Man & God: The New Covenant

One of the most significant differences between the Old Testament and the New Testament is man’s relationship with God. In the Old Testament God is perceived as external. God spoke to man; or prophesized through man. In the New Testament God is perceived as internal. God worked through man, from the inside out. For example:

· Old Testament – External God:

In Gen 3:8-19 God saw Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and punished them for eating of the fruit.

In Gen 17:1-22 The Lord appeared to Abraham to make a covenant with him , where God promised Abraham would be a father of many nations.

In Gen 32:24-30 Jacob wrestled with God, his hip was dislocated, and Jacob was renamed Israel.
Gen 32:30 And Jacob called the name of the place Peniel: for I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.

Ex 3:2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him (Moses) in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

When God spoke through the prophets, the prophets would say, “Thus saith the Lord”.

Isa 44:6 "Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel, And his Redeemer, the LORD of hosts: 'I am the First and I am the Last; Besides Me there is no God.

“Thus saith the Lord” is used 414 times in the KJV from Exodus through Malachi.

· New Testament – The Internal God:

John 10:30 I and my Father are one.

John 10:37 If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. 38 But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.

John 17:23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

John 14:20 At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.

Rom 12:5 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:

In the Old Testament, Jews prayed to God through an intermediary:

Gen 32:9 And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:

In the Lord's Prayer, we are instructed to call on our Father. The Greek translators often chose the word Pater for father. In Aramaic, Jesus often used the word Abba which is a very special word for father similar to a child calling Daddy. Throughout the New Testament Jesus consistently referred to God as our Father.