external appearances; instead, it is found in much less obvious ways. As a servant of God, John became a preacher who encouraged others to live before God in a way that honoured the Creator. Not everyone responded to John, so we can ascertain that numbers needn’t measure ministerial or elder success. John’s mission was to be a source of stimulating others to find God – something we all can emulate.

The turning of the fathers and sons to each other and God (Luke 1: 17) shows how vital reconciliation within the family is. Colossians 3:21 states clearly how the father’s approach to his child can help form or deform a child’s self-image. Yet what is needed is not merely a reconciled relationship between father and child, but a spiritual connection among the family kindred secured by a robustly strong divine bond mutually uniting them to Christ.

In this way, all family members turn to serve the Lord, so that “the disobedient [are turned] to the wisdom of the righteous” (Luke 1: 17). God’s desire to unite us in a relationship to Himself has resounded over the ages since Moses taught Israel how to restore weakening divine relationship. (see Deuteronomy 4:30; Jeremiah 24:7; Isaiah 10:21; 31:6, 55:7; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 3:7; James 4:8; Acts 16:31 NLT).

One need only needs to read all the wise words of the father to his son in Proverbs to sense how crucial a three-way relationship between parent, child, and God is. 5

1 Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman, D. (2001). Life Application New Testament Commentary (p. 241). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.

2 Meaning of Theophany: Manifestation of God that is tangible to the human senses. In its most restrictive sense, it is a visible appearance of God in the Old Testament period often, but not always, in human form. Some would also include in this term Christophanies (pre-incarnate appearances of Christ; and post-ascension visions of Christ, such as the bright light experienced by Paul on the Road to Damascus, and my own experience) and angelophanies (appearances of angels).

3 Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 48–49). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

4 Barton, B., Comfort, P., Osborne, G., Taylor, L. K., & Veerman, D. (2001). Life Application New Testament Commentary (p. 241). Wheaton, IL: Tyndale.

5 Bock, D. L. (1996). Luke (pp. 48–49). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.

Atonement of Christ, Uncategorized

Remembering Jesus at the Cross

“And Jesus said, ‘Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.’ It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!’ And having said this he breathed his last.  (Luke 23:34;44-46 ESV)

Jesus at the Cross GP

Some misrepresent God’s character as one of Judgement before Mercy is even considered. In some cultures and religions, hatred triumphs over Love. Christ expressed His Character of Love by enacting a strategy planned since the beginning of time with His Father to redeem man from himself, from his wrong ideas of God who created him.

At 3:00 PM Good Friday, 2000 years ago, Christ set all mankind free from all misconception. Judgement and Mercy kissed each other as He took our judgment: His death ransomed us from all our sins — Love and Mercy expressed for the world to witness for eternity. To the world His Gospel of Love triumphs, not with violence, fear or intimidation, but with peace and joy in His righteousness offered to each who accepts Him.

I invite you to show some Gratitude, take a few moments to contemplate the cost of our Salvation, offer Praise, knowing Eternal Life is ours in Christ. I invite you to remember Him together as we take a moment of quiet Thankfulness today at 3:00 PM, the time of His death. Love is rarely honoured.

“Now when the centurion saw what had taken place, he praised God, saying, ‘Certainly this man was innocent!’ And all the crowds that had assembled for this spectacle, when they saw what had taken place, returned home beating their breasts” (Luke 23:47-48 ESV)

Atonement of Christ, Love & Grace, New Covenant, Salvation

Grace: The Motivation for Accepting Jesus

“God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished.” (Rom. 3:25 NIV)

In God’s great exchange, God charged our sin to Christ and credited Christ’s righteousness to us. This swap is referred to as Justification – meaning that in our standing before God by faith in Christ, we are righteous in His sight – the opposite state of being condemned for our sin.

To begin to understand the love that God has for sinners, Jesus told the story of the Prodigal Son. The boy went from home and lived a wasted life full of sin. The father, when he saw his son heading towards home ran and fell on his neck and kissed him, and further demanded a feast be prepared for his lost son now returned. This represented the love that the father in heaven has for each person who has gone their own way of the world.

We are no more righteous in our daily experience than Christ was sinful in His daily experience. When we trust in Jesus by faith, God regards us as entirely righteous. How can this be? God the Father credits the righteousness of Christ to us as we put our trust by faith in Jesus.

Looking at this personally: He died on the cross for you just as if you’d never sinned. Justification by faith in Christ offers us this exchange.  Here’s how it works. When God charges our sins to Christ, they are no longer ours. He has removed them from us “as far as the east is from the west” (see Psalm 103: 12) and remembers them no more (see Hebrews 8: 12).

The penalty for our sin was paid at the cross, and this is actualized by our acceptance of this gift – by our faith when we say “Father in Heaven, I believe, and I accept your gift of forgiveness of sin for me – I am grateful for what my Lord Jesus did for me on the cross”.

There is a sense of guilt for sin once we see the aim of the gospel – that it  is the good news of God’s plan our reconciliation and salvation from the curse of sin. By faith, I see that my sin is indeed covered by accepting Christ’s gift offered to me. Theologically Christ is our substitutionary ransom. Others may term his death as “propitiatory”. Propitious means bringing a favourable result by Christ’s atonement for our sin. In a nutshell, we are saved from the wrath of God towards the ungodly which will occur at the last Judgment. We are now saved by faith when we put our trust in Jesus Christ. We are now actually accounted as righteous and reconciled through Christ as a son or daughter of God.

Individually, a divine transaction occurs – I exchange my sin, for the gift of Christ’s righteousness offered to all men at the cross – men and women who accept this gift of grace. Two points are important to understand.

  1. God is infinitely holy. Grace and forgiveness are inaccessible without Christ.  Without Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross, we can never approach God as our Father in heaven. God is holy and hates the sin that has become a part of mankind. All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (see Rom. 3:23) Our Lord’s Prayer alludes to His holiness: “Our Father in Heaven…Hallowed be thy name.”
  2. God alone is the source of righteousness. By our accepting the gift of Christ’s lived-out righteousness by faith, God’s justice is satisfied. His penalty for sin – death – was exhausted on His Son at the cross. Christ’s death achieved reconciliation for all who call upon Him. The faith of Jesus attributes to you. This viewpoint that God takes of you, though a sinner, as righteous in Christ, is now accessible to you once you confess your sin and accept His gift of salvation.

We stand before Him just as if we’d never sinned, and just as if we’d always obeyed. What Jesus was in His life, we are in our standing before God because Jesus was our representative in both His life and death. His righteousness is imputed to us – viewed by the Father as own our own righteousness. This justification was offered by the death of Jesus Christ.

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NIV)

Apostle Paul’s view was that by faith “I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith” (Phil. 3: 8b-9 ESV) It’s very clear: “through faith in Christ” we are gifted “the righteousness from God that depends on faith”.

The idea of Christ as our representative man when incarnated, which Paul makes clear is indeed an offer to be viewed by God, no longer as a sinner, but as a righteous person in good standing with Him. Thus we can approach a holy God daily by faith. For years, the church has found the study of Righteousness by Faith an encouraging topic. Note how Paul denoted Christ as a man, a representative man. This is very important to see. Adam, our forefather was our first representative man, representing sin and unrighteousness for the human race when he disobeyed God. Adams death passed unto all men.

Comparatively, Jesus represents us as forgiven for our sins, and righteous by faith in Him, as our last representative man. The new life we find in Jesus Christ passes unto all men who are saved by faith.

“As by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous” (Romans 5: 19 ESV)

The first many who were made sinners refers to the entire human race (except, of course, Jesus). The second many refers to all who are united to Christ by faith. Paul is not teaching a universal salvation of all humankind.

Let me illustrate. I know men who work hard at their physical jobs – they can get sweaty with grimy hands and clothes. They shower before dining with their family or play with their children or hug their wife. They don’t just put on clean clothes first! God does this to you. He washes you clean in the blood of His Son and then He clothes you in His perfect righteousness. The old hymn expresses the trust we have in Jesus. “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness.” His love activates our love. 

Essentially love for Jesus Christ and the forgiveness of sin offered to us, is the primary motivation for accepting the gospel of Jesus Christ. We are called to a righteous life in Christ, and His love and the power of the Holy Spirit lead us in our quest for holiness.

Other related reading: The Manifesto of God’s Love

Atonement of Christ, Authority of the Bible, Holy Spirit, New Covenant, Sanctification: Living a Holy Life, Spirit Led Leadership Today, Temptation

The New Covenant transcends the Old Covenant

“Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin, a justification you were not able to obtain under the law of Moses. (Acts 13:38-39 NIV)

There are many faith-building stories in the Old Testament (OT) – a redemptive narrative of God’s salvation, particularly for Abraham’s children, the Jews, had become the most perceptive to the Word of God speaking to them. Abraham was one of the first men in his era to begin to discern the presence of God, His principles, and His leading via prophetic insight. He was asked to leave the Ur of the Chaldeans and move to an entirely new land in Canaan (see Genesis 11:31;12:1; 12:1 ESV)

Those living in that time, before Christ, were recorded by the prophets in the OT narrative. They were not entirely aware that some of their major stories and symbols were revelatory of the coming cross and death of Jesus Christ. The narrative of their life did not hold a lot of value as epistemological tools (ways of knowing) for them. They did not then know about the New Covenant (NC) truth that would be unpacked from their story after the event of the cross when the redemptive ransom would be paid by Christ for the true atonement for all man’s sin.

How they knew, what they knew, why we now know, was not as evidently true for them then, because the symbols and shadows about the future reality took time and guidance by the apostles to apprehend.

The cross of Jesus Christ brought awareness to Jews and all of mankind, as the New Testament (NT) prophets compared the old narratives beyond the limits of that historic knowledge. Apostle Paul was the man chosen by the resurrected Jesus to reveal to the world, first, the importance of the cross and secondly, a new way of comprehending the past in light of the arrival of Christ. In the letter to the Ephesians he confidently wrote of his inspiration given to him from Jesus, fully aware that a new perception, not previously made known, was dawning in the kingdom of God:

“When you read this, you can perceive my insight into the mystery of Christ, which was not made known to the sons of men in other generations as it has now been revealed to his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit.” (Eph. 3:4-5 ESV)

As we look at the Old Testament narrative, we find that many of the symbols are types of the progression towards a fuller understanding of principled thinking – as mankind was led by God to see life through the paradigm of love – the basis of a new inner motive operandi – a new process of reformation of the character of mankind motivated by love.

Prior to the New Testament, when Jesus came on the scene, there were many true events depicted as living symbols of Jesus Christ acted out in real life such as:

  • Abraham obeying God, ready to offer his son Isaac on Mt. Moriah replaced by a lamb caught in a bush;
  • The sacrificial lambs being killed morning and evening in the Jerusalem temple;
  • The day of Atonement once a year where bulls, goats, and sheep were slaughtered to appease the sins of the Israelite as guilt offerings.

These living symbols were revealed as Bible stories  – narratives, later to be revealed by the apostles as shadow-types designed to lead us to understand fully that the advent and mission of Jesus Christ was to redeem man. This plan was established even before the ancient narratives were enacted in life: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph. 1:3-4 ESV)

The plan to redeem man had begun before sin entered. Jesus came to fulfill the ancient symbols by offering His life, as the anti-typical atonement for sin: “God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood — to be received by faith” and “He made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ.” (Rom. 3:25 NIV; Eph. 1:9-10 NIV)

Paul made it clear that the purpose of Christ was only to be understood much later, “to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment” (vs. 10) The priesthood of the temple would bring Jesus before Pilate with the intent to have him killed. What they did not understand was that the narrative of the priesthood was coming to a climactic ending in actionable reality. The “Lamb of God”, as the Apostle John referred to Jesus, was about to be slain in the place of all sinning mankind to “take away the sin of the world” and make the final at-one-ment for man – to free man from the penalty of death – to openly reconcile him to God, His Father.

Jesus said “it is finished” on the cross just as He died. The curtain to the Most Holy place in the Jerusalem temple, into which only the High Priest could enter once a year, was torn in two. This indicated the winding down of the Old Covenant period – the closing of the educative narrative for that period that had been used as a tutor – as a guide to lead us to Christ.

The New Covenant entirely replaces the Old Covenant

The New Covenant period was instituted at the cross as Jesus noted at the last supper to his disciples: “In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.” (Lk. 22:20 NIV) It had been prophesied by Jeremiah: “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.” (Jer. 31:31 NIV)

Paul confirmed this: “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Cor. 3:6; 1 Cor. 11:25 NIV)

  • The new covenant is superior to the old Christ was the antitypical ransom offering, High Priest and mediator for man before God the Father: “the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.” (Heb. 8:6 NIV)
  • The new covenant makes the old covenant obsolete: “By calling this covenant ‘new,’ he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.” (Heb. 8:13 NIV)

Christ died to ransom mankind from the sins of the ancient and prior generation and our current lives: “For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.” (Heb. 9:15 NIV)

The new covenant is not a mere continuation of the old covenant, “For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second.” (Heb. 8:7 NIV) It is “not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt. For they did not continue in my covenant.” (Heb 8:9 ESV) It all comes down to the arrival and death of Jesus Christ as the fulfillment of all the symbols of the ancient children of God from Abraham on: It is now to the new covenant – the new agreement – “to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant” (vs. 12:24)

New principles, new thoughts expressed in new action supersede historical narrative. Nobody worries that a child is ignorant of the numerous laws of physics allowing him to suspend himself vertically while happily pedaling his new bicycle.

The life of Christ and His teachings, and His unwarranted death were instrumental, moving us radically from the historic dependence on the OT narrative of living symbols into functional realities with simpler principles for mankind’s more abundant life. This requires a new motivational drive to enable us to live freely by a new maxim of love. Love informs the New Covenant between God and mankind and leads the renewed man to care for his fellow man. The child, while riding his bike does not review the laws of aerodynamics or propulsion. He just engages in life, lives joyfully, loving his new experience, and thankful for his new gift.

A Covenant means an Agreement

It was prophesied that a new agreement was coming in the future, “not like the agreement I made with your forefathers.” At the Cross, upon His death, the curtain was torn in two, symbolizing that the old Jerusalem with its priesthood with the daily sacrificial slain lambs (symbolic of the coming death/ransom of Christ) now had been replaced by the New Jerusalem temple of the New Covenant, now a Spirit-led temple of united minds in Christ: “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (1 Peter 2:5 ESV; 2 Cor. 6:16; Rev. 3:12 ESV) This took the prophetic insight of men like the apostles Peter, Paul, and John, to see the deepest unrecognized historic epistemological value.

The kingdom is predicated on united like-minds who can fathom the love maxim Christ taught in His Royal law, which had always been latent and prophesized by a few yet misunderstood in the OC era: “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts [i.e. minds], and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Heb. 8:10, 16) Further: “But now that Christ has come, we don’t need those laws any longer to guard us and lead us to him.” (Gal. 3:25)

Love is the maxim of law that guides the balance of right action, justice and mercy. Jesus taught that “on these two laws”, love for God and love for man – hang all the OT moral laws – the Decalogue (10 commandments), and the OT’s forward-looking prophetic books. Jesus taught that “all scripture” (symbolically: the Rock from which poured water for the Jews in the wilderness, Lion, Lamb, Father, Prince of Peace, Wonderful, Counselor, Life, Water of Life, Spirit as the Wind, Wisdom, Messiah, Teacher, etc.) revealed insights about Him and His coming final Atonement and the New Covenant.

God put into effect a different plan

The essence of the new agreement, which I refer to as the Manifesto of God’s Love, was to help men realize that they cannot base their lives on exterior laws and check-lists and must evolve out of this fear-based bondage to written law into a love-based covenant (the Jews had 613 laws, the 10 commandments being central). Unfortunately, the Jewish leaders added many interpretations and burdens such as “you cannot carry your mat on the Sabbath”. To avoid legalism, we must understand that we are not saved by keeping the law. We will express the Spirit-led guidance that fulfills the law of God when we agree with the Spirit to engage our will to obey; and if we come short of obeying, immediately repent of any sin. Christ our Advocate is ready to hear our confession of sin, and our turning from sin: “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.” (1 John  2:1).

And our walk with Christ will indicate that the Spirit is achieving grace within us, acknowledging that the law is holy, just and good: “the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit”. (Rom. 8:4 ESV) Any obedience to the law of God is achieved in us only if and when we submit and cooperate to obey God’s Spirit, as the Spirit does the work within – not by legalistic efforts, works or braggadocio that we keep the law. Even if you worship on the 7th-day Sabbath – the 4th commandment – give the Spirit of Jesus Christ the glory – Sabbath-keeping will not save you, only Jesus does that for you, first on the cross, and ongoingly He saves you from desiring to commit sin (if you allow Him to achieve this work within by obeying without hesitation).

“We aren’t saved from sin’s grasp by knowing the commandments of God because we can’t and don’t keep them, but God put into effect a different plan to save us. He sent his own Son in a human body like ours—except that ours are sinful—and destroyed sin’s control over us by giving himself as a sacrifice for our sins” (Rom 8:3 TLB) and “For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.” (vs. 14) The secret is to be led by God by His Spirit every moment and yield your will to obey on whatever point Jesus Christ speaks to you via your conscience.

The problem with human nature is that man wants to interpret how others should live. The Jews had prescribed additional add-on laws as to how to keep the Sabbath, for example, even though Jesus debunked these additional commandments of men, referring to Himself as “Lord of the Sabbath…made for man” (Matt. 12:8) His purpose was to create one new humanity based on love and living in peace. And this New Covenant was accomplished “by setting aside…the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity…thus making peace” (Eph. 2:15 NIV)

Jesus lived out love in the now

Jesus displayed love in action among His disciples and the people right up to the cross, precisely to show the effect of love on mankind to motivate them differently in the heart and mind and conversely, to reveal the injustice, blind sightedness, sin, scheming and gross deceit expressed in the intense hatred of those who tried to block and discount Christ’s New Covenant teachings. Why? To protect their priestly system, pontifical life, popularity, and prestige and their economic survival with large temple incomes extracted from the people.

We need to look at Jesus as a man to see His glory as our creator (Col. 1:15-19) who came as an incarnated man to this earth to express the character of the Father’s love to man plus and show His new agreement of reconciliation to man. We must look at the entire OT bible leading up to His arrival on the scene, only through NC eyes, else we see it as a gory mess, and get trapped in the old narrative.

We must transcend the tutoring narrative of the old covenant once we are led to Christ and through His life and teaching to be reconciled to God as One people united with Him via His Spirit.

Atonement of Christ

The Mediator must be Federally united to His people

by Arthur W. Pink

In his defense of the Satisfaction of Christ, Turretin pointed out how that there are three kinds of union known to us in human relations which justifies the imputation of sin one to another; natural, as between a father and his child; moral and political, as between a king and his subjects; voluntary, as between friends, or between an arraigned criminal and his sponsor. But the union of Christ with His people rests on far stronger ground than any of these considered alone. It was voluntary on His part, for He spontaneously assumed all the obligations He bore. But it was also a covenant ordinance, decreed by the three Divine persons in counsel, whose behests are alone the foundation of all law, all rights, and of all obligations. “The Scriptures plainly teach that God has established between Christ and His people a union sui-generis, transcending all earthly analogies in its intimacy of fellowship and reciprocal co-partnership both federal and vital” (Dr. C. Hodge).

The mediatorial position assumed by Christ and the redemptive work which He performed cannot be rightly understood till they are viewed in connection with the Everlasting Covenant. It is not difficult to see that the death on the Cross was only made possible for the Son of God by His becoming Man. But we need to go farther back and ask, What was the relation between Christ and His people that made it meet for Him to become incarnate and die for them? It is not enough to say that He was their Surety, and Substitute. True, blessedly true, He wrought and suffered for them because He was their Surety to the offended Law-giver and Judge. But what rendered it proper that He should occupy such a place? No satisfactory answer can be given till we go right back to the counsels of the Godhead. Covenant oneness accounts for all, vindicates all, explains all.
Christ was substituted for His people because He was and is one with them-identified with us and we with Him; not merely as decreed by the sovereign authority of the Godhead, but as covenanted between the eternal Father and the eternal Son. Christ “bore the sins of many” because in His covenant identification with them, their sins became sinlessly but truly His sins; and unto the sons and daughters of the covenant, the Father imputes the righteousness of His Son, because, in their covenant oneness with Him, His righteousness is undeservedly but truly their own righteousness. This alone explains all Christ’s history as the incarnate Son of God; all His interposition as the Savior of His people; and it places the career of Christ on earth in its true relation to the eternal purpose of God. In its completeness, as bearing on the covenant-clients as well as the covenant-Head, it is the formal instrument by which faith comes into sure possession of Christ Himself and the benefits of redemption.

Christ is expressly denominated “the last Adam” (1 Cor. 15:45), and therefore are we told that the first Adam was “the figure of Him that was to come” (Rom. 5:14). Adam was a “figure” of Christ in quite a number of ways, but supremely in this, that he stood as the federal head of a race. God entered into a covenant with him (Hosea 6:6, margin), and therefore he stood and fell as the legal representative of all his family: when he sinned, they sinned; when he died, they died (Rom. 5:12-19). So was it with the “last Adam”: He stood as the covenant Head and federal Representative of all His people, being legally one with them, so that He assumed and discharged all their responsibilities. The birth of Christ was the begun manifestation of the eternal union between Him and His people.

In the Covenant, Christ had said to the Father, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the Church will I sing praise unto thee. And again, I will put my trust in him. And again, Behold I and the children which God hath given me” (Hebrews 2:12, 13). Most blessedly is this explained in what immediately follows: “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same,” and therefore “He is not ashamed to call them brethren.” Federation is the root of this amazing mercy, covenant – identification is the key which explains it. Christ came not to strangers, but to “brethren”; He came here not to procure a people for Himself, but to secure a people already His (Eph. 1:4; Matthew 1:21).

Since such a union has existed between Christ and His people from all eternity, it inevitably followed that, when He came to earth, He must bear their sins, and now that He has gone to heaven they must be clothed (Isa. 61:10) with all the rewardableness of His perfect obedience. This is the strongest buttress of all in the walls of Truth, yet the one which has been most frequently assailed by its enemies. Men have argued that the punishment of the Innocent as though He were guilty was an outrage upon justice. In the human realm, to punish a man for something of which he is neither responsible nor guilty, is, beyond question, unjust. But this principle did not apply to Christ, for He had voluntarily identified Himself with His people in such an intimate way that it could be said, “For both He that sanctifieth, and they who are sanctified, are all of one” (Heb. 2:11).
When we say that the union between Christ and His people is a federal one, we mean that it is of such a nature as to involve an identification of legal relations and reciprocal obligations and rights: “By the obedience of One shall many be made [legally constituted] righteous” (Rom. 5:19). God’s elect were “chosen in Christ” (Ephesians 1:4). They are “created in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:10). They were circumcised in Him (Colossians 2:11). They are “made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5: 21). In view of this ineffable union, Scripture does not hesitate to say, “We are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones” (Ephesians 4:30).