Some say ‘the new’ is in ‘the old’, concealed in the old is in the new now revealed. The principles of the New Covenant are there, in the Old Testament, but they’re concealed. They’re revealed when we come to the New Testament, they’re then made known, now, to all.
Tony Pearce
As I said earlier, one thing which you take note of if you go through all of these dispensations is that every dispensation ends in some kind of failure, a failure of humans to keep the ‘house rules’ the economia which God has put into that age.
They also end with some kind of intervention from God in a supernatural way. We have the major miracles of God which bring in the new dispensation in. The flood and the saving of Noah and his family in the Ark, the events of the Exodus bring the children of Israel out of Egypt with the supernatural events which led up to the giving of the Torah / the Law at Mount Sinai, and we have the supernatural events which took place in the ministry of Jesus, the miracles and, above all, His death, His resurrection, and the gift of the Holy Spirit which lead into the next age of Grace.
In each of these events you also see that there is a group of people who are saved from the Judgment of God and go into the next dispensation in their redeemed state. If you’re a believer in Jesus, that’s you!
The world is heading for a time of tribulation, of destruction, but there’s a way you can be saved from it through believing the Gospel and believing in Jesus Christ. If you do that, you’re going to enter into the next dispensation which would be a good one!
You want to be there because it’s going to be the time when Jesus is going to reign on the earth.
So, every age ends in failure; it also ends with God intervening in a supernatural way, and that’s what’s going to come in the days to come.
Now, there are some issues which relate to this age, which are relevant to our study.
Our access to God is through repentance and faith in Jesus Christ; we’ve already established that. We’re redeemed through His blood and, as we’ve seen already in chapter 1, Paul lists the blessings which we have in Jesus Christ. He does this to strengthen our faith in believers.
I have already mentioned this, but let’s just look at it again. He says we have spiritual blessings in heavenly places, we’re seated with Christ in heavenly places far above the principalities and powers, and we can claim this.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. Ephesians 1.3-6
Now, it’s interesting that he says we have blessings in heavenly places. When you read the Old Testament, the Book of Deuteronomy, the blessings that come upon Israel for their obedience are mainly physical blessings. Those receiving them are safe from their enemies, they have prosperity in the cities, they have prosperity in the agriculture, and God blesses them in the land.
“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. 2 And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God: 3 “Blessed shall you be in the city, and blessed shall you be in the country.
4 “Blessed shall be the fruit of your body, the produce of your ground and the increase of your herds, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
5 “Blessed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
6 “Blessed shall you be when you come in, and blessed shall you be when you go out.
7 “The Lord will cause your enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways.
8 “The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deuteronomy 28.1-8
Conversely, God judges them if they sin and you have a series of judgments that should come upon Israel as a result of sin.
15 “But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:
16 “Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country.
17 “Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl.
18 “Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks.
19 “Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. Deuteronomy 28.15-19
In the New Testament, we have spiritual blessings and those spiritual blessings can come to you whatever your material situation may be. You may be in a very good place or you may be in a very bad place as far as this life is concerned, but if you’re in Christ, you are blessed and you have His eternal spiritual blessings coming upon you.
So it is here when Paul speaks about being chosen in Him (just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world). This gives rise to the issue of predestination and one of the big discussions which Christians have about: ‘Are we predestined to be saved?’ In which case, ‘Are there people who are predestined to be damned?’
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. 27 Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.
28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. 29 For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. 30 Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Romans 8.26-33
Does God actually choose people before we’re born? Basically, does that means we don’t have anything to do with it? And you have the Calvinist approach that says you’re either a predestined to be saved or you’re predestined to be damned, and there’s not much you can do about it.
7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, 9 having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, 10 that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him. 11 In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestined according to the purpose of Him who works all things according to the counsel of His will, 12 that we who first trusted in Christ should be to the praise of His glory. Ephesians 1.7-12
That approach doesn’t make much sense to me because I believe that we do have free will, we can choose to follow Jesus, but we are also chosen by Him and there’s a mystery which we can’t quite explain because it is one of the mysteries which are spoken of in the Bible that God has chosen us before the foundation of the world, but we also have chosen Him as we repent and believe the Gospel and we have the work of the Holy Spirit in bringing us to faith In Jesus by faith, we’re also adopted into His family as a result of accepting the Messiah.
Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. 2 Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. 3 But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. 5 Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God. 1 Corinthians 4.1-5
We’re now all members of the family of God in Jesus Christ. That means we have all the privileges of being members of the family of God. In the Roman custom, when a slave was adopted into the family he received all the blessings and the privileges of that family.
So, we’ve been redeemed, we’ve been brought out of the slave market of sin, we’ve been brought into the family of God, and we receive all the privileges which God has given to us in Jesus Christ.
10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse; for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law, to do them.” 11 But that no one is justified by the law in the sight of God is evident, for “the just shall live by faith.” 12 Yet the law is not of faith, but “the man who does them shall live by them.”
13 Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), 14 that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Galatians 3.10-14
Do you believe that have you received those blessings or do you think they’re a bit far off?
Jesus says, call on the Lord and you shall be saved, ask and you shall receive. God wants to give you those blessings as you are adopted into His family. He says we’re redeemed through the blood.
7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. Matthew 7.7
Sin separates us from God. God requires a sacrifice – shedding of blood under the old Covenant. You have the death of the animals, as an innocent ones sacrificed to cover the guilty ones, in the New Testament you have the sacrifice of Jesus who is innocent, who is sacrificed for the guilty ones, us, fulfilling Isaiah 53.6
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
We have turned, every one, to his own way;
And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53.6
And we have the mystery of His will made known. These things were veiled in the Old Testament. Now, they’re revealed in the New Testament. There’s a saying which some repeat:
The new is in the old concealed, the old is in the new revealed.
The principles of the New Covenant are there in the Old Testament, but they’re concealed and they’re revealed when we come to the New Testament. They’re made known now to all people who can come to God through Jesus Christ.
12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. John 1.12-13
And so, we have an inheritance which is obtained and sealed with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is given to us as a result of Jesus ascending to Heaven from where He sends the Holy Spirit on all who believe. And this becomes now a down payment on our in our redemption, our inheritance.
If you receive the Holy Spirit, that’s a down payment that, when you get to Heaven, God is going to see. He will see that you have the Holy Spirit in you, and He’s going to give you what Jesus has already paid for you, eternal life in the world to come. All that is available to all people now.
In Ephesians 2, Paul shows how it’s available not just to Israel as it was under the old Covenant but now extended to all people, to all races through faith in Jesus, including Jewish people.
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, 22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit. Ephesians 2.19-22
Sometimes, the church gets that idea but then, they exclude the Jews which is totally wrong. Salvation is of the Jews. We have received our Salvation through the Jewish people, but it is now extended to all people who repent and believe the Gospel.
16 But this is what was spoken by the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God,
That I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh;
Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your young men shall see visions,
Your old men shall dream dreams.
18 And on My menservants and on My maidservants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days;
And they shall prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in heaven above
And signs in the earth beneath:
Blood and fire and vapor of smoke.
20 The sun shall be turned into darkness,
And the moon into blood,
Before the coming of the great and awesome day of the Lord.
21 And it shall come to pass
That whoever calls on the name of the Lord
Shall be saved.’22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know— 23 Him, being delivered by the determined purpose and foreknowledge of God, you have taken by lawless hands, have crucified, and put to death; 24 whom God raised up, having loosed the pains of death, because it was not possible that He should be held by it. 25 For David says concerning Him:
‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
For He is at my right hand, that I may not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart rejoiced, and my tongue was glad;
Moreover my flesh also will rest in hope.
27 For You will not leave my soul in Hades,
Nor will You allow Your Holy One to see corruption.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of joy in Your presence.’29 “Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore, being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his throne, 31 he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.
34 “For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he says himself:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.” ’36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” Acts 2.16-36