NeoZine

The Christmas Message

The Christian Language

We call it the “New Covenant” or “New Testament (the terms are equivalent), but who knows what a “covenant” or “testament” is?¹ Most people think this Old and New Testament-business is all very complicated. After all, “testaments” are the domain of lawyers or judges (they deal with “last will and testaments“), and theologians fight over “covenants”. Whatever a New Covenant or New Testament is, it doesn’t pertain to real life.  “Dispensation” is sometimes given as an alternative,² but is this any better? The Christian language needs an update.

Have you ever wondered what New Testament means? And if you don’t care what it means, you’re not alone. Ask someone what “New Testament” means and see how many don’t know and really don’t care.

“Protocol” conveys the same idea as “Testament”, and people care about protocols. Concerned spouses remind us of the right protocol as we’re driving to the in-laws (“Don’t take off your shoes under the dinner table, OK? My parents think you’re a pig!”), or the Christmas office party (“Don’t drink too much, it’s not that kind of party!”). Your conversations may be different, but we must recall the change in protocol as we go from one place to another.

There are a plethora of protocols we follow everywhere we go, but one protocol is The Protocol overshadowing all the others.

The Protocol For Peace

The dictionary says “protocol” means “the terms of a treaty agreed to in conference and signed by the parties,”³ and this is precisely God’s intention—to bring all parties together by His treaty, which is a Protocol of Peace.  This is the anchor of God’s plan on earth:

And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together through Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Ephesians 1:10⁴

“The plan” is God’s “terms of a treaty” for peace—a God’s Protocol of Peace. God desires peace, contrary to the fears of many:

And He came and preached peace to you who were far away , and peace to those who were near; for through Him [we all] have our access in one Spirit to the Father.  Ephesians 2:17-18

God does not compel. He only wants a fair hearing, and this is where the dictionary definition of “protocol” is tremendously helpful: God goes “in conference” deep in the human heart. He wants an agreement “signed by the parties” of our heart and His heart. God wants a peace treaty, established in our hearts.

Amazingly, God makes all the concessions in this peace treaty:

Since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.  Romans 5:1

Will you trust in God’s peace? This is what “faith” means, in biblical terms—trust. Since Jesus Christ “came and preached peace to you who were far away,” the Bible says the only question is whether we will put our trust in His peace.

Put another way, do you want peace with God or not? It’s really that simple. It’s the only great divide between God and man: will you sign the peace treaty Jesus freely offers?

Proclaim!

Tell this to your friends or family! We make it so complicated, but this is what the Bible is all about from beginning to end: God’s Protocol of Peace. Let’s drop the testaments and covenants or dispensations and talk about this instead.

They proclaimed it with loud voices one dark night in the hills of Judea, 2000 years ago:

Suddenly there appeared a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased.”  Luke 2:13-14

This is a peace unlike any. God’s peace shattered the calm night and terrified the shepherds. But after they investigated it:

The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.  Luke 2:20

God’s peace always brings joy in the hearts of those willing to listen. Nothing is the same afterward, just as it was for those shepherds who could never forget the night they discovered God’s “peace among men, with whom He is pleased.”

The Christian Application

So who caresw about “testaments”, “covenants” or “protocols” anyway?

Imagine living in a Communist country, or a fascist state–when all your freedoms are repressed, suddenly the American Constitution and the Bill of Rights seem very important.

Our freedoms and privileges are protected by the American Constitution, yet most of us really don’t know what it says. Fortunately, judicial system of judges and lawyers understand the Constitution, so we can afford to ignore it.

The New Testament defines and protects Christian freedom, but there is no “system” to help us take advantage of the privileges. Christians who live without the privileges guaranteed in our Spiritual Bill of Rights become fatalistic, their hope diminishes, and they fall back into the slavery that characterizes life in the World System.

Every Christian must grasp this framework of privileges guaranteed in “The New Covenant”. This is different from knowing some Bible verses. The Covenants are like the hidden framework of a house which tie together all the walls, windows and visible details we live with every day. That framework is quite unimpressive until covered, but it is the framework that distinguishes between a mansion and a shack! Understanding “The New Protocol” enables a Christian to grow increasingly thrilled with the scope and majesty and genius of God’s Word.

Footnotes:

1. “Covenant” is “an agreement which brings about a relationship of commitment between God and his people” (OED). A “Testament” is “(in biblical use) a covenant or dispensation” (OED). A dictionary of theology will give more details, but these terse definitions are sufficient and probably more than most people will ever care about. [↩]
2. Dispensation is “a system of order, government, or organization of a nation, community, etc., especially as existing at a particular time.” (OED) [↩]
3. Oxford English Dictionary.  Protocol also has other shades of meaning which closely parallel the idea of a “covenant”. [↩]
4. The NLT says “under the authority of Christ” in Eph. 1:10, which is an interpretation of what “in Christ” means. While it’s an accurate interpretation, it begs the question of what “authority” means here. Most people’s view of God’s authority is quite skewed. [↩]

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