God Almighty Admits A Mistake?


But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. (Hebrews 8:6-7)

The Old and New Testaments of the Bible are wills or covenants between God and man. God created both covenants. Is God admitting that the first covenant contained mistakes? Is it conceivable that God almighty would create a covenant which was not faultless?

The only path to eternal life under the first testament was to never sin, because the wages of sin is death. However, all humans who had ever lived had sinned. Consequently, no human had ever gained everlasting life under that first covenant! This was the "fault" in the first testament. Since the first covenant contained a fault, God created a second, or New Testament. The inheritance which is received by humans who qualify as heirs under either testament is eternal life. Those who do not qualify will perish. Eternal life is presented throughout the Bible as a future gift, reward, or inheritance and never as something man presently possesses. Jesus is bringing the reward with Him when He returns to the earth:

Behold, thy salvation cometh; behold, his reward is with him. (Isaiah 62:11)

So the first covenant between God and man did indeed contain a fault. But was the fault caused by the creator of the covenant or the beneficiaries? After all, there are two parties in every covenant. Was it God's fault that no man had ever lived a sinless life? Was it true that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God?" Could any human ever become an heir to eternal life under the Old Testament? Why would God make the requirements so strict that no one could qualify? Look at what God wants to accomplish. He is creating replacement caretakers for the angels who sinned and failed their original assignment on earth:

And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. (Jude 1:6)

God originally created immortal angels to care for the earth. These angels had no means of reproduction. If all angels needed were created originally and all lived for eternity, then there would never be any reason to create more. Then a third of the angels rebelled under the leadership of Satan.

God would not directly create immortal spiritual angels again. Why create more immortal beings and risk being stuck with more rebels for eternity! He would create man a little lower than the angels and have men earn immortality through their obedience. After all, the angels assigned to care for the earth did not work out because they sinned against God. Therefore, in His plan to create replacement caretakers, He would rule out the character flaw which caused the original caretakers to fail. That flaw was sin! If any human sinned, he would not be allowed to eat from the tree of life and live forever. If man sinned he would die and that would forever be the end of him. This was the design philosophy of the Old Testament covenant. Once God makes an agreement and sets in place the steps to create that agreement, God never violates His part of the agreement. God remains constant:

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and for ever. (Hebrews 13:8)

If the wages of sin is death and all have sinned, then all must die! That's how the original testament was set up. Thus, no replacements would be created under this covenant! What to do? Suppose some human could live a sinless life. He would not be under the death sentence. He could then give his life freely as a sacrifice for the others to get them out from under the death sentence imposed by their sinning under the first covenant. Since they no longer had to die under that covenant, a new covenant could be designed whereby the fault in the old covenant could be corrected. This is exactly what occurred when Jesus Christ came to earth as a human. He lived a sinless life, then sacrificed His life as punishment for our sins. Since His sacrifice made eternal life possible for us, the requirement to attain eternal life under the New Testament became a belief in Jesus Christ and recognition of His sacrifice. Under the New Testament man came under grace and not the law. Good works earned one salvation under the Old Testament. That is, if a person never sinned by violated any of God's laws he gained eternal life. After Jesus died for our sins we fell under the grace of Jesus Christ for our salvation and not our works to fulfill the law. So sin does not control our salvation:

For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. (Romans 6:14)

We must now believe in Jesus Christ to inherit eternal life. Satan and his rebelling angels obviously did not recognize and respect God's authority when they rebelled. Man must now submit to God's authority as a prerequisite for gaining eternal life. Upon creating a New Testament the first covenant became the Old Testament:

In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away. (Hebrews 8:13)

When did the Old Testament covenant vanish away and the New Testament covenant become valid?

And for this cause he is the mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance. For where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator. For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. (Hebrews 9:15-17)

A testator is a person who makes a will. A testament is of force after the testator dies. Therefore, the New Testament became effective and the Old Testament covenant vanished away as a will when Jesus Christ died on the cross. Once the New Testament became the active will, no one could gain eternal life by remaining sinless as required under the Old Testament. The only path to salvation presently is through a belief in Jesus Christ under terms of the New Testament covenant. Those terms are:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

By living a sinless life as a human being, Jesus became the first and only human to ever qualify for eternal life under the Old Testament. This proved that it actually was possible for man to gain everlasting life under that first covenant. Thus, the fault in the original covenant was not due to its design by God. The fault was man's inability to remain sinless! God is indeed omnipotent and perfect!