2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
For the last several messages, I have been led to discuss how to become one with Christ’s divine nature as participants in the Covenant of Grace. However, God wants us to deepen our understanding of the value to us of the covenants of the Scriptures and of covenants to which He is a Party in our own lives. To this end, He leads me to discuss protection in covenant. HE 1: 1-3, “In the past God spoke to our ancestors many times and in many ways through the prophets, but in these last days He has spoken to us through His Son. He is the One through whom God created the universe, the One whom God has chosen to possess all things at the end. He reflects the brightness of God’s glory and is the exact likeness of God’s own being, sustaining the universe with His powerful word. After achieving forgiveness for the sins of mankind, He sat down in heaven at the right side of God, the Supreme Power.” This passage along with others that support it [AC 2: 23; AC 4: 27-28; COL 1: 15-20; 1 PET 1: 20-21; JN 1: 1-4; JN 14: 6, 9, & 11; JN 1: 29-30; 1 COR 2: 7] gives us a clear pictures of Christ’s relationship to God, the authority He holds, His divine nature, and His love for each of us. We can’t question the latter when we realize that He sustains the universe with the power of His word, something given to us.
It helps us to understand the issue of protection that is found in covenants where God is a participant when we compare the covenant between Jonathan (Saul’s son and a dear friend of David’s) and David with the new covenant (Covenant of Grace) between God and ourselves. In the first case, the covenant was agreed upon to protect physical life (in this case, David’s); in the second case, the covenant was imposed to grant mankind a path to salvation to protect spiritual lives. God was definitely a participant in the covenant between Jonathan and David even though He isn’t specially mentioned as one. We know this, because of how the events of the story [found in 1 SAM 18-20] play out. 1 SAM 18: 3-5, “Jonathan swore eternal friendship with David because of his deep affection for him. He took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, together with his armor and also his sword, bow, and belt. David was successful in all the missions on which Saul sent him, and so Saul made him an officer in his army. This pleased all of Saul’s officers and men.” David’s successes both with his missions and with pleasing Saul’s officers and men had God’s hand all over them.
The story of what transpired after that in David’s life also had the imprint of God on it. In 1 SAM 18: 6-16. In the interest of time and space, let me recall these events in my own words. Upon David’s return from his victory over the giant, Goliath, a woman in Saul’s court sang a song giving David credit for killing more of Israel’s enemies than Saul did. This prompted Saul to feel jealous of David. The next day, God allowed an evil spirit to possess Saul, further enraging him. When not in battle, David played the harp in Saul’s court. Saul shot two spears at David on such an occasion. God was with David and gave him the ability to successfully dodge those two spears. Saul now really became afraid. As time went on David’s successes on the battlefield and the love of the people toward him increased. So, did Saul’s fear of the truth that was dawning. That truth was that God would pass the authority for kingship over Israel to David and away from him. This story reveals to us one way that God protects those who are faithful. I find it quite interesting that it is possible what the Bible calls “an evil spirit” may very well have been the onset of schizophrenia, the mental disease which causes intermittent psychotic behavior. Saul certainly seems like he suffered from that.
The relationship between David and Jonathan is a subject to which we will return later. For now, we need to conclude by looking at the parallel between this covenant between them, which protected David’s physical life, and that between ourselves and God, which protects our spiritual life. We must ask ourselves, what would be the future of our spiritual lives were it not for the Covenant of Grace? Before the original sin of Adam was committed, Adam and Eve lived without challenge to their well-being and with every need met in the Garden of Eden. Then, along came the serpent and GN 3: 6, “The woman saw how beautiful the tree was and how good its fruit would be to eat, and she thought how wonderful it would be to become wise. So she took some of the fruit an ate it. Then she gave it to her husband, and he also ate it.” From that time on, they and their descendants (all of mankind) had no choice but to sin. A wonderful promise is contained in two more Genesis citations that gives us a peek into the compassionate and loving heart of the Father. GN 3: 15 [known as the “Proevangelium”-God speaking to the serpent], “I will make you and the woman hate each other; her offspring and yours will always be enemies. Her offspring will crush your head, and you will bite their heel.” This was the first prophecy of the clash between good and evil, between the world’s view and God’s view. Looking carefully into it, a heel bitten is painful but not fatal. A head crushed is indeed fatal. “God wins and Satan loses” is the simple, truth of the Scriptures!
GN 3: 21, “And the Lord God made clothes out of animal skins for Adam and his wife, He clothed them.” Just before they were expelled from the Garden of Eden, an animal’s blood was shed so that God could place the promise of protection over mankind! That’s love. That promise was fulfilled in the blood of Jesus Christ shed on the cross so we can be saved. Now, that’s love!
PRAYER: O Lord, even though we have never deserved it, You have loved us right from the beginning. The extent of Your compassion and patience with us is revealed in Your long-standing and continuing efforts to bring us to trust in You, confess our sin, and profess our faith in the saving power of Your Son. A less perfect deity would have given up long ago in the face of so much disrespect, irreverence, and disobedience. You have called us to a personal and covenant relationship with You to offer us protection and salvation itself. When the desires of our flesh are allowed to dominate our lives, we too soon forget what it would mean to spend eternity in conscious torment with no way out. For, that is what spiritual death is. The sacrifice of Your Son on the cross opened a narrow gate through which You have given us the faith and courage to pass. The path of sanctification which we must travel before we can be ready for eternal life in joy and fellowship with You, is difficult. Yet, You have equipped us to make that walk with You, knowing it would strengthen us and allow us to know Your loving presence. Through our willingness to make Christ the Lord of our lives, You have provided relief from damnation and eternal life for us. What greater gift can there be than the grace You extend to us in that?!! In humility, we pledge You our adoration, worship, loyalty, trust, obedience, glory, honor, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will delve more into David’s story and see how it gives us a deeper understanding of the covenant relationship we have with God. In the meanwhile, focus on that fact that the Father and His Son are always with us wherever we are. We have been told that we will be given anything we ask for in the name of the Son. That’s God’s way of letting us know that He loves us and has given us the righteousness through our faith that will keep us from asking Him for something that is evil. Our God is an awesome God and loves each one of us in ways that are immeasurable. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn