The New Covenant is radically different from the Old Covenant in many ways. It is an entirely new expression of God’s amazing love for people.
“The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the LORD. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:31–34 (NLT)
Instead of man relating to God based on obedience to a written Law, we now come into God’s family based on the finished work of Christ. Instead of having the Holy Spirit with us, he now indwells us. Instead of living by a set of rules, we live through the power of the Spirit.
In addition, the New Covenant expands what it means to be a child of Abraham. Rather than being limited to the physical offspring of that man, the family of God now includes all those who are born again by the Spirit, both Jew and Gentile.
For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:26–29 (NASB95)
The physical nation of Israel has been expanded and transcended by what the Bible calls “one new man” – the church, the body of Christ.
For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. Ephesians 2:14–16 (NASB95)
The New Covenant kingdom of God has transcended the Old Covenant kingdom of Israel. Jesus, the risen Lord and King of Kings, rules over the nations, not just Israel.
He says, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.” 7 Thus says the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel and its Holy One, To the despised One, To the One abhorred by the nation, To the Servant of rulers, “Kings will see and arise, Princes will also bow down, Because of the LORD who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel who has chosen You.” Isaiah 49:6–7 (NASB95)
In addition, instead of inheriting a narrowly defined land, God has promised that his children will inherit the entire earth.
Blessed are the gentle, for they shall inherit the earth. Matthew 5:5 (NASB95)
Some, who still hold to an Old Covenant concept of the Abrahamic promise, insist that the Greek word “ge” should be narrowly translated “land.” However, the messianic promise in Psalm 2:8 put this false notion to rest.
Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Your inheritance, And the very ends of the earth as Your possession. Psalm 2:8 (NASB95)
Because the family of God has expanded include Gentiles, the promised land has to be much larger, too. Jesus quoted Psalm 37:11 in Matthew 5, and the Hebrew word for “land” or “earth” in “eretz,” the same word used in Genesis to describe the entire earth.
But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace. Psalm 37:11 (NKJV)
I believe it is a clear case of translators’ bias that leads people to translate “eretz” as land instead of earth, at least in respect to the New Covenant. Paul wrote in Romans 4:13 that we are heirs of the cosmos, which can never be narrowed to simply mean a small area in Palestine.
For the promise to Abraham or to his descendants that he would be heir of the world [kosmos] was not through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the Law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise is nullified; 15 for the Law brings about wrath, but where there is no law, there also is no violation. 16 For this reason it is by faith, in order that it may be in accordance with grace, so that the promise will be guaranteed to all the descendants, not only to those who are of the Law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all, Romans 4:13–16 (NASB95)
The false teaching of Dispensationalism has brainwashed a large segment of the church into believing that God is still operating as if the physical nation of Israel is his chief focus.
It seeks to rob the church of understanding the radical upgrade Jesus brought to us via the New Covenant. By seeking to make Israel the focus of God’s plan in the future, it blinds us to the New Covenant reality.
The New Covenant is the fulfillment and enlargement of everything God promised in the Old. All things are fulfilled magnificently in Christ. The entire creation has come under his authority, and his rule will be shared by his people, born-again Jews and Gentiles, the Body of Christ, the fullness of him who fills all in all.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all. Ephesians 1:22–23 (NASB95)
We cannot afford to allow the error of Dispensationalism to rob us theologically of the immense inheritance we have in Christ. The Jews thought that they were the absolute pinnacle of God’s plans, but the Bible makes it clear that they were used by God to preserve the Bible and provide a blood line for the Messiah. Once he came, everything changed. His kingdom transcends all Old Covenant boundaries and concepts. The New Covenant is truly amazing. Our Savior and Lord, the King of Kings, surpasses all in glory.
To read my other articles about the amazing new covenant, click here.
