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From as far back as Abraham, God has identified who qualifies for the grace of eternal life. In Genesis 12:3, God says to Abraham “I will bless those who bless you...in you ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED.” This leads up to Galatians 3:28-29 which says “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.”
There are several verses in the Old Testament which speak of eternal life. Psalms 49:15 says, “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.” Isaiah 26:19 says, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Psalms 23 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
The New Covenant of Grace that Christ mentions in Matthew 26:28 is a link to the Old Covenant that God made with Abraham to the extent of the people who would benefit. Those who benefit are anyone who is in Christ and therefore has the standing of Abraham’s offspring.
In many respects, God’s sending Lord Jesus into the world that all may be saved is the catalyst in fulfillment of Genesis 12:3, and therefore the promise of eternal life that comes with it. Between Genesis 12:3 and the coming of Jesus, God made at least one attempt, through a Covenant with the Hebrews, to drive those in Abraham to accept the Grace of eternal life that God has to offer. I believe that by virtue of Genesis 12:3, God meant for that Covenant to go beyond the Hebrews. It is when the realization became that this Covenant wasn’t going to serve its purpose, since no sooner was it made that many of the Hebrews deviated from it, that God decided on a new approach through Jesus.
So Jesus made his Covenant of Grace with his disciples in Matthew 26:28, and as he predicted, his death would in effect sprinkle his blood far and wide, through his disciples, and the new Covenant would be spread as well. But it starts in faith in God through Jesus, bypassing the deviations that people who ostensibly had their faith in God, had undertaken, so the conveying of the Word of the Lord would be pure. As Jesus said at this point, nobody goes to God except through him.
Some have said that the New Covenant which Jesus speaks of was formulated by Jeremiah 31:31-34 which says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” If so, it seems that in the context of the New Testament, whatever Law that may be imprinted on our hearts is a Law of faith instead of a Law of works, with the idea, perhaps, that works stem from faith. And we might say that the whole Bible establishes that with faith in God comes eternal life.
There are several verses in the Old Testament which speak of eternal life. Psalms 49:15 says, “But God will ransom my soul from the power of Sheol, for he will receive me. Selah.” Isaiah 26:19 says, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.” Psalms 23 says, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.”
The New Covenant of Grace that Christ mentions in Matthew 26:28 is a link to the Old Covenant that God made with Abraham to the extent of the people who would benefit. Those who benefit are anyone who is in Christ and therefore has the standing of Abraham’s offspring.
In many respects, God’s sending Lord Jesus into the world that all may be saved is the catalyst in fulfillment of Genesis 12:3, and therefore the promise of eternal life that comes with it. Between Genesis 12:3 and the coming of Jesus, God made at least one attempt, through a Covenant with the Hebrews, to drive those in Abraham to accept the Grace of eternal life that God has to offer. I believe that by virtue of Genesis 12:3, God meant for that Covenant to go beyond the Hebrews. It is when the realization became that this Covenant wasn’t going to serve its purpose, since no sooner was it made that many of the Hebrews deviated from it, that God decided on a new approach through Jesus.
So Jesus made his Covenant of Grace with his disciples in Matthew 26:28, and as he predicted, his death would in effect sprinkle his blood far and wide, through his disciples, and the new Covenant would be spread as well. But it starts in faith in God through Jesus, bypassing the deviations that people who ostensibly had their faith in God, had undertaken, so the conveying of the Word of the Lord would be pure. As Jesus said at this point, nobody goes to God except through him.
Some have said that the New Covenant which Jesus speaks of was formulated by Jeremiah 31:31-34 which says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” If so, it seems that in the context of the New Testament, whatever Law that may be imprinted on our hearts is a Law of faith instead of a Law of works, with the idea, perhaps, that works stem from faith. And we might say that the whole Bible establishes that with faith in God comes eternal life.
