šš¾šš¾šš¾ The #Nativity of #Christ - A #New #Covenant
Christ is born! Glory be to Him!
Beloved and respected members who follow the orthodox education and spiritual service that we convey on John's Repentance page, we send you this writing about today's feast, the nativity of Christ written by Bishop Youssef of the Coptic Orthodox Church because it is important to understand what we are celebrating, so we entrust you to read it and learn from it.
The birth of our Lord Jesus Christ marks the beginning of a New Covenant between God and man, a covenant previously and purposefully foreshadowed and prepared for by a prior covenant.
In order to understand and appreciate the New Covenant that God has instituted with humanity, it is necessary to take a close look at the old one.
The Old Covenant was between God and Israel "And I will establish My covenant between Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you" (Genesis 17:7). The New Covenant, however, is established between God and any person who will receive the Son of God "But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God (John 1:12,13).
The Old Covenant was temporary, and conditioned upon the Israelitesā obedience of the law. God foretold to Moses that this covenant would not last but would soon be broken, "this people will rise and play the harlot with the gods of the foreigners of the land, where they go to be among them, and they will forsake Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. Then My anger shall be aroused against them in that day, and I will forsake them" (Deut 31:16,17). On the other hand, the New Covenant is designed for eternal life; and will thus last forever. St. Paul says, "The God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant ā¦" (Heb 13:20,21).
In the Old Covenant, there was no hope of eternal life for a person who broke any of the prescribed laws. In that sense, the law could not bring salvation nor justify anyone. All it could do was teach people the need for salvation by a Savior and by His grace granted henceforth. In contrast, in the New Testament, we are justified and sanctified by the work of our Lord Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit.
The ceremony of the Old Covenant included the slaughter of a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a young pigeon. After that Abraham cut the carcasses in half, and then at sunset only God walked the blood path between the two pieces of the carcasses (Genesis 15). Usually both parties of the Covenant would walk the blood path between the slaughtered animals as a symbol of what would happen to either party if they violated the terms of the agreement. It is interesting to note that with Abraham, only God walked the blood path to indicate that if Abraham or his descendants dishonored the covenant, God and only God would have to pay the price with His own blood.
The New Covenant has been established not by the slaughter of animals but by the slaughter of the Son of God on the holy wood of the Cross, after having walked the blood path Himself. "Why is Your apparel red, And Your garments like one who treads in the winepress? I have trodden the winepress alone, and from the peoples no one was with Me. For I have trodden them in My anger, And trampled them in My fury; Their blood is sprinkled upon My garments, and I have stained all My robes" (Isaiah 63:2-3).
(To be continued) šš¾