"..Jesus has been given priestly work which is superior to theirs,..the covenant which he arranged between God and his people is a better one, because it is based on promises of better things. If there had been nothing wrong with the first covenant, there would have been no need for a second one..By speaking of a new covenant, God has made the first one old; and anything that becomes old and worn out will soon disappear." (Hebrews 8:6-13 GNB)

paradigm, paradigm shift - From the Greek word paradhma (paradigma),... a paradigm is simply the predominant worldview in the realm of human thought..A paradigm shift occurs when cultures transform their way of thinking from one thought system to another. For instance, prior to Copernicus and Galileo (ca. 1600), most people believed that astral bodies revolved around the earth (geocentrism); but after the Copernican Revolution (ca. 1600), it became obvious that the earth revolved around the sun (heliocentrism) -- thus, a major paradigm shift occurred from geocentrism to heliocentrism..Simply put, then, a paradigm shift is a pivotal change in humanity's way of thinking regarding a particular worldview.

===========================&&&&&=============================

In dealing with His people God uses covenants, which spells out the context of His dealings with them and covers expectations, responsibilities, benefits, consequences, processes and so on. Both parties commit to the covenant and it becomes binding. It was effectively a contract of engagement under which God and His people become one entity. He their God and they His people.

1. "If you will listen obediently to what I say and keep my covenant, out of all peoples you'll be my special treasure. The whole Earth is mine to choose from, but you're special: a kingdom of priests, a holy nation.' "This is what I want you to tell the People of Israel." (Exodus 19:5-6 MSG)

2. "Know this: GOD, your God, is God indeed, a God you can depend upon. He keeps his covenant of loyal love with those who love him and observe his commandments for a thousand generations." (Deuteronomy 7:9 MSG)

3. "Now Christ has been appointed to serve as a priest in a much better way, and he has given us much assurance of a better agreement. If the first agreement with God had been all right, there would not have been any need for another one. But the Lord found fault with it and said, "I tell you the time will come, when I will make a new agreement with the people of Israel and the people of Judah. It won't be like the agreement that I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand and led them out of Egypt. They broke their agreement with me, and I stopped caring about them! "But now I tell the people of Israel this is my new agreement: 'The time will come when I, the Lord, will write my laws on their minds and hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. Not one of them will have to teach another to know me, their Lord.' "All of them will know me, no matter who they are. I will treat them with kindness, even though they are wicked. I will forget their sins." When the Lord talks about a new agreement, he means that the first one is out of date. And anything that is old and useless will soon disappear." (Hebrews 8:6-13 CEV)

The text Hebrews 8:6-13 above, identifies two covenants instituted by God in dealing with His people. The old covenant which is referred to as the law of Moses and new covenant which called the covenant of grace or the law of the spirit of life.

1. "God gave the Law through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ." (John 1:17 GNB)

2. "But the Law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death." (Romans 8:2 MKJV)

The text in Hebrews 8:6-13 also makes it clear that the new covenant superceeded the old within a chronological context. This means that they do not run concurrently but the old ceased when the new came into effect, just like a runner in a relay race, hands over the baton to the next and exits the race to make way for the current runner.

1. "Why then the Law? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to those to whom it had been promised, being ordained through angels in the Mediator's hand. But the Mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one. Is the Law then against the promises of God? Let it not be said! For if a law had been given which could have given life, indeed righteousness would have been out of Law. But the Scripture shut up all under sin, so that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to those who believe. But before faith came, we were kept under Law, having been shut up to the faith about to be revealed. So that the Law has become a trainer of us until Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But faith coming, we are no longer under a trainer. For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:19-26 MKJV)

2. "A new power is in operation. The Spirit of life in Christ, like a strong wind, has magnificently cleared the air, freeing you from a fated lifetime of brutal tyranny at the hands of sin and death. God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn't deal with the problem as something remote and unimportant. In his Son, Jesus, he personally took on the human condition, entered the disordered mess of struggling humanity in order to set it right once and for all. The law code, weakened as it always was by fractured human nature, could never have done that. The law always ended up being used as a Band-Aid on sin instead of a deep healing of it. And now what the law code asked for but we couldn't deliver is accomplished as we, instead of redoubling our own efforts, simply embrace what the Spirit is doing in us."

(Romans 8:2-4 MSG)

3. "Even today when the proclamations of that old, bankrupt government are read out, they can't see through it. Only Christ can get rid of the veil so they can see for themselves that there's nothing there. Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are--face to face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it!" (2 Corinthians 3:15-17 MSG)

Christ therefore marked the end of the old and ushered in the new through His death and ressurrection. The old is truly finished and the new is in place.

1. "Jesus..said, "It is finished!" Then he bowed his head and gave up his spirit." (John 19:30 GNB)

2. So I said, "I'm here to do it your way, O God, the way it's described in your Book." When he said, "You don't want sacrifices and offerings," he was referring to practices according to the old plan. When he added, "I'm here to do it your way," he set aside the first in order to enact the new plan-- God's way--by which we are made fit for God by the once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus..As a priest, Christ made a single sacrifice for sins, and that was it!..By that single offering, he did everything that needed to be done..The Holy Spirit confirms this: This new plan I'm making with Israel isn't going to be written on paper, isn't going to be chiseled in stone; This time "I'm writing out the plan in them, carving it on the lining of their hearts." He concludes, I'll forever wipe the slate clean of their sins. Once sins are taken care of for good, there's no longer any need to offer sacrifices for them. So, friends, we can now--without hesitation--walk right up to God, into "the Holy Place." Jesus has cleared the way by the blood of his sacrifice, acting as our priest before God. The "curtain" into God's presence is his body." (Hebrews 10:7-19 MSG)

3. ".. My friends, you surely understand enough about law to know that laws only have power over people who are alive. For example, the Law says that a man's wife must remain his wife as long as he lives. But once her husband is dead, she is free to marry someone else. However, if she goes off with another man while her husband is still alive, she is said to be unfaithful. That is how it is with you, my friends. You are now part of the body of Christ and are dead to the power of the Law. You are free to belong to Christ, who was raised to life so that we could serve God. When we thought only of ourselves, the Law made us have sinful desires. It made every part of our bodies into slaves who are doomed to die. But the Law no longer rules over us. We are like dead people, and it cannot have any power over us. Now we can serve God in a new way by obeying his Spirit, and not in the old way by obeying the written Law." (Romans 7:1-6 CEV)

I suggest you read the contract

Pays to know the clause

That covers your situation

You ought to read the contract

Before you make a demand

Make sure you check the version you hold

We are in the new and not the old

The old has been superceeded by a much better one

What worked in the old will not work in the new

Selah

(To be continued..)

Click here to read part 2

To view others instalments in the series, click here