The New Covenant tabernacle is dramatically and fundamentally different from all that preceded it. The old covenant of law was rendered obsolete due to its inherent flaw: it depended on our ability to keep God’s commandments.
Since we are fatally flawed by sin, God provided a brand new way to relate to him that depends on the performance of his only begotten Son, not ours.
But now He 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. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no occasion sought for a second. 8 For finding fault with them, He says, “BEHOLD, DAYS ARE COMING, SAYS THE LORD, WHEN I WILL EFFECT A NEW COVENANT WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AND WITH THE HOUSE OF JUDAH; 9 NOT LIKE THE COVENANT WHICH I MADE WITH THEIR FATHERS ON THE DAY WHEN I TOOK THEM BY THE HAND TO LEAD THEM OUT OF THE LAND OF EGYPT; FOR THEY DID NOT CONTINUE IN MY COVENANT, AND I DID NOT CARE FOR THEM, SAYS THE LORD. 10 “FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. 11 “AND THEY SHALL NOT TEACH EVERYONE HIS FELLOW CITIZEN, AND EVERYONE HIS BROTHER, SAYING, ‘KNOW THE LORD,’ FOR ALL WILL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM. 12 “FOR I WILL BE MERCIFUL TO THEIR INIQUITIES, AND I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SINS NO MORE.” Hebrews 8:6–12 (NASB95)
The eternal Word of God, the Logos who became a human (John 1:14), offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for our sins as the Lamb of God. He rose again as the Lord of Lords and now sits in heaven ruling at the Father’s right hand, waiting for his enemies to be completely destroyed. (Acts 2:35)
I have written numerous articles on the amazing New Covenant, which you can access by clicking here.
Just as the old covenant had to be replaced, all that pertained to the old covenant, including the physical temple, became obsolete and no longer necessary. (Hebrews 8:13) Jesus prophesied the destruction of the earthly temple (Matthew 24:2), which took place in 70 AD at the hands of the Roman army. With that event, the sacrificial system officially ended, signifying the termination of all that pertained to the old covenant. The new covenant, which was inaugurated by our Lord’s death, resurrection, ascension, and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, was now in full effect, which was plain for all to see. God officially judged the Jewish nation that rejected and murdered its Messiah and turned the kingdom over to a new generation of humanity, a people who would bear its fruit as born-again children of God.
Therefore I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people, producing the fruit of it. Matthew 21:43 (NASB95)
From that time to this, physical descent is of no significance, only the new birth.
And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:29 (NASB95)
Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well that a time was coming when people would no longer worship at the temple in Jerusalem but would instead worship in “spirit and in truth.” (John 4:24) Of all the people in the world with whom to share this important truth, it is instructive that he chose a Samaritan and a woman, both of whom were held in relatively poor esteem in that day. This was another sign of how radically different the New Covenant would be. The apostle Paul later wrote that in God’s New Covenant kingdom…
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 3:28–29 (NASB95)
The old covenant temple, like the temple of the earth, had been defiled. The new covenant came with the advent of the Messiah, whom the Bible says came to earth and “tabernacled” among us.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt (Greek: fixed one's tent or tabernacle) among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 (NASB95)
Our Father’s desire has always been to dwell with his people. That is why he made his first tabernacle, the earth. Satan, however, successfully deceived and seduced Adam and Eve to betray the Creator, thus defiling and corrupting the earth.
God’s ingenious plan was to send his own son to be his living tabernacle on the earth.
Jesus carried about God’s Spirit wherever he went.
“THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BECAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, 19 TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.” Luke 4:18–19 (NASB95)
When Jesus crucifixion was near, he told his disciples that it was good for them that he would soon return to his Father in heaven. They could not comprehend how that could be a good thing, but our Lord’s plan was for every born-again child of God to carry about in his or her person the same Holy Spirit who fills us.
I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; 17 that is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He abides with you and will be in you. John 14:16–17 (NASB95)
Part of the genius of the New Covenant is the presence of God’s Spirit within each child of God. Each of us becomes a miniature temple of the Holy Spirit when we are born again.
But the one who joins himself to the Lord is one spirit with Him. 18 Flee immorality. Every other sin that a man commits is outside the body, but the immoral man sins against his own body. 19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body. 1 Corinthians 6:17–20 (NASB95)
The church as a whole forms the New Covenant temple made with what the apostle Peter called “living stones.”
And coming to Him as to a living stone which has been rejected by men, but is choice and precious in the sight of God, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 1 Peter 2:4–5 (NASB95)
The New Covenant accomplishes God’s purpose to inhabit his people. All who have the Holy Spirit within experience what God wanted all along – for us to experience fullness of life by being connected to and dependent upon him.
The New Covenant tabernacle is God’s church, a building made without hands, a proper dwelling for God’s Spirit, a fulfillment of God’s plan to restore and tabernacle with his people.
But this did not complete God’s plan. He will eventually restore the first tabernacle, the earth. That is the topic of the final article in this series, The New Heaven and Earth.
