The Wednesday Word
The
New Covenant
Shepherd
by
D.G. Miles McKee
“I
AM
the good shepherd.”
-John 10:10 [KJV]
Anyone
who has read the Bible will agree that the New Covenant is better
than the Old. If we are to take the writer of Hebrews seriously, we
must come to this conclusion. He makes this point when he says
categorically that Christ Jesus is the mediator of a better covenant,
which was established upon better promises (see
Hebrews 8:6).
The New Covenant not only has better promises but it also has
a,
Better Hope (Hebrews
7:19)
Better Sacrifices (Hebrews
9:23)
Better Testament (Hebrews
7:22)
Better Covenant (Hebrews
8:6)
Better Substance (Hebrews
10:34)
Better Resurrection (Hebrews
11:35)
The New Covenant is better. After all,
which one of us wants to go back to animal sacrifices as a scheme of
justification?
In the light of this, it’s hard to
believe that we have some people today who insist that Jesus is a
mere creation of God. He, they say, is only ‘the Son of God’ and
not ‘God of very God.’ How interesting! They will, however, agree
that Jesus is the Shepherd. And why wouldn’t they? Jesus claims
this title for Himself (John
10:10).
And, as if they needed further proof,
Hebrews 13:20 designates Him as “that great shepherd of the
sheep’ while Peter calls Him the Chief Shepherd (1
Peter 5:4).
But according to “Jehovah
Witnesses” and others, although they hold Jesus to be the Shepherd
of the flock, they say He is not God. How curious! This then must
mean that the people in the Old Covenant were better off than
believers in the New. Why so? Because according to David in Psalms
23, Yahweh (The LORD)
was his shepherd. Knowing it was Yahweh who was his shepherd he could
boldly say, “I shall not want.” In the very valley of
death, he informs us he would fear no evil. And indeed, why would he
fear since Yahweh was taking care of him?
The truth
is, unless Jesus is Yahweh we who now live in New Testament times are
at a considerable disadvantage. There’s no ‘better’ in the New
Covenant for us. After all, we have entrusted the keeping of our
souls to one who, according to the JW’s, is at best a mere
creation.
We are in deep trouble!
Why?
It´s
like this, as sheep, we need a shepherd who has the power to keep us
safe from the wolves of life. We need a shepherd who has power and
wisdom to guide, to lead and to feed us. If Christ is not Yahweh, how
can we have any assurance He is up to the task of bringing us safely
to eternal life?
And never mind eternal life, there
are many times in this life when we need our souls restored. I want
Yahweh to restore my soul, not someone who’s almost Yahweh or
remarkably close to Him. And no, it’s not asking too much for that
to be the case since that was the case for David and the Old Covenant
believers.
So, if Jesus is not Yahweh, then this is,
in fact, not a better covenant. It is not a better hope. We’ve been
cheated and short sold if Jesus isn’t Jehovah. Since David’s
shepherd was Jehovah that should inform any right-thinking person
that Jesus and Yahweh are one and the same unless, that is, the
believer’s advantages are greatly diminished under the New
Covenant.
How good is the God we adore,
Our
faithful unchangeable friend;
His love is as great as His
power,
And knows neither measure nor end.
‘Tis Jesus the
First and the last,
Whose Spirit shall guide us safe home;
We’ll
praise Him for all that is past,
And trust Him for all that’s
to come.
And that’s the Gospel Truth!
Comments