Saturday, October 26, 2019

The Names of God - A Covenant for the People


A Covenant for the People (Jesus)

Isaiah 42:6 (ESV)
“I am the LORD; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations, … “

When Adam ate of the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil he lost his fellowship with the Creator. Because of his disobedience a curse was introduced to the human race. Every person born since Adam is born with a sin nature, separated from our God.

If you are familiar with the story in Genesis then you also know that when confronted about disobeying God’s command to not eat the fruit of that one tree Adam blamed God by saying, “It was the woman that You gave me that caused me to eat.” (Genesis 3:12) Even though it was not God’s fault, God accepted the responsibility and put in motion a plan of redemption.

Even though it may not have been evident, God has been working on that plan ever since. From the beginning of human existence on earth, God has communed with man through covenant. He made covenant with Adam in the Garden before the fall. He made covenant with Adam and Eve.

God made covenant with Cain after Cain killed his brother. Imagine that. God made covenant with a murderer. There are many others mentioned in scripture: Abraham, Job, Isaac, Jacob, David, etc. The most familiar instance of God making covenant was with Moses and the people of Israel. This is what is normally referred to as the Old Covenant, but there were many “old” covenants mentioned in the Old Testament.

It makes perfect sense, then, to think that when God promised to redeem mankind that He would do it through covenant. This time the covenant would be embodied in a person. He first spoke of this person in the Garden when responding to the serpent, “He will crush your head!” That “he” is none other than Jesus, A Covenant for the People.

Words on parchment do not make up the New Covenant. It documents The Covenant so we will know our responsibilities and benefits, but The covenant is in the blood of Jesus. He is our redemption. He is our salvation. He is our peace. He is our soon coming King.

Through Jesus, God completed His promise to redeem man and restore unabated fellowship between us. Through Jesus, God made a “better” covenant than any that came before. It was a “once for all” covenant, the New Covenant, by which we now have access to the very presence of God.

As with any covenant, there are responsibilities and benefits. Our responsibility is just that: a response. We respond to the Holy Spirit as He woos us toward the Savior, the Anointed One. When we respond to God’s invitation to be baptized into Christ by the Holy Spirit through our identification with Jesus’ death, burial, resurrection, ascension, and seating at the right hand of the Father, God then comes and recreates our spirit and then inhabits our spirit by the Holy Spirit. We are now marked for the Kingdom. We now enjoy the benefits of the Kingdom – all of them!

Man has always tried to add to what God wanted to do in us. Adam “added” the fruit of the forbidden tree to all that God had given him. Abraham and Sarah “added” a son by a handmaid. Job “added” daily sacrifice he offered out of fear for his family. The Pharisees and Sadducees “added” additional commandment.

Some are still adding to the New Covenant. Paul had to correct those who wanted to “add” circumcision. Others wanted dietary restrictions (food offered to idols, etc.) Paul refuted those efforts and proclaimed that our salvation was only by grace, not of works.

So, if you are a Christian, what have you “added” to the Covenant God made with you? We can run ourselves ragged trying to “do” when all God called us to is to “be.” He has already completed everything needed for our salvation; past, present, and future. Just relax. Live the life that Jesus died to give to you. The Covenant for the People is so much more than what we have experienced. It’s time to learn the truth … and live it!

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