Christ: The mediator of the new covenant

By David Nishimoto

Christ is the greater healer of all mankind. We will probably not receive him properly for the great gifts he offers mankind of forgiveness from sin and power over death through the resurrection. Christ love us and he becomes our spiritual father through his atonement. Christ can heal our hearts and our broken bodies

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Nishimoto
• Release date: Apr 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005941581

David Nishimoto

AboutI feel like people want spirituality in their lives. The war of materialism has left individuals feeling depleted. Gratitude is the compass that will lead people to Christ. The master can heal them if they have faith. Through Christ we are healed

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Chapter 1

Hebrews 9:15

And for this cause he is the mediator of the New Testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions… they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.

The old covenant placed Moses as the mediator between ancient Israel and Jehovah; however, the Law of Moses was not the means to salvation, but a preparatory stage for the House of Israel. Moses was a similitude of the Christ. The Law of Moses was preparatory for the New Covenant between Christ and His people. Only Christ could become of the author of our salvation and the mediator of eternal life. Paul states: Christ was the great high priest after the order of Melchizedek. Under the Law of Moses, the high priest would enter the tabernacle, alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people (Heb 9:6) The high priest made an offering for his own purification and allow offerings were made as a symbol of purification of the people. The sacrifices did not purify; instead, they taught a foreshadowing of Christ’s eternal sacrifice. Christ’s atonement is the only way for men to be forgiven of sin and be reconciled with God.

Christ would establish a New Covenant with His people. Christ became the High Priest of the New Covenant. Just as the Mosaic high priest interceded for the errors of the people, so would Christ intercede for the children of the New Covenant. For the law having a shadow of good things to come (Heb 10:1). Meaning, through Christ’s atonement, we could be forgiven of our sins, increase in faith, and become the sons and daughters of Christ. As a direct result, Christ blesses His covenant people with a cloud of his glory, riches and power, both day and night.

Through Christ’s atonement, we are sanctified and allowed admission back into the presence of the Father. Christ shed his blood for us, that we might gain the possibility of a remission of sins. As our sins remit, our worthiness to receive blessings increases. We are not promised a trivial set of gifts. No, our promise is much greater. Just as the temple is a holy place where Christ can come and dwell, so, in like manner, Christ becomes the Great High Priest, who intercedes for us, pleads our case before the Father, and determines our worthiness for admittance into the Celestial Kingdom, as celestial beings, where Christ and Heavenly Father dwell.

The old covenant of Moses was done away with, Christ would establish the terms of the New Covenant, and Christ would become the mediator of the New Covenant. The New Covenant was designed to bring forth to us both eternal and glorious promises given only to celestial beings. The oath and covenant of the priesthood applied only to celestial beings. As members in the Kingdom of God, we can rely on the terms of the oath and covenant of the priesthood to be upheld. We know two things about the immutability of God: God cannot lie, and Christ has the power to save us and return us back into the presence of our Heavenly Father. For this he did once, when he offered up himself (Heb 7:27) means we don’t need to offer up animal sacrifices anymore because Christ fulfilled the old covenant by his sacrifice. (Isa 53:10)

The Holy Ghost will witness to us of the validity of the New Covenant. The Holy Ghost seals the promises of the New Covenant, both on earth and in heaven. So, the New Covenant will be written on our hearts and in our minds. Through repentance, the Lord will remember our sins no more. For I will be merciful to their righteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more (Heb 8:12). We must become like Christ and inherit all the attributes of the Great High Priest. It is through faith in Christ that we overcome our mortal weaknesses. Christ was subject to the temptations of the flesh and overcame them. Christ knows how to succor us through our temptations. When we are tempted, we should pray immediately to our Heavenly Father and tell Him of our temptation. As a direct result, we will receive comfort and know how to reason through the temptation and avoid the pitfall. This is the reason Christ, when teaching the people how to pray, included the instructions to pray for deliverance from temptation. Christ overcame all temptations and infirmities. He knows how to comfort us.

We think about how rare in numbers the high priests of Israel were prior to Christ’s mortal ministry and wonder why Paul talked so strongly about Christ as the Great High Priest. First, we need to examine a series of arguments proposed by Paul. One, No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron (Heb 5:4.) How was Aaron called? Aaron was called by Moses requesting help from the Lord. The Lord confirmed through revelation that Aaron should be chosen, Moses requesting Aaron’s help, Aaron’s agreement to help, and Moses using the priesthood by the laying on of hands to confirm Aaron’s calling. The Levitical priesthood was not enough. If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law) what further need was there that another priest should arise after the order of Melchizedek, and not be called after the order of Aaron? (Heb 7:11) The Levitical Priesthood did not have power to provide exaltation and eternal life. Two,for it is evident, that our Lord sprang out of Judea; of which tribe Moses spake nothing concerning priesthood. (Heb 7:14) So what does this mean? It means the priesthood of Melchizedek was really the priesthood after the order of the Son of God, and out of reverence for His name, it was changed in name. Christ was the author of the priesthood. Melchizedek’s priesthood line would be traced back to Adam, who received his priesthood from Christ. Three, Strong meat belongeth to them that are full of age (Heb 5:14) and every one that useth milk is unskillful in righteousness; for he is a babe. We must gain the knowledge of the mysteries of God. It is futile to maintain our status quo in the milk of the gospel. We must become like unto the High Priest, solid in the meat of the gospel. And are priests of the Most High, after the order of Melchizedek which was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the Only Begotton Son. (D&C 76:57.) Wherefore, as it is written, they are gods, even the sons of God. And they shall overcome all things. (D&C 76:58-59).

How did Melchizedek establish righteousness? Melchizedek obeyed the law of faith, and through his faith in Christ, exercised priesthood power to temper wickedness and promote righteousness. Melchizedek taught the gospel to his people. Melchizedek was given power and authority to act. He brought great righteousness upon the people through his faith in Christ. Melchizedek taught the people to strip themselves of pride, envy and boastfulness; he taught them to pay tithing, he taught them to care for the poor and the naked; in every way, he used the priesthood to bless the people. Melchizedek demonstrated the perfect order to follow.

Chapter 2

This is my beloved Son, hear him. The word beloved is a reserved word for the great and final atoning sacrifice. The word beloved denotes a great sense of gratitude for an act that would surpass any other act performed by man, a great price to be paid for our sins. The Savior took upon Himself all our infirmities, encompassing the complete human condition, a miracle made possible by the atonement covering all of Heavenly Father’s children from the fall of Adam. We don’t truly understand the payment of the atonement until we repent, having experienced the pain of sin; nor do we understand completely the atonement after suffering from physical infirmity, cancer, heart disease, arthritis, mental illness, anger, sorrow, grief, depression, or a wide range of human frailties. The atonement covers all things and all of the human condition. We understand the atonement through our relationship with God, and communication through prayer and meditation helps us see that We are all children of God and that God loves each of His children.

We know God loves his children, and He loves us because He planned a way for us to gain a body and escape death and sin. To gain a body, Adam had to fall, and the fall separated us from divinity. The fall was a necessary part of the Plan of Salvation. The plan included a great rescue or a Gathering Home of the House of Israel. The plan was conceived to save, an exodus to the promised land, and the plan required a savior, a Moses, a spiritual and temporal leader, a Mortal Messiah, who could pay the price and ransom of justice. The Mortal Messiah must be born of a mortal mother, Mary, and an Exalted Father. The Mortal Messiah must be willing to assume the role of Savior, and He must be willing to assume the role of Messiah, and lead by example as He follows the will of the Father, and as He testifies of his Messiahship and performs great works and miracles. No man could take the Lord’s life, but that He had to willfully surrender His precious life, as a lamb to the slaughter, yet He opened not His mouth, revealing the act of the atonement was an act of great courage; just as Abraham had to exercise great courage to offer his son Isaac, so did the Lord exercise great courage to atone and offer Himself, as the great and final sacrifice, acting both as the high priest and the sacrificial offering, the lamb without blemish.

If we were present and saw the great vicarious sacrifice as He drank from the bitter cup, our hearts would be broken in gratitude for the Love He has shown us and His great sacrifice, known both in Heaven and on earth. The Father considered His son’s valor, Beloved, the best and supreme offering of all His children to save His children who kept their first estate. The sacrifice was painful and demonstrated complete obedience to the Father. Example speaks louder than words, and the Lord said, all that He did, He saw the Father do, and He learned from His Father, and they were one in mind and purpose. Through the oneness, He learned to be perfectly obedient to the Father and exercised the will of Father. Because of the degree of obedience to the Father, the Son would be referred to as beloved, a hero, who would save humanity and make possible compassion upon the children of men through the atonement, whereby all mankind could be saved. In essence, we are saved through the atoning blood and become spiritually begotten children and beloved of the Father, through obedience cleansed, becoming joint heirs and receiving the fullness, as was planned from the very beginning.

Chapter 3

God is love. I believe we can see manifestations of God’s love around us: the earth, the solar system, our bodies, families, friends and animals. In the Bible, John chooses one word that described Heavenly Father, and that word was Love. 1 John 4:8 God is love. 1 John 4:16 He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God. Logic seems to suggest, if a man dwells in love, then he will enjoy the sphere of glory that Heavenly Father enjoys. We should seek to love God in all our actions and thoughts, during times of trial and times of ease and prosperity.

The Holy Spirit helps man understand God’s glory, and He ratifies the covenant sealings and promises of eternal life, in this life and life to come. The Holy Spirit knows all things; He knows our heart; He speaks to us spirit-to-spirit. We could not survive spiritually without the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost teaches us of Christ’s sacrifice. We experience compassion towards the Messiah and the Great High Priest’s ordeals through the Holy Ghost. We understand the depth of His sacrifice through the revelations provided by the Holy Spirit.

1 John 4:13 We know we dwell in him, because he hath given us his spirit. The Holy Spirit is a special gift, and through the gift of the Holy Ghost, we enjoy constant companionship with God. Only by yielding to sin, we find ourselves in dark and filthy waters, devoid of the spirit, and looking in enmity towards all who are struggling to be obedient to God’s word. Repentance and the atonement allow us to escape the filthy waters and the bondage of hell that Satan seeks to imprison us in, making us miserable like he is miserable. Through Christ’s blood, we are made clean of sin. Heavenly Father forgives us of the sin, and justice is satisfied through the redemptive sacrifice of Christ for our sins.

1 John 3:1-2 declares the potential for the sons and daughters of God by telling them they are called sons of God. When he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is suggesting joint-heirship and the privilege to know and see God or the Great Jehovah, in the flesh. We will know Jesus when we see him because the Holy Spirit will have expanded our minds and hearts to understand the sacrifice of the Lamb without blemish. We share many divine characteristics with our Heavenly Father: first, we have always existed, just as God the Father has always existed. We were intelligences before we became spirit children of our Heavenly Father in the pre-mortal sphere. We share the fact we were intelligences. Our Heavenly Father was more intelligent than us all. We desired that we become like Him, an exalted, Holy Man. Christ was the first born and a Great Spirit Child of Heavenly Father. He was chosen to be the Savior of all mankind in the great Plan of Salvation. He had the capability and the courage to do the will of the Father. He knew God the Father had overcome death and gained a resurrected and exalted body sometime in the past. The Father had overcome the temptations of mortality and gained exaltation just as His Father before him had done. This is the patriarchal order. Through the atonement, a man could share in joint heirship with Christ.

Love is unity. One day, a friend and I were talking. We were talking about how my children seemed to be going their own way and doing their own thing and how difficult it was to get them together, and it seemed that only a death or marriage would bring all the children together again, at once. My friend told me that his children had done the same thing until one of his sons was diagnosed with cancer in his jaw. His son went through chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant graft, and the doctors believed the cancer was dormant. However, the cancer spread to the other side of his jaw, and his son underwent cancer treatment again. In the meantime, the family united and put aside their personal interests and differences and became united as both a support and friend; and the family played games together, laughed together, and cried together. They were the best of friends. The son did not want to die, and he fought hard to live. However, after fighting it for ten years, he died of cancer. The family was united at his funeral and respected the man’s courage. The father told me, Sometimes, the Lord brings trials into our life to bring families together. Our trials can become like gold because of the unity that results, if we choose to face adversity with courage.

God manifested His love for all mankind by sending His Only Begotten Son to suffer and die for us. The Savior walked the roads of Palestine, healing the sick, causing the lame to walk and the plagued with leprosy to be cleansed; restoring sight to the blind and raising the dead. Elijah could seal the heavens and raise the widow’s son from the dead; likewise, Jesus referred to His historical connections to this miraculous power, as He fed the five-thousand, hungry followers and reminded the people of how Jehovah fed the followers of Moses in the wilderness. The symbolic connection to Elijah and Moses in the ministry of Savior leaves one pondering about the greatness of the feats performed and the pattern of mercy that emerged. The House of Israel should have shouted hosanna to the highest and declared the peaceful generation of the Lord. During the Mortal Messiah’s ministry, He came unto His own and His own received Him not, and He received suffering and knew our sufferings because He walked among mortals and descended below all things. He understood the people He taught, having overcome temptation and driven out devils and casted out evil spirits. He said, Be of good cheer. Be not afraid. It is I. The great I am.

Try the spirits. 1 John 4:1 believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God and every spirit that confesseth that the Son of Man came in the flesh is of God. I find this an interesting test, because the test of true doctrines is whether the doctrine leads one towards faith and praise of Christ’s divine nature or away from Him, and true doctrine fills our hearts with a greater love for God and His role in controlling and operating the universe, and in providing support of all life and material interactions from the cellular to constellation levels in this galaxy. Try is an interesting word. Evil must be put on trial, evidence discovered and presented, justice defended and declared, and judgment passed; and evil must withstand the scrutiny of a free-thinking people. Try suggests that we learn the difference between good and evil in order to cleave to the good.

What are the blessings that come through the Savior’s great atoning sacrifice? Alma 11:40-44: