HF132 - The Covenant Imprint

To:  Hebraic-Foundations@yahoogroups.com
From:  "Pastor Buddy Martin" <Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org>
Date: Mon, September 20, 2004  
Subject:  Bible Study HF132 - The Covenant Imprint

Hebraics,

I am introducing a new study for the forum to provide some additional insights into how the new covenant distinguishes itself in comparison to former covenants. I have found over the years that many of God's people really do not understand the new covenant. Because of this lack of understanding you find too many believers trying to live the new covenant on an old covenant level. But you also find some believers being carried about by every wind of doctrine. We want to look at an awesome subject.

This is Bible Study HF132 - The Covenant Imprint.

For a beginning let's look at an incident where the Lord sets forth the new covenant in prophetic picture-language. During the feast of tabernacles as the priestly procession goes to the pool of Siloam to bring back water to pour on the altar, Jesus stops the procession.

He cries out, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." (John 7:37-39)

The prophetic intent is found in two thoughts. Where Jesus speaks of the outflow of living water, He is describing a prophetic experience. The basic meaning of prophesy is "to flow forth." Here Jesus is saying that every person who truly believes in Him will have a prophetic experience. This can only mean that God's new covenant people will be a prophetic people. (Live from the Spirit.)

The second picture is not as apparent. Where it says, "the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified," the word "given" is not in the text itself. But it simply didn't make sense for the translators not to put it in. Yet what John said was, "The Spirit was not yet." The natural question is, "How can this be? All the prophets had the Spirit. John the Baptist was filled with the Spirit while in his mother's womb!"

I'm glad you brought that up. The issue does not relate to the Old Testament prophets nor to John the Baptist. The Holy Spirit in the new covenant ministers the finished work of the cross in believers. No person before the cross could have the Holy Spirit in the sense as we do in the new covenant. Why is this? The answer is, "Because Jesus was not yet glorified."

And so in this case what distinguishes the new covenant from all the former covenants is that at the moment of receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior, the Holy Spirit enters the heart of the believing one as the resurrected, ascended, and glorified Lord God Almighty. Every believer is a Christ possessed person. (Cf. Col 1:26,27)

It doesn't stop there. What does this mean to a covenant walk? It means that each person born of the Spirit can now judge for himself/herself what is of God and what is not of God. It is this discerning and judging of all things by the Spirit that needs to be developed in each believer. Paul says that immature believers are not yet able to do this. (Cf. 1Co2:15,16. 3:1-5. Please read these Scriptures.)

And so the new covenant does not deal with us as groups. Yes, He does place us in a body of believers according to His purpose and will, however, the covenant walk is intensely personal. Why is this so important to know? Because the new covenant has its own a built in Protector. (Cf. Heb1:1-3)

For example, in the new covenant there is no need for a certain body of prophets or 'special' spokesmen to represent God in the earth. In the old covenant way, as a rule, if you wanted to hear from God, you generally went to the prophet - not so in the new covenant. Of course there are many who want you to think otherwise.

All the apostles emphasized this. John says, "As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides (permanently), and you have no need for anyone* (Greek word 'tis' means a special single someone, or a guru) to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, YOU ABIDE IN HIM." (1John2:24-27 Please read the reference.)

John's point is that God's new covenant people are never to be in bondage to anyone, and especially to someone who sets himself up as the spokesman for God. Does this mean we should not listen to others? No, it doesn't mean that at all. God gives us pastors for a purpose. However, I can hear from you, and you can hear from me. What it means is that every believer can discern for himself truth. Jesus said the the Holy Spirit would lead us into all truth.

Certainly this can be taken to the extreme, but that is a personal issue. Any believer can enter the flesh and declare he has no need to hearing the ministry of God's Word from another. On the other hand, understanding how the life of Jesus works in us will always be our greatest protection against deceivers. It also is what gives wonder and beauty in our gatherings for Jesus. (At Christian Challenge we give place to anyone who wishes to speak to a pastoral ministry.)

How does this brace up against the former covenant of Moses? Paul says, "But we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully." (1Tim1:8) This simply means that there are Godly moral principals in the covenant of Moses that can be used for our own instruction.

[Now would be a good time to read through the book of Galatians just to get a feel for the new covenant. Don't let someone else tell you what it means. You have the Holy Spirit. Read it carefully and prayerfully. Ask questions of the Lord. "Everyone who asks, receives."

My main point is that new covenant believers should never be movement chasers, prophet chasers, or group chasers. Listen to the Lord with your heart. Do your own praying. Ask the Lord to show you what His desires are. The new covenant walk opens up in a powerful way when we get personal with the Lord. (Besides that, the Lord is much more involved in your life than you realize.)

Is this all that distinguishes the new covenant from the covenant of Moses? No, there is much, much more. This carries me to another area that may prove interesting. This next area has to do with what can be called 'imprinting' or 'bonding' with the Lord. Nature itself carries a picture of a process of imprinting that reflects on our imprinting with the Lord Jesus, God's beloved Son.

There is actually phenomena in nature called imprinting. You see it with all creatures. It stands out beautifully in the bird kingdom. Imprinting takes place between the very young chick and its parent. It is what causes the penguin chick and the mother bird to recognize one another. It seems impossible for one penguin to know her own chick in the midst of hundreds and thousands of other birds that are chirping loudly, and are literally covering the beaches. How does the parent know which chick is hers? How does the chick know which mother is the parent? Imprinting! (Even so our heavenly Father.)

The issue is that the chick imprints with its mother very early on. This needs to be done fairly early or problems will develop.

Imprinting is an activity of sound and smell, among other things. In the case of people who are born from above, imprinting is a work of the Holy Spirit that causes believers to know and recognize the voice of Jesus. The Lord spoke of this with regard to the Shepherd and his sheep; "I am the good Shepherd, and I know My own and my own know Me." (John 10:14)

You have something very similar in the natural human family. Infants imprint with the mother soon after birth. (Also to some extent with the father.) What happens is that the infant begins to recognize the 'sounds' of the mother, her smell, and other stimuli. If you'll notice, the mother will adjust her voice to a special tone when speaking or singing or playing with the infant. (Fathers do this also.) This is nature. But the strongest thing that is recognized is 'THE VOICE.' (Caps for emphasis only.)

The sad note is that scientists tell us that if an infant does not bond or imprint at an early stage with someone, that child will actually enter adult life with psychological and even physical problems. In fact they will never be able to bond with other adults properly. Of course this is not the case with those born of God's Spirit. Anyway this lets us know that imprinting is a very real part of our nature make up.

To bring this over into the new covenant realm, I can tell you that as a long-time pastor, I have observed the imprinting process hundreds of times through the years. Generally a new believer will begin to imprint quickly. What helps is if the spiritual environment is conducive to them learning the voice of Jesus early on. (One reason the Lord places believers in a church body is to help them learn of Him.)

Is there any Bible for this issue of imprinting in a spiritual sense? Paul wrote the Galatian Christians, and said, "My children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you." (Gal4:19) I don't know that Paul was speaking of them being born again, again. It seems more likely his concern was their inability to yet know and recognize the Lord in their lives.

Because many of the Galatians believers were not yet familiar with the voice of Jesus, they were being pulled back and forth. Paul said a similar thing to the Ephesian Christians. He said, "We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects INTO HIM..." (Eph4:14)

It is true that some believers have a struggle bonding or imprinting with the Lord. And so they are found moving from one thing to another. Restless and unbalanced. This is why young believers need a great deal of help in this area. The enemy seeks them out. They are easily misled. Again this is one reason the Lord raises up pastors. A pastor's greatest job is to tenderly care for a flock. (Pastor and shepherd are the same word. Pastors are under-shepherds.)

If a young believer is not under the kind of teaching that will lead him to believe deeply in his salvation and in God's love, he will manifest psychological problems. (It breaks my heart and makes me very angry to see believers driven by fear and to know that it is because of the kind of teaching he or she has been under.)

Did Jesus say anything about interfering with the bonding process of believers? I think so. He said, "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea." (Matt18:6) Doesn't that sound just like a mama? "You touch my kids, you will have to deal with me."

So keep in mind that in the new covenant we have the Holy Spirit to parent us into the processes of the covenant. And it is God's Spirit who imprints us to the Lord. Yet the Lord does use men and women to help believers make necessary spiritual transitions.

There is much more to be said in this regard, but I want to give members an opportunity to share any thoughts or questions they may have. (This is an awesome subject and calls for deeper exploration.)

The Lord bless you,

Buddy
Lawrence E. (Buddy) Martin, HF Host 
email: Bro.Buddy@ChristianChallenge.org

Web: http://www.christianchallenge.org/

"See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many be defiled." (Heb12:15)

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