(The Better Covenant) 1 - a Loving Father — Zac Poonen

The New Covenant Is Better Than the Old

Our theme for this weekend is a better covenant or the better covenant. I wonder how many Christians realize that God made a new agreement with man through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Completely different from the old covenant that he had established through Moses.

And if you want to know how much superior the new covenant is to the old covenant, you just got to try and think how much superior the Lord Jesus is to Moses. Because the Bible says the law came through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

And Jesus also said that the greatest man born of women from the time of Adam was John the Baptist. He said that in Matthew 11. But he said the least one in the kingdom of heaven is greater, has the potential to be greater even than John the Baptist.

In other words, if he refused to look at the lives of Christians around us and read only the scriptures, we would come to only one conclusion that under the new covenant, God has made provision for us to come to a higher life than anyone experienced under the old covenant.

Why is it then that the vast majority, not just a few, but the vast majority of Christians never ever seem to come into this life? I think the reason is because many Christians have accepted defeat and a continuous up and down experience as normal.

And that's what the devil wants. He wants us to accept something less than God's highest as normal. And we look around and we see, well, most people are living like that. I suppose there's nothing better that I can expect.

But supposing you were to shut your eyes and your mind and your ears to everything around you and just go to the word and ask yourself, is that the life that God has promised in the New Testament? There's some wonderful promises in the New Testament, like sin shall not have dominion over you.

Romans 6, 14, commands such as rejoice in the Lord always, Philippians 4, 4, be anxious for nothing. Amazing promises, which if Christians were honest, the vast majority of them would have to admit they never experienced in their entire life.

Is there a reason? I believe there is. I believe that most Christians haven't understood the New Covenant. I know that was true in my life for 16 years after I was born again. I never knew that God had offered to me, to man, to all Christians, a life of rest, of inner rest and victory, from which could flow service for Him that would be far, far more effective than if we lived a substandard life and went around doing a whole lot of things for the Lord.

And I know in my own life when I, the Lord met with me when I came to a point of desperation. There's a law in scripture which says, you shall seek me, Jeremiah 29, 13, and find me when you search for me with all your heart.

God cannot be found by those who seek for Him superficially. Jesus said, if any man thirst, let him come to me. Thirst and longing, come to me all you who are weary and heavy laden. Those who are sick and tired of a defeated life, come to me.

What about those who are not sick and tired of their defeated life? Well, the Lord doesn't invite them. If people are content with a defeated life, there is no invitation. I want to read a couple of scriptures in Hebrews chapter 8 and chapter 7 and chapter 8.

Jesus Guarantees the Better Covenant

Hebrews chapter 7 verse 22 says, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. The old covenant had no guarantor. It was just commandments given to Israel and there was no one who would guarantee that Israel would keep it.

But what does guarantee mean? What does it mean when it says, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant? Here is an agreement that God has made with man. And Jesus is the mediator between God and man, has guaranteed that he will help us to keep it.

And live up to this standard. Chapter 8 verse 8. He is also the mediator of a better covenant. Repeatedly, you find this expression better in the book of Hebrews. If you study through the book of Hebrews, let me tell you the key word in the epistle to the Hebrews is better.

It occurs about 13 times in this letter. And it's comparing the new covenant with the old covenant or the new agreement with the old agreement and saying it's better. It's got a guarantor. And it's established on better promises.

If it is better, it should definitely lead us to a higher life than Elijah lived or Elisha. I don't mean ministry. I'm not saying we're going to do greater miracles than those prophets. I'm not talking about ministry.

We need to distinguish between ministry and life. We're talking about a life, a quality of life, which is distinctively superior, distinctly superior to the life of anyone under the old covenant, including John the Baptist, the greatest person under the old covenant.

This is the Lord's promise. And the first step for us is to believe it. And then to hunger for that. Now, I think a lot of people fail right at the first step. They do not believe that the Lord has promised them a life which is far better than anyone under the old covenant ever experienced.

And I want to say to all of you, my dear brothers and sisters, that is God's promise for every single one of his children. There's something of God's truth that the devil has blinded us to. But Jesus said, when you know the truth, it will set you free.

And that's what we want to experience this weekend. A freedom from the limitations that the devil has brought upon our life through ignorance. In this new covenant, the Lord says in Hebrews chapter 8, this new covenant, verse 8, is going to be different.

It's not going to be like the covenant which I made with Israel when I brought them out of Egypt. It's going to be very different. If someone were to ask you, many of us have been Christians for many years.

If someone were to ask you, could you tell me in two sentences, what is the essential difference between the new covenant and the old covenant? Would you be able to give an answer? Or would you fumble?

There is where I want to highlight our ignorance. And where we don't know the truth, we will remain in bondage. I want to show you something. It's very plain and simple here. This new covenant, the Lord says in verse 10 to 12, is what I'll make with the house of Israel, which is us today.

I will put my laws into their minds, the middle of verse 10. I will write them in their hearts. I will be their God. And they shall not teach their fellow citizens, saying, know the Lord, but all shall know me.

I will be merciful to their iniquities. I will remember their sins no more. Now, if you noticed, there was a little phrase that kept repeating itself in those three verses. The Lord says, I will. I will.

I will. I will, five times. What was the old covenant like? The old covenant was, you know the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt not. Thou shalt honor thy father and mother, keep the Sabbath, don't commit adultery, etc.

Do you see the difference? If you can see that difference, that is the essential difference between the old covenant and the new covenant. The old covenant was, thou shalt. The law was, this is what you must do.

And man struggled to do it. And for 1500 years, Israel struggled to keep the law and no one was able to keep it. And God says, a better covenant. Something very different from that. But Christians today are still living under the spirit of that law.

They still live under rules and regulations given to them by many preachers who have not understood the new covenant themselves. Thou shalt. Thou shalt not. And they are struggling, struggling all their life.

Not learning from the experience of Israel in 1500 years. That is impossible. You will not be able to attain to the life that God has promised. By struggle. But the Lord says, I will. This is the new covenant.

I will do it. I will write my law in your heart and in your mind. Or as in Philippians 2, it is put like this in verses 11 to 13. God works in us to will and to do His good pleasure. In other words, the same God who created in me a desire to do His will.

Also wants to work in me, if I will let Him, to actually do that will. In other words, the standard of life that is portrayed in the New Testament as a standard that God wants us to live by. Is something which He says, if I will allow Him, He will do it in me.

He will do it. He will work in me, if I will open the door for Him to do it. And this is what is called the life of faith. And I want to try and explain this, not in complicated religious theological language, but in simple words.

So that, not just that we don't just understand it, but can come into this life. You know, when God created man, He made man on the sixth day. And the seventh day was a day of rest, called the Sabbath.

But the seventh day was man's first day. It was the seventh day for God, but the first day for Adam. God had done a work for six days. Man did nothing. Man had to simply enter into the rest that God had already prepared for him.

This is the message of the first two chapters of the Bible. And what was Adam supposed to do on that first day of his life? Did God send him into the garden to work and sweat and perspire? No. He said, Adam, we don't want you to work today.

It's like, you know, you join some company and the company says, we'd like you to take a month's vacation first before you start working. Something like that. Now, there's no company on earth that would ever do that, but God is like that.

God Reveals Himself as a Loving Father

We've got to understand that God is a good God. You know, I believe that one of our most important ministries as Christians is to portray to this world an accurate picture of God. The world's got so many heathen religions that portray God as an awesome, fearful, frightening God who is making all types of demands on people.

People are scared of this God. It was like that in Jesus' time, too. The Pharisees portrayed God as a very demanding tyrant. And the Bible says that Jesus came and explained that he was a father. The Pharisees portrayed him like a policeman who was out to catch people if they ever made the slightest mistake.

If they went over the speed limit just a few minutes, God would be there with the lights flashing behind them. And Jesus came and said that wasn't true. God was a father. You know, in the Old Covenant, we read that in the tabernacle there was a curtain between the holy place and the most holy place.

It's called the veil that was torn when Jesus died on the cross. And that was to teach that under the Old Covenant, you could come this far. But you couldn't actually come into God's presence. God dwelt beyond that veil.

And nobody knew what God was like. They could serve him. They could kill the sacrifices. They could offer the incense. But when they came to the veil, God dwelt beyond that veil. They didn't know what he was like.

Nobody could communicate with him. They would talk to him as a great and terrible mighty God and things like that. And when Jesus came, he rent that veil. And he showed the people the one living inside is not a policeman.

He's a father. I'm sorry to say, many Christians haven't seen it yet. And that's the reason for their defeated life. The letter covenant begins with a relationship. Not a theory. Not a doctrine. But a relationship.

Jesus came to reveal God as a father. To bring us into a relationship where we would be sons. Not slaves. In the Old Testament, they were slaves. That's why they could never call God father. That's why they lived in insecurity.

They lived in uncertainty. Just like a person working in a company who works under a general manager or managing director. He may never see even if he works in the company for 30 years. He's there up there somewhere.

Controlling the whole thing. The managing director of the factory. But I'm a lowly worker. A blue collar worker working on the factory floor. I get my salary. If I have any needs, I can send it up to him.

But I can never hope to meet him. That's how it was in the old covenant. And that's how it is with a lot of Christians too. It's the managing director up there. But think of that managing director's little boy.

He doesn't mean to make an appointment with his secretary to go and meet his dad. He just walks in. Sits on his dad's lap. Do you know that the Holy Spirit has come? To bring us into that type of relationship.

With a father in heaven. Where to know God as dad. Let me turn you to Romans in chapter 8. This is what I want to speak on today. A loving father. Romans chapter 8. There's a lot of emphasis in the world today on the ministry of the Holy Spirit.

There has been particularly for the last half century. Which is a very good thing. And I praise God for it. I know in my own life. That the infilling of the Holy Spirit. Is what brought me into a life of victory and rest.

But I fear that in Christendom in general. The devil has succeeded in leading a lot of Christians. On a tangent. Concerning the ministry of the Holy Spirit. What is the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit?

Let's look at one or two things. It says in Romans chapter 8. Verse 15. This is speaking about the first time we received the Holy Spirit. You have not received Romans 8 .15. A spirit of slavery leading to fear again.

But you have received a spirit of adoption. As sons by which we cry out. Abba. Father. The first thing that happens. When the Holy Spirit comes into a person. Makes him aware. That I am not a slave anymore.

This is the first ministry of the Holy Spirit. The spirit bears witness with our spirit. That now we are the children of God. So the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit. Is to bring me into a relationship with the Father.

And Abba. Is a Hebrew word. Which if translated into the English language. Can only be translated as. Dad. That's it. It's that intimate. Word. That a son or a daughter uses. To his or her own father.

And that's the primary ministry of the Holy Spirit. That's the relationship that God wanted to have with Adam. He said. We are saying to Adam. Listen Adam. I don't want you to work for me first. I want to spend one day in fellowship.

You and I. And from that fellowship. Yeah there's a lot of work in the garden to be done. But that can wait. Today we think that the most important thing. Is to serve. And that's why our service is so shallow.

The most important thing is not to serve. The most important thing is to fellowship. And to worship. You remember what Jesus said to Satan. In the last temptation. Thou shalt worship. The Lord thy God.

And then. Thou shalt serve him. If you try to serve. Without worshiping. Your service is going to be shallow. The father seeks. For worshipers. First. Jesus told that to the Samaritan woman. The father seeking.

Can you imagine the father looking all over the earth. Seeking. Not for servants. For those who. Take time to fellowship with him. Those who have understood what the Sabbath means. To. Fellowship with God.

To walk with him. To talk to him. This is what God wants. To do with all of us. When Jesus left. The earth. Just before he left. He was telling his disciples about the coming of the Holy Spirit. And this is how he describes it.

And it's the same thought that we saw in Romans chapter 8. In John 14. He says I'm going to ask the father when I go up there. To give you. Another. Comforter or helper. That he may be with you forever.

The spirit of truth. And then he says in verse 18. In that context. I will not leave you. As orphans. One. Who does not have a father. Is an orphan. And that's how Old Testament people were. They didn't have a father.

And when Jesus was with those disciples. He was like father and mother to them. They felt so secure. They were not afraid to face anything in the world. And Jesus was with them. And now he says I'm going.

And they felt exactly like. A child who suddenly realizes his father and mother are going to die. The insecurity. The fear. Boy. What's going to happen to us now. Life is so wonderful. When dad and mom were around.

But now I hear they're dying. I'm going to be an orphan. That's exactly. How the disciples felt. And Jesus said no I'm not going to leave the orphans. I'm going to send the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes and fills your heart in a few days.

You'll never feel like an orphan anymore. Has that happened. I find. A lot of Christians. Have what I call the orphan syndrome. In India. We have many orphanages. Christian orphanages. And I've seen. How.

People behave. Who have grown up in orphanages. They can be 60 years old. But if they grew up in an orphanage. Without a father and mother. I find certain characteristics in their behavior. I've seen that.

In many in India. They're insecure. They feel threatened by others. They're very possessive. If they. If somebody is friendly to them. They're possessive. They don't want that person to befriend anybody else.

You must be my friend exclusively. It's all because of their insecurity. If they see two people talking together quietly. They'll imagine. Oh they must be talking about me. This is all the orphan syndrome.

They're jealous. They want to try and prove themselves. They want their competitive. But these are characteristics I find in so many Christians. And yet Jesus said. I will not leave you orphans. It's not God's will.

That we should live on earth as orphans. We have a father. Who's planned every detail of our life. And the Holy Spirit has come to tell us that. Jesus came to earth. It says in John 1 17. To explain the father.

And after his resurrection. For the first time. He said to Mary Magdalene. Go and tell my brothers. He never called them his brothers till then. Have you noticed that? Before that he said I've called you servants.

But now I call you friends. But after the resurrection. He went one step further. He said go and tell my brothers. That I ascend to my father. And your father. He never used that expression before. My father and your father.

Something happened in the resurrection. That made Jesus. Our elder brother. I want you to turn to Romans chapter 8. Verse 29. These are. Amazing. Unbelievable truths. That. We wouldn't dare to speak. Or preach.

If it were not written so plainly in scripture. It says in Romans chapter 8. Verse 29. That whom God foreknew. He predestined. To become conformed. To the image of his son. So that he might be the first born.

Or the eldest. Among many brothers. There is a verse that calls Jesus. Our elder brother. And we are to be his younger brothers. Now a lot of people have. You know the Calvinistic Armenian dispute. About predestination.

About being predestined to heaven or hell. Just by the way. The Bible never speaks about being predestined. To go to heaven or hell. The predestination. In other words predestination means. In advance God has determined.

My destination. When I left my home in Bangalore. I had a destination. Perth. Before I was born. Long before I was born. When my name was written in the book of life. God had a destination for me. It was already planned.

And that was. That I should be conformed. To the image of Christ. And become one of his younger brothers. In other words. That God would be the father. Of Jesus and of me. It's amazing. This is. What we are predestined for.

And this is why he wrote our name. In the book of life. Long ages ago. And this is what can. What brings perfect security. Into my life. And should bring into your life. That before Genesis 1 verse 1.

Way back. Before the creation of Lucifer. And the angels. And before anything existed. On this earth. There was God the father. God the son. God the Holy Spirit. And my name. In God's mind. Before the foundation of the world.

It says in Ephesians 1 verse 4. He chose me. In Christ. When I understand this. I realize that I'm not an accident. God planned every detail of my life. From the. Before I was in my mother's womb. Now whatever I'm saying to myself applies to you.

If you're a child of God. This is the perfect security. That God wants us to live in. Every single day of our life. We don't. Things are not going to happen to us by accident. That our whole life. Has been planned by a loving father.

Just like I would plan for my children. God my father has planned for me. This is what delivers us from the orphan syndrome. This is what delivers us from. Comparing ourselves with one another. And being jealous of someone who has something which I don't have.

I know. When I became a Christian. I didn't know these things. I was born again. I went to heaven. My sins were all forgiven. But I didn't know. That I was chosen before the worlds were created. Nobody told me that.

I wish somebody had told me that. Nobody had told me that I had such a loving father in heaven. Who loved me. As much as he loved Jesus. When I understood that truth. Many many years after I was born again.

It revolutionized my life. It changed my life. I was an insecure person. Always wanting to prove myself to others. Afraid of letting other people know. Exactly what I was inside. Lest I feared they would not accept me.

If they knew me as I really was. And putting up this front of being very bold. As if I was full of the joy of joy unspeakable. And full of glory. But inside fearful. They are afraid to be known as they are.

Because they feel they won't be accepted. They feel even God won't accept them. And the devil has succeeded. In keeping so many Christians in bondage. Because they have not accepted. The revelation that Jesus gave.

Of a father in heaven. I knew that God loved me. But do you know it took me about 16 years. Before I discovered how much he loved me. I read a verse. Which I never heard a sermon on. I never read a book mentioning it.

And I never heard it on any tape. One day I read. In John 17 and verse 23. This amazing truth. That the father. Loved me. As much. As he loved Jesus Christ. It's an amazing verse. And Jesus said that the world must know that.

In other words I am supposed to live on this earth. In such a way. That the world must know. That I am a. I am somebody beloved of God. That I have. That I am one of those people whom God loves intensely.

People who look at your life. My brother and sister. And who look at my life. Should be able to say. Should say. Something about that man. He seems to be so much at rest. In the midst of turmoil. Confusion.

And everything happened. All sorts of things going wrong around him. Doesn't seem to affect him. Because he is beloved of God. That the world may know. Verse 20. John 17, 23. That you love them. As much as you love me.

How many of you really believe this? That God. Actually loves you. As much. As he loved Jesus Christ. Now we have no doubt. That the father loved the son. And when I understood this truth. I realized that.

As the father cared. For Jesus. He would care for me. You know the way. The father protected Jesus. When he was a little baby. From being killed by Herod's soldiers. The night before Herod's soldiers came.

Joseph was warned. And the baby Jesus was taken away. And buried for him. In the midst of the stormy sea of Galilee. And in different places in Nazareth. When they took him up to the top of a cliff. To throw him down.

And they couldn't kill him. Because his time had not yet come. And many a time it says in. John's gospel chapter 7. Chapter 8. They could not arrest him. Not because they didn't have enough soldiers. But for one simple reason.

His hour had not yet come. That means the father's timetable. Had not yet. Planned for him to be arrested yet. Now we read that about Jesus. Have you ever thought. That that can apply to you as well. He loves you as he loved Jesus.

The practical. Implications of that for your life and mine is. That as the father cared for Jesus. He would care for me. He would care for me in a stormy sea. He would care for me when people are trying to kill me.

He would care for me. And protect me from people who are trying to harm me. In different ways. Because I'm not an ordinary person. I'm beloved of God. And you are. And it's not because of anything we did.

It's not because. I've lived such a faithful life. Or you live such a faithful life. It's just because he decided to choose me. And he decided to choose you. He put my name there in the book of life. Before the foundation of the world.

I don't know why. He just chose me. And in due time when I responded to him. He accepted me. Well all I can say is. This brought such a solid foundation in my life. I've. Understood the Christian life now.

Building the Christian Life on God's Love

To be like a three story building. The foundation. Which is the most important part of any building. Is. God's. Perfect. Love for me. It's a rock solid foundation. No storm. No flood is ever going to shake it.

On this foundation. I build these three stories. The first story is my. Personal life. My inner walk with God. With his father. Just like Adam. Walked with God. That first Sabbath day. He wasn't thinking of work.

He wasn't thinking of the garden. He wasn't thinking of the needs in the garden. He wasn't thinking of anything. I'm thinking of my father. My dad and I. We want to have fellowship. We want to get to know each other.

Want to walk in transparency. Where I can tell him everything that's in my heart. And he can tell me what's in his heart. This is the relationship. That we are to build on this foundation. The first story.

On top of that. If we are married. A second story. Of a family life. That God gives me. A wife and children. To demonstrate to the world. What God can do in a home. The same peace. And rest. That he brings in my heart.

He wanted Adam and Eve. To have in their family relationship. And that's what he wants to. Us to have in all of our families. And I tell you. The devil has attacked that like anything. Why has he attacked it?

Because it's not on the proper foundation. A lot of these married couples. Are not on the proper foundation. Of God's perfect love for them. And on top of that. Is the third story. Where we serve him.

According to our calling. Whether as evangelist. Or teacher. Or missionary. Or mother. Or helper. Or anything. Service for the Lord. And all those who try to. Build that third story. Without building the first.

And second story. You know what's going to happen. It's going to collapse. They're going to have a nervous breakdown. They're going to backslide. They're going to fall into sin or something. Because they try.

I mean what would you think of a man. Who tries to build a third story. Of a building first. That's crazy. But do you know the number of people. Who can have a foundation sometimes. Of that perfect security.

In God's. Love for them. The Bible says in 1 John. In chapter 2. 1 John chapter 2. And verse 6. The one who says. He abides in Christ. Ought himself to walk. In the same manner. As he walked. Now when you read.

A verse like that. You know you can take that in two ways. You can take that verse. And let the devil make that verse. A heavy burden for you. Oh dear. You mean I have to walk. Like Jesus walked. Boy.

How in the world am I going to do that. Or. You can take it the way John Wesley took it. He says that when he read that verse. He said he was so. Challenged. And excited. By the possibility. That he. A mortal being.

Could walk like Jesus walked. He took it in an entirely different way. He looked at that verse as. A promise. Of a possibility. God's commands are not a burden. Everything he says. Is something he will enable us.

To accomplish. The Christian life is a partnership. Where. God does the major part. I do the minor part. And we work together and accomplish. What God wants to do. He takes the. Five loaves and two fishes that I give.

He multiplies it and feeds 5000. It's a partnership. He will never work alone. God wants man to be a partner. With him. And he's given us Jesus as an example. Most Christians know of Christ. As the one who died for our sins.

And rose from the dead. And is coming back in glory. But. That's not the only reason why Jesus came. He did not come only to die. The Bible says. The Bible gives Jesus a title in Hebrews 6. Which is not very well known.

He's called a forerunner. One who went ahead of us. One who. Demonstrated. How God wanted man to live on this earth. That's why he was born as a baby. He showed us how little children should live. In obedience to their parents.

And that's why he was subject to Joseph and Mary. He showed us how we must work hard. To earn our living. He worked as a carpenter. To support his family. He had four younger brothers and two sisters.

And a mother. Joseph had probably died. And in everything. Jesus is our example. Now this is another distinct difference. Between the old covenant and the new covenant. In the old covenant. They had only commandments.

Commandments, commandments, commandments, commandments. In the new covenant. God's given us. An example. What a difference. That's what makes the new covenant so much better. You know. To illustrate it.

Supposing I were to. Supposing none of you knew how to swim. And here I am trying to teach you how to swim. And I get a blackboard up here. And explain to you. How to move your hands and legs. And draw a lot of diagrams.

And teach you how to breathe. Etc. And I say okay fellas. Just go and jump in the pool now. Do exactly what I told you here. Or jump in the river. And do exactly. You understood it all right. The theory is perfect.

Not one of you would learn how to swim. That was the old covenant. Thou shalt move thy hands like this. And thy legs like this. And thou shalt breathe like this. And thou shalt not do this. And thou shalt do that.

On the other hand. If I say to you. Well fellas let's go to the river. And I jump in. And say just see what I'm doing. It's possible. Supposing you have never seen a man float on water. You say it's impossible.

Men always drown. And then you see this amazing miracle. Of a man. Swimming. Not drowning. Then it must be possible. You get feet. That's the theory of swimming on the blackboard. Which is better. The old covenant or the new.

Commandments. Or an example. Isn't it wonderful to have an example. Jesus said. Jesus never said admire me. He always said follow me. Follow me. Let us run the race. Looking unto Jesus. Let's swim across the river.

Looking unto Jesus who overcame gravity. And swam. This is the Christian life. And what was the main secret of Jesus life? He had a father. He told his disciples even if you leave me. I'm not alone. I'm never alone.

I and my father are one. He lived in that relationship with the father. To him ministry was not the most important thing. He knew the Bible when he was 12 years old. But he didn't go out into full time Christian work.

When he was 12 years old. He waited for the father to tell him. He said the son can do nothing. Except what the father tells him to do. He had that wonderful relationship. Which God originally wanted to have with Adam.