The Real Greatness of the New Covenant
When we think about greatness, our minds often go to men like Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel, and the prophets.
They spoke God's word.
They saw visions.
They received extraordinary revelations.
Some even wrote the very Scriptures we read today.
Yet the New Testament points us to a greater reality.
The greatest privilege of the New Covenant is not that we now perform greater miracles.
It is not that every believer becomes a prophet.
It is not that we all receive visions or write inspired Scripture.
The real greatness is that what they longed for has become our present reality.
God now dwells in us by His Spirit.
We have been united with Christ.
We have been adopted as sons and daughters of God.
We have direct access to the Father.
We know Christ, not merely as One who was promised, but as the One who has come, died, risen, and been exalted.
Peter tells us that the prophets searched diligently concerning the grace that would come to us (1 Peter 1:10–12).
Jesus said many prophets and righteous men desired to see what His disciples saw but did not see it (Matthew 13:16–17).
The prophets announced the coming day.
We have entered it.
They proclaimed the coming covenant.
We now live under it.
They foretold the outpouring of the Spirit.
We now live by His indwelling presence.
That is the glory of the New Covenant.
The greatness of the believer is not found in having greater encounters than Isaiah or a greater prophetic ministry than Jeremiah.
It is found in the fact that, through Christ, we now possess the very realities they proclaimed.
The New Covenant does not merely give us more information.
It brings us into the fulfillment of God's redemptive plan.
That is our privilege.
That is our inheritance.
That is our greatness.
Not because of who we are in ourselves,
but because of what we now have in Christ.
I Had the Microphone, but I Chose Not to Correct the Church
Some years ago, during my NYSC, I attended a popular Pentecostal church. Every year, the church held a Youth Sunday, and that particular year, the youth leaders had noticed the way I contributed during Sunday school. Eventually, the youth leader informed the pastor that I would be preaching the sermon.
Now, I strongly believed in eternal salvation, and there were many teachings and practices in the church that I did not agree with. I could have seen that opportunity as my moment to take over the pulpit and “correct�� everyone.
But while praying about the message, I had an impression to teach something else.
I reminded myself that this pastor had faithfully laboured over these people for years. It would have been unwise for me to enter his pulpit for one Sunday and create confusion in the name of revelation. I did not have to address every doctrinal disagreement before I could be a blessing to the congregation.
So, I taught on the believer’s authority.
After the service, the pastor came to me and said, “I was genuinely blessed. Are you a pastor, or did you attend a theological school?”
That service also helped me gain the trust of some of the young people, and I later had opportunities to disciple them. When I was completing my NYSC, the pastor gifted me a Bible commentary.
That experience taught me an important lesson: what you say matters, but how, when and where you say it also matter.
Eternal salvation is a precious and foundational truth. Grace should be preached clearly, and believers must understand that salvation is not earned or maintained by human effort. But if that is the only thing you can teach, you need to study more.
The believer also needs to understand prayer, character, relationships, spiritual growth, service, generosity, leadership, the local church, spiritual authority and practical Christian living.
Not every pulpit invitation is an opportunity to prove that you are right. Sometimes, maturity is recognising what the people need and choosing to edify them rather than using another pastor’s platform to settle theological disagreements.
A good preacher does not merely know the truth. He also knows what to teach, when to teach it and how to communicate it without creating avoidable confusion.