In last week’s blog, we focused on the birth of the very first church. It all began with Peter’s sermon on the Day of Pentecost when he called on all those who had gathered to repent of their sins, the main “offense” being the crucifixion of their own Messiah.

Prior to His ascension into heaven, Jesus gave His disciples what has become known as “The Great Commission,” and each of the Gospel writers records a different variation of Jesus’ words: Matthew records Jesus telling them to go and “make disciples, and then baptize them;” Marks records Jesus telling them to go and “preach the Good News to all creation;” and Luke, interestingly, records Jesus telling them to go and “preach repentance for the forgiveness of sins.” In other words, the essence of the Good News is that through genuine repentance, anyone can be forgiven of their sins. Last week, we looked at the 5 elements of genuine repentance, and in case you missed it, you might want to check it out.

After that single sermon, over three thousand souls repented and became part of the first church in Jerusalem. Luke goes on to tell us that:

“Those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. And they were continually devoting themselves to the apostle’s teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:41-42).

Notice the 4-fold focus of their devotion: 1) the apostles’ teaching; 2) fellowship; 3) sharing meals together; and 4) prayer. And, as we saw last week:

“Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles” (Acts 2:43).

Today, I want to focus our attention on “The Apostles’ Teaching,” which provides the essential content of our New Testaments. And so, I’d like to provide some important historical and cultural guidelines that will help you understand the New Testament and properly interpret any text that you may be reading. So, let me provide two important things for you to consider. I will provide one today, and will conclude with the second next week.

THE PERIOD OF COVENANTAL TRANSITION

The time between Jesus’ ascension in AD 30 and the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70 was a period of “Covenantal Transition.” Rather than being an instantaneous change, the formal change from the Old to the New Covenant was a process, a process that took forty years to complete. In AD 64 (just 6 years prior to the fall of Jerusalem), the writer of the Book of Hebrews recognized that the end of the Old Covenant was approaching and made reference to God’s prophetic words to Jeremiah concerning the coming of the New Covenant (Jer 31:31):

When He said, “A new covenant,” He has made the first one obsolete, but whatever is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear (Heb 8:13).

Let’s take a moment to recall Jesus’ words to His disciples during “The Last Supper” when He said:

“This is the blood of the New Covenant which is shed for you for the forgiveness of sins” (Matt 26:28; Luke 22:20).

Although the majority of the spiritual blessings of the New Covenant began in AD 30 at the time of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection, the “structures” and “practices” of the Old Covenant sacrificial system were still standing and functioning as they always had. After all, the priesthood continued to offer sacrifices and prayers in the temple as they had been doing for centuries.

Let’s keep in mind that the Old Covenant relied on the “physical” structures that brought the worshiper into the presence of God. People had to go to the tabernacle (later the temple) and the priesthood (descendants from the Tribe of Levi) had to perform their sacrificial duties. In AD 70, these physical structures and practices of a designated priesthood were torn down, but now in the New Covenant, we can approach God directly through His Son Jesus, who became our one sacrifice for sin for all time. Furthermore, every believer is a “temple of God” because the Holy Spirit dwells within every believer (I Cor 3:16; 6:19). In addition, every believer is not only a “living stone” and a vital part of the New Covenant Temple (the church), but is also a “priest” of the living God. If you recall, one of the primary doctrines of the Protestant Reformation was the “Priesthood of Believers” that identified every Christian as a priest who offers up “spiritual” sacrifices to God.

Furthermore, let’s remember that even though the Old Covenant served its purpose, it was never the full intention of God, and it was Jeremiah who announced this prophetic truth which he received from God:

Behold, the days are coming…when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant when they broke, although I was a husband to them…But this is the covenant which I will make the house of Israel after these days…I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people (Jer 31:31-33).

AD 70 marked the “formal” end of the Old Covenant and the “formal” beginning of the New. The Apostle Paul and the writer of Hebrews described this Old Covenant as a “shadow,” while the New Covenant is described as the true “substance.” Here are their words:

Therefore let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day, things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ (Col 2:16-17).

The Law was only a shadow of the good things to come and not the very form of things, … (Heb 10:1).

And so, let’s remember that as we read the New Testament, we are reading the essence of “The Apostles’ Teaching,” which includes the teachings of the Apostle Paul. And because all of the New Testament documents were written during the time of Covenantal Transition (roughly between AD 48-65, all of the writers were anticipating the end of the Old Covenant Age which had lasted for over 1,400 years, since the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai. And that’s why you will find repeated references to the fact that this transition was going to happen “soon,” and that it was “at hand.”

But that’s where we will pick up next week, as we consider the issue of Audience Relevance. Hope you can join us then. God bless you.