Old vs New 1 Kings 18:30-39
I want you to just keep this scripture in the back of your mind for awhile. Things will make sense, I hope, as I bring things together but I want to start my message by reading a verse from Paul’s letter to the Romans: Romans 6:14,“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law but under grace.”
By our faith in Christ the old covenant between God and man; the Covenant of the Law, can no longer condemn us to God’s punishment. We are under the new covenant, the Covenant of Grace.
So what does this mean exactly? Well, God tells us what it means in Hebrews 8:12. “For I will forgive their wickedness and remember their sins no more.”
To me, this is one of the greatest verses in the Bible. I remember when I was younger; I knew God forgave me, but I always had this idea that he had a ledger with a list of sins under my name. That he kept track of all I did. And if I wasn’t careful I would pass the limit of his forgiveness. Now I know this simply isn’t true. God not only forgives my sins, he doesn’t even remember I did them. So we can believe in our hearts that once we are under the Covenant of Grace, it’s impossible to fall out of God’s grace.
Hebrews 8:13, “By calling this covenant “new” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
God tells us the first covenant; the covenant of the law is obsolete. By moving the stone away from Jesus tomb God demonstrates to us that the law that was written on stone; the Ten Commandments cannot hold us in the grave.
Now before you think I’m telling you it’s now ok to go out and do whatever you want; I’m not. We cannot ignore the commandments. Thou shall not have a God above me, thou shall not murder; these need to be a part of our lives. But we need to understand it’s not about a hard and fast rule, it’s about the spirit behind the rule.
If we’re honest we can all say at one time or another we put our desire to make more money
or our desire to be recognized for our work above our desire to be with God. Looks like we put a golden idol above God.
If we’re honest we’ve all been tired, short tempered and then snapped at someone; got angry with someone with little real cause to do so. Matthew 5:21-22,“You have heard it said…you shall not murder…But I tell you that if anyone who is angry at a brother or a sister will be subject to judgment.” I’m in trouble. This is why we need grace.
Verse 13 again, “…and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.”
In some ways this prediction has not come to pass. In general men want God’s grace to be dependent on more than just faith. We want to feel like we are doing something tangible. Some denominations say you need to do this or that before you can come to God. If you had an adulterous affair you need to beg forgiveness before you can come to God. If you stole you need to make restitution before you can come to God. If you have an addiction you need to be recovered before you can come to God.
When Jesus was crucified remember what happened with the man next to him. Luke 23:42-43,
“Then he said ‘Jesus remember me when you come into your Kingdom…Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.’” No restitution, no ability to make amends, just acknowledgment and faith. Oh we will have to face human consequences for our actions. We will have to work at repairing relationships. We will have to rebuild trust with people. But all this is between us and our fellow men. What’s between believers and God is different.
And what about those who tell us we need to get our life together before we can come before God. I would remind them of this: John 8. The Pharisees brought to Jesus a woman caught in the act of adultery. Funny how they didn’t bring the man too. Anyway, at the end of the account Jesus says this to her, “Then neither do I condemn you…go now and leave your life of sin.” Notice the order, and this is important; Jesus forgave her sins and then she turns her life around.
In another account there is a woman who washes Jesus feet with her tears and then dries them with her hair. And Jesus says to her in Luke 7:50,”Your faith has saved you, go in peace.” Again Jesus forgives her sins because of faith, then she goes forth with peace between her and God. She did not have to first make up for her life’s choices.
When we know we are loved and forgiven by God then we can go out and change our lives.
There are two stories in the Old Testament which I think can help us. The first is from 2 Samuel chapter 11. It’s about King David.
We know David is a man who trusts in the word of God. Even as a teenager he professed his devotion and trust in the Lord. When Israel was attacked by the Philistines and the warrior Goliath, David pronounced in 1Samuel 17:45, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty.”
Then in 2 Samuel David saw another man’s wife; Bathsheba. 2 Samuel 11:7, “David sent for her. She came to him and he slept with her.”
Here is the greatest king of Israel committing a grievous sin. And then to cover up his sin David arranged to have Bathsheba’s husband Uriah killed. Verse 15, “Put Uriah out in front where the fighting is fiercest. Then withdraw from him so he will be struck down and die.”
David coveted another man’s wife; he committed adultery, and then committed murder. Under the Covenant of the Law even the best of men will fall.
Now we get to our reading. The prophet Elijah is confronting the prophets of Baal. The followers of Baal could not get their “god” to send fire and consume their sacrifice. Then Elijah built an alter of stone and placed his offering on it. He then had the whole thing dowsed with water three times. Elijah then prayed, verse 37, “Lord answer me…you are turning their hearts back again.” And verse 38, “Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stone and the soil and the water.”
Elijah asked God to turn men’s hearts. This story tells us what happens when we turn our own hearts to God.
God totally consumed the alter; everything, even the dirt under it. And don’t forget the three buckets of water. Three, it points to Jesus. Here it points to Jesus at the sacrificial alter, the cross. The cross where God totally exhausted his anger at our sin on the body of Jesus. And when Jesus sacrifice was complete, by our faith no trace of our transgressions and condemnation remain.
This is the miracle that is told to us in the Gospels. God gave the law, the Commandments.
And coming from God, they are perfect. So what went wrong? Romans 8:3,“For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering.”
What a wonderful God. What we couldn’t do for ourselves because of our nature, God did for us.
We need to remember our church; our customs, our traditions are great, they help us feel closer to each other, and closer to God. But salvation comes through belief and faith in Jesus Christ. We need to remember what we could not do for ourselves God did for us in Jesus.
David shows us that even the best of men fail. The best fall short of God over and over again. We can’t help it.
Elijah shows us that God exhausted all his anger over sin on Jesus at the cross. And by our faith
no remnant of our sin remains in us. When God looks on a believer he sees us as perfect as Jesus.
I pray you all know you are perfect in God’s eyes. I pray you know you are loved and cherished by the creator of the universe.
God bless each of you.
Amen.