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We need to take the ancient paths of our forefathers by walking in the way of the new covenant focused on the economy of God, the way that leads to life; the bypaths are the paths of Satan’s schemes according to his devious stratagems that lead to destruction; to take the bypaths is to go downward, but to take the ancient paths, a way that is cast up, is to go upward—Jer. 18:15; cf. Matt. 7:13-14.
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In the new covenant, the eternal covenant, God gives us one heart and one way (Jer. 32:39-41); the one heart is a heart to love God, to seek God, to live God, and to be constituted with God so that we may be His expression; the one way is the Triune God Himself as the inner law of life with its divine capacity (31:33-34); this one heart and one way are the one accord (Acts 1:14; 2:46; 4:24; Rom. 15:6).
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As the ascended One sitting on the throne in the heavens, Christ is now executing the new covenant, which He has bequeathed to us as a testament, interceding for us and ministering to us that we may realize, experience, and enjoy all the bequests contained in the new testament—Heb. 12:2; 7:25; 8:1-2:
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The new testament, the new covenant, the will, has been validated by Christ’s death and is being executed and enforced by Christ in His resurrection and ascension.
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The new covenant has been bequeathed to us as the new testament, and now, in the mystical realm of His heavenly ministry, Christ is executing what He has bequeathed.
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Christ is now in the heavens, living, divine, and capable; He is able to execute the new testament, the new covenant, in every detail, making every bequest in it available and real to us:
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As the divine High Priest, Christ is executing the new covenant by interceding for us, praying that we would be brought into the reality of the new covenant—7:25.
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As the Mediator, the Executor, of the new covenant, Christ in His heavenly ministry is executing the new testament and carrying out in us every item of its bequests—8:6; 9:15; 12:24.
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As the surety of the new covenant, Christ is the pledge that everything in the new covenant will be fulfilled; He guarantees and ensures the effectiveness of the new testament—7:22.
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As the Minister of the true (heavenly) tabernacle, Christ is serving us with the bequests, the blessings, of the new testament, making the facts of the new covenant effective in our experience—8:2.
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As the great Shepherd of the sheep, Christ, by His shepherding, is consummating the New Jerusalem according to God’s eternal covenant—13:20.
Morning Nourishment
Jer. 31:33-34 But this is the covenant…: I will put My law in their inward parts and write it upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they will be My people….All of them will know Me, from the little one among them even to the great one among them, declares Jehovah, for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.In Jeremiah 31, Jeremiah laid the foundation of the new covenant, prophesying that God will put His law within us; that He will write His law into our mind that we may know God; that God will be our God and we will be His people; that we will not need anyone to teach us, because we will all have a teaching life within us; and that God will forgive our iniquity and remember our sins no longer. In the new covenant we enjoy the inner law of life. This law of life brings us God’s person and also the divine capacity of the divine life, which can accomplish everything for God to fulfill His economy. By the inner law of life we have the capacity to know God, to live God, and even to be constituted with God in His life and nature so that we may be His corporate expression. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 257-258)
Today’s Reading
We need all the twenty-seven books of the New Testament to define this one short portion of Jeremiah 31:31-34. If we understand this portion in light of the entire New Testament, we will see that in this new covenant we have the church, the kingdom of God, God’s household, the house of God as God’s dwelling place in our spirit, the new man, and the Body of Christ as the fullness of the processed and consummated Triune God. Eventually, this new covenant will bring in the millennium. Ultimately and consummately, it will bring in the New Jerusalem in the new heaven and new earth for eternity. (Life-study of Jeremiah, p. 258)On earth, Christ cut the pathway of the cross, and in heaven He has opened a new and living way into the Holy of Holies (Heb. 10:19-20). Christ has purified the heavens and the things in the heavens with His blood….Not only do we need the purification by the blood of Christ, but the heavens and the things in the heavens also need it, as the tabernacle and all things pertaining to it were sprinkled and purified by the blood of the sacrifice. By ascending to the heavens, Christ has confirmed the new covenant and obtained eternal redemption (9:12). His ascension to the heavens confirmed the new covenant that He consummated on earth. There, in the heavens, He found eternal redemption for us.
Christ has obtained a more excellent ministry (8:6). His ministry on the throne today is more excellent than that of the Old Testament priests in the tabernacle. This is His ministry in the Holy of Holies. As the surety and Mediator of the new covenant, Christ enforces the covenant (7:22; 8:6; 9:15). In Greek the word surety means both a guarantee and a person who is a bondsman or sponsor. As the Executor of the New Testament, Christ executes that testament (9:16-17). Christ is the surety of the covenant and the Executor of the testament. For the will there is a need of an executor, someone to execute it. In His ascension, Christ is the Executor of the testament He bequeathed to us.
Christ is the High Priest who intercedes for us and saves us to the uttermost (7:25-26). This is not according to the order of Aaron on earth but according to the order of Melchizedek in heaven. As the heavenly Minister, Christ ministers heaven, life, and power into us (8:2) that we may live the heavenly life on earth. This is not merely to save us from the negative things but to sustain us with the heavenly supply of the divine life. (Life-study of Hebrews, pp. 352-353)
Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msgs. 31, 33, 35-38, 41-42