2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Because the OT, the source of many of the citations I have been sharing in the last few days with you, is primarily directed at the Jews, I do not want to convey the idea that covenant theology or that God’s blessings are only for Jews. They are for all who come to faith, Jew or Gentile [RO 1: 16]. Inspired by God, Paul addressed himself to this issue in EPH 3: 1-6. “For this reason, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles, pray to God. Surely you have heard that God in His grace has given me this work to do for your good. God revealed His secret plan and made it known to me. (I have written briefly about this, and if you will read what I have written, you can learn about my understanding of the secret of Christ). In past times mankind was not told this secret, but God has revealed it now by the Spirit to his holy apostles and prophets. The secret is that by means of the Gospel the Gentiles have a part with the Jews in God’s blessings; they are members of the same body and share in the promise that God made through Christ Jesus.” Our Lord amazes and delights me when He can cause Paul to describe himself as a “prisoner of Christ Jesus,” and can make me want to be that too. I have never thought of being a “prisoner,” while at the same time being free by knowing the truth [JN 8: 31-32]. But that, Dear Ones, that is exactly what a faithful, obedient, trusting believer is. The knowledge that in God’s fairness and compassion He has made His blessings available to anyone who loves and has faith in Him is nothing short of amazing! [See JN 14: 21 & 15: 5].
Paul also speaks of the unity of the body of believers in EPH 4: 1-4 & 13, and of God’s will for our standard of response to His sovereignty. “I urge you, then-I who am a prisoner because I serve the Lord: live a life that measures up to the standard God set when He called you. Be always humble, gentle, and patient. Show your love by being tolerant with one another. Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace that binds you together. There is one body and one Spirit, just as there is one hope to which God has called you….And so we shall all come together to that oneness in our faith and in our knowledge of the Son of God; we shall become mature people, reaching to the very height of Christ’s full stature.” I can testify first-hand to how God’s power exerts itself for the good of the Body of Christ when our own selfishly human agendas are put aside in favor of His will. In the course of my work with our congregation’s 70-person prayer chain, I have seen people care about one another in a way I have never seen before. They willingly serve God and each other in a way which benefits the entire congregation. That kind of love shown means Jesus Christ is at the helm!
By now, you are wondering what this has to do with covenants. At the very basis of God’s directions for how we should act to be living “in Christ,” is the Covenant of Grace that He has extended to us. When we live “in Christ,” we are willing and active participants in that covenant just as God is. In the next few messages, God leads me to discuss some of the background of the theology of covenants. A.A. Hodge in his “Outlines of Theology” gives us the elements of a covenant. Covenants have: 1) contracting parties; 2) conditions, which are mutually binding if the covenant is made between equals, or which bring either blessing or penalty to the created (depending upon the response of the created to the commands of the Creator), if the covenant is between God and mankind. The latter covenant is a sovereign constitution imposed by the Creator upon the created. Just for your information, these two kinds of covenants have names. A covenant between two equals is called a dipleuric covenant. One imposed by a greater party (like God) on a lesser party (like man) is called a monopleuric covenant.
In my comments above, I cited some of Paul’s words on what we should do to live “in Christ.” A lot more than that is said on the subject. However, I feel it would be appropriate to conclude today’s message with God’s words on His part of this magnificent covenant to which He has called all those who would be faithful to Him. EX 34: 10, “The Lord said to Moses, “I now make a covenant with the people of Israel [which has now been extended to all believers]. In their presence I will do great things such as have never been done anywhere on earth among any of the nations. All the people will see what great things I, the Lord, can do, because I am going to do an awesome thing for you.” At the time God made this promise, no one knew the exact nature of that “awesome thing.” But today, with the blessing of hindsight, we now know that it was to offer His only begotten son on the cross for us as a once-for-all sin sacrifice, a propitiation, so that we who come to faith could be saved. JN 3: 16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in Him may not perish but have everlasting life.” Praise be to the God Who loves each and every one of us!
PRAYER: O Lord, You have brought us into a special covenant relationship with You solely out of the love You have for us. Without Your love, You would not have cared that we were prisoners to the sin we inherited from Adam or that we were headed for the lake of fire and sulfur with no way out. You imposed that monopleuric covenant on us out of Your compassion, patience, and perfect righteousness. We acknowledge that we have entered into a serious two-way agreement with You and that we have a responsibility to respond to Your sovereign decision to do that in accordance with the directions for how to live “in Christ” that You have been kind enough to give us in the Scriptures. We also acknowledge that You continue to live up to Your promises and have done so throughout mankind’s history. We believe You will do so in the future as well. The most important blessing that You have given us required a great sacrifice on Your part, Your Son given to us to do the work of the cross. We are truly a blessed people when we recognize Your supremacy, sovereignty, compassion, love, and Lordship over our lives. Today, we humbly offer You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, amen.
Tomorrow, I am directed to continue discussing the background of covenant theology as He leads. Each day and so many ways, the Lord leads me to new discoveries of the many facets of His love for each of us. It seems that no matter what topic He leads me to write to you about, the same ultimate conclusion must be reached. He cares about the details of our individual lives. He knows when we suffer and when we feel like celebrating. No matter which way we look at our own lives, we can find Him in them, attempting to do His work through us and at the same time, bless us. He is eager for us to know that we can turn to Him no matter what our needs might be. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn