Before He took on the same flesh all men have as Heb.2:14 says He did Jesus was the one who made the covenant with Israel through Moses. So if you are one who has taken on the belief that somehow the God of the Old Covenant is different from the God of the New, then be assured they are the same Godhead. Both Old and New Covenant.
In fact, it was Jesus who told Abraham he would be the father of many nations. He also wrote the 10 commandments on the stone and cut out the tablets for Moses to show to Israel.
And it was Jesus who sent Israel into slavery to the nations around them for the sin of idolatry. And it was also Jesus who established judges in Israel to deliver them from the hands of those who oppressed them when they would cry out for deliverance.
In short Jesus is the God who administered the Old Testament. We know this because this is what Paul told us in Gal.3:17 saying, “that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect”, he is telling us exactly that.
When Paul writes “God in Christ” he is telling us that Jesus’ anointing came from the fact that He is God living inside human form. And confirmed the covenant means that it was this member of the Godhead that confirmed the covenant that He had long ago made with Israel. A covenant that was made with Israel 430 years after the promise was given to Abraham.
In John16 we find more confirmation of Jesus being the administrator of the Old Covenant when He told His disciples “7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you.”
The Comforter, that is the Holy Spirit, could not come unless Jesus left because the administration, to come, or dispensation as Paul expresses it in Eph.3, was different than the one that went before. In Heb.8:6 Paul says it is “a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” The one that went before could not give life. It was to be used to pave the way for messiah to come.
And lest you be confused by the rest of what Heb.6:11 says, the messiah being the mediator of this New Covenant is not the same as being the administrator of it. The mediator is the one through whom the covenant was made possible. In this case it is through Jesus’ death and resurrection. But, the administrator is the one who conveys the promises of the covenant made possible by Jesus’ death and resurrection directly to those who choose to believe the gospel. Ministering to them directly in the mediator’s name.
This is why as Jesus continues explaining to His disciples in John16 He tells them the role the Holy Spirit’s administration of the covenant will be. He says, 8 And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:
9 Of sin, because they believe not on me;
10 Of righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
12 I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now.
13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.
14 He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
15 All things that the Father hath are mine: therefore said I, that he shall take of mine, and shall shew it unto you.
16 A little while, and ye shall not see me: and again, a little while, and ye shall see me, because I go to the Father.”
So the reason Jesus had to leave was because the covenant that was coming was not the covenant He made with Israel whom He had come to confirm said covenant with. This is why the covenant for our dispensation, the New Covenant, has the Holy Spirit as its administrator.
Again Jesus confirms His Old Covenant status in Mt.15:24 where He told Israel that He came specifically to minister to them and no one else. He said “I have come not but for the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
Here Jesus shows clearly that His ministry is to Israel. And that this is so because He is the one who both made the Old Covenant with them. And who confirmed that covenant with them when He came the first time.
This also fulfills the prophecy in Dan.9:27 that says “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease…” Because as He ministered to Israel He taught them what the Father told Him to teach. Just as the Holy Spirit now receives instruction from Jesus for what He teaches us believers.
In John16 He also shows that the ministry of the New Covenant belongs to the Holy Spirit. And not to Him. And that after a time, roughly 2,000 years, Israel will see Him again. This will happen at the end of the great tribulation when as Rom.11:25 says the fullness of the gentiles has come in. Then as Israel’s blindness in part is removed and their eyes are opened. They will see Jesus coming and will proclaim Him as their messiah.
So when you read about how God dealt with Israel and the rest of the nations in the Old Testament remember it is Jesus you are reading about. And if someone says the God of the Old Testament was a harsh and angry God. And not at all like the loving Jesus we read about in the gospels. You will know that they do not understand what Jesus was saying in John16. Nor do they understand why He dealt with nations the way He did in the Old Testament.
So believe it when God says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. And that He is the God who changeth to not. Because it will be with the same severity we see at times in the Old Testament. That Jesus will deal with those who rebel against Him today. When unbelievers will stand before Jesus at the great white throne judgment.
And for those who trusted in Jesus His judgment will be with the same loving deliverance we see in Judges2 in the Old Testament where we see God raise up a judge every time Israel cried out to Him to save them.
But, New Covenant deliverance is different from this Old Covenant deliverance that Judges2:16 says delivered Israel from those who oppressed her. New Covenant deliverance is spiritual. Theirs was natural.
Because when we believe in Jesus we are born of the Spirit having a spirit created in us that makes us children of God. When Israel believed God in the Old Covenant no such spiritual life was given to them. Because that life is only possible through faith in Jesus and His death and resurrection.
This is why our deliverance is from death to life. From sin to righteousness. And from wrath to peace with God. We have eternal life because we are made spiritual beings. New creations in Christ Jesus. And we who have believed have this deliverance solely because we believe in Jesus.
And if you will have this deliverance of which the Holy Spirit is the minster during this dispensation. You must do as Paul said in Rom.10:9,10. To receive the birth/creation of a spirit in us that was never there before. What Jesus described to Nicodemus as being born again in John3:1-8.
If you want deliverance from death to life eternal you must confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus. And you must also believe in your heart that He has raised from the dead. Do this and you shall be saved. You will be born again by a spirit God will create in you that makes you His child. And as His child heir to His kingdom.
If you will do this then you will have eternal life now. And immortality at the resurrection. If you will do this then you will become a child of God. If you will do this… then I will see you there or in the air!
This message can also be heard at: https://rumble.com/v7cxhj6-jesus-administrator-of-the-ot-mediator-of-the-nt-gal.317.html
