TUESDAY January 6, 2026

A New Covenant

For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.
Hebrews 8:7

Notice, if the first covenant had been faultless, then there would have been no need to replace it with a second covenant. If the Old Testament covenant was good enough, and the sacrificing of animals was sufficient to take away our sin, then Jesus would not have needed to come as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).

The Old Testament covenant was not good enough. The blood of animals was not able to take away sin; the blood of animals acted only as a covering for sin. Therefore, God had to send His Only Begotten Son into the world to redeem mankind (John 3:16). His precious blood shed on the Cross was sufficient to take away sin once and for all:

Hebrews 10:9-10: He [God] takes away the first that He may establish the second. By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

Hebrews 10:11-12, 14: And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God....For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified.

The new covenant is established upon God's faithfulness. Whose blood sealed the new covenant? The blood of Jesus Christ, not the blood of any animal. Again, it was the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the Cross. Christians are then sealed by the Holy Spirit, which means we belong to Christ because He purchased us by His blood:

In Him [Jesus] you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession... (Ephesians 1:13-14).

The new covenant is purchased by the blood of Christ, effected by the Spirit of Christ, and appropriated by faith in Christ.
~John Piper~

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