2002-01-01
Good Morning Faithful Ones,
Today, we begin a segment of this covenant series that deals with a covenant as a solemn, binding agreement. This is important to discuss in this day and age of young people having so much difficulty in making important commitments in their lives. While there is some wisdom in delaying marriages until the parties are mature enough, the problem is that so many people are living together without committing to being life-time partners in a marriage. God’s attitude about this lack of commitment in people’s lives is crystal clear. This is particularly true of the monopleuric covenants in which He enters with us. Remember a monopleuric covenant is one in which one of the parties is stronger than the other. In the case of the Covenant of Grace, our very lives depend on us actively participating in it, carrying out the responsibility to respond to God’s sovereignty.
A binding agreement is not to be entered into lightly. Earlier I mentioned that the pieces of an animal sacrifice as offered in the Scriptures came from cutting the animal in half. Each half represented the old self and the new self. Sometimes the partners in an ancient covenant sacrifice actually walked between the halves of the animal cut. This signified a “walk into death.” It was a testimony of their intention to “die to independent living.” They would now live in consideration of the solemn, binding agreement that they had just made and of each other. There was an understanding that if they broke the covenant, they were calling on God to “do to them as was done to the animal.”
It is most appropriate here to discuss the issue of circumcision from the OT. In GN 17: 9-14. It must be remembered that in GN 15: 6, “Abram put his trust in the Lord and because of this the Lord was pleased with him and accepted him.” In other words, Abram was justified before God commanded him and his male descendants to be circumcised. Now, let’s look at the GN 17 passage. “God said to Abraham, ‘You also must agree to keep the covenant with Me, both you and your descendants in future generations. You and your descendants must all agree to circumcise every male among you. From now on you must circumcise every baby boy when he is eight days old, including slaves born in your homes and slaves bought from foreigners. That will show that there is a covenant between you and Me. Each one must be circumcised, and this will be a physical sign to show that My covenant with you is everlasting. Any males who has not been circumcised will no longer be considered one of My people, because he had not kept the covenant with Me.” You will notice that circumcision is a sign of the inward transformation of Abram’s heart that God has already accomplished by the renewal of his mind [RO 12: 2]. Nowhere in this passage or any other in the Bible does it say that circumcision is either that transformation or something that brings salvation. What brings salvation is faith combined with repentance, nothing else.
In Moses’ time, the act of circumcising one’s male children was important enough for God to lead Moses’ wife, Zipporah, to stop the progress of her husband and son as they traveled toward Egypt. EX 4: 24-26, “At a camping place on the way to Egypt, the Lord met Moses and tried to kill him. Then Zipporah, his wife, took a sharp stone, cut off the foreskin of her son, and touched Moses’ feet with it. ‘Because of the rite of circumcision,’ she said to Moses, ‘you are a husband of blood to me.’ And so, the Lord spared Moses’ life.” In this case as well as the Genesis citation, blood had to be shed to seal the covenant. The basis for this is explained in LV 17: 11, “The life of every living thing is in the blood, and that is why the Lord has commanded that all blood be poured out on the altar to take away the people’s sins. Blood, which is life takes away sin.”
These God-generated principles are the same today, except that the ritual practices have changed. The reason we don’t have to offer animal sacrifices is because a sufficient, once for all sacrifice has been made when Christ did the work of the cross [HE 10: 9-10]. That sealed the Covenant of Grace and draws us to be active, obedient, responsible participants in it. The most wonderful blessing that comes from this is, of course, forward motion along the path to eternal life of joy and fellowship with the Lord. All of this and so much more in the way of God’s presence, protection, power, guidance, encouragement, and profound love comes our way when we understand that the commitment we have made to Him is a solemn, binding one. We need to meditate on how serious our commitment to the Covenant of Grace, and any other covenants we are party to, that we are. If we will turn to the Lord, He will help us to understand this.
PRAYER: O Lord, from the very time that You deemed Abram acceptable because of his faith, You have wanted mankind to approach the covenants You make with them seriously and with reverence for You. You do not want us to be afraid that the evil sent our way by the adversary can defeat us. That is why we must understand that we can commit ourselves wholly and even with joy to Your covenants with us. You have told us that You will protect us and provide for us. What greater manifestation of Your willingness to protect and provide for us can there be than the sacrifice of Your own Son on the cross? In ancient times, You prescribed a life of ritual and the Law, so that people could learn to turn from idolatry and make You the center of the their lives. Many of them rebelled, and still do so today. Because You love us so much, You gave mankind the Law so that we would know what pleases You and what is against Your will. When You required males to be circumcised, You were requiring an outward sign of an inward transformation of the mind leading to faith. You never told us that circumcision or anything except repentance coupled with faith would bring salvation. To that end, the work of the cross was done, opening the way to eternal life for those who believe and love You. We dedicate ourselves to not putting our focus on the trappings of ritual, but to understanding the great privilege You give us in the opportunity to be active participants in our covenants with You, particularly the Covenant of Grace. We offer You in humility our worship, adoration, loyalty, trust, obedience, honor, glory, praise, and thanks. In Christ’s name, we pray. Amen.
Tomorrow, we will look at some more citations from the OT that will let us see why loyalty to covenants either directly with God or in which God is an indirect Participant is so important to us. The love that God has for us is a living love, one that brings eternal life and one that is a dynamic part of our experience with Him here on earth. It is with us every hour of every day, and we can see it working in us and in others around us. Peter and I send you our love too.
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn