The Blood Covenant Part #12

Blood Covenant Overview

In this powerful Easter message from NTC Ministries, the preacher delivers Part 12 of the ongoing Blood Covenant series under the theme From Victim to Victor. Recorded on Resurrection Sunday, April 5, 2021, this sermon explores how the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was not a defeat but a divine triumph, meticulously mirroring the pattern of a Roman triumphal procession as recorded in Mark 15. Drawing on Galatians 3:13-14, Romans 8:8-11, and 2 Corinthians 2:14, the message reveals how every detail of Christ’s suffering, from the purple robe to Golgotha itself, was a sovereign declaration of victory. A key moment in the message is the tearing of the temple veil, which the preacher explains unleashed the Holy Spirit into the world, opening the eyes of a hardened Roman centurion to confess that Jesus was truly the Son of God. Through the covenant name Jehovah, the Hebrew meaning of berith, and vivid illustrations including the story of Joseph and a childhood miracle plant, this sermon anchors believers in the certainty that the same Spirit who raised Christ from the dead is alive and at work in every area of their lives today.

Blood Covenant Outline

• 00:00 – Resurrection Greeting and Series Context: The congregation celebrates Resurrection Sunday with the early church declaration He is risen. The preacher situates this message within the ongoing Blood Covenant series and explains why understanding covenant is essential to experiencing God’s power and comfort.
• 04:30 – The Meaning of Covenant and the Name Jehovah: The Hebrew word berith is examined, meaning to cut until blood flows. The name Jehovah is unpacked as Covenant Keeper and Grace Giver, contrasting with Adonai, and the preacher shows how God has always desired to withhold nothing from humanity.
• 10:15 – Redemption From the Curse Through Christ: Galatians 3:13-14 is opened to show that Christ became a curse on our behalf so that the blessing of Abraham would reach the Gentiles and the promised Holy Spirit would be received through faith.
• 17:00 – Mark’s Gospel as Irony: The Roman Triumph Pattern: The preacher introduces the literary device of irony as used in Greek tragic theater and maps each element of a Roman triumphal procession onto the passion narrative in Mark 15, revealing how God choreographed every detail to declare Christ the ultimate Victor.
• 28:00 – The Torn Veil and the Centurion’s Confession: Mark 15:37-39 is examined closely. The word schizo, used for both the torn veil and the torn heavens at Christ’s baptism, shows that the Holy Spirit was released into the world at the moment of Christ’s death, opening the centurion’s eyes to the truth.
• 36:00 – The Holy Spirit Quickens Mortal Bodies: Romans 8:8-11 is taught verse by verse. The Greek and Latin meanings of mortal are explored, and believers are assured that the same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in them and will bring resurrection life to every death-doomed situation.
• 42:30 – Joseph, the Resurrection Plant, and Triumphal Procession: Two vivid illustrations anchor the teaching: Joseph’s story in Egypt demonstrating that what the enemy meant for harm God turns for good, and a childhood miracle plant that came back to life in water as a picture of resurrection power at work in every believer.
• 47:00 – 2 Corinthians 2:14 and the Call to Receive: The sermon closes with 2 Corinthians 2:14, declaring that God always leads believers in triumphal procession. The congregation is invited to receive the Holy Spirit, surrender broken areas of life, and trust that resurrection life is available to every person who calls on the name of Jesus.

Scripture References

Leviticus 17:11, Galatians 3:13-14, Galatians 3:29, Mark 15:16-25, Mark 15:37-39, Mark 1:9-11, Romans 8:8-11, 1 Peter 1:18-19, John 10:10, 1 Corinthians 15, 1 Corinthians 12:3, John 14, Psalm 138, 2 Corinthians 2:14

Key Takeaways

• The blood covenant, expressed in the Hebrew word berith meaning to cut until blood flows, is the foundation of every believer’s access to God’s power, comfort, and presence.
• Jesus Christ fulfilled every element of the Roman triumphal procession in His passion, revealing that what appeared to be utter defeat was in fact a sovereignly orchestrated declaration of divine victory.
• The tearing of the temple veil at the moment of Christ’s death was not symbolic decoration but a supernatural event that released the Holy Spirit into all the world, making God’s presence available to every person.
• The same Spirit who raised Jesus Christ from the dead lives inside every born-again believer and has both the power and the desire to bring resurrection life to marriages, families, bodies, and broken situations.
• No situation in a believer’s life is beyond redemption, because God always leads His people in triumphal procession and diffuses the fragrance of the knowledge of Christ through them in every place.
• Understanding that God is a Covenant Keeper, the meaning of the name Jehovah, removes the lie planted by the enemy that God withholds good things, and empowers believers to receive all He has promised.
• Receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior is not the end of a journey but the beginning of an eternal resurrection life that even eternity itself will not be long enough to fully reveal.

Blood Covenant Notes

Covenant as the Core of Christian Life

The preacher opens by establishing that ignorance of the blood covenant leaves believers powerless, void of comfort, and unable to approach God with boldness. The Hebrew word berith, to cut until blood flows, carries the weight of total mutual commitment. When God entered covenant with Abraham, and ultimately through Jesus Christ with all of humanity, He was saying that everything He is and has belongs to His covenant partner. This understanding transforms the Christian life from a religion of striving into a relationship of radical generosity and security rooted in the unchanging character of Jehovah the Covenant Keeper.

Christ’s Passion as a Roman Triumph

One of the most striking insights in this message is the parallel between the Roman triumphal procession and the events of Mark 15. Roman generals followed a precise ceremonial pattern: assembly at the praetorium, clothing in purple, crowning, public proclamation, a march to Capitoline Hill, and the refusal of wine before sacrifice. Every single element appears in the passion narrative. The preacher argues this was not coincidence but divine orchestration, with God declaring through the very customs of the empire that His Son was the greatest General and Victor in all of history.

The Veil, the Spirit, and the Centurion

The Greek word schizo, meaning to tear violently, connects two pivotal moments in Mark’s Gospel: the heavens torn open at Jesus’s baptism when the Spirit descended, and the temple veil torn from top to bottom at His death. The preacher draws a clear theological line: as the Spirit came upon Jesus to inaugurate His ministry, so the Spirit was unleashed upon the world to inaugurate the New Covenant. The hardened Roman centurion who had mocked and struck Jesus was the first to experience this outpouring, confessing with his own lips that Jesus was the Son of God, a confession only possible through the Holy Spirit.

Resurrection Life for Death-Doomed Situations

Romans 8:8-11 becomes the pastoral application of the entire message. The preacher unpacks the Latin and Greek roots of the word mortal, meaning death-doomed, and places it alongside the promise that the Spirit who raised Christ from the dead will also quicken the mortal bodies of believers. This is not limited to physical resurrection at the end of time. It is a present-tense reality. Marriages that have grown cold, families that are fractured, personal battles with sickness or despair, all of these qualify as mortal situations into which the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit can and will bring life.

Joseph and the Pattern of Divine Reversal

The story of Joseph serves as a human narrative mirror of the cross. Sold into slavery at seventeen, imprisoned for thirteen years, Joseph rose to become second in command over all of Egypt. When his brothers feared punishment after their father’s death, Joseph’s response echoed the gospel: what the enemy meant for harm, God turned around for good. The preacher uses this story to reinforce the sermon’s central irony that what looks like absolute defeat in the natural is often the very pathway through which God is working His most extraordinary victory.

Opening Your Life to the Holy Spirit

The sermon closes not with mere information but with invitation. The preacher gently but urgently calls every listener to stop straining under the weight of self-made righteousness, described as leaves that dry out and crumble, and instead to open their lives to the Holy Spirit. Whether the need is salvation, healing, restoration of a marriage, or simply the hunger for more of God, the message is the same: the veil has been torn, access is open, and the resurrection life of Jesus Christ is available right now to anyone who will receive it by faith and call upon His name.

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