Good morning. For yesterday’s thought I had us consider the meaning and application of the word/idea “covenant”. We recognized that there were 5 covenants made by God in the Old Testament. The final one is called “the new covenant” from Jeremiah 31, and that covenant finds its fulfillment through the blood and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
Today, let’s consider the word/idea “testament”.
A testament is a statement of belief which gives both testimony as well as guidance and direction. In modern language the word is most frequently used in connection with a person leaving behind at death their “last will and testament”. We could also say that a student receiving an “A” grade is a “testament” to their aptitude and study habits. In the first example the emphasis is on the direction given by the testament, and in the second example the emphasis is as a testimony regarding the student.
As Christians, our primary use of the word testament is in reference to the Word of God. We speak of God’s testimony and guidance before Christ as the Old Testament, and we speak of the testimony and guidance after Christ as the New Testament.
However, in the ancient languages of Hebrew and Greek through which God empowered and instructed people to write the Old and New Testaments, the word for testament and for covenant are synonymous.
In Galatians 3:15-22 we are given testimony (testament) of Christ being the fulfillment of the covenant of Mosaic Law. In Galatians 3:23-29 we are given clarification of the work of Christ Jesus regarding the law: Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed.So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Through Christ Jesus we are all children of the covenant, and that truth is established through God’s own testimony (testament).
Whenever you read God’s Word you are reading the Old or the New Testament. Which is to say that you are reading of God’s eternal covenant with you. The Old is a testimony of God’s promise for your salvation, and the New is His testimony of His fulfillment of that promise through Jesus. We read the Old Covenant-Old Testament, and the New Covenant-New Testament.
We are, in Christ Jesus, all children of God’s promise, of His guidance, and of His testimony.
Vern