by the Blood of the Lamb John 14:6 NKJV Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Chapter 4 Redeemed by the Blood of the Lamb John 14:6 NKJV Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." The title of this chapter and this first Scripture used would seem to have no connection: that is, no common ground. They seem at first glance to be concerned with two entirely different things. Ah, but they are about only one subject! (As you will see, if you read on.) When the Holy Spirit first led me to study the covenants of God, I had little understanding of them. After twelve months of studying the covenants, I had achieved a small measure of understanding. The Holy Spirit moved on me to teach what I had learned, and gave me the way to do it simply and clearly (and in less than an hour). Can you say, "WOW". Perhaps it was that I might understand the importance of this teaching, but the Spirit of God moved me to ask ten students in a Bible study to define "covenant". All were professed believers. Some had been Christians for twenty or more years. Not a single one could give a decent answer. Not even a dictionary answer. Three more times, with three entirely different groups, I asked the same question and got the same poor answers (when anyone could answer at all). Only a few people even answered, "an agreement". The purpose in asking the question was NOT to demonstrate their ignorance, but to demonstrate to me just how badly this teaching is needed in the church-at-large today. The church today demonstrates little discernment or understanding between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant, other than to simply say, "We are under grace, not under law." Even then, most of those who say this have no true understanding of what their own statement even means. Therefore, let me begin by saying that the Old Covenant was physical, and the New Covenant is spiritual. Please remember that! The Old Covenant was physical, and the New Covenant is spiritual. Next, just what does the word "covenant" mean? Various dictionaries generally define the word as, [a serious agreement between two individuals, people, groups, or nations.] Some dictionaries even refer to a covenant as a type of contract. Let me be very clear: to call covenant a contract is to denigrate covenant. A covenant is NOT a contract. However, we (mankind) get our idea of contract from God's idea of a covenant! The basic precepts of a contract come from the basic precepts of a covenant. Today, people break contracts all the time. Their signed promise, their given "word", mean little or nothing to them. But, to Almighty God, making a covenant means everything! He will never break His covenants. Let us now define "covenant" biblically. In the venerable King James version of the Bible, the word "testament" appears only 15 times. That includes the title pages for the Old and New Testaments. The other 13 times are all in the New Testament. The word "testament" appears only on the title page in the Old Testament! The Greek word translated as "testament" in the New Testament is diatheke. The same word is also translated as "covenant" 20 times in the New Testament. So, we see that "covenant" and "testament" are the same thing in the Bible, translated from a single Greek word: diatheke. Please understand that diatheke is a word used concerning a Last Will and Testament. In fact, in some very old Bibles, the title page of the New Testament actually reads "The Last Will and Testament of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." It appears that the writers of the New Testament used diatheke to describe as closely as possible the Hebrew concept of covenant. The Hebrew word translated as covenant is berit, pronounced ber-eeth. It is defined by Strong's Concordance as "a compact or agreement made by passing between the pieces". Pieces of what? A blood sacrifice! Now, let us examine this crucial doctrine in the Bible: Genesis 14:18-20 NKJV 18) Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought bread and wine; he was the priest of the God Most High. 19) And he blessed him and said: "Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Possessor of heaven and earth; 20) And blessed be God Most High, Who has delivered your enemies into your hand." And he gave him a tithe of all. 37

One of the basic elements of the making, or the creation, of any covenant is the covenant meal. Covenant requires a blood sacrifice, and the animal(s) were normally the basis of the covenant meal. Those making the covenant would share the food, especially the salt used to season it. Salt is necessary for life, and salt was a much valued trade item in those days. To share one's salt was a symbol of an intimate relationship. There is a covenant of salt described in the Bible. However, in the order of Melchizedek, the covenant meal was shared before the sacrifice was made. Can you guess why? Well, the Bible only lists two priests of the order of Melchizedek; Melchizedek and Jesus. Jesus was the sacrifice for the New Covenant, and the Last Supper was the covenant meal. Jesus used bread and wine as the covenant meal, just as Melchizedek had done with Abram. The covenant which God made with Abraham and the covenant we have with God through faith in Jesus Christ are covenants of faith, and they are related to each other (Gal. 3:29). Now, let us look at the physical making of a covenant: Genesis 15: 1-18 NKJV (underline by author) 1) After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward." 2) But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?" 3) Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one born in my house is my heir!" 4) And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be your heir." 5) Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be." 6) And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for righteousness. 7) Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it." 8) And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?" 9) So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon." 10) Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds in two. 11) And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away. 12) Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him. 13) Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they will afflict them four hundred years. 14) "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they shall come out with great possessions. 15) "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be buried at a good old age. 16) "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete." 17) And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed between those pieces. 18) On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates- 19) "the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites, 20) "the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim, 21) "the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites." First, let me state the obvious: this passage is an actual description of the physical making, or creation, of a covenant. Now, let me attempt to describe what is taking place; Almighty God has declared to Abram that He will bless him with certain things (a son and the inheritance of the land where he is living). Abram wants to know how he can know that he knows that he knows God will do these things, and God meets him where he is, and confirms these promises by making a covenant with Abram. A blood 38

covenant. To understand this fully, let us examine the underlined phrase, "made a covenant". We already know that "covenant" is translated from the Hebrew berit (pronounced ber-eeth). Guess what? In ye Old King James, there are ten different Hebrew or Aramaic words translated as "made" or "make". But, the word used here is used only with the word covenant! It is used nowhere else! That word is karat. Does it look familiar? It should. It is the same word used in the weight of precious stones, and in measuring the purity of gold. For instance, my wedding band is 14K gold. This number refers to the amount of alloy used to harden the gold. That is, how much other, nonprecious metal with which the gold is cut. With precious stones, karat (carat) denotes the size of the cut stone. The word karat denotes how something is cut. It literally means; the cutting. Remember what I said about covenant and contract? This is where we get the expression, "cutting a contract". Furthermore, the verb karat always appears with the noun/object berit (covenant). Which means that covenant requires a cutting. That is, the cutting of a sacrifice. It becomes obvious that the definition of berit (an agreement made by passing between the pieces) confirms this understanding of a required sacrifice. In order to be a sacrifice, the sacrifice must die. Its blood must be shed. Look again at Genesis 15. The animals are all three-year old, full-grown animals. They are sacrificed, meaning their throats are cut, and then their bodies divided in two. The pieces of their bodies are laid out, with half the heifer touching half the goat touching half the ram. The two lines of body halves form the borders of a short pathway. The ground between the pieces is saturated with the blood of the sacrifices. The sacrificed turtledove is laid touching the halves on the right, and the young pigeon to the left. Since we already understand that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the sacrifice for the New Covenant, then you may ask, "How does He fulfill the requirements of covenant, seeing He has only one body?" Colossians 2:9 NLT For in Christ the fullness of God lives in a human body, This Scripture makes it clear that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were all present in Christ Jesus, spiritually speaking. The physical body satisfied the requirement of a physical blood sacrifice, but the New Covenant is spiritual in nature. In some way, the three animals were a type, a foreshadowing of the perfect covenant made in Christ. And the birds? Have you ever thought about turtledoves and pigeons? They are aviary cousins, and look quite a lot alike. Yet, their natures are completely different. The turtledove is quiet, gentle, easily disturbed. The pigeon is brash, noisy, violent. The turtledove represents the Holy Spirit, while the pigeon represents the flesh (sin) nature. In the making of a covenant, the two participants would pass between the pieces of the sacrifices, through the blood, declaring, "So be it unto me, should I break this covenant." Historical writings tell us that they passed between the pieces walking in the shape of an ankh, which is an ancient symbol of eternity shaped like a figure-8 lying on its side. Some say the symbol for eternity should be the never-ending circle, but an ankh is simply a circle folded once so that there is a single congruent place in the circle (which is a perfect shadow of Christ in eternity). We need to understand that eternity did not begin in the far past, nor does it end in some distant future. Jesus Christ on the Cross of Calvary is the centerpiece of all eternity. Eternity began, and ends, on the Cross where His blood was shed. Having made this statement, let us move on to Scriptural confirmation of all these things. Exodus 24:3-8 NKJV 3) So Moses came and told the people all the words of the LORD and the judgments. And all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the LORD has said we will do." 4) And Moses wrote all the words of the LORD. And he rose early in the morning, and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5) Then he sent young men of the children of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the LORD. 6) And Moses took half the blood and put it in basins, and half the blood he sprinkled on the altar: 39

7) Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read in the hearing of the people. And they said, "All that the LORD has said we will do, and be obedient." 8) And Moses took the blood, sprinkled it on the people, and said, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words." Here we see the children of Israel renewing their covenant with God Almighty. There is one difference: the Law has been added. Remember this when we get to Galatians. But, please note that ALL the people agreed to obey ALL that God has said in the law given to Moses. In Exodus 34:28 and Deuteronomy 4:13, the Ten Commandments are referred to as the words of the Covenant and as the covenant itself. So, we see that the Ten Commandments are what God required of the people in order that He would make covenant (agreement) with them. This is the people's part. What is God's part? Remember, He told Abram, "I am your shield and exceedingly great reward." God promises protection, provision, and anything else we might need! Even in the giving of the Commandments (Ex.20:1-17), God said He would show mercy to those who love and obey Him! The word translated as "mercy" here is the Hebrew hesed, which is as close as we can come to the Greek agape. Hesed is also translated as "lovingkindness", and as "tender mercies", and once in the KJV as "favour and tender love". Of course, agape refers to the unconditional love of God. Exodus 20:6 NKJV 6) but showing mercy (hesed) to thousands, to those who love (aheb) Me and keep My commandments. The word translated as "love" here denotes deep affection, desire, or even sexual desire. Both hesed and agape denote something much deeper and more powerful. Literally, they denote the love of God which no one can understand until they are enlightened by the Holy Spirit. My point here is that all things are of God, for God, and by God. The words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments, are God's requirement for the children of Israel. What is God's requirement in the New Covenant? If you can't say, "Amen", then at least say, "ouch". Or, if you are from the really deep South, say "owe". While the Old Covenant is physical in nature, and the New Covenant is spiritual, God Almighty has not changed. The requirement of God for any person who enters into covenant with Him is the same: Love God and obey Him. Our Lord Jesus said this is the first and most important commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). While this is fresh in our minds, let us consider the Blood of the covenant which Moses referred to, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you according to all these words." In order to understand the significance of the blood, we must first understand the significance of sin. The LORD is holy. He is completely, absolutely, totally HOLY. No sin may enter His Divine Presence. Think about it: whenever God manifests His Presence in the Bible, the people either run away or fall on their faces before Him. No flesh can stand in His Manifest Presence. Our Holy One hates sin. Why? The theologian may answer, "Since God is holy, He hates the impure and unclean." Well, I suppose that is theologically correct. But, the Truth is simpler than that. God hates sin because He loves you. Sin separates us from God (Isa. 59:1,2). Because God loves us, He desires intimate relationship with us. With our sin, we can not enter His Presence. Therefore, God made a Way to cleanse us from our sin that we may be able to enter His Presence and develop an intimate relationship with Him. Leviticus 17:11 NKJV 11) "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul." In the Old Covenant, the blood of sacrificed animals had to be applied every year. Think of it this way: our hearts are so naturally dirty that they must be re-painted every year. For the blood of bulls and goats and heifers could only cover our sin for a limited time (one year). Galatians states that the law was added due to transgressions. The Law given to Moses was a standard of holiness set for the people to strive for, a bar which none could reach! Except for the blood! The sacrifices of the Old Covenant taught 40

the people that they could not redeem themselves- as Solomon said, "There is no one who does not sin" (1 Kings 8:46). Do you see? God made provision for their sins! Yet, they refused to obey Him, willfully sinning again and again, and worshiping other gods. The book of Judges is enough to show us the evil in the heart of man. Israel sinned against God, God allowed their enemies to overcome them and bring them into bondage, they repented and called on His Name, and God delivered them. Again, and over again. Though Israel made this solemn, everlasting agreement with God, they refused to keep it. They broke the LORD's holy covenant repeatedly. The most perfect example of how God feels about His covenants is demonstrated when King Zedekiah made a covenant with Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. The King of Babylon had overcome Jerusalem and Judah, for God Almighty used this heathen king to perform His will. Nebuchadnezzar appointed Zedekiah as King of Judah, an underruler to Nebuchadnezzar. (Read about it in 2 Kings, chapters 24 and 25.) In Ezekiel 17, the LORD speaks through the prophet, saying that the king of Babylon had "taken of the king's seed, and made a covenant with him." This covenant was made in the Name of the LORD! Because they made the covenant in the Name of the LORD, the LORD considered it His covenant! Ezekiel 17:19 NKJV Therefore thus says the Lord GOD; "As I live, surely My oath which he despised, and My covenant which he broke, I will recompense on his own head." There are several passages dealing with Zedekiah and his transgressions: 2 Kings 24 and 25; Ezekiel 12 and 17; Jeremiah (especially chapter 39). Zedekiah's punishment for breaking God's covenant was horrifying (to my mind). Read Ezekiel's prophecy of Zedekiah's end in Ez.12, and then read either the passage in 2 Kings or Jeremiah 39 and see the prophecy come to fulfillment. Nebuchadnezzar had Zedekiah's sons put to death before his eyes, and then put out his eyes. Do you think God takes the making of covenant seriously? Of course, He does! God can not lie. It is not just that He will not lie, but He cannot lie. Titus 1:2 KJV In hope of eternal life, which God, which cannot lie, promised before the world began; Our hope is in Him, who cannot lie! The understanding of His covenants is from Him, so that we may know Him and begin to know His ways. To know Him is the heartcry of every true man or woman of God. Moses cried, "Show me your glory!" Paul wrote his heart's desire, "That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection " Psalm 103:7 KJV He made known his ways unto Moses, his acts unto the children of Israel. When Moses first went back to Egypt, he did not yet know God's ways. After Moses spoke to Pharaoh, Pharaoh did not let the people go, but increased their burden. Moses cried out to God, "Why have you sent me?" But, God began to show Moses His ways. Later in Moses' ministry, Moses' whole attitude changed, for he had learned something of God's ways. He did not know God only by His mighty acts, but by His ways. The children of Israel never learned these things. If they could not see His mighty power at work in the here-and-now, then they immediately began to doubt God. Once they doubted Him, they would begin to worship other gods. They did not really trust God, so they were easily led astray. Even in their rebellion, their sin, and all their mess, God loved them still - just as He loves us today. Therefore, He promised them a New Covenant. The Old Covenant was based on the keeping of the Mosaic Law. But, the New Covenant is based on what Christ has already done on the Cross! Not on what we do, but on what He has done! This does not free us to practice sin! No, Christ paid the price for our sin. But, He also gives us the power to overcome sin through His Spirit and His Word! These are basic elements of the New Covenant. So, let us look at this promise, and fulfillment, of the New Covenant. 41

Jeremiah 31:31-34 NKJV 31 Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah 32 not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. 33 But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34 No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD, for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more. In this promise of a new covenant, God makes it clear that everyone will have the ability to KNOW Him. He also makes it very clear that He will forgive their sins. Yet, let us think about what it means to KNOW Him. Let us look at a few Scriptures which mention this: Philippians 3:10 NKJV 10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, Matthew 1:24-25 NKJV 24) Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord Commanded him and took to him his wife, 25) and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name JESUS. Please note the word "know" in both passages. The Greek word translated as "know" in both is ginosko. It literally means: to have intimate knowledge of someone or something. So, Joseph did not have intimate relations with his wife until she had given birth to Jesus. Paul's desire is to have intimate knowledge of his Lord. That is, to know Him intimately. If we really want to know someone intimately, then we must spend a lot of time with them, both sharing with them and listening intently to them. Think on that: it applies to every relationship we may ever have with anyone. Now, let us look at the fulfillment of this promise God has made through the prophet Jeremiah: Matthew 26:26-28 NKJV 26) And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." 27) Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28) "For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sin." Perhaps the understanding of Melchizedek and Jesus, and the Order of Melchizedek have come to you now that you have read these words of Jesus at the Last Supper. Perhaps His words have a fresh, clear meaning to you? Please see that Jesus is fulfilling the prophecy of Jeremiah! In the book of Galatians, Paul (by Inspiration of the Spirit of God) shows us that the two covenants, one of Law and one of grace, are a shadow depicting the war between the flesh and the Spirit. Galatians 4:24-26 NKJV 24) Which things are symbolic. For these are the two covenants: the one from Mount Sinai which gives birth to bondage, which is Hagar-- 25) for this Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia, and corresponds to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children-- 26) but the Jerusalem above is free, which is the mother of us all. 42

If we read the New Testament with a basic understanding of what a covenant is, and what it means to God, then we will suddenly find it mentioned everywhere! Amazing, isn't it? Isn't that how it was for you when first understood His love for you? Everything you read seemed to remind you of His love! When you come to a little understanding of His grace, then you find His grace on every page! However, there are entire passages of the New Testament which specifically deal with this New Covenant as compared to the Old Covenant. It is the dominant theme in Galatians 4, and in 2 Corinthians 3. But, it is truly the main theme in Hebrews! After reading this exposition, I strongly suggest you read the book of Hebrews, and particularly chapters 8-10. Let us look at a few verses contained in these chapters, and at a certain passage from the same: Hebrews 8:6 NKJV 6) But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. Hebrews 9:11-15 NKJV 11) But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. 12) Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. 13) For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, 14) how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? 15) And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of eternal inheritance. Hebrews 9:22 NKJV 22) And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission. Hebrews 10: 1-22 NKJV 1) For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect. 2) For then would they not have ceased to be offered? For the worshipers, once purified, would have had no more consciousness of sins. 3) But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins every year. 4) For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. 5) Therefore, when He came into the world, He said: "Sacrifice and offering You did not desire, But a body You have prepared for Me. 6) In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure. 7) Then I said, 'Behold, I have come- In the volume of the book it is written of Me- To do Your will, O God.' " 8) Previously saying, "Sacrifice and offering, burnt offerings, and offerings for sin You did not desire, nor had pleasure in them" (which are offered according to the law), 9) then He said, "Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God." He takes away the first that He may establish the second. 10) By that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. 11) And every priest stands ministering daily and offering repeatedly the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12) But this Man, after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat down at the right hand of God, 43

13) from that time waiting till His enemies are made His footstool. 14) For by one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified. 15) But the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us; for after He had said before, 16) "This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, says the LORD: I will put My laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them," 17) then He adds, "their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more." 18) Now where there is remission of these, there is no longer an offering for sin. 19) Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, 20) by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through the veil, that is, His flesh, 21) and having a High Priest over the house of God, 22) let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Please note that verses 16 and 17 contain a quote from Jeremiah 31! In fact, the writer of Hebrews (whom I believe to be Paul) quotes that same passage of Scripture twice: once in chapter 8 and again in chapter 10. By Inspiration of the Spirit of God, the writer clearly states that Jesus' sacrifice of Himself was the payment for our sin and the making of the New Covenant! The Son of God, Jesus the Christ, redeemed us through His perfect and pure blood. The Lamb of God: a sinless sacrifice without spot or blemish. Look at verse 20 very carefully. "A new and living way." John 14:6 NKJV 6) Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." Remember the Hebrew name for the making of a covenant? Karat Berit? They called it, "The Way of Blood." Can you see that Jesus is declaring Himself to be The Way of Blood for the New Covenant? Revelation 1:5 KJV 5) And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Jesus the Christ, the Son of man. As a sinless man, His perfect and pure blood was the necessary sacrifice to appease the wrath of Holy God Almighty. Jesus the Christ, Son of the living God. God the Son, Second Person of the Trinity. As the Son of God, His perfect and pure blood was the necessary sacrifice to create the New Covenant! The New Covenant where God will not remember our sins. The Covenant of grace and truth. We have been bought back from the payment for our sins with His precious blood. We have been redeemed! The wages of sin are death, and Jesus paid the price for all our sin, if we will only believe this and receive Jesus as our Lord, our King, our God. We are redeemed! 44