I am the Lord, I do not change. (Malachi 3:6)
There is a great difference between the old and the new, but that difference is
not in God. The new covenant makes no difference in God. The covenant that is
brought to us through the mediation of the Lord Jesus does not bring a different
God to us. The difference is not in Him; that is, His nature and His standard
are always the same, unchangeable. Grace never brings God down to a lower level. Grace does not make any difference to the holiness of God, or to the
righteousness of God. The difference in the two covenants is not that of a
change in God. His position remains as it ever was, perfect in holiness, perfect
in righteousness. The difference is, firstly, in the mediators, secondly, in the
ground upon which those mediators stand....
Oh, the snare of the platform idea that so often constitutes
the whole conception of ministry, as though other people are not ministers at
all. It is just as much your privilege to behold Christ as any man's in this
universe, and, that being so, it is just as much your calling to minister what
you see in Christ to others. Beholding Him we are changed into the same image
from one degree of glory to another. This is the latter glory, the glory of the
new covenant. Christ is the glory of the new covenant. The difference is not in
God, it is the difference between the mediators, and the difference in the
position which we occupy because of the Mediator; we are now in Christ, Who
satisfies God. The Lord give us the ministry issuing from a continuous and
ever-growing contemplation of His fullness in Christ.