I’ve had old, and I’ve had new—and I can tell you from experience, new is better. When I was fifteen, I bought my first car: a 1946 Plymouth. Fifty dollars. Three on the tree. Flathead six. It topped out at about forty five miles an hour, and dimming the headlights required a button on the floor. It wasn’t a chick magnet; in fact, it may have been a chick repellent. But it got me where I needed to go.

Years later, after Loretta and I married, I walked into Hulett Chevrolet in Camdenton and bought a brand new 1968 Camaro. Bright, powerful, smooth. It cost me $2,800, and compared to that old Plymouth, it was a whole new world. The old got me around, but the new got me around better.

Spiritually, the same is true. Humanity lived under an Old Covenant—functional, purposeful, but limited. Then Jesus came, and everything changed. When He hung on the cross and declared, “It is finished,” a divine shift took place. Matthew 27:51 tells us that at the moment of His death, “the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom.” That veil wasn’t thin fabric. It was thick, heavy, massive—so heavy it took many men to hang it. And yet God Himself tore it, not from bottom to top, but from top to bottom, signaling that heaven initiated the change.

When God tears something, it stays torn. No devil can stitch back together what God has ripped open. And when that veil fell, five major shifts occurred that permanently changed man’s relationship with God. 

1. A Shift in Authority

Under the Old Covenant, authority was external. God rebuked the devourer (Malachi 3:10–11). The priesthood mediated protection and blessing. But when Jesus rose from the dead and placed His blood on the mercy seat, authority was transferred. 

Jesus said in Luke 10:19, “Behold, I give you authority… over all the power of the enemy.”  Under the Old Covenant, people waited for God to act. Under the New Covenant, God waits for you to act in the authority He gave you. The devourer can now be rebuked by the believer in Jesus’ name. 

2. A Shift in Prayer

In the Old Covenant, prayer could be delayed. Daniel prayed, and his answer was held up twenty one days by spiritual resistance (Daniel 10:12–13). Messages often came through angels, dreams, or intermediaries. 

But Hebrews 4:16 declares that now we “come boldly to the throne of grace.” No veil. No delay. No priest. No angelic courier. Through Jesus, we have direct access to the Father (Ephesians 2:18). 

3. A Shift in God’s Dwelling Place

Under the Old Covenant, God’s presence was external—behind the veil, in the ark, in heaven. Only one priest, once a year, could enter the Holy of Holies. 

But now, “you are the temple of God and the Spirit of God dwells in you” (1 Corinthians 3:16). The same Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead now lives inside the believer (Romans 8:11). God moved from a restricted room into the hearts of His people. 

4. A Shift From Works to Grace

The Old Covenant said, “Do and live.” Blessing was conditional. Failure brought judgment. The law exposed sin but could not remove it. 

But Galatians 3:13 declares we are redeemed from the curse of the law. Ephesians 2:8–9 tells us salvation is a gift, not earned by works. Grace—God’s power—saves us, empowers us, and makes us righteous. 

The New Covenant says, “Live and do.” We obey because we are saved, not to get saved. 

5. A Shift in How Sin Is Removed

Under the Old Covenant, sin was covered—atoned—but never cleansed. Hebrews 10:4 says, “It is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” 

Let me give you an illustration of atonement. Imagine a little red wagon filled with dirt. If you cover the wagon with a canvas, the dirt is hidden. In Old Testament terms, the dirt has been “atoned”—covered. But the dirt is still there. If the wind blows the canvas off, the dirt (sin) is exposed again and must be covered once more. Under the Old Covenant, it took continual effort to keep the wagon covered. 

Under the New Covenant, Jesus didn’t just cover the dirt—He dumped it out and cleansed the wagon completely with His blood. The wagon no longer needs a canvas (covering) because the dirt is gone. It’s clean, restored, and ready to be filled with the Holy Spirit. In New Testament terms, the wagon has been “made righteous.” 

Your born again spirit is cleansed, sealed, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Darkness cannot coexist with the God who lives inside you. Your flesh may still struggle, but your spirit—reborn by Christ—does not sin. You have been sanctified “once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). 

Eternal life is guaranteed. “He who has the Son has life” (1 John 5:11–12). 

The New Covenant Is Better

When the veil was torn, separation ended. Heaven opened. Access changed. Authority shifted. Grace arrived. Sin was removed. God moved in. Everything about your relationship with God changed forever. 

Old got us around. But new gets us around better. And that is why the veil was torn—and why the New Covenant is far better than the old. 

But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then no place would have been sought for a second.

                                                                                                           Hebrews 8:6-7