Chapter Three

The New Covenant

The religious systems of the world have made SIN the center of their theology, and then formed a humanistic solution for dealing with the problem. John records for us the truth saying, “For God sent not his son into the world to CONDEMN the world, but that the world through him might be saved." Jn 3:17. The sending of the “WORD” into the world to be made flesh had nothing to do with condemnation but to giving life to all mankind.

 

The word “saved” used by John is the Greek word Sozo and means, to save, to deliver from both disease and also death, and to make whole. So from God’s point of view, sin certainly was not the major issue. Jesus spoke of condemnation saying, “This is the condemnation, that Light is come into the world and men loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil.” Ver.19. It seems man is drawn to darkness when it is light we should be attracted to. But our reconciliation is in Jesus Christ, so God is saying to us that he has sent Jesus into the world to declare to us our true origin and identity, and to demonstrate how life was intended to be lived. He did not live by any external law of do’s and don’ts, but he lived to please the Father who dwelt in Him. Therefore He has no conflict within Himself. Nothing was judged externally by natural sight or natural thinking as we tend to do, for our decision as to what is right or wrong is based upon an external law that is either written or passed on to us by others. Here is the first great difference between our way of living and that of Jesus Christ.

 

Beloved we must learn from Christ how life is to be lived if we want to enter into peace within. Heb 10:16 says, “This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts and in their minds will I write them, and their sins and iniquities will I remember no more.” So the external laws of Moses and the many laws the Church has added, are no longer to be the controlling influence over our lives. We are responsible now to obey an authority that is resident within us.

 

Can you not see that this concept completely bypasses the conflict between good and evil, light and darkness and all we are required to do is to please the Father who dwells within us? How wonderful it is to be free from the Law of do’s and don’ts, and no longer have to decide what is right and what is wrong by some external law. Because of this we understand that we have no right to judge one another, for the Father accepts total responsibility for His children and their discipline. This allows us to live in a family relationship with one another as brothers and sisters, and with Father being the head over all.

 

The Cross of Christ deals with our false identity and the influence it has had on our lives. Jesus Christ said that if we wanted to follow Him, we had to do two things. One is that we must deny our “self,” because it has no existence in reality, for God did not created a SELF. All God created in the beginning was His Only Begotten Son, and the Sons of God who were within him. The imaginary “self” we thought we were came from Adam, and is a sinner that has got to die. The word “deny” in the Greek means to totally disown. So this is the first condition we must fulfil before we can follow Christ. It is impossible to follow Christ while we have that false identity. Now the second condition imposed upon us is, “that we take up our cross.” For so many the cross consists of two pieces of wood joined together on which Jesus was crucified.

 

The religious world can only conceive of the cross as being that historic event that took place on Golgotha 2000 years ago. This concept has kept many Church people bound by frustration as they try to apply that historic event to their lives today. The result is a desire to do good but at the same time finding evil to be present within denying them the power to do it. To change the situation we need something more than the historic event that we call the crucifixion of Christ. But obviously we are not intended to have to drag this literal cross behind us where ever we go. NO, the cross we must take up is a spiritual experience that will release us from all conflict and bring us into union with the Christ.

 

First of all, let us be clear about who died on that cross 2000 years ago. Jesus said in Hebrew 10:5-8. that God had never desired sacrifice and offerings, or offerings for sin. So we know therefore, that Jesus Christ the Son of the living God was not offered on that cross as a sin offering. In fact, no one could kill the Christ who was a Son of God. So we must look beyond the religious ideas of man to discover the Truth that makes men free.

 

The human doctrines of men have hidden the truth from our eyes for many years, but now the Spirit of God is revealing that which has been hidden, thus setting us free. The generally accepted concept of the cross is that everyone is a sinner and bound for an eternal burning hell. However because God loves us He says to us, “I will kill my son on the cross instead of killing you, and that will make me happy again. Then I can forgive you all your sins and you can go to heaven when you die!”  That is the generally accepted concept of the Cross of Christ, and I am sure that at least most of my readers would have believed that to be

true at some time in their lives. The theologians should be before the courts of heaven, charged with the defamation of God’s character.

 

Can you believe that our heavenly Father would demand a HUMAN SACRIFICE, even His beloved Son just to settle the debt of our sins so we would not have to die. Just think about it!! This gruesome idea of Salvation not only defies the truth Jesus said, that God did not desire sacrifice and offerings and offerings for sin.  Now the matter is compounded by making God to require HUMAN SACRIFICE. Not even Abraham was allowed to sacrifice his son, but a substitute was found instead. No wonder the world at large finds it difficult to accept the “so called” Christian message of the GOSPEL. Let us be clear in our minds that God does not require his only beloved son to be sacrificed for sin. Rev 13:8 says, “The Lamb of God was slain from the foundation (Disruption) of the world.” What exactly does this mean to us today, and what connection is there with the CROSS?

 

The Scripture says, that the “Lamb” was slain from the disruption of the world. What is John speaking about here? The “disruption” is the correct translation of the Greek word used here, but the translators did not understand its significance so they used the word “foundation.” What is the disruption that is mentioned here? It refers to the sin in the Garden of Eden when Adam ate of the forbidden fruit and found themselves outside the Garden, living in a wilderness.

 

This was the disruption or the “casting down” of God’s authority in man and a change in his walk and relationship with God. The next thing we must understand is what does the “Lamb of God” represent to us in this situation. Many imagine some sort of a religious ceremony involving a lamb that represented Christ. However that is not the Truth. The lamb, in fact represents the nature and character of God. John the Baptist saw something more than a mere man when he looked at Jesus and said, “LOOK, this is the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.”

 

He did not consider that Jesus was to be offered on the cross as the SIN OFFERING, thereby taking away sin! No, he saw the perfection of the divine nature and knew that his “LIFE” was to be poured out and become available to every man. God was not interested in any DEAD SACRIFICE such as Israel offered continually. Father wanted a LIVING SACRIFICE involving the voluntary pouring out of a LIFE that we could appropriate unto our selves. Jesus said, “You must drink my “Blood" (my life) and eat my “Flesh” (the substance of what I am) or YOU CAN HAVE NO LIFE IN YOU.

 

So the slaying of the lamb took place when Adam sinned. It was not God that slew the Lamb, but ADAM. How wonderful is the wisdom of God to make provision for man’s sin just when it was needed. When Adam sinned he violated the nature and character of God thus slaying the Lamb. But there is more, because every man that has violated the holiness and righteousness of God since that time has also slain the lamb. So when we see the Lamb in the book of Revelation sitting on the throne elevated to supreme authority, it is said that it is a LAMB AS IT HAD BEEN FRESHLY SLAIN. The lamb has been slain by every man, causing the blood to flow right down through the ages, taking AWAY the sin of the world.

 

Now we can understand why God does not desire sacrifices and offerings and offerings for sin, much less wanting His beloved son to be a human sacrifice to atone for sin. Beloved every sin has been atoned for and the only “blood” that could effect that kind of cleansing is the blood (the life) of God’s Lamb. Of course the slaying of animals and the literal shedding of blood on Jewish altars was a literal representation of a spiritual truth. But the literal blood of bulls and goats could never take away sin, nor make those who offered those sacrifices perfect. Religion has remained blind to spiritual truth and remains committed to literal blood being necessary for the remission of sin, so keeping us under the law.

 

Is it not interesting that when Jesus spoke about his BLOOD it was not in connection with sacrifice, but giving LIFE? Nor was it connected with DEATH, but while he was living. John 6:47. “He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.” He did not say, but you must wait until I die before you believe on me! No He said that while He was living. Then in verse 53 He says, “Except you eat my FLESH and drink my BLOOD, you have no life in you.” Jesus is not here speaking of His death on the cross with regard to eating his flesh and drinking his blood.

 

After saying these things we notice that many of His disciples left Him and no longer walked with Him. This was all too much for their Jewish culture and the sacrificial system that they were so familiar with. Thoughts of cannibalism filled the minds of some as they tried to come to grips with these strange statements of Jesus. What does it mean to “eat His flesh and drink His blood?”

 

Jesus said, “I am the LIVING BREAD that came down from heaven, and if any man eat of this bread he will live forever, and the bread that I will give is my FLESH which I will give for the life of the world.” Jesus went on to say, “My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed.” Then He goes on to explain what He means, “He that eateth my flesh and drinks my blood, dwells IN ME AND I IN HIM. This is the same one who said, “I am the WAY the TRUTH and the LIFE. So Jesus is speaking of receiving eternal life, by eating His flesh and drinking His blood, because by doing so we have taken into ourselves the SUBSTANCE of what He is, and thus embracing His LIFE. This is not just a mind thing, but experiencing HIS LIFE pulsating through our being.

 

Now my religious friends will challenge this truth, because salvation and the receiving of eternal life for them can only be achieved at the cross. Now I am not denying the cross nor am I considering it has nothing to do with our redemption, but neither do I believe that Christ became a sin offering for us, so we could go to heaven when we die. It is necessary that we understand whom it was that died on the Cross, to release us from whatever it was that had bound us to sin and death, and not to satisfy an angry God! What is it that has dominated our lives making us subject to sin and death? The answer is simple, for it is Adam and the Adamic consciousness that has reigned as King in our lives. Because of our mistaken identity we believed we were sinners and that we are mortal, having been born and so are subject to death. We believed we came from the dust and we are going back to the dust.

 

We sin because of our mortality. How then can this power generated in us by ADAM be broken, so we can be free to live as true sons of God instead of living as sinners? The tyrant that has kept us bound is not some imaginary devil with horns and a tail, but ADAM.  Mankind has believed the lie that we came out of Adam, so we have assumed his identity. So complete is this deception that we firmly believe we are mortal and stand guilty before God as sinners.