From Moses to Messiah: The Transition from Old to New

It's that time of year again! Just like every year, we have the saying in our minds and mouths of OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW! Don't get me wrong I am all about a good refresh of goals and priorities. Even more so when those goals and priorities are focused on growing and building your life in and with Christ at the center.

So, for this New Year's let's talk about the MOST important version of "out with the OLD and in with the NEW". I am of course meaning the Old Covenant to New Covenant. Also called the Old and New Testaments.

What is a covenant? A covenant is a binding, legal relationship established by God, enacted by blood, and can be defined with four main points. The parties involved, the promises granted, the obligations required, and the penalties for violation of the covenant. Every covenant has to have these elements.

THE OLD TESTAMENT/COVENANT

The Old Testament was established by God to Moses. This is what we know as the Law of Moses. It covers everything that the people of Isreal could have ever questioned or faced regarding how to live and to serve God. We also see many times over (turns out humanity is stubborn) what happens when these laws are not followed. It contained rules and instructions for how to, and what to, sacrifice to the Lord as an atonement for sin. We saw a brief snip bit of this history in our post Candy Cane Cookies and The Scarlet Thread (CHECK IT OUT IF YOU HAVEN'T YET!). The Old Testament Law revealed God's holiness, governed the people of Isreal, and preserved a people through which the Messiah would come. I think we can all agree that this covers what a covenant is, but if you need to work back through and answer those requirements yourself feel free! I won't be offended. 😉

Spoiler alert...did you know that the Old Testament points to the New Testament. Hearts where prepared to recognize the need of a Saviour and sacrifices foreshadowed Christ's crucifixion. These of course are just a few. Maybe we will dive into all those in another post! Read Exodus through Deuteronomy for more on the Law of Moses.

As we continue to the New Covenant keep the concept in mind of a FINAL WILL AND TESTAMENT. Hate to break it to you but man did not come up with this idea, God already had it designed and we are going to see it here in this post. This was HUGE for me when I began to understand OLD vs NEW in this way. It made so much more sense, and I pray that the Lord illuminates it for you too.

THE NEW TESTAMENT/COVENANT

As we saw above mankind is stubborn and keeping the law wasn't enough. The old law sacrifices could not provide permanent salvation for man or provide justification of sinners. Only Christ alone could and can do that. Remember BY GRACE ARE YE SAVED THROUGH FAITH - Ephesians 2:8-9. Therefore, we needed the New Testament covenant. This better and eternal covenant was promised to Abraham and given to Isreal during Christ's ministry on earth. Then Gentiles were grafted in due to Israel's unbelief that the Messiah came. The New Covenant promises eternal life. It comes with REPENTANCE UNTO SALVATION - 2 Corinthians 7:10. The blood requirement is now fulfilled by Christ's blood shed at the cross. We follow that in an outward showing to the world that we are dead to sin by being buried with Christ in full emersion BAPTISM placing us INTO Christ's Kingdom (government). The OLD man is dead, and we are a NEW creature in Christ. The penalty in this covenant is like in the old...death. You cannot have eternal life without the gift of salvation (obligation required). By the way, how great is our God that the NEW COVENANT "obligation" is a GIFT! 🩶

So... here's to "OUT WITH THE OLD AND IN WITH THE NEW" in so much larger of a sense than just a New Years Resolution or basic start to the New Year. Let us follow God's word in understanding that Christ fulfilled the Old Testament Covenant with his death on the cross, remember that final will and testament concept, deeper and clearer than we may have before. Let us not mix the old with the new, like Jesus taught us in the parables of the wine and the garments and serve Christ and be a part of His New Covenant Kingdom living as He intended.

“Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved.”

— Matthew 9:17 (KJV)

“No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse.”

— Matthew 9:16 (KJV

Trying to live in the OLD with the NEW would diminish the wonderful and amazing work Christ did on the cross for you and for me. I pray we don't take that gift for granted. If you haven't given your life to Christ, my prayer for you is that you soften your heart to the Lord this New Year. Allow the Spirit of the Lord to draw you. I won't promise you that surrendering heart to God makes life easier because my friend the truth is the enemy wants you... and chasing THE ONE satan hates most will make you a target.... but you will find a peace in the Lord, that I CAN promise you, you will never find in the things of this world.

Follow along with us on Facebook and Instagram this week for great stories, posts, and reels on how the New Covenant was CONFIRMED!

To God Be the Glory,

Goodies and the Gospel

"Lord help me get one more"