BUT - we're talking about JESUS

Jesus is our everything - and that statement, while broad, is met with agreement in my experience. But - to say Jesus is COVENANT - well, not so much !

Problem - we don't know "covenant" and what we do know just doesn't actually apply to our situation. That's our focus today. If you see a "Covenant church" as you drive in the neighborhood, we generally say, "That's what covenant means" - and they DO have their definition of Covenant.

My presentation from 40 years of thought is: Jesus is covenant - funny way of talk ! What does that mean ? For starters, my broad concepts a few days ago need to be explained. Let's start with THE original Promise, "In Him, all nations of the world will be Blessed."

NT fulfillment is explained in several places. I mentioned the thought by several of God's special people (read those "of the Remnant") that Jesus was several things: HE was "The Promise"; HE was "Born King"; He was "the hope of Israel"; He was "Salvation"; (His very name - closer to Joshua - means Savior or deliverer) and other concepts surround His birth. Since we don't have "royalty" as a structural concept, we don't actually know much about the implications. "Born King" implies Jesus was King from birth - and He was. Don't forget, however, that He was also here to be our Representative and sometimes we have to realize to which role we are referring. OR - we can pit one verse against another and both be right, or wrong !

My focus - Jesus is The Promise of God - and the New Covenant (NOT like the Old, Jeremiah 31) is focused in what Jesus did. God uses the OT much of the time to set up principles which He later fulfills in Christ and He chose to make Christ have ALL Preeminence. So let's focus on some of those principles . . .we've mentioned the fact that Jesus claimed to be "the bread which came down out of heaven" John 6:35-58. He claimed to "The water of Life"as well as "The Way, The Truth (reality) and The Life" - but in that context He taught - "NO one comes to the Father but BY ME" - and that is the concept for which we are looking. Can we substitute "by My teachings" in place of "by Me" ? Sure - as long as we don't ruin the concept - Jesus used the Hebrew concept - the teaching represents the teacher. But - don't make it the other way around and make the "teaching" more the focus that the One who claimed to be "everything" [that's my interpretation of the Way, the Truth (reality) the Life"]. . .so, Jesus is the focus and He is the New Covenant. How can we prove it ?

Prove is a funny word - it generally means "I bet you cannot show me I am wrong" - and I am not going in that direction at all. In fact, I am simply trying to focus on plain things Jesus said and early writers wrote to explain Salvation and Life. One little point for today - the Genitive, sort of like the word Genesis - deals with Source and shows Possession. Several places include a phrase I ran into in a few translation classes in Greek - "faith in Christ" was actually "the faith of Christ" - and my question was, "What difference does it make ?"

Well - not so much, IF we know what the phrase was before it was changed. Because if we are saved by the Faith of Christ - then for us, faith IN Christ is a proper response. But - (yeah, I'm too much of a stickler at times) if we make faith a SELF focused thing - then Christ gets left out and that is simply wrong-headed. Plus - it has many implications for salvation and life. Verses like Romans 3:22, Galatians 2:16, 20; 3:22; Philippians 3:9 - can be made to have little focus on Jesus, instead we are focusing on our own trust in Him as the source of Salvation. We do need to trust Him. And - our whole lifestyle deals with that concept . . .but salvation focuses on His faith as our source of Salvation. That is one reason He is covenant, and called "The promise" . . .and our Savior. More to come . . .