It Was Him All the Time

I keep pounding away at covenantists and dispensationalists that God never changes! Those of the covenant have two eras or "deals" God made with mankind. The two are (1) the Law before Christ, and (2) grace after the death of Christ. I don't know what it's called between the birth of Christ and his death, and I'm not sure they do either. On the other hand dispensationalists cannot agree even on the number of dispensations. (More on that shortly).

Covenants are the "deals" God had with mankind. Although the Old Testament is the "Old Covenant", the "mystery of God" (aka "the mystery of Christ") in Paul's writings, combines the two covenants into one. Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). It is necessary to believe that, indeed, Jesus Is God. God, then is unchanging. Jesus was there in the beginning at the Creation (John 1), so it should be evident that Holy Scripture, both Old and New Covenants, are all about Jesus since He Is God. Hence, there is one covenant; the first part is the "deal", and the second part the fulfillment of the "deal".

Jesus himself testified to that:

Luke 24:44 And he (Jesus) said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me.

Jesus had died and was raised from the dead when these words were spoken. Jesus therein claimed that "the Law", prophecy, and "the psalms" were all about him. Jesus included all that had been written, what we call the Old Testament, was "concerning me". Therefore, as I often claim, when one reads the Old Testament, it must be read with the constant question: What does this have to do with Jesus?

Paul understood that mystery:

1 Corinthians 10:1 Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; 2 And were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; 3 And did all eat the same spiritual meat; 4 And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.

Paul speaks here of what we call "typology". Paul pointed out that "under the cloud" was safety with God, "passing through the sea" was a type of baptism, and "drinking of the rock" in the wilderness was drinking the living water of Jesus Christ. Furthermore, we know that "the meat" or food which they ate was the "Bread" -  Jesus Christ since the bread represents Jesus's Body. How more clear can it be? Jesus was "the Rock" from which the life-giving waters sprang!

Romans 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him (Jesus) shall not be ashamed.

Moses knew that the Hebrews were "saved" by the faith of many in Jesus Christ. He knew that the waters of the Red Sea were where Jesus cleansed Egypt - which represents sin, from the earth. Moses knew that it was Jesus who called forth the water from the rock so that they would be comforted and live. And Paul knew that Moses knew!

The Old Testament is about the coming of Jesus, and the New Testament is about his presence and eternalness. We need to quit looking at God and Jesus as different Existences because the Word which God spoke is the same Word Jesus spoke. No one taught Jesus Holy Scripture - he spoke it years before he even walked on earth! When Jesus quoted the Old Testament, he quoted himself.

My contention is that there was one Covenant, and it was always by God's grace, was always by faith, and always by Jesus. (See "Herrin Daily Thought" at http://kentuckyherrin.blogspot.com/2015/11/the-mystery-of-god-mystery-of-christ.html). Paul verified that Moses and company were saved by Jesus (the passages above). It is the same Jesus who saved then as now! The Holy Spirit is with us still, and he is the Ghost of Jesus as the King James translators fully understood. Thus, Jesus Is always and has three aspects: (1) the Word, (2) Jesus - God incarnate, and (3) the Holy Ghost - the Spirit of God who suffered crucifixion on the Cross.

Now let us deal with "dispensations".  Those various periods were the "divine government" through the ages, commencing with the "dispensation if innocence" and including the "covenant of grace" as the "dispensation of grace". There are many more but they are all beside the point! Why so? There was just one "dispensation": God's government was always one of grace! Beginning with "original sin", Adam and Eve tried to cover their own "sin" with works of their own, but the Word stepped in, slaughtered an animal, and covered their sin with blood. Scripture validates that:

Hebrews 9:22 And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.

It took the blood of animals by the hand of "the Word" who spoke as "the Voice" to cancel out the sins of Adam an Eve. You see, in the beginning, it was not by works by which sins were covered but by grace! Then, and ever since, it has took blood for the remission of sin. But what about before original sin? By grace, our forebears lived without sin! We only look at the sinful side of our nature but we can only be righteous by grace as well. Hence, even post-crucifixion, we live by grace just as in the beginning in paradise. And of course, it is by grace that we shall have eternal life in Heaven. Grace is free and it keeps flowing!

Hence, "the dispensation of innocence" before original sin was still by grace. In fact, the Creation was by grace so that we could have life.

John made it clear in his gospel that Jesus was there all the time. Where was he? He was God. Just get over the delusion that Jesus and God are different! It is imperative to realize that it was God who died on the Cross, and it was Jesus who spoke and Creation happened.  It was him all the time! He is the Ghost of Jesus who still Comforts us today. It's still him all the time.