SECOND QUARTER 2021
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #13
JUNE 25, 2021
“THE NEW COVENANT LIFE”

 

Read for This Week’s Study: 1 John 1:4; John 5:24; Rom. 3:24-25; 2 Cor. 5:21; 1 John 4:16; Rev. 2:11; Rev. 20:6, 14; Rev. 21:8.

 

Memory Verse: “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

 

Our lesson this week focuses on the blessings we may experience in our lives as a result of our relationship to Christ in the New Covenant. I would like to, first, focus on the promise of the New Covenant, how it relates to our purpose for being created, and the essence of salvation, true salvation, itself.

 

Christ came not only to die for us, but in every interaction, every miracle, every sermon, He came to show us the Father.

 

John 17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, Whom Thou hast sent.

 

Christ came to Heal, not only individual human beings, but the entire universe, from the lies and misrepresentations that Satan has made against the character, government, and laws of God.

 

Obviously, we will be learning new glimpses into the heart of God without end, throughout all eternity. That experience begins now, and is progressively promised in the New Covenant.

 

Hebrews 8:11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know Me, from the least to the greatest.

 

Know, of course, means more than intellectual knowledge. It refers to an intimate relationship of love, trust, loyalty, submission, obedience, and faith, the Faith of Jesus.

 

We were created for a purpose, a purpose that was fractured and interrupted due to the fall. We were created for one purpose, and one purpose only.

 

Isaiah 43:7 Even every one that is called by My name: for I have created him for My glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

 

We were created for intimate fellowship with our Creator, and to reflect His glory, His character of love, and to experience the blessings of such an experience, character, and relationship.

 

But not only for ourselves.

 

We are to reflect that glory in our fellowship with each other.

 

Revelation 18:1 And after these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory.

 

Matthew 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

 

“This message, understood in its true character, and proclaimed in the Spirit, will lighten the earth with its glory.’” MS 15, 1888.  The importance of the 1888 Message, including its correct view of the Covenants, is that it leads, in character and experience, empowered by the Spirit, to lighten the earth with the truth of God, and that knowledge of God brings an end to the Great Controversy.

 

Looking unto Jesus we obtain brighter and more distinct views of God, and by beholding we become changed. Goodness, love for our fellow men, becomes our natural instinct. We develop a character which is the counterpart of the divine character. Growing into His likeness, we enlarge our capacity for knowing God. More and more we enter into fellowship with the heavenly world, and we have continually increasing power to receive the riches of the knowledge and wisdom of eternity.  COL, p. 355.

 

And the years of eternity, as they roll, will bring richer and still more glorious revelations of God and of Christ. As knowledge is progressive, so will love, reverence, and happiness increase. The more men learn of God, the greater will be their admiration of His character. As Jesus opens before them the riches of redemption and the amazing achievements in the great controversy with Satan, the hearts of the ransomed thrill with more fervent devotion, and with more rapturous joy they sweep the harps of gold; and ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands of voices unite to swell the mighty chorus of praise.

 

“And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.” Revelation 5:13.

 

The great controversy is ended. Sin and sinners are no more. The entire universe is clean. One pulse of harmony and gladness beats through the vast creation. From Him Who created all, flow life and light and gladness, throughout the realms of illimitable space. From the minutest atom to the greatest world, all things, animate and inanimate, in their unshadowed beauty and perfect joy, declare that God is love.  Great Controversy, 5

 

Romans 5:5 tells us that we receive the Love of God into our hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is, as we know, Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Galatians 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

 

The New Covenant life is a life of love, joy, peace, and freedom from condemnation, for we understand and appreciate the cost of Calvary, and the truth that we are forgiven of all of our sins. God promises us an abundant life, a life spent in love for God and our fellow man, where self is dead, and we are alive to Christ.

 

“And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full” (1 John 1:4).

 

In a few simple words, he expresses what should be one of the great advantages we, as covenant people, have — and that is the promise of joy. Our joy is the recognition of who God is, what He has done for us, what He promises us, including the truth that we will see Him “face to face.”

 

One of the great promises of living in a covenant relationship with the Lord is that we no longer have to live under the burden of guilt. Because of the blood of the covenant, we — who choose to enter into that covenant relationship with God, who choose to abide by the conditions of faith, repentance, obedience — can have the burden of guilt lifted.

 

The promise is for us all. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." The promise and the gift are true, and we can stand before God as though we had never sinned, with the additional promise to write His law in our hearts, to give us a new heart and a new spirit.

 

The truth sets us free. The truth, to then be received into the soul, is that Jesus redeemed the human race, out of love, and offers us the gift of His righteousness as a free gift, to be received by faith alone.

 

“That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God” (Ephesians 3:17-19). The cross is the most dramatic revelation to our dull senses of the Love of God for all mankind, the incredible unspeakable gift in Christ. Paul’s prayer in this verse expresses the most profound sentiment, that we would not only know but be filled with all the fulness of God, to partake of His divine nature, to walk in the light, as Jesus is in the Light.

 

This experience is “rooted and grounded” in love, meaning, our entire experience is based on our recognition, and appreciation, for Calvary, and our “settling into the truth” of that love, which truly sets us free.

 

1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.

 

Our faith extends to what we do not, presently, see, but believe by faith. God has promised us resurrection from the grave, and the joyous reunion with Christ at the time of the Second Coming.

 

“Christ became one flesh with us, in order that we might become one spirit with Him. It is by virtue of this union that we are to come forth from the grave, — not merely as a manifestation of the power of Christ, but because, through faith, His life has become ours. Those who see Christ in His true character, and receive Him into the heart, have everlasting life. It is through the Spirit that Christ dwells in us; and the Spirit of God, received into the heart by faith, is the beginning of the life eternal.” — Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 388.

 

True joy and peace come with a desire to share His love with others, to fulfill our mission in the Great Commission, and that is to bring the Good News of the Gospel to all. We leave the results with God and work fervently for those for whom He died.

 

The believer certainly has a mission and purpose in life, and that is to spread to the world the wonderful truth he or she has personally experienced in Christ Jesus. Most anything else we do in this world will end when this world does. But spreading the gospel to others is a work that will make an imprint on eternity. Love flows out to others. Duty becomes a delight and sacrifice a pleasure. Love springs forth spontaneously, and that love seeks others to bring to them the gift and the promise of reunion.

 

The New Covenant experience is a miracle, and God is a gentleman, and gives us free will choice.

 

As Jesus asked the man at the Waters of Bethesada, (which means House of Kindness and Mercy), He asks you now. Do you want to be healed? Will you go to Christ that you may have life?

 

~Pastor Tom Cusack