OLD & NEW COVENANTS
And we talked about an old covenant in the Bible. Where can we find this old covenant? Jesus gives us a new covenant. Look back at Exodus 24, verse six through eight. Moses takes “the book of the covenant, he read it aloud to the people, (and these people) answered, "All that the LORD has said, we will heed and do." Then he took the blood (from a sacrificed animal, and he) sprinkled it on the people, saying, ‘This is the blood of the covenant which the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words.’” (Hebrews 24:7-8) This is the old covenant. Blood was shed. Blood is always shed with a covenant. It’s sealed with a covenant. This time it’s sealed with Jesus’ blood – God’s blood. This is an everlasting, permanent covenant, and we can partake of it.
I would like you to also read Hebrews 8 and Hebrews 9. Because of time restrictions, I could not go over this. I’d like you to read it later. Hebrews 8 says for if that “first covenant had been faultless, no place would have been sought for a second one.” (Hebrews 8:7) So we are living in the second covenant.
Bible scholars estimate that Jesus died in or around 33 A.D. and that the Bible was compiled around 382 A.D. The Church began soon after the death of Jesus. So, the Church existed for many years before the Bible was compiled. The Bible was assembled by the Catholic Church to support the Church that was already over 360 years old. During these years before the Bible, the Church fathers followed Jesus’ examples with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and practiced their Christianity by the breaking of the bread. We know this because these Church fathers wrote their teachings down. The early Church fathers believed and taught that Jesus is really, truly present in the Eucharist. Do you think it would be important to know what these early Church fathers believed and taught? The Catholic Church has preserved these documents through the years and refers to them as sacred tradition. We have access to the writings of the early Church Fathers. And if you want to read more about this, go to www.catholic.com, and read for yourself what the early Church Fathers wrote down.
Once we see the entire plan of God and his master plan for salvation, we can see that Jesus is truly present. The early Church Fathers believed it, and they passed it onto us. And we need to study it, learn it, and to accept it and practice it.
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