Once a Royal Baby - Now My Bridegroom!

With all of the excitement of the royal baby the past couple weeks, I cannot help but think about THE ROYAL BABY who grew to be a man of 33 and who changed my life forever by taking up my cross, bearing my sins, and saving me from eternal damnation. Thank you, Father God, for sending your one and only son that I may have life, and have it to the full!

The best HAPPILY EVER AFTER story there is!!

A must for people of all ages!!

I want to take just a few moments to share my favorite story. I promise that if you read it in its entirety, this story can change your life - just as it has mine!! This is the story of the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, possibly with new perspectives that you've never thought about. You see, God often works with the customs and practices of a culture to get his point across, and that is just how it was done with my favorite story. For better understanding, I am going to break my favorite story down into the Old and New Covenant. (One thing to know about covenants - throughout history there are many ways in which covenants are made, but they always involved blood.) Here is my favorite story:

THE OLD COVENANT

It all began over 4,000 yrs. ago around 2081 B.C., when God made a covenant with Abraham. God promised Abraham an heir and that his descendants, as innumerable as the stars, would inherit the "Promised Land" (the land from the River of Egypt to the Euphrates River).  Furthermore, one of these descendants would be the Savior of the World. Well, Abraham questioned how he could know this, so God made a covenant with him. The word for covenant in Hebrew is berith, meaning to cut until blood flows.

Now, during this time in Hebrew culture (and is still done today), one prominent form of covenant making was to cut covenants by cutting animals in half and laying the parts on opposite sides (think of two sides of a stream). The blood would flow out from both sides, making a river of blood flowing between. On a side note - the red carpet often used at weddings is symbolic of the river of blood. The greater party (whichever was deemed so) set the terms of the agreement, and the lesser party provided the animals. Then, both parties would walk through the blood, as if to say:  "If I break my promise, you may do this to me - kill me and stomp through my blood."  Well, the chances of God failing are NONE, but think about the reality that Abraham could stay perfect throughout his whole life. As a human, not likely, right? In this sense, it almost seems as if God is setting him up; however, the story doesn't stop there. When evening came, God caused Abraham to fall into a deep sleep. Then, God (as the smoking firepot and blazing torch) walked through the carcasses. Please remember, in Scripture fire never represents man, always God. As these two separate sources of fire, God ultimately walked through the covenant for Abraham. Thus, if Abraham or his descendants messed up in the future, it was God who was going to take his fall for him. Whoah, pretty neat, huh? Such a Father's love...

Now, according to tradition the covenants would usually last for AT LEAST seven generations. Moses was a descendant of Abraham (the 4th generation after Abraham), and God also made a covenant with Moses and the Israelites (also known as the OLD LAW). This covenant was in accordance with the covenant that was made with Abraham. After all, God does not break his promises. God covers all the terms of the covenant (again He is the greater party). Due to the fact that many covenants were quite lengthy, covenant documents were often created to outline the regulations. In addition, summary documents were often created (kind of like Sparknotes for ease of reference). As the Torah (the first five books of the Bible) is often referred to as the specific overview of God's covenant with Israel, the Ten Commandments are like the summary document. Usually, two copies of the documents were required, one for both parties involved in the covenant. Normally, both parties would take and store the document in a safe place. Therefore, in all likeliness, the two tablets that Moses carried down from Mount Sinai were probably identical in copies - God's copy and Moses' copy. (Now, when Moses got to the bottom of the camp and saw the people worshipping false idols, he threw and broke the tablets in anger - God aided in the new copies being made.) Once the new copies of the tablets were made, both copies were stored in the Ark of the Covenant (showing this as a safe and sacred place for both God and Moses). The covenant, in its entirety, was to be reviewed every seven years, Deuteronomy 31: 9-13.

THE NEW COVENANT

Now, let's fast forward to only 1,083 yrs. ago to 30 A.D. In this year, the Royal Baby - Jesus Christ, had grown to a man of 33 and prepared for his own crucifixion. Why in the world would anyone want to kill a Royal Baby? Why in the world did he have to die? The answer: us.

Raise your hand if you are perfect. (Pause) You didn't raise your hand did you. Of course not. None of us are perfect, nor have we ever been. So, the covenant that God made with the regulation for Abraham and his descendants to walk blameless didn't exactly happen that way. We, as humans, are not blameless, and we mess up every day. God, all-knowing, knew that from the very beginning. After all, he is our Creator and knows what we are capable of. Now, who remembers what was supposed to happen under the covenant if Abraham and his descendants did not hold up their end of the deal? Well, considering that Abraham never walked through the blood and that God took his place, now it's time for God to take the fall for Abraham. How does he do so? He sends himself, in the form of the Son, to die for the wrongdoing of Abraham and his descendants (which includes us by the way). 

 [Remember: God is the Trinity - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They are three separate, but in one. The way I find best to think about it is H20 - water, ice, and steam.]

Moving on... we reach the new covenant - the one that changes our lives forever! Jesus knew his purpose on this earth, and he knew what had to be done. It is important to note here two more important aspects of covenants used during this time, aside from blood. First,  there was the change of names. The lesser party would change their name or mingle the name of the greater party with theirs. (Sound familiar to marriage? Absolutely!). I will give them an everlasting name (Isaiah 56:5).

Second, the covenant meal is used, which consists of bread and wine. The bread represented the joining of flesh, and the wine represented their blood. In other words, they were saying, "What is yours is mine." (Sound familiar? Of course!) Today, wedding ceremonies also use this symbolism with cake, instead of bread, and wine/juice. Furthermore, we also use this symbolism in our communion at church.

Interestingly enough, Jesus also shared this covenantal meal with his disciples before the crucifixion. During this meal, another important aspect happened. Jesus offered the cup of wine to the disciples to drink. During Jewish custom as this time, a proposal for marriage was made in the same way. A young man would pour a cup of wine - if the lady drank it, it meant that she accepted his proposal of betrothal. So interesting, right?

After the girl accepted, the giving of gifts were to be given as a dowry. The dowry needed for our betrothal to Christ was his life, also fulfilling the covenant God made with Abraham, so it had to be done.

That is just what happened. Jesus gave himself as the sacrificial lamb to cover all the wrong of mankind. During this time in Jewish custom, two male lambs were given daily during the third hour (9am) and the ninth hour (3pm) as sacrifices for the people. Now, it is plausible that the normal sacrifices were being given on the day that Jesus was crucified. However, Jesus was crucified at 9 am. It was the third hour when they crucified him - Mark 15:25. Furthermore, he did not officially die until 3 pm after saying "It is finished!"-Matthew 27:45-50 and John 19:30. Thus, Jesus' sacrifice took place throughout both sacrificial times of the day. Guess what? The story doesn't even end there.

 Three days later, the tomb where Jesus was buried was found EMPTY! Peter saw the burial strips of linen lying there, and burial cloth that had been around Jesus' head was folded up by itself, separate from the linen - John 20: 6-8. Now, take this next little tidbit with caution, but Bible scholars of Hebrew culture at the time often note: [In order to understand the significance of the folded napkin, you have to understand a little bit about Hebrew tradition of that day. The folded napkin had to do with the master and servant, and every Jewish boy knew this tradition.When the servant set the dinner table for the master, he made sure that it was exactly the way the master wanted it. The table was furnished perfectly, and then the servant would wait, just out of sight, until the master had finished eating, and the servant would not dare touch that table until the master was finished. If the master was done eating, he would rise from the table, wipe his fingers, his mouth, and clean his beard, and would wad up that napkin and toss it onto the table. The servant would then know to clear the table. For in those days, the wadded napkin meant, “I’m done.” But if the master got up from the table, folded his napkin, and laid it beside his plate, the servant would not dare touch the table because the servant knew that the folded napkin meant, “I’m not finished yet.” The folded napkin meant, “I’m coming back!”] If the aforementioned is true, it is neat the message that was left: Finished and Coming Back.

Remember the marriage stipulations I talked about earlier? Well, after the gifts were given for the dowry, the future groom would leave saying, "I go to prepare a place for you." Sound familiar? Jesus says the same to us - John 14: 1-4. He is coming back for us, and we don't know the day or the time. Are we ready to meet our bridegroom? In culture, when the groom returned, they would be left alone for seven days to consummate the marriage, and that would be followed by a wedding feast. In the same way, during the seven years of tribulation, the Church will be with Christ, followed by the wedding supper of the Lamb - Revelation 19: 7-9.

Therefore, the Old Law (with sacrificial offerings and human priests) has been put away for the New Covenant (with the one time offering of Jesus' blood -THE HIGH PRIEST).  Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned - Mark 16:6.

Have you accepted the proposal? Are you on the guest list for this wedding feast? If your name is not found in the book of life, a happily ever after does not await you. In fact, the Bible says that those not found in the book of life will be thrown into the lake of fire - Revelation 20: 15. I want to celebrate the love of our Savior together!

The invitation has been given. Won't you make Jesus your +1 today and RSVP to salvation?!