The Covenant of God

Today, I want us to look at what the Father of the Lord Jesus Christ and your Father and my Father has done that you might join yourself to Him in a covenant relationship.

First of all, He sent His son, Jesus, to the earth so that we might know Him as Ababa Father, or Daddy. We were all alienated from God, so Jesus had to come to the earth, be born of a virgin, and bring us into relationship with Him and with the Father again. This could not be done without a sacrifice and shedding of blood by someone that had never sinned. That was Jesus, as we know. We traded our own righteousness for His righteousness, and because we did, we can come boldly before the throne of God to receive help in time of need. (Heb. 4:16, “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”) We are to come as sons, not as strangers to the covenant, as we once were (Eph. 2:12 “ Remember that you were at that time without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.”)

God, our spiritual Father, recognizes our faith in Jesus Christ His Son, and so we are able to approach the throne of God boldly, as we are now of His nature and life, and are joined with Him in an everlasting covenant. See Heb. 13:20, “Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant.” Jesus therefore has become our guarantee of a better covenant, as it is written Heb. 7:22. The covenant is based on what Jesus has already done for us and what He has offered to those who were afar off as many who would believe as the Word of God tells us. We have actually become sons of God almighty through the covenant that Jesus Christ shed His blood for. Every spiritual blessing is ours now, not when only we get to heaven, because of the covenant in Christ. Eph. 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.”

We have looked at only a few things that Jesus Christ our Savior has done for us, but it is enough to know that what He has done for all of us is powerful and acceptable by the Father of Lights with whom there is no variableness. God will recognized those who by faith in Jesus have accepted the Covenant of Grace as we know it. That is why we must come to an understanding of what a covenant is and why it was made and what our part is in it.

Blessings upon your life as you continue in His Word.

Part 3

Why has God given us the New Covenant and what has He done to insure that we know it has been made available to us?

It was needful for mankind to be redeemed or purchased from the curse of the law according to Gal 3:10-13. In Det. 28:58 We find that when a man walked according to the law he was blessed, but if he failed to keep one stroke or letter of the law then he was cursed. However in Gal. 2:16 the Word of God says “ A man is not justified by the works of the law, but through faith in Christ Jesus.” Also in Gal. 3:23 & 24, “Before faith came, we were kept in custody under the law, being shut up to faith which was later to be revealed.” Vs 25, “ But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor” (child, conductor, law, etc). The first covenant offered by the Lord God was the Adamic covenant (Gen. 12: 1-30). Also there were personal promises made to Abraham and his seed. We are that spiritual seed according to Gal. 3:29- vs. 29, “ And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Adam and Eve had sinned and turned things over in this world to Satan because they had sinned of their own will and choice. Their choice affected not only their lives, but also the lives of others yet to come. Their spirits were estranged from God and they were separated from God because their spirit was no longer alive to God. At the same time, the curse of poverty, sickness, and death fell on mankind and God had to legally bring in the seed of a woman through what we will call the Godly Line; That is, men and women of Israel who followed after God’s heart and ways. God wanted to bring mankind back into fellowship with Him the way it was before, so He devised the plan to bring the Second Adam (Jesus Christ) into the earth. A man caused the fall and a man had to redeem mankind (Rom. 5:17,18). God made a blood covenant with Abram, finalizing what He began in Gen. 12. He continued and finalized it in Gen. 15:1-17. Abraham asks how God is going to accomplish what He has promised Abraham, and God told Abraham “Bring [Him] a heifer.” This is 'blood covenant' talk, and 'blood covenant' was well known to Abram. Abram knew God was serious.

This began in the heart of Abraham and others a long line of Godly men and women who would bring in the promised seed of Abraham and the seed of the woman mentioned in Gen 3:15, “And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” The people of the covenant of Abraham were not born again of God’s Spirit but had to look forward to the cross of the Christ, the Messiah, and the Anointed One of Israel.

God intended for his people to be Sons of God, not just servants as they were in the old covenant. We need to recognize that the New Covenant was God’s plan of perfection, and lamb of perfection for all men everywhere who would receive Jesus Christ.

God's Blessings on you today as you discover His offer to you and the world.

Part 4

What has God done to insure in our hearts that we have received this New Covenant?

He has given us of His very own Holy Spirit that we should know what has been accomplished for us in Christ Jesus. 1 COR. 2:12 says, "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God." In other words the Spirit of God will reveal to us that we belong to Him and He belongs to us. Also, as we have seen previously that in Romans 8:16 "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God; if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ". So then, by His Spirit, the Lord has put a "knowing" within our human spirit that we are His and of His covenant.

The Covenant of God is a holy covenant. It was sealed with the blood of Jesus and with the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. 2nd Cor. 1:21 says, "Now He which stablisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts." Then in Eph. 1:13, "Also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of His glory." In 2nd Tim. 2:19 we see that not only do we know that we are to belong to the Lord, but He knows those who are His. "Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity."

The Word of God says that Jesus came to His own, that is the people of the Jewish descent, but they did not receive Him. John 1:11, "But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on His name:" So then, you and I as Gentiles were brought in by the love of God and the grace of God through faith in the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ who was and is the Lamb of God.

We also know that everything that we have in Christ is received by faith, because of Hebrews 11:6 which says "But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him". In the letter of Ephesians in the first Chapter, Vs. 3, we find that every spiritual blessing is ours in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We see then that every promise in the New Covenant belongs to us by Grace through the faith that we place in Christ Jesus and His covenant Word that Jesus said would never pass away.

Is it any wonder that Jesus himself said, "If ye abide in me and my Words abide in you, you shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples." Praise the Lord! Is it any wonder the Word of God's covenant says in Romans 8:32, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" It is our walking with Christ Jesus and abiding in His Covenant, which will bring us confidence towards the Father in heaven. Then our Joy will be made full and complete, and His joy will be in us because we realize that we have been joined together with Him in an everlasting covenant. John 15:11, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

Part 5

WITHIN THE COVENANT WE HAVE OBTAINED AN INHERITANCE!

As an example of an inheritance we see in Luke 15:11-32, what is commonly called "The Prodigal Son". One son was lost and the other did not understand what he had already received in the inheritance from his father. The first son took all that he had inherited and left home and spent all that he had. Then he returned expecting to become a servant to his father, but was greeted with love and acceptance because he had repented and been forgiven. The robe that he received seemed to be a message from his father telling him that he was still in the family, the ring was significant in that he could continually purchase items as part of the family, and the fatted calf was the celebration telling all that he was lost but now was found.

How wonderful it must be to the Father in heaven when someone that has gone astray returns to his former love. Luke 15:7 says "I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent."

Then we have the older son who does not know that he already has received an inheritance, because all that his father has belongs to him. So he is angry with the father and with the younger son who has been forgiven. He need only to ask to know his own spiritual inheritance, and what his father has accomplished for all of his children.

How much more then should we know and accept the inheritance that we have already received in Christ, as the following verses tell us:

Eph. 1:14 says that "After that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise, which is the earnest of our inheritance."
And Eph. 1:18: "I pray also that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints."
Then again in Col. 1:12: "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."
And lastly we see that Heb. 9:15 says, "Under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance."

Can't you hear the heart of Paul praying for the Church of God, so that they might know God, and the offer that He has made to us as partakers of the inheritance of Jesus Christ?

May you and I hunger to know Him and the Covenant of His blood that he has offered to all men everywhere in these last days. May you be blessed as you discover the Covenant mediator and the wonderful covenant of His Word today!