Explanation of the court case, Part 2

The first set of testimonies we presented to the divine court on August 4, 2015 was the Voice of the Mediator. This was one of the “voices” that Dr. Henderson had set forth in his book, Operating in the Courts of Heaven.

Because Christ was the Mediator of the New Covenant, the focus was on the New Covenant. A mediator is a priest who either represents men before God or God before men. As “priests of God and of Christ” (Revelation 20:6), we too are mediators.

In this court case we represented all creation before God, petitioning the court to fulfill the New Covenant—the oath which God had made with the whole earth. We were led to present many of those promises and oaths that God (Christ) had made in the past, beginning with ….

Noah: Genesis 9:8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 16, 17

Here God made a covenant with every living creature on the whole earth, represented in verses 9 and 10 by the four beasts around the throne: the man, the eagle, the ox, and the lion.

After reading the Scripture in court, I presented the case to the Judge as evidence and as the testimony of Christ the Mediator. Nowhere in this passage does God put the burden upon anyone on earth to make this happen, for such a promise would be merely another Old Covenant. If the creatures on earth had the power to prevent God from fulfilling His promise, then He never should have made this promise. Yet we find God confident in His ability to cause men to turn to Him, even though many Christians today think that man’s opposing will is stronger than God’s will.

Abraham: Genesis 12:1, 2, 3, 4

This passage was then presented as the testimony of Christ regarding Abraham, through whom these promises would be fulfilled. Abraham was not called to hoard the promises for himself, but to oversee the promise of God to extend blessing to all families of the earth. Acts 3:25, 26 defines “blessing” as God’s promise to cause the people to repent and to turn to Him. Hence, it is a New Covenant vow, where God was to cause this to happen.

Moses: Deuteronomy 29:10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

We presented the testimony of Moses, whose revelation states that God had made an oath to make them His people and that He would be their God. He made this oath not only with those present (Israelites and aliens), but also with those not present (vs. 15). This includes everyone.

We petitioned the court to fulfill this divine oath. Justice demands that God fulfills His oath. Hence, we want justice for the earth.

David: Psalm 67:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

We presented the testimony of David, who saw all nations being blessed when God’s face would shine upon us as with Moses in Exodus 34:29, 30, 35. When the glory of God fills the earth (Numbers 14:21), there will be no need for the light of the sun and moon (Revelation 21:23, 24). All the nations will walk in the light of that glory, which will shine out of the face of the earth itself.

Luke 23:3, 4

We presented the testimony of Pilate, who prophesied inadvertently that Jesus was qualified as the Passover Lamb to take away the sin of the world.

Colossians 1:16, 17, 18, 19, 20

We presented Paul’s testimony that all of creation had been reconciled to God through the blood of Jesus Christ. The same “all” (i.e., ta panta, “The All”) that was created in verse 16 was “The All” (ta panta) that was reconciled in verse 20.

Revelation 5:10, 11, 12

We presented John’s testimony that the Lamb is worthy, bearing witness to Pilate’s declaration. John tells us that both men and angels proclaim His worthiness, so heaven and earth bear witness of this fact. Because He was worthy, He could die for the sin of the world. And because this righteous act manifested the love of Christ for all nations, He proved His worthiness to rule as King of the earth.

Revelation 11:15

John’s testimony shows that he had read the books of heaven, proclaiming that Christ will reign over the earth. This is confirmed in…

Revelation 15:3, 4

John asks, “Who will not fear? O Lord, and glorify Your name?” It is a rhetorical question that needs no answer. All the nations will come and worship Him. All nations are “blessed” in that God will turn their hearts in repentance, as He promised to do. Of course, this will not happen prior to Christ’s second coming, but as a result of it. Christ’s coming is pictured in Revelation 19, while the blessed nations are seen in Revelation 21.

The Voice of the Church

Since the days of Moses, the Church has largely given testimony based on the Old Covenant. Salvation, however, is not based upon the vows of men, but upon the promises of God. Men are only partially successful in keeping their vows, but God’s standard of righteousness demands more than good intentions. No man, other than Jesus Himself, has ever fulfilled the vow of the Old Covenant. Hence, we need a New Covenant.

Because the promises of God were to cause all men to repent (because of His judgments), in the end the entire creation will become part of the Church. For this reason, we could represent not only the believers but also the future believers when every knee bows and every tongue confesses Jesus as Lord (Isaiah 45:23, 24).

Leviticus 5:4, 5, 6, 9, 10

The first order of business was to repent of the Old Covenant vow that was made in Exodus 19:8. The law makes provision for those who vowed without realizing that they would be unable to keep their vow. They were to recognize their guilt (Leviticus 5:5) and offer a sacrifice for his sin (Leviticus 5:6). The sacrifice pointed to Jesus.

This is how we are to repent from our own dead works and place our faith in the work of Jesus Christ. We stop claiming that our own vow (or decision) has saved us and instead claim that the New Covenant promise of God is the basis of our salvation. Accepting Christ means to have faith in His vow, and to be released from the obligations of our own vows of obedience.

This does not mean we are free to sin. We certainly ought to be obedient to God. But we no longer make our obedience the basis of our salvation.

The problem in Church thinking is that they have not truly understood the difference between the Old and New Covenants. They thought that the promise of the New Covenant was that God would send the Holy Spirit to help them keep their Old Covenant vow of obedience. The Holy Spirit will indeed help us be obedient over time, but we were saved beforehand.

This is pictured in the historical allegory of Israel’s deliverance from Egypt, which occurred at Passover. Passover is where Israel was “saved” by the blood of the Lamb. The feast of Pentecost came many weeks later when the glory came down on the Mount and everyone heard His voice. Passover and Pentecost are distinct. The divine order is that saving faith comes first, followed by the Holy Spirit helping us to be obedient to the law.

These two feasts tend to be mixed together in Church thinking, when people are given the impression that the Holy Spirit was sent in order to make us obedient so that we could be saved. Such a view causes much guilt and grief among those believers who remain imperfect. They need to place their faith in God’s vow and become New Covenant Christians.

Romans 8:19, 20, 21

Paul’s testimony was that all of creation was eagerly awaiting the manifestation of the sons of God, knowing that this would be the start of the reconciliation of all things. All of creation has a stake in this manifestation. The manifested sons of God are not the only beneficiaries of God’s blessing. These sons are the true seed of Abraham through whom the blessing of God will be poured out to all nations and the whole earth.

Hebrews 12:23

This is the specific verse that Dr. Henderson used to categorize the different “voices” that speak in the divine courts.

Revelation 7:9, 10, 11, 12

This testimony of John largely repeats what he saw in Revelation 5:8-14. Since both of these passages depict the fulfillment of God’s oath in Deuteronomy 29:10-15, we can say that these are the same people. In Deuteronomy 29 the scope is everyone present and not present—which means everyone. This is also the huge company in Revelation 7:9.

All are pictured with “palm branches in their hands.” This indicates that all have glorified bodies, having kept the feast of Tabernacles in the New Covenant manner. This too was prophesied in the law in Deuteronomy 16:9-15. That chapter commands all of the people, both Israelites and aliens, to keep all three feasts: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles.

In other words, men of every nation were not only allowed, but commanded to be justified, sanctified, and glorified. More than that, the Old Covenant commanded these things, but when read with a New Covenant perspective, these commands become promises. "You shall" is a command under the Old Covenant, but it is a promise under the New. Hence, the Old Covenant command to keep the feasts as an act of obedience has become a New Covenant promise whereby God has promised that we shall indeed do this. The New Covenant means that all men will indeed keep Tabernacles so that this great multitude will receive glorified bodies and may hold “palm branches in their hands.”

So ends the testimony of the New Covenant Church.