Gods New Deal

Many people today associate Christianity with the concept of being religious, or as a religion. This is understandable, as Christianity is largely identified as a major world religion. In reality though, Jesus Christ did not found Christianity as a religious system. When Jesus founded the ecclesia or called out ones (Church) His vision was not of an organisation or religious group with a new and interesting cosmology.
Rather, Christianity was established as a Covenant Relationship with the Eternal Omnipotent Father of Love and Light. When we use the term covenant we must realize what this means in the Biblical sense.
When we talk about the Christian Covenant ratified by Jesus Christ with His Church, we are talking about the most powerful, contractual, relational interaction in the Universe. The New covenant that Jesus ratified at the Cross was a Blood Covenant. Most Native Tribes of the world, if not all, have something similar to this when they cut a covenant and become blood brothers with another individual or tribe.
When one Tribal Chief becomes a blood brother with another tribal chief, they make an incision in their arm or hands and clasp a certain handshake and mingle their blood in sworn agreement to share with, protect and defend each other and their tribes.
This signifies that what one tribe has, is jointly shared with the other tribe and vice versa. One tribe might be strong in warfare and defense, the other in agriculture and economic skills. They agree in blood brotherhood that each one is sworn to help each other in unconditional committment.
The marriage covenant is the most powerful example and depiction of this when entered into Biblically. When a man and woman entered into marriage (Spiritual, mental and physical union) in ancient cultures, there was great emphasis placed on the blood permeated evidence of the covenant on the wedding night bedsheet. Of course, in our modern culture, it is rare that both, or even one partner is a virgin at marriage but this was Gods original design and intention. (Even if there is no blood evidence at marriage union, it is still a blood covenant in Gods eyes)
Today, we dont realize the powerful significance of the blood covenant in marriage. In Gods eyes, the physical union of man and woman, is the final consummation and ratification of the marriage ceremony, it is the cutting and celebration of the covenant. This is why God places such a huge premium on and so carefully regulates sexual union. Sex is the ultimate declaration of committment in Gods eyes, not only to the partners involved but also to the resulting children born of the covenant relationship.
When Jesus Christ went to the Cross and shed His Blood to remit the sins of the world, it was the Ultimate Blood Brotherhood Relationship committment on Gods part to the human race. God was saying, I am willing to allow my only Son to empty His Precious Blood and die and take the rap or penalty for all of mans sins and failures.
Think of it, God offers us Blood Brotherhood with Himself.
This means we get everything He has and He gets everything we have. It doesnt take a rocket scientist to figure that we got the best end of the deal. He offers us an Eternal Home of Peace, Love and Security, Health, Forgiveness, Provisions beyond description. All we can offer Him is not much, He gets our sin, our failure, pain, our problems, our weakness. Of course, He says, because I love you unconditionally I will gladly exchange all of my Grace and Strength for your sorrow and weakness.

Read the old Jewish prophet Isaiahs prophecy about the Messiah Jesus below. This prophecy was given ages before Jesus was born.


Isaiah 53
The Message (MSG)

1 Who believes what we've heard and seen? Who would have thought God's saving power would look like this?
2-6The servant grew up before God—a scrawny seedling,
a scrubby plant in a parched field.
There was nothing attractive about him,
nothing to cause us to take a second look.
He was looked down on and passed over,
a man who suffered, who knew pain firsthand.
One look at him and people turned away.
We looked down on him, thought he was scum.
But the fact is, it was our pains he carried—
our disfigurements, all the things wrong with us.
We thought he brought it on himself,
that God was punishing him for his own failures.
But it was our sins that did that to him,
that ripped and tore and crushed him—our sins!
He took the punishment, and that made us whole.
Through his bruises we get healed.
We're all like sheep who've wandered off and gotten lost.
We've all done our own thing, gone our own way.
And God has piled all our sins, everything we've done wrong,
on him, on him.

7-9He was beaten, he was tortured,
but he didn't say a word.
Like a lamb taken to be slaughtered
and like a sheep being sheared,
he took it all in silence.
Justice miscarried, and he was led off—
and did anyone really know what was happening?
He died without a thought for his own welfare,
beaten bloody for the sins of my people.
They buried him with the wicked,
threw him in a grave with a rich man,
Even though he'd never hurt a soul
or said one word that wasn't true.

10Still, it's what God had in mind all along,
to crush him with pain.
The plan was that he give himself as an offering for sin
so that he'd see life come from it—life, life, and more life.
And God's plan will deeply prosper through him.

11-12Out of that terrible travail of soul,
he'll see that it's worth it and be glad he did it.
Through what he experienced, my righteous one, my servant,
will make many "righteous ones,"
as he himself carries the burden of their sins.
Therefore I'll reward him extravagantly—
the best of everything, the highest honors—
Because he looked death in the face and didn't flinch,
because he embraced the company of the lowest.
He took on his own shoulders the sin of the many,
he took up the cause of all the black sheep.