It is the hope vision that we have in our hearts[1] of the fulfillment of this new blood covenant at the resurrection that enables us to continue to courageously preach this gospel while disregarding the both the unimaginable suffering we have already endured and the future consequences that we know are coming as a result of our faithfulness to the message.
This hope vision of God’s coming blessings to us is a basic part of new blood covenant living. We can’t see it yet with our physical eyes – we see it only through the eyes of faith.[2]
Our lives are lived with enduring faith as we eagerly focus on the marvelous blessing to come.[3]
Our hope vision is peering down the scope with the laser sight fixed on what will happen to us at the second coming.[4]
We are hoping for righteousness within and without. Complete freedom from indwelling sin while living under the direct, righteous rule of Jesus Christ the king.[5]
And we are hoping for our transformation into the final resurrection glory that will be ours as sons of the living God.[6]
So you can understand how I able to continue to preach in spite of the ongoing threat of persecution and further suffering. Beloved, the price of persecution, no matter how horrific is seems right now, is insignificant compared to the glory that will be lavished upon us.[7]
When it comes to the glory of this new blood covenant we can’t be like Moses and you can’t be like the Israelites who asked Moses to put a veil over his face so that they couldn’t see the glory of God that was reflected there. They were uncomfortable looking at that lesser glory.
You can turn away from an uncomfortable truth (or a vision of the glory of God that makes you realize your own sinful insignificance), but if you do, you harden your heart and mind. That’s what the Israelites did in the time of Moses. They asked Moses to wear a veil on his face when what they were really doing was putting a veil over the eyes of their own hearts. This veil remains over the hearts of unbelieving Jews to this day, making it impossible for them to see the revelation of Christ in the Old Testament. It is only when they yield to the Spirit that the veil is lifted and they are able to understand that everything that Moses wrote was designed to prepare the way for, and ultimately to reveal the glory of Jesus Christ.[8]
So, to sum up, the new blood covenant is a spiritual covenant that comes to us from a God who is a living Spirit. It’s not written on stone tablets, it’s inscribed on your hearts. This process of whereby the Holy Spirit takes the words of God and makes them a permanent part of the fabric of your innermost being releases a power that sets you free from the bondage and domination of sin.
This transformation is an ongoing process. We reject the veil and dare to look with the eyes of faith at the very glory of God. We see that glory in whatever way it pleases the Spirit to reveal it. He shows it to us through the Scriptures, in times of worship, and in direct revelation to our hearts. Make no mistake about it: what happened to Moses physically can and should happen to us spiritually. We have access to a greater glory than the glory Moses saw. We don’t see that glory with perfect clarity in this life[9], but as we allow the Spirit to reveal it to us we are transformed step by step and we become more and more like Jesus.
[1] Faith is the assurance of things hoped for (Heb. 11:1). But what is hope, where does it come from, and how do we get it? In Eph. 1:18 Paul prays that “the eyes of your hearts may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling.” Before we can exercise mountain moving faith (which requires the supernatural enabling of the Holy Spirit) we must first receive from the Holy Spirit a supernatural revelation in our hearts (spirits) of that which God is calling us to believe. This vision in the heart is what faith latches on to and believes. So we paraphrase the word hope as “hope vision in the heart.” The cross references embedded in the text above highlight some of the details of that hope.
[2] “For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen in not hope.” Rom. 8:24
[3] “With perseverance we eagerly wait for it.” Rom. 8:25
[4] “Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13
[5] “For we through the Spirit, by faith, are waiting for the hope of righteousness.” Gal. 5:5 Note that the hope is “through the Spirit by faith.”
[6] ” Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” 1 John 3:2 If you connect this verse with the description of the resurrected Christ in Revelation 1 it becomes one of the most amazing promises in the Bible.
[7] “For I consider that the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” Rom. 8:18 See Romans 8:23 for another example of how the focus of our hope really in in our coming resurrection.
[8] Verses 14-16 all together. It seemed easier to do it this way than to break them up into three paragraphs.
[9] “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully just as I also have been fully known.” 1 Cor. 13:12
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