For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth.
A testament or covenant has force only after the death of the one who makes it, and is of no strength at all while that testator lives. Christ pledged Himself as Redeemer and established the new covenant that He promised to His disciples. That covenant of grace was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, existing by God's promise and received by faith.
It could not be ratified until Christ died, and His death and shed blood ratified it, signing and sealing the promise. The assurance of His promise rests on His sacrificial death. When ratified by Christ it is called the second or new covenant because the blood of Christ sealing it was shed after the blood of animal sacrifice that ratified the old covenant made with Israel at Sinai.
The law of God is the basis of this covenant as the arrangement for bringing people back into harmony with the divine will so that they can obey God's law. The new covenant was already valid in the days of Abraham because it was then confirmed by God's promise and by God's oath. Christ's death was the one great offering foreshadowed by the earlier animal sacrifices, bringing the old sacrificial order to its end and making those sacrifices valueless. Through this covenant those who receive Christ become children of God and joint heirs with Christ, receiving heaven's blessings for this life and the life to come. The bread and wine of the sacrament keep Christ's sacrifice for each person before each disciple in memory.
A testament or covenant has force only after the death of the one who makes it, and is of no strength at all while that testator lives. Christ pledged Himself as Redeemer and established the new covenant that He promised to His disciples. That covenant of grace was made with Adam and renewed to Abraham, existing by God's promise and received by faith.
It could not be ratified until Christ died, and His death and shed blood ratified it, signing and sealing the promise. The assurance of His promise rests on His sacrificial death. When ratified by Christ it is called the second or new covenant because the blood of Christ sealing it was shed after the blood of animal sacrifice that ratified the old covenant made with Israel at Sinai.
The law of God is the basis of this covenant as the arrangement for bringing people back into harmony with the divine will so that they can obey God's law. The new covenant was already valid in the days of Abraham because it was then confirmed by God's promise and by God's oath. Christ's death was the one great offering foreshadowed by the earlier animal sacrifices, bringing the old sacrificial order to its end and making those sacrifices valueless. Through this covenant those who receive Christ become children of God and joint heirs with Christ, receiving heaven's blessings for this life and the life to come. The bread and wine of the sacrament keep Christ's sacrifice for each person before each disciple in memory.