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Seven Reasons to be New Covenant

Posted on by Bob Christopher

To the fence sitters, here are seven reasons to get off the fence and boldly declare that you are a New Covenant believer.
Paul stated the reasons plainly in his letter to the Corinthians. The passage is 2 Corinthians 3. Read through it. I think you will find the seven reasons to be compelling.

  • Life — As Paul wrote, “the law kills, but the Spirit gives life.” The end of the law is death. That is the wages of sin. In the New Covenant, you receive life, Christ’s life.
  • Righteousness — The law is a ministry of condemnation. No way to feel close to God or even know that He truly loves you when you keep failing to live up to His commands. In the New, God makes you righteous in Jesus. You are accepted.
  • Eternal Security — The Old Covenant was temporary. It had a limited purpose – to show you your need for Christ. The New is eternal. Jesus’ promises and provisions last forever, which means that you are saved completely and eternally.
  • Hope — The weight of the law squeezes out all measure of hope. As the writer of Hebrews stated, apart from Christ, you live in the fearful expectation of God’s punishment . In this New Covenant, your sins have been taken away once and for all. You are forgiven. You have Jesus and He is your hope of glory.
  • Freedom — Under the law, you were in bondage to sin and death. Sin was your master, as Paul wrote. But in this New Covenant, the Spirit of Life sets you free from the law of sin and death. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
  • Transformation — Self-effort keeps you stuck in the Romans 7 trap: the things I want to do, I don’t, and the things I don’t want to do, I do. But in the New Covenant you are transformed into the likeness of Christ, from glory to glory.
  • Jesus — Under law, it is all about you and your ability to live up to the standards. In the New, Jesus lives His life through you. He was the One who was revealed when the curtain in the temple was torn. He is God’s gift to you.

It is time to get off the fence. Make the declaration: “I am a New Covenant believer!”

What If…

Posted on by Bob Christopher

What if the Old Covenant was God’s final word to man?
What if the Ten Commandments were the only means available to us to gain entry into heaven, or to earn God’s love and acceptance?
Where would this leave us?
What would our eternal fate be?
How would this affect our lives here and now?
The Old Covenant was God’s word to Israel. Not His first word to Israel, nor was it His last. But it did define Israel’s way of life as a nation from Moses until Jesus. The teachers of the Law believed Israel’s role in the world was to live out the righteous requirements of the Law, and in so doing, become a blessing to all other nations.
Where did this leave them? The same place it leaves anyone who attempts to gain God’s acceptance through obedience to Law – judged, condemned, fearful and dead in sin.
That’s the Old Covenant, a ministry of condemnation and death.
When read correctly, the Law is God’s word about man, the plain, stark truth. It answers these questions: What is the destiny of a people caught in the throes of a lie? What will be their end? According to the Law, the final stop is death, but only if the Old Covenant is God’s final word.
The denouement of this story has a twist. It is revealed on a hill called Calvary, outside the walls of Jerusalem. A man hung there on a cross, suspended between heaven and earth. He was no ordinary man, and the death he died was no ordinary death.
The man whose hands and feet were pierced was the Lord Himself, the unblemished Lamb of God. His death was in place of ours. Live out the full story of the Law and it ends at the foot of this cross. Look up and see God’s final word to man – Jesus.
Death is not God’s end for man, it is Jesus. In Him we have forgiveness of sins, righteousness and a new way of life defined by the New Covenant. That leads to several questions.
What if we truly believed that Jesus was and is God’s final word to man?
Where would this leave us?
How would it affect us here and now?
The New Covenant answers – in Jesus totally forgiven, completely loved and fully alive!

How You Can Have a Vibrant Faith in 2012

Posted on by Bob Christopher

If you want to experience a vibrant faith, then ask and answer this question.
Jesus first posed this question to His disciples at Caesarea Philippi. The curiosity of the people of Israel concerning the identity of Jesus had the nation abuzz. Who was He? Jesus asked His disciples for feedback. Then He asked them, “Who do you say that I am?”
Most of us think of this question in terms of apologetics, defending the faith. Yes, Jesus’ identity is central to Christianity, and we as believers must be well versed in sharing the truth of His claims to be God.
The question, however, is much broader in scope. The answer has continuing effects in our day-to-day lives. It relates to our faith as individual believers.
“Who do you say that I am?” is not a question to be asked and answered merely once in a lifetime. We should circle back to it time and time again.
Our faith, to have value and substance, must be tied to an object. Without an object, faith is a meaningless word. For Christians, the object of our faith is Jesus Christ Himself. As our knowledge of Christ grows, our faith in Him expands within our souls.
This far exceeds the facts the question initially invokes. Peter answered the question correctly when Jesus asked it. He boldly delivered the answer that had been revealed to him, “You are the Christ, the Son of God.” Yet, when Jesus, in response to Peter’s answer, shared His ultimate mission, Peter recoiled. Jesus rebuked him saying, “You are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of men.” The fact of Jesus’ identity was clear in Peter’s mind, but fact had not yet blossomed into full faith.
Faith is a dynamic word that is lived out in trials and tribulations. Sometimes, in trials, we carry on as if we had never come to terms with the truth of Jesus. We act as if He is irrelevant to our life issues. However, it is in those times, we need to come back to this most significant question: Who do I say that He is? When we come back to the truth that Jesus is God and is living in us, then we can release our burdens to Him and confidently trust that He is capable of working the situation together for our good.
In 2012, make a point to circle back to the most compelling question ever asked time and time again. If you do, you can count on experiencing a vibrant faith in the New Year.

From the Manger to the Cross

Posted on by Bob Christopher

In six short verses the writer of Hebrews takes us from the manger to the cross. In Hebrews 10:5, he starts with this: “When Christ came into the world…” Then, within a few short statements, he fast forwards the reader to the cross. Along with the resurrection, these are the salient points of His story. The writer of Hebrews links these two events to show us the purpose for which Christ was born.
The first Christmas morn, Jesus inhabited a body. He entered into our world and became one of us. He took on our flesh and blood. This body had been prepared for Him by His Father. This body was to be the final sacrifice for sin.
Sacrifices were required by the Mosaic Covenant, but those sacrifices were not sufficient to take away sin. The blood of bulls and goats did not equal the weight of our sin. Even though the blood provided the people temporary relief from their guilt, it also reminded them that their sin still stood between them and God. The way into His presence had not been opened.
That required a greater sacrifice, one of infinite worth. Jesus came to be that sacrifice, the perfect Lamb of God. Yes, Jesus inhabited a body. Hearing the story of that holy night fills us with awe and wonder. The image of Jesus wrapped in swaddling clothes strikes a chord of hope in each of us. It was this body that would be sacrificed on the altar of God’s mercy. This was the will of the Father. Jesus gladly took on our flesh and blood to carry out His will. Within this short passage, we see that the will of the Father is two-fold.
First, Jesus came to set aside the first covenant to establish a New Covenant. That first covenant judged us all guilty and left us dead in our sins. That covenant provided no means of escape, no opportunity for redemption. That covenant brought death. Jesus stepped into a body that was subject to the Old Covenant and He lived up to every righteous requirement. He was tempted just as we are and yet He was without sin. Not only that, He walked in perfect love, and as Paul wrote, “love is the fulfillment of the Law.”
But there was still the issue of our guilt and punishment. Something had to happen regarding both to bring the Old Covenant to its completion. Jesus offered Himself, perfect and unblemished, as the ultimate sacrifice for sin. On the cross, He cried out, “It is finished!” The Old covenant had been fulfilled once and for all. Jesus fulfilled it in order to establish the New Covenant.
The second aspect of the will of His Father is this: to make us holy through the sacrifice of Christ’s body. Martin Luther spent much of his life tormented by this question: “How can an unjust man survive in the presence of a just God?” The question could be asked this way: How can an unholy person survive in the presence of a Holy God? Apart from Christ, meriting the state of holiness is impossible.
But Christ stood in our place and took away our sins once and for all. His cleansing blood sets us apart and makes us holy. His sacrifice sets us apart from the law of sin and death; sets us apart from the empty way of life that was handed down to us by our parents; sets us apart to live righteous lives through faith in Him. Through Christ, you have been made holy. Jesus accomplished the will of the Father for you.
Yes there is much more to the story. As the apostle John wrote, “if everything was written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.”
But here in these six verses, Hebrews 10:5-10, the writer of Hebrews tells us why Jesus became one of us and just exactly what that means for us. Jesus was born to die, and through His death He made us holy forever.
The Angel of the Lord appeared to shepherds saying, I bring you good tidings of great joy. Today in the city of David, a Savior has been born, Christ the Lord. It was good news to the Shepherds. It is good news to us.
Merry Christmas!
For more on Hebrews 10:5-10, click this link to listen to the message, “The Origin of Christmas.” http://realanswers.net/radio/player.php?id=3443

Lessons learned from the Samaritans

Posted on by Bob Christopher

One of the oddities of the New Testament is the contradiction the Samaritans present. Read through its pages and you’re not sure if the Samaritans are the good guys or the bad guys. One thing is clear and that is the Jews and the Samaritans did not like each other at all. As a matter of fact, bitter hatred flowed between the two groups.
On one occasion, Luke recorded the story: A particular Samaritan village did not welcome Jesus because he was traveling to Jerusalem. On the surface, the reaction to Jesus seems trite. Dig a little bit, however, and you see that a deep root of bitterness had grown in the hearts of the Samaritans toward the Jews. This incident infuriated James and John so much they asked Jesus,” Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven and destroy these people?” You might say that they overreacted, but not in their minds. This was a bitter feud, acrimonious through and through.
“Samaritan” even became a pejorative term for the Jew. Once, after Jesus exposed the hypocrisy of the Jewish leadership, they responded with this vitriol; “Aren’t we right in saying that you are a Samaritan and demon possessed?”
With this hatred as the back story, how do you explain the occasions Jesus presents the Samaritans in a positive light? Did he think they were the good guys? It is rather odd, isn’t it? I think Paul can help us understand this oddity.
In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul explained a mystery: “…through the gospel the Gentiles are heirs together with Israel, members together of one body, and sharers together in the promise in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 3:6 NIV). Jew and Gentile have become one in Christ. God created one new man made from these two distinct people groups. So how does this relate to Samaritans?
Samaritans were considered to be a mixed race. Following the Assyrian conquest of Israel in 772 BC, Assyrian pioneers settled in Samaria. They intermingled with the Jewish people that remained. This unholy union created a new people group. It was the merging of two groups, Jew and Gentile, into one. A syncretism of philosophies, religious beliefs and practices followed. In essence, we see in a Samaritan the perfect blend of Jew and Gentile in one body. As a type, a Samaritan represents the body of Christ.
This helps us understand why Jesus cast the Samaritans in such a positive light. He was pointing to the Spirit’s work of making one new man out of the two and showing the nature and characteristics of the church. Let’s take a closer look.
The Woman at the Well
We read this story in John’s Gospel. On one of Jesus’s trips back to Galilee, he traveled through Samaria and stopped in Sychar. There, he met a Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well. They talked about water, worship and her string of failed marriages. At the end of the conversation Jesus revealed to her that he was the Messiah. She went back to her village and told the people, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?” This woman’s testimony was powerful, and many of the Samaritans who heard her believed. They went out to see Jesus, and many more believed because of his words. They were convinced that he really was and is the Savior of the world. This is the story, and here is what it teaches us about the body of Christ.

  • The body of Christ lives by the truth. This woman did not shrink back when Jesus exposed her sins and failures. Rather, she stepped into the light, and saw the emptiness of her soul. Her response exemplified what Jesus told Nicodemus just prior to this encounter at the well: “But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.”
  • The body of Christ experiences contentment in him. Jesus offered living water to the Samaritan woman. At first she was confused. But once Jesus exposed her sins and her empty way of life, she gladly received his offer of living water and experienced contentment in him.
  • The body of Christ is also the bride of Christ. Paul explains in his letter to the Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for herto make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless” (Ephesians 5:25-27). We are the bride of Christ and we say along with the Spirit, “‘Come!’ And let him who hears say, ‘Come!’ Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life” (Revelation 22:17 (NIV).

The Good Samaritan
Jesus told this story to a lawyer, a so-called expert in the law who tried to test Him. This lawyer wanted to know what he needed to do to inherit eternal life. Jesus turned the tables on him and asked, “What is written in the law? How do you read it? He did know the law and answered that we are to love God and to love our neighbors. “You’ve answered correctly,” said Jesus, “now do this and live.” “But who is my neighbor?” the lawyer pressed. To this question, the story of the Good Samaritan was the answer. Of these three, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan, only the Samaritan extended mercy and care to the man robbed, beaten and left half dead. In doing so, the Samaritan proved to be the good neighbor.
As I read this story recently, my mind connected the Good Samaritan to Ephesians 2:8-10. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” The body of Christ is God’s workmanship and it is the body of Christ that carries out God’s work in this world. Here is the take away. Jesus as the head of the body works in and through us, the members, to extend his love, grace and mercy to those in need.
The 10 Lepers
Jesus cleansed 10 lepers, but only one came back to thank him for what he had done. This one was a Samaritan. Jesus said to him, your faith has made you well. The others were healed of their disease. The Samaritan experienced healing of the soul. This healing marked him out for a new way of living altogether, a life of faith expressed through a heart of gratitude. Isn’t that the mark of the body of Christ? Those of us who have come to Christ by faith, whether Jew or Gentile, are the ones in this world who give thanks to Jesus for all he accomplished for us through his death, burial and resurrection.
Jesus cut through the hatred of the day to show the Samaritans in the light of his love. In these particular stories a Samaritan stood as the protagonist, the hero, the person God was seeking to find. Who were these people and what did they represent? A Samaritan was a mixed breed, a Jew and a Gentile in one body. This is a picture of the body of Christ.

One in Ten: A Story of Gratitude

Posted on by Bob Christopher

It was just the one who walked away totally healed. Nine others had been healed of leprosy. These nine could now be welcomed back into society and begin living a normal life. Maybe that’s all they wanted, but still they could have at least thanked the One who made their healing possible. But, it was just one of the ten who came back to Jesus to say thank you, and this one a Samaritan. To him Jesus said, “Rise and go your way; your faith has made you well.”
Is Jesus concerned about our illnesses and infirmities? As this story indicates, the answer is a resounding yes. But His concern for us goes much deeper. He wants to bring healing and wellness to our souls. Our salvation is Jesus’ top priority. It was the Samaritan that understood this, and his heart overflowed with thanksgiving.
We see the polar opposite in Romans 1 where Paul takes us inside of those who stand in rebellion towards God living ungodly and unrighteous lives. Here is what he wrote: “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened (Romans 1:21 ESV).
According to Jeremiah, it is the heart that “is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick” (Jer 17:9 ESV). It is our hearts that need cured, that need to be changed. This healing is found in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The sign that our souls have been made well is a heart overflowing with gratitude.
One out of the ten said thank you to Jesus, for what He did. That one was made well. What about you? What does your heart say?

The Shepherd

Posted on by Bob Christopher

Sheep need a shepherd.
The Bible says that we are like sheep constantly going astray. What does that say about us? Regardless of how smart we may think we are, or how much we believe we have matters in control, we need a shepherd.
This is a hard truth to swallow. It goes against the grain of our independent, rebellious, fleshly selves. But it is true none the less. Without a shepherd, life is painfully difficult.
After an intense period of ministry, Jesus retreated with His disciples for a time of rest. But the crowds followed and pressed Jesus for more attention. Matthew wrote that when He saw them, “He had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matthew 9:36).
Harassed and helpless; that is where we end up when we do not listen to the voice of Jesus; when we lean on our own understanding to figure out life.
I’ve been there and so have you. Even today as someone who knows Christ, my pride and ego can convince me that I have life under control. Pride and ego are not very good shepherds. I think the Bible would call them wolves. They never lead us down the right paths or restore our souls, or protect us. They lead us into chaos and rob us of our peace and security.
But not Jesus. He is the good shepherd, our good shepherd. He laid down His life for us. He secured us as His own. John emphasized this in His gospel account. “I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand.” He guides us down the paths of righteousness, He protects us from the deceitfulness of the world and He restores our souls.
As we grow in our knowledge of Christ, we learn to lean more and more on Him as our great Shepherd. Our spiritual ears become more sensitive and responsive to the sound of His voice. That is just one aspect of the change that takes place inside of us once we are made alive in Christ. We hear His voice and we follow.
There was a time in my life that I was a sheep without a shepherd. I had no sense of direction or purpose. I was quick to listen to the voices of the world which only added to my inner turmoil. Life was miserable. I needed a shepherd, the Great Shepherd and overseer of my soul.

A Declaration of Dependence

Posted on by Bob Christopher

“My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). When you and I read it, it doesn’t sound offensive. But to the Jewish leaders, these were blasphemous words. They were already angered by Jesus’ total disregard of their Sabbath traditions. Now this man from Galilee was claiming equality with God. The Jewish leaders heard His message loud and clear, and their resolve to kill Him grew all the more.
The response of these leaders makes it difficult for us to deny Jesus’ claims to be God. That is who He is.  He brought this world into existence. He created everything, and as Colossians 1:17 states, “in Him, all things hold together.”  The issue of His identity was a recurring theme throughout Jesus’ earthly ministry. He underscored the truth that He was and is God time and time again. But many times when He made such claims, in the next breath, He said things like “The Son can do nothing of His own accord,” or “I can do nothing on my own?” (John 5:19, 30). Why would the creator of the heavens and earth say such things?
When you look underneath the hood, these statements amplify the idea of God being His Father, and that He is equal with God. But they also show that as a man, Jesus chose to live in dependence on His Father. He didn’t have to, but He did so willfully. Paul put it this way, “Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.” Phil 2:5-8 (ESV)
He lived in dependence upon His Father to teach us how to live. When Adam and Eve decided to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they in essence declared their independence from God. And mankind has tried to make it on its own ever since. All we have to do is watch the evening news to see how that has worked out for us. Our independent, rebellious attitude toward God has made a mess of things. Jesus, the independent one, came to earth, and through His life showed us how to live in dependence.
We are created beings. We are supposed to live in dependence on our creator. When we do, life makes sense. Let’s take a lesson from Jesus and declare our dependence on the Son.

The Message Matters

Posted on by Bob Christopher

The message matters. And not just any message. There is only one that will save and that is the message concerning Jesus Christ. This is never more clearly stated than in the first several chapters of 1 Corinthians.
Paul had been very exact in his presentation of the Gospel to the Corinthians. He didn’t use fancy words or persuasive tactics in his communication. He simply preached the death, the burial and the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Add to this message or take away from it and you have robbed it of its power.
The Corinthians were doing just that. Many of the Corinthians believed water baptism was part of the Gospel message. Others relied on the wisdom of man as the way and means of knowing God. But these just caused all kinds of confusion and even divided the believers to the point that Paul called them babes in Christ.
There is nothing we can add as far as the Gospel is concerned. It is all of Jesus and none of us. His death took away our sins. His resurrection brings life to our dead spirits. This doesn’t make sense to us. It even sounds like foolishness. This isn’t the message our minds would conceive. That is why it had to be revealed to us by the Spirit of God.
To those who accept the message for what it is, it becomes both the power of God and the wisdom of God. The message does matter. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

The Game Changer

Posted on by Bob Christopher

I am an Apple man. I love their innovative products. Most everyone else does as well. I don’t know anyone who does not have an Apple product.
Steve Jobs and his creative team at Apple changed the computing world for the better. His genius, leadership and marketing prowess have given us products that are simple to use, elegant in style, and as the younger generation would say, “just way cool.”
The world’s reaction to his death shows the enormous impact he has had in the world. Time Magazine literally stopped their presses to change the cover of their next issue to honor this computer icon. The number of posts about Steve Jobs on Facebook and Twitter is off the charts. Many are even using Job’s image as their profile picture. He is being heralded as a game changer and joined to John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford as the most influential innovators America has ever produced. Rarified company indeed, and a spot well deserved for Mr. Jobs.
Jobs wanted to put a ding in the universe. He wanted to be a game changer. Here is a quote from him, one that many people are sharing through the social networks to honor this significant man: “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”
He did see things differently, and he was brave enough to follow his heart and mind. But did Steve Jobs change the world?
The Apostle John wrote this concerning the world: “For everything in the world–the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does–comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever” (1 John 2:16-17). Despite the great advances in technology, the world remains as it has been since Adam and Eve ate the forbidden apple. And it will continue under sin’s influence and the deceptive philosophies of the evil one until Jesus returns. That is the world.
Jobs changed the way we function in this world. He changed the way we listen to music, the way we connect with one another, and the way we share our lives. In many ways he has helped to make our lives simpler, yet more elegant. And for that he is a game changer. But even so, the world is still a mess. Humanity is mired in sin and death. Evil is everywhere. Technology cannot change this dark reality. Human hearts still gravitate toward sin and evil and rebellion.
But God has not left us without hope. He sent the Game Changer, Jesus Christ. He came to rescue us from the corruption of this world. Those who trust in Him are snatched out of this world and placed into His Kingdom. John described this as “being in the world, but not of the world.”
One day, there will be new heavens and a new earth and we will be part of it. Jesus sent His Spirit into our lives as a guarantee of what is to come. Until then, Jesus continues to impact this world by imparting His life to those who receive Him.
There have been many people throughout history who have changed the way we function in the world. But there is only One who can, and who will change the world itself, the One who has power over sin and death.