We are blessed as Christians to have a great revelation of God through his Son Jesus Christ. Many people throughout history desired such a revelation of God but never got it. They wanted to know God for themselves, but they couldn’t find him. They got confused and lost. We have a great privilege to know God, and we should not take this privilege for granted.
In the Old Testament, the spiritual life of most Israelites was limited. They couldn’t access God directly. They had to go through other people. Priests performed religious rituals that allowed people to approach God. Prophets heard from God and spoke God’s words to people who couldn’t hear from God for themselves.
When God came down on Mount Sinai to reveal the Law, the mountain shook and quaked, and fire burned. All the people were afraid. They told Moses to go up into the mountain (Deut. 5:22-31). They didn’t want to approach God themselves. They wanted someone else to relate to God on their behalf. They wanted a mediator. They needed someone else to tell them what God was saying (Ezek. 8:1; 14:1; 20:1).
There were other limitations in the Old Covenant. People couldn’t worship God anywhere in the world. They could only worship at Jerusalem. In addition, they didn’t have the indwelling Holy Spirit, so they had to serve God in their own strength.
In the New Covenant, many of these restrictions have been removed (Heb. 8:7-13). In the New Covenant, God has written his laws in our hearts and minds. He has given us his indwelling Holy Spirit to lead us and guide us. Now we all have a direct relationship with God through the blood of his Son Jesus.
All of us are able to hear God speak. Jesus said that my sheep hear my voice (John 10:27). We can all be taught directly by God (1 John 2:27). We are all priests (1 Pet. 2:5, Rev. 1:6). We can all desire to prophesy, because we all have the Holy Spirit inside us. We don’t go to worship God at a temple, but we are the temple of God (Eph. 2:20-22).
The Old Testament Law was “weak” and “unprofitable” (Heb. 7:18). It was weak because people could not fulfill the law in their own power. It was unprofitable because it didn’t allow people to become righteous or mature spiritually. This is why the Old Testament law has become obsolete (Heb. 8:13).
Sometimes we try to live as Christians in an Old Covenant sense. We try to fulfill the Law in our own power. This causes us to become mired in sin, because by the law is the knowledge of sin (Rom. 3:20). We cannot get victory over sin through the law. The law is weak because of the weakness of our own flesh. We need something supernatural to lift us out of our flesh. This is the Holy Spirit.
In the New Covenant, we are no longer under the law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). Grace is not a license to sin, but it’s enabling power to walk according to God. Grace operates by the Holy Spirit. Walking in the Spirit means following the leading of the Spirit. It means obeying Christ and and living in the power of the Spirit. When we walk in the Spirit, we will not fulfill the lusts of the flesh (Gal. 5:16).
In the New Covenant, we don’t need people to mediate between us and God. All of us can experience God directly for ourselves. This means we all have something from God. We all have spiritual gifts that are important for the growth of the body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:9).
Leadership in the New Covenant is important, but it’s different than leadership in the Old Covenant. Whereas Old Covenant leadership was for the purpose of revealing God constantly to people who were unable to hear from God for themselves, New Covenant leadership is for the equipping or discipling of the saints so that every believer can have a strong relationship with God and do the work of the ministry (Eph. 4:11-13). As each member ministers, the body of Christ will grow (Eph. 4:16).
In the Old Covenant, God’s people gathered together around one man. He was often elevated on a stage. He would stand behind a pulpit. He would teach all the people, mediating between them and God (Nehemiah 8:1-8).
New Covenant gatherings of God’s people are different. New Covenant meetings are called ekklesia, in which every child of God has a right to participate. Like the Last Supper of Christ, New Covenant meetings are to be times of intimate fellowship where the word of God is shared, discussion happens, questions are answered, needs are met, and disciples are made. The early church meetings often included a meal (Acts 20:7). They were participative (1 Cor. 14:26). They happened in homes (Rom. 16:5, 1 Cor. 16:19, Col. 4:5, Acts 8:3).
We have the great privilege of living in the New Covenant. We can experience God directly for ourselves. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. God has freely revealed himself to us through his Son Jesus so that we can reveal him and his glory to the world. Let’s not live as the Israelites did in the Old Covenant, under the law and separated from God’s personal presence and power in our lives. Individually, let’s go to God ourselves. Let’s pray and hear from him. Let’s read his word and obey it. Let’s walk in the Spirit. And as a church, let us refocus on what it means to have meetings under the New Covenant – participative meetings, healthy fellowship, close relationships, and everyone working together to edify the body of Christ.
We have the great privilege of knowing God in an amazing way because of the gospel of Jesus. Let’s fulfill our responsibilities as recipients of the New Covenant, which is based on better promises by which we draw near to God.
Lincoln House Churches 