2012-08-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Up to this point in this “New Covenant Identity” segment of the “Our Covenant” messages, the Holy Spirit has had me writing about some of the changes in my own life that went with my new covenant identity. These are things like becoming aware of the Lord’s presence 24/7, having His companionship, and having His direction in my efforts to increase His territory in my life. At this point, I’m directed to writing about what He does for all who enter into the Covenant of Grace with Him.
Each believer in the Lord Jesus Christ is given salvation, because He suffered, died on the cross, and was resurrected from death to eternal life [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. We should look carefully at what we learn in 2 COR 5: 14-17. “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that One died for us, and therefore all died. And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him Who died for them and was raised again. So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!” In our worldliness in the past, we were self-centered and worried about ourselves first. I know that surely applied to me. When trouble hit, as it always does, we felt as if we were on our own. That’s a miserable way to live! But, then, we answered the call of the Holy Spirit to confess our sins, repent of them, and come to believe in the Lord Jesus (my Yeshua). We took on new covenant identities and were changed forever. Why can I say forever? It’s because of what we learn in RO 8: 38-39, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth and anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.” In addition to that, we gain critical reconnaissance in RO 8: 28-29 too. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who have been called according to His purpose. For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son, that He might be the Firstborn among many brothers.” It is Christ’s atoning sacrifice and our God’s supernatural power to “inwardly transform us by the renewal of our mind” [RO 12: 2] that enables this new covenant identity to happen.
One might ask why the Lord went to all this trouble. The answer seems clear to me, as both He and the Father have stated their missions, for our redemption from spiritual death caused by sin [JN 6: 39-40] and that it is the Father’s pleasure that we be adopted into His family [EPH 1: 4-5]. I will repeat something that the Holy Spirit deems very important. God wants us to know Him better and better throughout our earthly lives. COL 3: 9-10, “Do not lie to one another, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” Wow, this is huge! God is at work in us, leading us to know Him better, to distance ourselves from our inherently sinful nature. This is one of the clearest definitions of a maturing believer that we have in the Scriptures. This is a believer who not only is pure in thought but is also actively living as our Lord would choose. The old identity before assuming the new covenant identity is gone. COL 3: 3-4, “For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. Your real life is Christ and when He appears, then you too will appear with Him and share His glory!”
We must ask: what else did our covenant Partner do to and for us? He has given believers eternal forgiveness. 1 JN 1: 9, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” When Christ died on the cross, the door was opened for those willing to repent of their sins and believe in Him to gain both salvation and eternal forgiveness. Long before Christ was on the scene on earth, the prophet Isaiah wrote IS 1: 18, “’Come now, let us reason together,’ says the Lord. ‘Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they will be like wool.’” Isaiah wasn’t the only prophet to foretell of this opportunity for forgiveness. Hosea did too, in HO 2: 23, “I will plant her for myself in the land; I will show My love to the one I called ‘Not My loved one.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My people,’ ‘Your are My people’; and they will say, ‘You are my God.’” Remember the terms of the covenant give in EX 6: 7, I will take you as My own people, and I will be your God, as exactly worded, “I will free you from being slaves to them [Jews from Egyptians] and will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment.” And, God makes clear His desires for all believers in HO 6: 2-3, 5b-6, “After two days [this is Israel supposing that God’s wrath would only be temporary] He will revive us; on the third day He will restore us, that we may live in His presence. Let us acknowledge the Lord; let us press on to acknowledge Him. As surely as the sun rises, He will appear; He will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth…My judgments flashed like lightning upon you. For I desire mercy not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God, not burnt offerings.” Our God does and has done all we need, if we will only believe, obey, and be faithful to Him.
PRAYER: O Lord, when Hosea spoke of “reviving us on the third day,” this was no accident. You loved us enough to devise and cause a plan to happen that would defeat the devil and his evil [REV 12: 12; REV 20: 10], that would allow Your only begotten Son to be an acceptable sin- atoning sacrifice for us, a Propitiation [HE 10: 10]. On the third day, You brought Him from the depths of hell back to eternal life, as the “First among many brothers “ [RO 8: 29]. You mention the third day or three days several times in the Scriptures. MT 12: 39-40 is Christ’s response to the Pharisees and teachers of the law when they demanded to see a miracle. “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days and three nights In the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth…” The Pharisees didn’t understand the meaning of this reply, but we do. You allowed the Lord Jesus to die and be resurrected, so that we who believe in Him, will also have the hope of a resurrection, the resurrection of the just. REV 20: 4-6, “I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony for Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshipped the beast or his image and had not received his mark on their foreheads of their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years. (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended). This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years.” We offer You praise and thanks for giving us these opportunities. You are a loving, patient, and compassionate God. We says this in Christ’s holy/mighty name. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will begin a new segment about “Meaning of a Friendship Covenant.” It will give us a chance to look at the larger meaning of a covenant like the one David and Jonathan had between them. In the meanwhile, each of us can find even more things that God has done for us, and we should spend even more time examining that as it applies to our individual lives. PS 2: 6, 9, “For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth comes knowledge and understanding…Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair –every good path.” As a leader of a huge prayer chain, I see all kinds of people’s troubles and challenges. Believers have a very different take on what is happening to them. They see their challenges as a reminder to trust the Lord, and even when physical death results, they pass on knowing they are on their way to heaven and a blissful eternal life. They have a totally different perspective, one filled with the hope of the resurrection and willingness to acknowledge God’s love, superiority, and His most excellent grace. We have hope instead of despair; faith leads to testimony. 2 COR 4: 13-14, “It is written: ‘I believed; therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One Who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence.” Now that’s something wonderful to anticipate! Praise and thanks be to God!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15