Page 259 - Through New Eyes

260 THROUGH NEW EYES

In order for a wholly new covenant to come, someone had to
fulfill all the righteousness of the law, something Adam had failed
to do. There had to be a new Adam and thus a new creation.
And so we read that “when the fullness of time came, God sent
forth His Son, born of a woman, born under law” (Galatians
4:4). Jesus took unto Himself the law, God’s perfect standard of
holiness as expressed in terms matching human nature at that
stage of history, and fulfilled its terms. In the death of Jesus
Christ, the law, indeed the Old Adamic Covenant in its entirety,
died. In the resurrection and transfiguration of Jesus Christ into
glory, the law and the Old Covenant were resurrected as the
New Covenant.
We have mentioned that during the Old Testament period,
the prophets would call the people back to the standards of the
earlier covenants; though when the revival came, the new form
of the covenant would always transform and transcend the terms
of the previous one. Just so, Jesus began His ministry by calling
men back to the Old Covenant law. His prophetic words are
found in Matthew 5:17-20:

Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I
did not come to abolish, but to fulfill (v. 17).

The word “fulfill” here does not mean simply “cause to
stand ,“ but implies transformation into a newness of power. * It
means to bring something into its fullness, a fullness not previ-
ously seen. Thus, it is a good term to use to refer to the transfor-
mation of the old into the new. The New Covenant is not going
to replace the Old with something different in kind, but only
different in glory.

For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not
one jot or one tittle shall pass away from the Law, until all is ac-
complished (v. 18).

As we have seen throughout this book, the passing away of
the heavens and earth does not need to refer to the physical
world. It often refers to a covenantal establishment. Here that is
clearly what is in view. After the Cross, the Church certainly
does not keep every jot and tittle of the Old Covenant law. Once