Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
-Robert Browning, Andrea del Sarto
If you’ve made it all the way through this series riffing off of Andy Stanley’s controversial Aftermath sermon series then congratulations. It’s been a long haul but I hope it’s been worth it and I hope for some it has been a mind-expanding journey, as it was for me.
In Unhitched Part 1: A Man’s Reach, I revisited Stanley’s Aftermath sermon series and refreshed our memories on what he was trying to get across. In Unhitched Part 2: A Man’s Reach Should Exceed His Grasp I laid out the biblical case for the way in which Stanley was right. And in Unhitched Part 3: A Man’s Reach Should Exceed His Grasp, or What’s a Heaven for? I went through principles Jesus gave us in the New Covenant and the ramifications they have for how we live our lives.
The last part ended with focusing in on the simplicity of the New Covenant and how it provides a simpler guide to life’s complexity.
Today, we’re going to wrap things up by focusing on the pillars of the New Covenant and how they apply to us for our Christian walk.
Distilling Essences
If you remember nothing else, remember these principles given to us by the New Covenant in Jesus.
Love God and Neighbour
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40
Preach the Gospel and Make Disciples
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Mercy Triumphs over Judgment
Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. James 2:12-13
You thought there was more?
Sorry to disappoint but my wisdom ends well before the Bible’s wisdom ends. What I’ve tried to do in this series is highlight something Stanley, himself, mentioned but didn’t dive into as much as I think we should given its importance and relevance to Christian life.
I hope I have at least sparked something in your mind by latching onto one particular truth Stanley was able to surface that I think is perplexing, profound, and paradigm shifting:
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Luke 22:20b
Practice it
I don’t want to end without encouraging you to play these principles out in your thinking about choices you actually make in your everyday life.
Consciously and intentionally walk through choices according to these principles.
You just might find that your choices are different and your reasoning process was different and simpler.
What’s up with the Robert Browning quote?
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp,
Or what’s a heaven for?
-Robert Browning, Andrea del Sarto
For many of us conservative Christians, we were brought up in, taught, and soaked in a moral system that intentionally or unintentionally results in a laser focus on particular rights and wrongs, down to exact wording, the letter of the Law rather than the spirit of the Law.
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Matthew 23:23-24
In thinking through and writing this series, I have felt exactly like my reach was beyond my actual grasp. There is something fantastical about the New Covenant. Almost like a “magic” deeper than the “magic” we already knew in the faith.
I suspect the ideas in this series are as equally or more unsettling to others as they are to me. I know they sound like they border on the heretical and might allow in some kind of immoral living. I don’t think that’s the case when the New Covenant is really thought through, though.
The freedom granted in the New Covenant is simpler but far more demanding.
Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Philippians 2:12-13
In working out our faith, what are we doing if not trying to reach somewhere we can’t reach yet, that is until ‘God works in us’ to discover the “more important matters of the law.”
So, be brave. Give yourself a chance to reach beyond grasp and discover something new.
Besides, what’s a Heaven for, anyway?
One more thing
Jesus gave His life to free you from a system of laws that was unable to and was never intended to save you in your sin.
We who are Jews by birth and not sinful Gentiles know that a person is not justified by the works of the law, but by faith in Jesus Christ. So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not by the works of the law, because by the works of the law no one will be justified.
But if, in seeking to be justified in Christ, we Jews find ourselves also among the sinners, doesn’t that mean that Christ promotes sin? Absolutely not! If I rebuild what I destroyed, then I really would be a lawbreaker.
For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.“ John 8:31-36
Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31b
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.
Luke 22:20b
Post Script
I have written a follow up on what living the New Covenant really looks like:
How to live in the New Covenant
Featured Image by Jens Johnsson from Pexels
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