For our small group this past Wednesday, I was asked to teach about the differences between Old Testament law and Christ's "new covenant" in the New Testament. In the end, it ended up being very appropriate for this Holy Week. I want to share the last section of that teaching with you all today:
I do want to discuss one incredibly important change that came out of the new covenant, and it is one that gains particular significance in our thoughts at this time of year. I’m talking of course about the way we as humans are able to relate to and communicate with God. The Bible states that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23, NIV), but OT believers were left largely to their own merits to achieve redemption from that condition. God was certainly present and working in their world and in their lives, but most of ancient Israel’s direct contact with God came through intermediaries, specifically animal sacrifice and interaction with the Levites (priests). Access to the inner courts of the temple was extremely limited, and the central room (the Holy of Holies, which contained the Ark of the Covenant) was off limits entirely except for the head priest, who was allowed to enter once a year. (It should be noted that this was not a job you wanted – the other priests would tie a rope to the head priests ankle so that they could pull him back out if he died… which happened more than once!) With Christ’s death on the cross, God changed this forever, and He did it with a striking visual display:
“And then when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.”
-Matthew 27:50-51 (NIV)
I would give almost anything to have been in the temple that that moment – the moment when God literally removed the barrier between Himself and His people. From that moment on, anyone who has believed in Christ has been cleansed of their sin and given the honor of being able to stand in the presence of God, both now and forever. The sacrificial rituals and intermediaries of the OT are no longer necessary, because we now have a “direct line” through Christ and the Holy Spirit, and that is the essence of the new covenant – forgiveness and fellowship with God in love.
