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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