Our name | Mission | Vision | Leaders Ministries | Schedule | Directions | Contact Home   Gateway Church gathers for worship Sundays at 10:30 a.m. Location: 6425 Jefferson Rd. (Hwy. 129) in Athens, Georgia. For directions, click here. Ministry of the Word: Recent sermons Our quarterly e-magazine Gateway Today For the Gateway family Pastor Jerry's Weekly E-Mail A GATEWAY SERMON SUMMARY AUDIO The New Covenant Jerry Varnado, pastor Gateway Church, Athens GA January 4, 2004 Covenant Renewal Sunday Main Scripture texts: Hebrews 12:18-24; Exodus 19:16-19, 20:18-21. The writer of Hebrews contrasts the Old Covenant of law and the New Covenant of grace. To receive the law, the Hebrews went to Mt. Sinai, where they stood in fear before God -- not simply reverential fear but actually mind-gripping terror, as recorded in Exodus 19. The contrast is that we who follow Christ have come Mt. Zion, a picture of the heavenly Jerusalem, where people are joyful not fearful. The reason for joy rather than fear: we have come to Jesus who is the Mediator of a New Covenant! The New Covenant doesn't nullify God's law, but its foundation is God's grace, not His law. This New Covenant is ratified by the blood of Jesus Himself. The writer of Hebrews says the blood of Jesus "speaks a better word than the blood of Abel." Cain killed Abel because of envy and jealously and therefore Abel's blood cried out to God for justice and vengeance. Christ's blood pleads for mercy and forgiveness! The foundational difference between the two covenants: the Old Covenant is rooted in the fear of God; the New Covenant is rooted in the love of God. Certainly, God loved humanity in the Old Covenant period, but the power of sin had corrupted the human heart. Because of the guilt and shame of sin, we were unable to understand that He loved us. We couldn't respond to that love. God sent Jesus to deal with the sin problem -- and to show us His incredible love! We have come to a "better covenant," where our participation isn't dependent on our performance but upon God's mercy. So, as the writer of Hebrews says, the Kingdom we are receiving "cannot be shaken." It is stable and secure because it is dependent upon God's faithfulness, not ours! God's judgment is coming upon the earth. The earth and all its kingdoms will be shaken, but those who have received what God has offered in the New Covenant need not fear. We don't have to live in fear that we may not measure up on the last day. All we have to do is submit to Jesus as Lord of life and trust in His grace to get us through! Supporting texts: Luke 22:20 | Romans 5:8 | 1 John 4:16-18 | Hebrews 12:25-29 | Matthew 18:21-22 A mp3 audio file of this sermon is here. (Download to a PC by right clicking on the link and choosing "Save Target As." Mac users: click, hold, and choose "Download Link to Disk." Depending on your connection speed, the file may take several minutes to download.) An audio tape of the sermon summarized above is available free of charge (U.S. requests only). Request a tape by calling or writing the Gateway Church office. Please specify tape number 040104a: The New Covenant. © 2004 Gerald R. Varnado To the Gateway Church home page How to contact us