The Names of God - Messenger of the Covenant

Messenger of the Covenant

Behold, I send my messenger, and he will prepare the way before me. And the Lord whom you seek will suddenly come to his temple; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the LORD of hosts. Malachi 3:1

You cannot separate Jesus from The Covenant. As a matter of fact, The Covenant doesn’t even make sense without Jesus. John 1 tells us how “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Jesus has been from the beginning. In creation, He was The Word. The original covenant made with mankind came through The Word. When God spoke to Abraham, it was The Word who brought the covenant which made Abraham into a great nation. When God spoke to Moses at the bush and on the mountain, it was The Word who spelled out the covenant made with Israel.

Jesus changed time when He “became flesh”. Time used to be described by B.C. and A.D., which stood for “before Christ” and “Anno Domini”, meaning 'in the year of the Lord' (later changed to B.C.E. and C.E.). No other person affected the world like Jesus.

The reason for His coming was clear – to make a new covenant with mankind. And who was better qualified to do this but Jesus? No one, because He was the Messenger of the Covenant! There was a forerunner so we would know when the “messenger” arrived. John the Baptist came declaring the coming of “One whose shoelaces I am unworthy to untie.” 

Then, through a virgin named Mary, by a “word” given through the angel, Gabriel, The Word became flesh; Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit. The Messenger of the Covenant had returned to earth, but this time in the body of a man. The Second Adam was now here to begin the completion of what the Old Covenant had started. The “schoolmaster”, as the Old Covenant was called (Galatians 3:24) brought us to a place of realizing the need for a Savior. Blood sacrifices on a brazen alter could only cover sins. There was a need for a Spotless Lamb who could place the blood (the propitiation) on the heavenly mercy seat to once and for all remove sin from mankind.

This was the Good News (gospel) Jesus brought. He made righteousness available to mankind, which could bring us back into fellowship with our Creator, so we could once again “come boldly to the throne of grace.” What a welcoming place that is; to have Father God lift our head so we can gaze into His eyes of compassion and be consumed by His love, restoring everything in us – spirit, soul, and body. That is the New Covenant! This is why Jesus came as the Messenger of the Covenant one last time. All He accomplished made a way, once and for all, back to the Father. All we have to do is choose to walk in it. How can we not?