Covenants

Posted on by korgrocker

“They are the people of Israel, chosen to be God’s adopted children. God revealed his glory to them. He made covenants with them and gave them his law. He gave them the privilege of worshiping him and receiving his wonderful promises. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are their ancestors, and Christ himself was an Israelite as far as his human nature is concerned. And he is God, the one who rules over everything and is worthy of eternal praise! Amen.”
Romans 9:4-5 NLT

We mustn’t forget the Covenant, made between God and His people. We read in Genesis 12:1-3 how God established a special relationship, a covenant, with Abraham; “The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous, and you will be a blessing to others. I will bless those who bless you and curse those who treat you with contempt. All the families on earth will be blessed through you””. We read in Exodus 19:4-6 God’s message to Moses, “‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians. You know how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now if you will obey me and keep my covenant, you will be my own special treasure from among all the peoples on earth; for all the earth belongs to me. And you will be my kingdom of priests, my holy nation.’ This is the message you must give to the people of Israel”. An awesome responsibility for the Israelites. To support the Covenant, God set out rules and regulations, the Law, that had to be followed, and we can read about that in Exodus 20 and throughout the Books that constituted the Jewish Torah. However, regardless of how the Israelites behaved, and their success at keeping their side of the bargain, the Covenant God made with Abraham and the nation he fathered was unconditional.

We Christians, with the benefit of our Bibles, can look back at two Covenants. The word “Covenant” means an agreement or promise, often underpinned by a legal document. And God has committed Himself to making a Covenant with His peoples everywhere. God cannot lie or break a promise, so the Covenant that He made was everlasting. So when Paul wrote about God making covenants with the Jews, His people, that meant there was an eternal agreement that would never be broken. 

The Covenant that God made with the “people of Israel” included “wonderful promises“. He gave them territory, and promised that the Jews would be a nation that one day will bring blessing to all the families on earth. The Israelite nation were chosen to be His adopted children, with all the benefits that result. Deuteronomy 28 lists the blessings that will be enjoyed by the Jewish nation if they keep the Covenant with God. Many of the Biblical prophecies about the Jews have not yet been fulfilled, but they will be because what God has promised will come to pass. 

But perhaps the biggest and most important promise that God made to His chosen people was the Messiah. Isaiah prophesied, “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isaiah 7:14). And Isaiah 9:6-7, “For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end. He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David for all eternity. The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies will make this happen!” With the benefit of hindsight, we saw that happen with the birth of Jesus, bringing salvation to a lost people and a dark world. And yet the promise of the Messiah won’t be fully fulfilled until we see Jesus reign for all eternity, a government bringing peace that “will never end”.  

Jesus came, ushering in the New Covenant. Jeremiah prophesied that it would happen, ““The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31). About Jesus, the writer of the Hebrews said, “That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant” (Hebrews 9:15).

God never breaks His promises. His Covenants are eternal. And we pilgrims can be part of God’s covenant promises. Forever.

Father God, we thank You for Your faithfulness. It is everlasting, full of love and grace. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

God is Able

Posted on by korgrocker

“Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises.”
Romans 4:20-21 NLT

Do we believe that God is able to do anything? After all, He created the universe. He put into place the physical laws that hold our planet in just the right place, near to the right sun, with all the right resources that human belongs need for life. He is truly an amazing God.

But there are some things that God just cannot do. For example, God cannot tell a lie. God cannot violate the commandments He has issued. God cannot stop loving us. God cannot break the covenant He gave us through Jesus. God cannot break His promises. He is constant and unchanging in His absolute being.

Paul wrote that Abraham “never wavered in believing God’s promise”. But we read that in his lifetime Abraham never saw descendants as numerous as the stars. In Genesis 25 we read about Abraham’s life coming to an end. Genesis 25:7-8, “Abraham lived for 175 years, and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death”. In the preceding verses we see that after Sarah’s death he took other wives, and had children, but nowhere near as numerous as God promised. However, he had faith that God’s promise would happen. And happen through his son with Sarah, Isaac.

Paul wrote that Abraham was “fully convinced”. Now that takes faith, to be that certain about something that wouldn’t be realised in his lifetime. For us pilgrims, one of God’s promises is contained in John 3:16. Eternal life. We read, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”. By its very definition, this is a promise that we are not going to see the fruit of in our natural lifetimes. We need to have faith that it will happen. We need, like Abraham, to be “fully convinced”. Or are we not sure?

There is a promise commonly seen on UK bank notes. I look at the wording on my £10 note – “The Royal Bank of Scotland plc promises to pay the bearer on demand…”. Many years ago the value of a banknote in the UK was pegged to the price of gold, so the owner of a banknote could, at least in theory, exchange it for the equivalent sum in gold coins. Today this is an empty promise, because no bank will hand over gold coins if we asked them. But eternal life is a promise far beyond the writing on a UK bank note. Though there have been claims to the contrary, no-one has indisputably returned from Heaven after they have died to tell us what it will be like. And would we believe them if they did? Jesus used the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man to illustrate the point. We can read the story in Luke 16. A rich man in hell (literally Hades, the place of the dead) has a dialogue with Abraham about sending the poor man Lazarus, who is in Heaven, back to the rich man’s brothers who are still alive, to warn them about the horrors of living in hell. And the story ends with this chilling statement from Abraham, ” … If they won’t listen to Moses and the prophets, they won’t be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead” (Luke 16:31).

At the present time, at least in the UK, there are many struggling to make ends meet, because the cost of living, and inflation, has rocketed skywards. But in response, another promise from God is found in Philippians 4:19, “And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus“. It’s all very well having faith in something that will happen after when we die, but what about having faith that God will meet all our needs now. Today.

So what promises has God given to us pilgrims? We have many, like the promise of eternal life, in the Bible. A common item in years gone by was a “promise box”, containing rolled up pieces of paper, and on each was written a Bible verse containing a promise. These are general promises applicable to all God’s people. But has God given us, like Abraham, a specific promise for us to have faith in, and be “fully convinced” about? If not, perhaps it’s worth asking Him.

Father God. You are the One who had given us many promises about all the things we need in this life. We thank You for Your provision. Amen.

Lawlessness

Posted on by korgrocker

“Clearly, God’s promise to give the whole earth to Abraham and his descendants was based not on his obedience to God’s law, but on a right relationship with God that comes by faith. If God’s promise is only for those who obey the law, then faith is not necessary and the promise is pointless. For the law always brings punishment on those who try to obey it. (The only way to avoid breaking the law is to have no law to break!)”
Romans 4:13-15 NLT

Paul now makes a valid point in his thoughts about the Law. He makes the statement that faith is not necessary if it is possible to be completely obedient to the Law. But as soon as a set of rules and regulations appear, then human beings have a tendency to become box-tickers. 
Do not murder – tick
Do not steal – tick
Do not commit adultery – tick
Do not covet your neighbours goods – errr – tick?
Love the Lord Your God with all your heart – oh dear.
Honesty compels a response that acknowledges the impossibility of being able to keep the Law. And Paul points out that punishment is the only response to the Lawbreakers. 

It is impossible to keep the Law. I always consider the difficulties of laws around speed limits. There is a tendency to resent them, but they are there nonetheless. A 30mph speed limit is difficult to keep to if we drive near that limit. Before we know it we find our speedometer recording 31mph and technically we have then broken the law. The local law enforcers may not detect our lawbreaking, but God sees everything. He knows that we have broken this particular law. A simple and trivial example I know, but one that illustrates the difficulties of keeping the Law, and the need for God’s grace to be poured out and for us human beings to live in faith. 

Paul pointed out that perhaps the remedy is to have no Law. Then there is nothing to break. Good point, but lawlessness is not helpful, as we know. Without laws, anarchy will rule our lives with disastrous consequences. In our first verse today, Romans 4:13, Paul wrote about God’s promise to Abraham. He said that this promise depended on “a right relationship with God that comes by faith”. It’s all about our faith. Back in Genesis 15:5-6 we see the scale of Abraham’s faith. “Then the Lord took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abram believed the Lord, and the Lord counted him as righteous because of his faith”. God made an outrageously extravagant statement to Abraham, who then believed it through faith. And God was pleased with him, considering him righteous. Abraham then orientated his life around God’s promise.

What about us pilgrims today? We too have received a promise from God. For example, John 3:16, “For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life”. By having faith in Jesus, believing in Him for our salvation, God promises that we will receive the right to spend eternity with Him in return. So like Abraham, we must then orientate our life around God’s promise. Through our faith we will clean up our lives, dealing with sin, avoiding worldly pleasures and so on, demonstrating to ourselves and to others, what it means to have a “right relationship with God”. We pilgrims are Kingdom people living Kingdom lives. There is no other way than to do this with faith.

Dear Father God. It’s all about You and Your grace. You know our frailties and sinful inclinations. But through faith we believe Your message, delivered through Jesus at Calvary. We are so grateful. Amen.