2011-09-30
Good Morning Dear Ones,
We have been looking at approaching God on His terms, and by doing this, we get a view of the enormity of the commitment we have made in the Covenant of Grace. Just as enormous are the blessings that come from being a party to this covenant- in this case, a two-way promise in which God is the dominant Partner. When God saw that the Covenant of the Law wasn’t accomplishing His purposes the way He had intended, He first gave His prophet, Jeremiah, instructions to prophecy the coming of a new covenant superior to the old one, in JER 31: 31-34. Then with the coming of Christ, his earthly ministry of three years, and finally His crucifixion-physical death involving the spilling of His blood- the Covenant of Grace was established and sealed in that blood [JN 3: 16, RO 3: 24-25; 1 COR 11: 23-25]. There are three characteristics of a divine covenant: 1) It is a person to Person bond; 2) it is a bond sealed in blood; 3) it is a bond Sovereignly-administered. We’ve seen the first two points; now let’s look at the third one.
To begin, there is no bargaining, bartering, or contracting in this kind of covenant, as there might be in a human to human one. God is in charge and dictates the terms of the covenant. In its simplest terms, God will save a soul for eternity and the believer will gain eternal fellowship/protection/bliss in return. The potential believer pledges faith in God’s Son, repents of His sins, and pledges willingness to live according to God’s teaching-in the true meaning of all of this. That means, this is a pledge on the human’s part with all his heart, not just lip-service. If the human doesn’t know how to fulfill the willingness to live according to God’s teaching, then God will show him how. PS 37: 23-24, “The steps of the godly are directed by the Lord. He delights in every detail of their lives. Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand.” Here is a wonderful example of such a pledge taken in prayer, in PS 86: 11-13, “Teach me Your ways, O Lord; I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to have reverence for Your name. I will praise You, O Lord my God, with all my heart; and I will glorify Your name forevermore. For great is Your mercy toward me; and You have delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” DT 32: 1-2 gives us God’s direction. “Listen, you heavens, and I will speak. Hear you earth, the words of My mouth. Let My teaching fall like rain and My words descend like dew, like the showers on new grass , like abundant rain on tender plants.” There are none of us with humility and experience in the Covenant of Grace, who don’t know we have plenty to learn from our God.
Such divine administration is not well received by situation ethicists. These are people who think all is relative to the human condition. The huge difference in their way of thinking from believers in Christ is that it’s human-centered, rather than God-centered. If something happens to a human or group of people, then there are special people who will solve the problem. To a certain degree, most of us begin our lives as situation ethicists, because any problem or need we have as infants is taken care of by a parent or human agent of a parent. Unless carefully taught, little children will always turn to an adult in authority for the solutions of their problems or fulfillment of their needs. I remember traveling in the late 40’s when something called a magic book was popular for little children to have. These were pages of shiny paper with some kind of slightly raised design on them close to the same color as the page itself. One would take a lead pencil and scribble over these lines, and a design would appear. This budding artist loved magic books and begged for one after another on that trip. I didn’t beg God; I begged my mother. Eventually, she would appeal to my father for money to buy another magic book. Eventually, my father, who was quite a “renaissance man” –physician, artist, poet, etc., began trying to teach me to draw the designs myself, not to rely on the raised ones in magic books. I will forever be thankful for my memories of him for that, but that’s another story for another time.
God’s ethics, unlike human ones, are foundational. Either come to God on His terms or not at all. While there aren’t many real dichotomies in our lives, this is one of them. Once we come to God, He rightly expects us to give it our all. Otherwise, we are not serious in our commitment, and thus, not going to gain eternal life. That makes us the seeds that fall on hard pan, rather than fertile ground, in the metaphor that is Christ’s Parable of the Sower in MT 13: 1-8, 18-23. Eternal life is the goal of any committed believer in the Jesus Christ, the Son of God. JN 8: 31-32, “To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, ‘If you hold to My teaching, you are really My disciples. Then you will know the truth, and truth will set you free.” It may seem confusing, but living within the confines of God’s teaching gives us a kind of first-quality freedom that those who don’t have them can never have. We have the freedom to love, to live truly wholesome lives, to worship our God with our hearts, to learn things we never knew- good things- that we can be and do. An example for me: it has been the blessing to move as many times as I have in my life [dictated by human necessity] and to find people who are my brothers and sisters in Christ, who share my same values and goals, and who are eager to welcome me wherever I found myself. Between them and the God Who is a permanent Resident in my home and Peter’s, I need never feel alone. I dare say it’s the same for anyone who is true believer in our Lord Jesus. As for my moves, I was an Army brat who married an engineer. I’ve lived all over the Canada and the US.
PRAYER: O Lord, we come before Your mighty throne as participants in Your wonderful Covenant of Grace. EPH 2: 8-10 is a foundation that helps us understand our position and a little more about Your capabilities. “For it is by God’s grace that you have been saved through faith. It is not the result of your own efforts, but God’s gift, so that no one can boast about it. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus He has created us for a life of good deeds, which He has already prepared for us to do.” We have come into the covenant upon Your terms with an understanding that You gave us that we are finally free from loneliness, lack of protection in the face of the adversary’s temptation, and feeling unloved. You have made it clear by the Holy Spirit that You created us in Your own image, You have made us a new creation in our union with Christ Jesus, and You are constantly renewing us in Your image so as to give us a better knowledge of Yourself [GN 1: 27; 2 COR 5: 17; COL 3: 10]. You want us to be truthful with each other and not judgmental in the areas You have set Christ aside to judge [DN 7: 13-14] Unlike with other humans, we can place our full trust in You, because You never break Your promises and are always wise and compassionate [PS 138: 8; 2 PET 1: 3-8]. We know You will never abandon us, and that You allow us to grow by experiences especially tailored by You for our needs. Only goodness comes from You, for You have no evil in You [PS 9: 9-10; 2 TIM 2: 13]. Your perspective is so much loftier than our human view can ever be. We can place our full trust in You and never be disappointed. You are to be forever praised and thanked for being Who You are and doing what You alone can accomplish. We offer this prayer in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We begin looking at God’s active and on-going work, as His part of the Covenant of Grace in a new segment called “God Is Actively At Work.” There are Scriptures which give us a picture, as do 2 COR 5: 17 and COL 3: 10 above, of the on-going work in the process of sanctifying His human creation that God is doing. This is work we should never take for granted. Just as we breathe without thinking about it, and other involuntary functions go on to keep the human body working and healthy, there are involuntary functions that God carries out as His part in the Covenant of Grace. Grace itself, unmerited favor, is one of those functions. We don’t deserve it; we can’t control it or decide where it is extended. That’s up to God. But we can bask in the warmth of His grace and know that it is one reason, out of many, for us to be committed to the Covenant of Grace. Can we imagine giving over our only child to enemies who want to take his life from him, so that others you don’t even know yet can be benefitted? That’s exactly what the Father did for us! He watched His Son betrayed, scourged, humiliated, rejected, temporarily separated from Him, hung on a tree to suffer a long, slow, torturous physical death after trials in kangaroo courts, and left in hell for three days-before the Father would use superhuman strength to raise Christ from death to eternal life [JN 3: 16; LK 22: 1-4, 44, 63, 71; LK 23: 18, 44-46; LK 24: 2-3]. Can we truly understand all the ramifications of how huge a blessing salvation, sanctification, and the hope of the resurrection [RO 8: 29] really are? What a blessing that God has commanded us to repent of our sins and to believe in His Son! We who do this are truly a blessed people! Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15