The New Covenant – Once More
Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 NASB
New creature – It’s easy to be confused about the covenants. For centuries the Church has taught that the coming of the Christ meant a replacement of Israel, and as a result, a new covenant with Christians. Passages like Luke 22:20, “And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood,’” are enlisted to confirm that Israel’s position with God has changed. Of course, modern Messianic believers are quick to counter this replacement theology, and rightly so, but that often leaves us even more confused. What is the “new” covenant anyway? Is it nothing more than a renewal of the relationship between God and Abraham’s physical and spiritual descendants? Has the coming of the Messiah altered anything? E. P. Sanders offers some important clarification:
“From one point of view it is accurate to say that the prophets see a renewal of several covenants – the Noahic (Isaiah 54:8-10), the Abrahamic (Isaiah 49:5-9, Jeremiah 33:25-26), the Mosaic (Jeremiah 31:31-36) and the Davidic (Jeremiah 33:19-26). But it is easy to see from Jeremiah 33:19-26 that the Abrahamic and Davidic covenants are closely related. There is in fact an essential unity to all the covenants. Jeremiah shows the unity between the Mosaic covenant and the new covenant (chapter 31:31-34), for the new covenant is not a new thing replacing the old, but rather the old renewed and applied in such a way that it will be perfectly kept.”[1]
Thus, Yeshua is the true Adam, the true Israel, the seed of Abraham, and the son of David. But this means that something quite radical has happened. The “new” covenant is more than a reiteration of the Torah for Gentiles.
“These various identities of Jesus establish one clear point. Jesus Christ is the head of the new race. All who are united to him are members of that race, but only because he is that race. Thus, who is ‘in Christ’ is a new creation (2 Corinthians 5:17), that is, he belongs to the new order of which Christ is head.”[2]
The “new” covenant is a reconstitution of God’s promise to Abraham. Torah is still the operating system. It is true that it has not yet come to completion. But a significant step in the direction of the fully established Kingdom has occurred. A new race has come into existence; a race in the Messiah, the summation of God’s intention for human being. Paul’s expression, kaine ktísis (new creation), isn’t just a change in spirituality or moral integrity. ktísis is on par with Genesis 2:7. Humanity itself has been altered. Yeshua is Adam again, as Paul points out in Romans 5. We who belong, who have been recreated in his image, walk differently, talk differently, think differently, not because we have been forgiven but because we have been reborn. That’s new!
Topical Index: new covenant, new creature, kaine ktísis, 2 Corinthians 5:17
[1] E. P. Sanders, Paul and Rabbinic Judaism: Some Rabbinic Elements in Pauline Theology, pp. 84-85.
[2] Ibid., p. 93.
