Covenant is a structure for our approach to God and for God to change us into His likeness. It is the path we take. Every construction needs a blueprint. With that blueprint is the picture of the finished building. God has not only given us covenant making and keeping but He has provided the picture that is the blueprint’s purpose. God gave us Jesus. John 14:6 (New Living Translation)6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. Jesus has become to us our Covenant.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil still stands in the “midst of the garden” or the realm of our dwelling. We still have the choice of eating from it. The disobedience of Adam caused God to drive them from the garden so they would not have access to the tree of Life and live forever in their disobedience. What exactly did Lucifer promise if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? That they would be as God and they would know good and evil. Genesis 3:4-5 (New Living Translation) 4 “You won’t die!” the serpent replied to the woman. 5 “God knows that your eyes will be opened as soon as you eat it, and you will be like God, knowing both good and evil.” Eating from that tree gave them control to know for their own selves what they had been dependent on God to know. That has become the root of human (Adamic) nature. Jesus walked on this earth dependent on God through His Spirit to know His will for what He would say and what He would do. In the fifth chapter of John, there are several keys to the difference between the manner in which Jesus lived and ministered in this realm and the way we who are subject to human nature live and minister. His complete dependence on the Spirit to show Him the Father in action and hear what the Father was speaking and keep the oneness with the Father complete in Him so He could do the Father’s will is a revelation of what is possible for us. Remember Jesus emptied Himself and took on our likeness. He was vulnerable and relied on the Holy Spirit and God’s Word to keep Himself in the purity of oneness with God, the Father. The Holy Spirit is given to us for the same purpose. He will guide us into all truth. The fourteenth and sixteenth chapters of John are a peek into the Spirit’s ministry to the church and each believer. One of my favorite promises of the Spirit’s ministry is John 16:15. (Amplified Bible) 15Everything that the Father has is Mine. That is what I meant when I said that He [the Spirit] will take the things that are Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.If we want to eat of the Tree of Life, we need only feed on Jesus. He is Truth. The only way we can truly do this is by the Spirit of the Living God abiding in us, leading us, teaching and revealing Jesus to us. I Corinthians 1:28-30 (Amplified Bible) 28And God also selected (deliberately chose) what in the world is lowborn and insignificant and branded and treated with contempt, even the things that are nothing, that He might depose and bring to nothing the things that are, 29So that no mortal man should [have pretense for glorying and] boast in the presence of God. 30But it is from Him that you have your life in Christ Jesus, Whom God made our Wisdom from God, [revealed to us a knowledge of the divine plan of salvation previously hidden, manifesting itself as] our Righteousness [thus making us upright and putting us in right standing with God], and our Consecration [making us pure and holy], and our Redemption [providing our ransom from eternal penalty for sin].The Holy Spirit’s ministry to us is to reveal Jesus, The Way the Truth and the Life, to us so we can give to God a true and continuing covenant response.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Response of Worship
When we consider the magnitude of the authority of Jehovah and His desire to make a covenant with mortal man, worship begins to rise within us. This worship is the Covenant response that God is looking for in us. John 4:23 (New Living Translation) "23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way." Jesus was asked to name the greatest commandment by one of the Sadducees. Matthew 22:37-40 (NLT) 37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”David’s psalms are filled with his praise for the majesty of God. Daniel magnifies the majestic works of His hand. Almost every prayer you read in the O.T. begins with praise of the awesome Might of our God. It becomes a positioning before Him. When we live with this attitude of awareness of Who He is and how great is His Majesty, and awesome His power, we change our view of ourselves and our circumstances. Everything in this realm becomes less and He is magnified in our sight.
True worship in spirit and truth is not a matter of place, time or method. It is a way of life. When the call to worship comes in a public meeting, it is not a beginning of worship to the worshipper. It is a verbal sharing with other worshippers of what is always in the heart. This shared worship is very important for it defines and expresses what has been an inner excitement and mostly silent sense of His Presence but now in these shared times of worship is strengthened by the impartation of other worshippers so our own worship grows. It is not dependent on this time for expression, but the expression is developed and the strength from that shared worship is sustaining to our own worship.
When we face our difficult circumstances with worship and praise of our awesome God, we not only give to God a covenant response, but we belittle the circumstance.
Become a worshipper. It is the only thing you do now that you will do in eternity. When you are a worshipper, you practice and come to love doing and are never bored doing the thing you will do when you enter your eternal existence and will continue doing eternally. That may not be the best sentence but it is the only way I can express my anticipation of such worship that the angels who worship now will fall silent in the presence of such heartfelt worship that will come from all the redeemed of the earth.
True worship in spirit and truth is not a matter of place, time or method. It is a way of life. When the call to worship comes in a public meeting, it is not a beginning of worship to the worshipper. It is a verbal sharing with other worshippers of what is always in the heart. This shared worship is very important for it defines and expresses what has been an inner excitement and mostly silent sense of His Presence but now in these shared times of worship is strengthened by the impartation of other worshippers so our own worship grows. It is not dependent on this time for expression, but the expression is developed and the strength from that shared worship is sustaining to our own worship.
When we face our difficult circumstances with worship and praise of our awesome God, we not only give to God a covenant response, but we belittle the circumstance.
Become a worshipper. It is the only thing you do now that you will do in eternity. When you are a worshipper, you practice and come to love doing and are never bored doing the thing you will do when you enter your eternal existence and will continue doing eternally. That may not be the best sentence but it is the only way I can express my anticipation of such worship that the angels who worship now will fall silent in the presence of such heartfelt worship that will come from all the redeemed of the earth.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Covenant Authority 3
The strength of covenant is the authority backing the covenant. When we come to any covenant originated by God, we have an everlasting covenant for the authority is Eternal God. The test of any promise is in the fulfillment. God honors His Word and fulfills His Word. In Hebrews 6 this authority is addressed. Hebrews 6:13-20 (New Living Translation)13 For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying: 14 “I will certainly bless you, and I will multiply your descendants beyond number.” 15 Then Abraham waited patiently, and he received what God had promised. 16 Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding. 17 God also bound himself with an oath, so that those who received the promise could be perfectly sure that he would never change his mind. 18 So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. 19 This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God’s inner sanctuary. 20 Jesus has already gone in there for us. He has become our eternal High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.
Genesis 22:16-18 (King James Version) 16 ... By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
In the process of cutting a covenant, the promise of intention and the expectation of covenant response are written down and signed in blood. They are exchanged to be produced if ever the covenant is challenged. This is followed by the participants walking among the pieces of the animal (s) until they once more meet in the center and swear an oath by the help of God that they will keep the covenant promise. Then they pronounce the curse of a failed covenant. “Be it unto me as these pieces if I fail.”
God injects His own Being into the oath of this covenant with Abraham. By this oath and by Abraham's obedience, the way is clear for Jesus to enter this realm and become the Lamb substitute for us.
The nature of God becomes the target of Satan in his ongoing battle to exalt himself. Satan accuses God to men belittling God’s intent to bless and His willingness to act on our behalf. His desire to save us and to heal us and to deliver us from evil is denigrated by questioning His will. Matthew 8:2-3 (NLT) 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Satan is the accuser. He accuses each of us to one another, He accuses God to us and accuses us to God. The purpose is separation and division. When we walk in the path laid out for us by God, we walk in His Light. When we leave that path we walk in darkness. Separation causes us to lose awareness of God and understanding of His Word. So we grope in darkness for the understanding that will satisfy us and we do what we think will justify us. We may be doing the very thing God wants us to do, but we are not doing it in Light. There is no other justification for us outside the Blood of Jesus. It is not about what we do or how we do it or if we do not do it. It is all about what He has done. He declared it finished and we do not add our own works to accomplish what has already been done. Satan manipulates us with guilt and fear which diminish our comprehension of His Glory and Power. When we lose that sense of reverent awe in such an awesome God, we lose true worship. When we lose the understanding of His Holiness, Majesty and Love, we lose the understanding of His grace and mercy and His purpose to bring us into His image. The fear that Satan brings clouds the knowledge of the depths of the tremendous power in the Blood Jesus left in this realm to deliver us not only from our sin but is the tool to bring us to overcoming the bondage of our human nature.
We need only look to Him in identification with Him to be changed. But we must identify with Him as He has identified with us. He came in the likeness of man so we could be changed into His likeness. II Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.I like that translation. I also like the New American Standard Bible as it has the word “mirror” which gives a little different slant. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. We look into a mirror to see ourselves but if we see Jesus and all He has done for us and in us, we take on His victory and we no longer concentrate on our weakness but His strength.
Genesis 22:16-18 (King James Version) 16 ... By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
In the process of cutting a covenant, the promise of intention and the expectation of covenant response are written down and signed in blood. They are exchanged to be produced if ever the covenant is challenged. This is followed by the participants walking among the pieces of the animal (s) until they once more meet in the center and swear an oath by the help of God that they will keep the covenant promise. Then they pronounce the curse of a failed covenant. “Be it unto me as these pieces if I fail.”
God injects His own Being into the oath of this covenant with Abraham. By this oath and by Abraham's obedience, the way is clear for Jesus to enter this realm and become the Lamb substitute for us.
The nature of God becomes the target of Satan in his ongoing battle to exalt himself. Satan accuses God to men belittling God’s intent to bless and His willingness to act on our behalf. His desire to save us and to heal us and to deliver us from evil is denigrated by questioning His will. Matthew 8:2-3 (NLT) 2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.” 3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared. Satan is the accuser. He accuses each of us to one another, He accuses God to us and accuses us to God. The purpose is separation and division. When we walk in the path laid out for us by God, we walk in His Light. When we leave that path we walk in darkness. Separation causes us to lose awareness of God and understanding of His Word. So we grope in darkness for the understanding that will satisfy us and we do what we think will justify us. We may be doing the very thing God wants us to do, but we are not doing it in Light. There is no other justification for us outside the Blood of Jesus. It is not about what we do or how we do it or if we do not do it. It is all about what He has done. He declared it finished and we do not add our own works to accomplish what has already been done. Satan manipulates us with guilt and fear which diminish our comprehension of His Glory and Power. When we lose that sense of reverent awe in such an awesome God, we lose true worship. When we lose the understanding of His Holiness, Majesty and Love, we lose the understanding of His grace and mercy and His purpose to bring us into His image. The fear that Satan brings clouds the knowledge of the depths of the tremendous power in the Blood Jesus left in this realm to deliver us not only from our sin but is the tool to bring us to overcoming the bondage of our human nature.
We need only look to Him in identification with Him to be changed. But we must identify with Him as He has identified with us. He came in the likeness of man so we could be changed into His likeness. II Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.I like that translation. I also like the New American Standard Bible as it has the word “mirror” which gives a little different slant. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. We look into a mirror to see ourselves but if we see Jesus and all He has done for us and in us, we take on His victory and we no longer concentrate on our weakness but His strength.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Covenant Authority
First,I must apologize for missed blogs. I am having computer problems and some days there seems to be no instant resolution!
It is important to look at some of the issues Abraham faced but had to "overlook" in his obedience to sacrifice Isaac. In the time Abraham lived, the worship of the false gods and their idols demanded human sacrifice. Babies and young girls and boys were often killed in their annual "festivals". This was NOT a part of the worship of Jehovah and Abraham knew this. In Satan's desire to be like God, he apes what God does. He demands worship from mankind but his hatred and jealousy of humans is expressed in his desire to kill them. God's love for us is expressed in His protection and desire to bless us. Abraham knew this was not the normal demand of God for worship but this was a covenant demand. He did not know why God was asking for this but he knew the only way he could respond to a covenant demand was obedience. He did not know why God demanded a three-day journey to a specific mountain, but he obeyed. (With limited covenant understanding, we find such obedience hard to fathom.)
There does not seem to be any promise of resurrected life as recorded at this time. But Abraham had a vision of what God planned to do. Hebrews 11:9-10 (NLT)"9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." Also, Abraham knew his covenant friend was eternal as was His covenant intent. Therefore, Abraham believed in the eternity God had placed in his heart. His part was to obey, the rest was up to God.
Abraham also had to trust that his training of Isaac in obedience was enough. He needed Isaac's cooperation in this. Whatever Isaac's age, Abraham was 100 years older! The lesson I have learned from this is covenant response is unquestioning obedience to God's Word. We find that lived out in the lives of those of faith all through the Bible.
We have viewed this authority of covenant from Abraham and Isaac's side but let us look also at it from God's side. While our view of this covenant is from a limited human sight, God has set deliberate limits on Himself regarding His action in this realm. Covenant controls the perimeters. God has to have covenant response to act sovereignly. In the making of a covenant with Abraham, God moved slowly and carefully to assure Abraham's response. It was now time to anchor this covenant into this realm so future plans of God could be enacted. The covenant had to be tested and the final seal put on it. Abraham had to complete his obedience. His hand holding the knife was on the downward plunge to Isaac's heart, when the angel of the Lord stopped his hand. Genesis 22:11-14 (New Living Translation)
11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” 12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” 13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” All through this process of covenant making we have seen substitutionary provision. His love for us is visible not only in His desire to provide covenants with us, but He takes the full responsibility of cutting the covenant with us. He only demands the response from us of receiving and obeying. We give to Him a covenant "YES!"
The next passage is one of my favorite "spots" in the Bible. I often go back to it just to contemplate the tremendous scope of God's intent for us. Genesis 22:15-18 (King James Version) 15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Two things are finalized. The Covenant is ratified and sealed. The purpose of God in making this covenant is assured: He can now send His Son into our realm to be our Savior. I was amazed one day when the Spirit took me from this verse to another in Matthew. A similar occasion had taken place as Jesus tested His disciples so they could know their own understanding of what God was doing at that time.
Matthew 16:13-19 (New King James Version)13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The promise to Abraham was his seed--Jesus--would possess the gates of the enemy--Satan--and this Jesus did. He took back from Satan what Adam had given up. He said to His followers He had all authority in heaven and in this realm. Matthew 28:18-20 (King James Version)18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Everything God has done in this process of creating man in His image, has been to patiently reveal His love and purpose to man while giving them the choice of receiving and responding to Him in covenant so He could travel on their response to bless, nurture and guide them into His full purpose.
There is more to be gleaned from this passage so we will continue tomorrow. Thanks for coming and if you have any comments or questions, I will be happy to answer
It is important to look at some of the issues Abraham faced but had to "overlook" in his obedience to sacrifice Isaac. In the time Abraham lived, the worship of the false gods and their idols demanded human sacrifice. Babies and young girls and boys were often killed in their annual "festivals". This was NOT a part of the worship of Jehovah and Abraham knew this. In Satan's desire to be like God, he apes what God does. He demands worship from mankind but his hatred and jealousy of humans is expressed in his desire to kill them. God's love for us is expressed in His protection and desire to bless us. Abraham knew this was not the normal demand of God for worship but this was a covenant demand. He did not know why God was asking for this but he knew the only way he could respond to a covenant demand was obedience. He did not know why God demanded a three-day journey to a specific mountain, but he obeyed. (With limited covenant understanding, we find such obedience hard to fathom.)
There does not seem to be any promise of resurrected life as recorded at this time. But Abraham had a vision of what God planned to do. Hebrews 11:9-10 (NLT)"9 And even when he reached the land God promised him, he lived there by faith—for he was like a foreigner, living in tents. And so did Isaac and Jacob, who inherited the same promise. 10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God." Also, Abraham knew his covenant friend was eternal as was His covenant intent. Therefore, Abraham believed in the eternity God had placed in his heart. His part was to obey, the rest was up to God.
Abraham also had to trust that his training of Isaac in obedience was enough. He needed Isaac's cooperation in this. Whatever Isaac's age, Abraham was 100 years older! The lesson I have learned from this is covenant response is unquestioning obedience to God's Word. We find that lived out in the lives of those of faith all through the Bible.
We have viewed this authority of covenant from Abraham and Isaac's side but let us look also at it from God's side. While our view of this covenant is from a limited human sight, God has set deliberate limits on Himself regarding His action in this realm. Covenant controls the perimeters. God has to have covenant response to act sovereignly. In the making of a covenant with Abraham, God moved slowly and carefully to assure Abraham's response. It was now time to anchor this covenant into this realm so future plans of God could be enacted. The covenant had to be tested and the final seal put on it. Abraham had to complete his obedience. His hand holding the knife was on the downward plunge to Isaac's heart, when the angel of the Lord stopped his hand. Genesis 22:11-14 (New Living Translation)
11 At that moment the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham! Abraham!” “Yes,” Abraham replied. “Here I am!” 12 “Don’t lay a hand on the boy!” the angel said. “Do not hurt him in any way, for now I know that you truly fear God. You have not withheld from me even your son, your only son.” 13 Then Abraham looked up and saw a ram caught by its horns in a thicket. So he took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering in place of his son. 14 Abraham named the place Yahweh-Yireh (which means “the Lord will provide”). To this day, people still use that name as a proverb: “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.” All through this process of covenant making we have seen substitutionary provision. His love for us is visible not only in His desire to provide covenants with us, but He takes the full responsibility of cutting the covenant with us. He only demands the response from us of receiving and obeying. We give to Him a covenant "YES!"
The next passage is one of my favorite "spots" in the Bible. I often go back to it just to contemplate the tremendous scope of God's intent for us. Genesis 22:15-18 (King James Version) 15 And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, 16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: 17 That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; 18 And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice.
Two things are finalized. The Covenant is ratified and sealed. The purpose of God in making this covenant is assured: He can now send His Son into our realm to be our Savior. I was amazed one day when the Spirit took me from this verse to another in Matthew. A similar occasion had taken place as Jesus tested His disciples so they could know their own understanding of what God was doing at that time.
Matthew 16:13-19 (New King James Version)13 When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” 14 So they said, “Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” 15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”
The promise to Abraham was his seed--Jesus--would possess the gates of the enemy--Satan--and this Jesus did. He took back from Satan what Adam had given up. He said to His followers He had all authority in heaven and in this realm. Matthew 28:18-20 (King James Version)18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
Everything God has done in this process of creating man in His image, has been to patiently reveal His love and purpose to man while giving them the choice of receiving and responding to Him in covenant so He could travel on their response to bless, nurture and guide them into His full purpose.
There is more to be gleaned from this passage so we will continue tomorrow. Thanks for coming and if you have any comments or questions, I will be happy to answer
Friday, July 10, 2009
Covenant Authority
Today I want to show you what I have learned concerning authority in my study of covenant making. Authority is a large part of covenant while it is not emphasized as such. Because I believe covenant is so important to God and so misunderstood in our realm, I wanted to pursue the search to understand by the Spirit’s leading. The purpose in making covenant the means of communication between this earthly realm and God’s spirit realm has to involve God’s authority over all. So I began noting all references to authority and asking the Spirit to give my search direction. I did not want to get into a word search and my own interpretation for I found that nearly all references to authority were gleaned from some “story” of a person’s circumstance and so could inspire human reaction or sympathy. These cannot dictate our reaction to authority because all authority comes from God.
I have found the biggest reaction that turns people away from an authority is “unworthiness” in the person or group expressing the authority. If misuse in any way is evident, hostility toward that authority begins to grow. This can become ingrained reaction to not only that one direction but to others as well until there is a reaction to all authority. I began to see that “rebellion” and “submission” can become a part of our spirit and no longer a soul reaction. I mean by that we no longer react to a feeling or a thought but we have an ingrained reaction when there really is no reason for it. We just are rebellious or submissive.
What does this have to do with covenant? The authority behind covenant making never was an issue. It just was. God instituted it. Not even Satan could question that. He could only direct a question to our willingness to listen to God and follow Him. Only in the last 100 to 150 years has there been a growing ignorance of covenant and that is the only way Satan can fight it. Covenant is that effective in bringing us to maturity in our relationship to God.
God gave Adam authority over this realm. God did not take it away. Adam allowed Satan to usurp it. God did not give it to Satan. Satan does not have authority. Because it is usurped from man, Satan can only work his will by using man to do his work for him.
God IS authority but He has chosen covenant as His way of relating to this whole realm. Covenant carries God’s authority in its very nature. Because of this, God limits His authority to act sovereignly. He reveals His purposed action to His prophets beforehand. Why? He must have a covenant response of the expectation of faith and the prayer of faith of people who believe His Word and ask that it be fulfilled. Anna and Simeon were two people who believed not only that God would send the Messiah but that they would see it. Mary and Joseph were willing to pay the price to be a part of God’s plan to send the Messiah. God needed people on this earth giving to God their authority in this realm to God to move in this realm.
Now let us return to Abraham and see this in action. God has given a covenant to Abraham. That covenant must now be deepened. There are several aspects to this and I hope to cover them all eventually. Now let us look at Isaac. In the exchange of names, God has become the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. (I said earlier it was because these men were the last of God’s dealing with the “family line”.) But to be so, God has to bring each one of these men into His covenant making. In Psalm 105:8-10 God shows the different relationships to covenant each of these men shared. Psalm 105:9-10 (NLT) 9This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. 10He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a neverending covenant.
Isaac learned covenant from his father and understood the necessity of a covenant response of obedience. There does not seem to have been much communication between Abraham and Isaac concerning the journey they take in Genesis 22 but evidently there did not have to be for Isaac to be obedient in going with his father. Isaac was not a little boy but at least an older teen-ager. Abraham is well over 100 but certainly not feeble. These men were not casually going for a stroll. Isaac knew they were going to make a sacrifice. There was intent in their journey. Abraham had to have emotions roiling through his soul but his spirit was focused on giving to God a covenant response. I am amazed at the obedient and submissive response Isaac gave to his father in all of this. I learn a great many lessons from looking at Isaac’s response. His only questioning came from natural procedure. How I long for such a response to my heavenly Father.
As a parent, I can empathize with the price obedience demanded from Abraham. Obedience at any cost means death to many aspects of our human nature’s response. We all face this death to these responses within us in the circumstances of the trials we face. When we read in the Bible of a trial someone faced, it is easy to mistake that as being different from what we face. However, God is working in us the same as He has worked in people of every generation to become what He has purposed. We have to learn the same lesson of obedience with faith.
To Abraham, this was answering a covenant demand and giving a covenant response. His faith was in the covenant. God had promised in covenant that through Isaac the promise would be fulfilled. So with confidence he instructed his servants. Genesis 22:5 (NLT) “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
Why was Abraham so confident? He knew the authority that backed up the covenant he had. God was his covenant friend. His trust was in the fact that a covenanted word could not fail. (Adam had not developed that same trust even though he knew covenant procedure.) God had over a long period of years patiently drawn Abraham toward this time of absolute trust. Rejoice in the trials that have shaped you. Let thanksgiving and rejoicing be in your worship of your faithful God Who is preparing you to live with Him eternally!
We will continue this same lesson tomorrow. It is a big subject and could take some time to even skim over the surface so I will just give you something to ponder!
I have found the biggest reaction that turns people away from an authority is “unworthiness” in the person or group expressing the authority. If misuse in any way is evident, hostility toward that authority begins to grow. This can become ingrained reaction to not only that one direction but to others as well until there is a reaction to all authority. I began to see that “rebellion” and “submission” can become a part of our spirit and no longer a soul reaction. I mean by that we no longer react to a feeling or a thought but we have an ingrained reaction when there really is no reason for it. We just are rebellious or submissive.
What does this have to do with covenant? The authority behind covenant making never was an issue. It just was. God instituted it. Not even Satan could question that. He could only direct a question to our willingness to listen to God and follow Him. Only in the last 100 to 150 years has there been a growing ignorance of covenant and that is the only way Satan can fight it. Covenant is that effective in bringing us to maturity in our relationship to God.
God gave Adam authority over this realm. God did not take it away. Adam allowed Satan to usurp it. God did not give it to Satan. Satan does not have authority. Because it is usurped from man, Satan can only work his will by using man to do his work for him.
God IS authority but He has chosen covenant as His way of relating to this whole realm. Covenant carries God’s authority in its very nature. Because of this, God limits His authority to act sovereignly. He reveals His purposed action to His prophets beforehand. Why? He must have a covenant response of the expectation of faith and the prayer of faith of people who believe His Word and ask that it be fulfilled. Anna and Simeon were two people who believed not only that God would send the Messiah but that they would see it. Mary and Joseph were willing to pay the price to be a part of God’s plan to send the Messiah. God needed people on this earth giving to God their authority in this realm to God to move in this realm.
Now let us return to Abraham and see this in action. God has given a covenant to Abraham. That covenant must now be deepened. There are several aspects to this and I hope to cover them all eventually. Now let us look at Isaac. In the exchange of names, God has become the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob. (I said earlier it was because these men were the last of God’s dealing with the “family line”.) But to be so, God has to bring each one of these men into His covenant making. In Psalm 105:8-10 God shows the different relationships to covenant each of these men shared. Psalm 105:9-10 (NLT) 9This is the covenant he made with Abraham and the oath he swore to Isaac. 10He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, and to the people of Israel as a neverending covenant.
Isaac learned covenant from his father and understood the necessity of a covenant response of obedience. There does not seem to have been much communication between Abraham and Isaac concerning the journey they take in Genesis 22 but evidently there did not have to be for Isaac to be obedient in going with his father. Isaac was not a little boy but at least an older teen-ager. Abraham is well over 100 but certainly not feeble. These men were not casually going for a stroll. Isaac knew they were going to make a sacrifice. There was intent in their journey. Abraham had to have emotions roiling through his soul but his spirit was focused on giving to God a covenant response. I am amazed at the obedient and submissive response Isaac gave to his father in all of this. I learn a great many lessons from looking at Isaac’s response. His only questioning came from natural procedure. How I long for such a response to my heavenly Father.
As a parent, I can empathize with the price obedience demanded from Abraham. Obedience at any cost means death to many aspects of our human nature’s response. We all face this death to these responses within us in the circumstances of the trials we face. When we read in the Bible of a trial someone faced, it is easy to mistake that as being different from what we face. However, God is working in us the same as He has worked in people of every generation to become what He has purposed. We have to learn the same lesson of obedience with faith.
To Abraham, this was answering a covenant demand and giving a covenant response. His faith was in the covenant. God had promised in covenant that through Isaac the promise would be fulfilled. So with confidence he instructed his servants. Genesis 22:5 (NLT) “Stay here with the donkey,” Abraham told the servants. “The boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.”
Why was Abraham so confident? He knew the authority that backed up the covenant he had. God was his covenant friend. His trust was in the fact that a covenanted word could not fail. (Adam had not developed that same trust even though he knew covenant procedure.) God had over a long period of years patiently drawn Abraham toward this time of absolute trust. Rejoice in the trials that have shaped you. Let thanksgiving and rejoicing be in your worship of your faithful God Who is preparing you to live with Him eternally!
We will continue this same lesson tomorrow. It is a big subject and could take some time to even skim over the surface so I will just give you something to ponder!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Covenant Protection
In God’s Word, there is no attempt to hide the nature of sin nor the weakness of human nature to resist it. God’s covenant with us is not to hide that nature but to provide the way to not only escape the penalty of sin but to overcome our human nature through the Blood of the covenant and our identity with God and His provision (the word of our testimony). Revelation 12:11 (NASB) "And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death."
In Abraham’s life, we see how man can fail even when he has everything going for him. He had heard from God and even talked with Him in Genesis 18 concerning God’s plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and received His promise of a son in one year. Yet for the second time Abraham failed as the protector of Sarah. Once with Pharaoh of Egypt and again with the king of Gerar, Abimelech. But Abraham was under covenant and God never fails in His role as Protector. He came to Sarah’s rescue and delivered her from the hand of danger. God protected His Covenant Word. We are not alone. Greater than any power that has been known or could yet be known in this realm is the power of the Blood and His Covenanted Word. That power is your protection and available to you in His Name over any enemy you face.
Covenant is God’s means of providing His protection and provision while still giving us the choice to go God’s way or our own. Going our way means separation from God. That does not change God’s Word or His Nature or His Being in any way. His covenant still stands. His love never fails. We can give God a covenant response and say “Yes” to His provision and God leads us on. When we come to the realization we need His wisdom and ask for that wisdom, He gives liberally and does not condemn us for our human lack. James 1:5 (NLT) "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."
We can see this in Abraham’s example. God had a purpose in making the covenant with Abraham and He led him through the process in such a way that faith built in Abraham and he grew with each step. We don’t become instantly free of our nature and mature in God. God leads us step by step. The salvation of our souls is a process. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, our spirit is born instantly in the Life of God and we come under His Covenant. Our soul must be separated from our spirit by the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 (NLT) "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The reactions of our human nature to events and the circumstances of our life are in our soul. The Word of God becomes the tool to separate our spirit so God can nurture and mature our spirit. Remember, you are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. (This body is perishable!) Your spirit has been made alive in God, your soul is being redeemed and your body will be changed by receiving the body (like His glorious body) that is prepared for you. God’s covenant is your guarantee and protection as it was for Abraham and Sarah. We are in a process that will enable us to be a part of God’s great plan ending in the fulfillment of His purpose. We are as much a part of God’s plan as any person named in the Scriptures. We are under Covenant.
In Abraham’s life, we see how man can fail even when he has everything going for him. He had heard from God and even talked with Him in Genesis 18 concerning God’s plan to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and received His promise of a son in one year. Yet for the second time Abraham failed as the protector of Sarah. Once with Pharaoh of Egypt and again with the king of Gerar, Abimelech. But Abraham was under covenant and God never fails in His role as Protector. He came to Sarah’s rescue and delivered her from the hand of danger. God protected His Covenant Word. We are not alone. Greater than any power that has been known or could yet be known in this realm is the power of the Blood and His Covenanted Word. That power is your protection and available to you in His Name over any enemy you face.
Covenant is God’s means of providing His protection and provision while still giving us the choice to go God’s way or our own. Going our way means separation from God. That does not change God’s Word or His Nature or His Being in any way. His covenant still stands. His love never fails. We can give God a covenant response and say “Yes” to His provision and God leads us on. When we come to the realization we need His wisdom and ask for that wisdom, He gives liberally and does not condemn us for our human lack. James 1:5 (NLT) "If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking."
We can see this in Abraham’s example. God had a purpose in making the covenant with Abraham and He led him through the process in such a way that faith built in Abraham and he grew with each step. We don’t become instantly free of our nature and mature in God. God leads us step by step. The salvation of our souls is a process. When we accept Jesus as our Savior, our spirit is born instantly in the Life of God and we come under His Covenant. Our soul must be separated from our spirit by the Word of God. Hebrews 4:12 (NLT) "For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires." The reactions of our human nature to events and the circumstances of our life are in our soul. The Word of God becomes the tool to separate our spirit so God can nurture and mature our spirit. Remember, you are a spirit, you have a soul and you live in a body. (This body is perishable!) Your spirit has been made alive in God, your soul is being redeemed and your body will be changed by receiving the body (like His glorious body) that is prepared for you. God’s covenant is your guarantee and protection as it was for Abraham and Sarah. We are in a process that will enable us to be a part of God’s great plan ending in the fulfillment of His purpose. We are as much a part of God’s plan as any person named in the Scriptures. We are under Covenant.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Covenant Procedure
When we view the covenant God made with Abraham, we learn many things concerning the way God made covenant that differed from the way mortals made covenant. Covenant making was so much a part of people's lives it was way of relating with one another in individual contacts as well as a city with another city. Areas were forming into nations and covenant making was the basis of government. At the closing of this historical period, Abraham comes on the scene. The life of Abraham is a wonderful study of God in action with man. While Abraham was the only man approached to cut covenant with God, we learn much of not only covenant making but of God ways with us. God’s way of using time is not our way.
God's covenant with Abraham was over a period of about 40 years. From the time that God approached Abraham with covenant language until the covenant was anchored into this realm and God could use it for His purpose, was at least 40 years and could have been more. This shows the patience of God in achieving His purpose. God is looking at the goal and we mortals are looking at the circumstances of the process! Abraham became impatient after 11 years had passed and when Sarah gave up hope and suggested Hagar give him a son, Abraham felt he could help God with this solution. When Abraham was 86, Ishmael was born.
This passage shows us that God really doesn't need our idea of helping. He is quite capable of doing exactly what He says and will do so…in His own way and time. We often have to meet the consequences of our “helping” and realize our actions have set them in motion. When God sent judgment against Israel for transgression against God’s Law, He used descendants of Ishmael. Assyria and Babylon were used by God to destroy and punish the tribes of Israel. Now modern Israel and America are finding those same descendants as a threatening cloud of judgment.
Thirteen years after Ishmael was born, God came to Abraham and deepened the covenant. God reaffirms His covenant promise to him and He continues the covenant procedure that was started 24 years before. The exchange of names was a common part of the making of covenant. Genesis 17:1-7 (NLT) 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” 3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! 7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
God became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (These men were at the end of God’s dealing with a “family line”. When Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, God began His dealing with His “nation”. When Jesus came and cut a New Covenant, God began His dealing with His Church.) To Abram, God added the breath sound of His Holy Name YHWH by adding the Hebrew H changing his name to Abraham. The meaning also changed from “exalted father” to “a father of many”. In verse 15, God adds the same sound to Sarai’s name making it Sarah. This changed the meaning of her name to “princess”.
God also brought in the necessary “sign” of covenant procedure. Genesis 17:9-14 (New Living Translation) 9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
Circumcision was a sign of this covenant and also the first shedding of blood by a participant in the blood covenant. In the usual order of covenant between two mortals, a cut (usually in the wrist area) drew blood that was used in the signing of the covenant treaty. In some way, a man’s mark (signature) in his own blood was given to the covenant partner as a testament of covenant while the clearly visible scar was the sign of covenant. In later years when a written language was common, the entire declaration of purpose was written out and a copy was given to each of the partners signed by the other in his own blood. A covenant was not a treaty, or a contract or a promise. It was a pledge unto death and continued on for as many generations as was declared but never less than three. We see God has set the time period. Psalm 105:8-10 He remembers his covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
Abraham’s understanding of covenant made the changes that God demanded very important to him. He realized his covenant was with a holy, majestic, and eternal God. His reverent response to God’s covenant demand was immediate. He was also learning that while God’s method or way of cutting covenant was His Own, God expected Abraham to heed the covenant response with careful obedience. This response to God’s covenants is also an important lesson for us and we will be going into this in future lessons.
God's covenant with Abraham was over a period of about 40 years. From the time that God approached Abraham with covenant language until the covenant was anchored into this realm and God could use it for His purpose, was at least 40 years and could have been more. This shows the patience of God in achieving His purpose. God is looking at the goal and we mortals are looking at the circumstances of the process! Abraham became impatient after 11 years had passed and when Sarah gave up hope and suggested Hagar give him a son, Abraham felt he could help God with this solution. When Abraham was 86, Ishmael was born.
This passage shows us that God really doesn't need our idea of helping. He is quite capable of doing exactly what He says and will do so…in His own way and time. We often have to meet the consequences of our “helping” and realize our actions have set them in motion. When God sent judgment against Israel for transgression against God’s Law, He used descendants of Ishmael. Assyria and Babylon were used by God to destroy and punish the tribes of Israel. Now modern Israel and America are finding those same descendants as a threatening cloud of judgment.
Thirteen years after Ishmael was born, God came to Abraham and deepened the covenant. God reaffirms His covenant promise to him and He continues the covenant procedure that was started 24 years before. The exchange of names was a common part of the making of covenant. Genesis 17:1-7 (NLT) 1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am El-Shaddai—‘God Almighty.’ Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. 2 I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” 3 At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, 4 “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations! 5 What’s more, I am changing your name. It will no longer be Abram. Instead, you will be called Abraham, for you will be the father of many nations. 6 I will make you extremely fruitful. Your descendants will become many nations, and kings will be among them! 7 “I will confirm my covenant with you and your descendants after you, from generation to generation. This is the everlasting covenant: I will always be your God and the God of your descendants after you.
God became the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. (These men were at the end of God’s dealing with a “family line”. When Jacob’s name was changed to Israel, God began His dealing with His “nation”. When Jesus came and cut a New Covenant, God began His dealing with His Church.) To Abram, God added the breath sound of His Holy Name YHWH by adding the Hebrew H changing his name to Abraham. The meaning also changed from “exalted father” to “a father of many”. In verse 15, God adds the same sound to Sarai’s name making it Sarah. This changed the meaning of her name to “princess”.
God also brought in the necessary “sign” of covenant procedure. Genesis 17:9-14 (New Living Translation) 9 Then God said to Abraham, “Your responsibility is to obey the terms of the covenant. You and all your descendants have this continual responsibility. 10 This is the covenant that you and your descendants must keep: Each male among you must be circumcised. 11 You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 From generation to generation, every male child must be circumcised on the eighth day after his birth. This applies not only to members of your family but also to the servants born in your household and the foreign-born servants whom you have purchased. 13 All must be circumcised. Your bodies will bear the mark of my everlasting covenant. 14 Any male who fails to be circumcised will be cut off from the covenant family for breaking the covenant.”
Circumcision was a sign of this covenant and also the first shedding of blood by a participant in the blood covenant. In the usual order of covenant between two mortals, a cut (usually in the wrist area) drew blood that was used in the signing of the covenant treaty. In some way, a man’s mark (signature) in his own blood was given to the covenant partner as a testament of covenant while the clearly visible scar was the sign of covenant. In later years when a written language was common, the entire declaration of purpose was written out and a copy was given to each of the partners signed by the other in his own blood. A covenant was not a treaty, or a contract or a promise. It was a pledge unto death and continued on for as many generations as was declared but never less than three. We see God has set the time period. Psalm 105:8-10 He remembers his covenant forever, the word He commanded, for a thousand generations, the covenant He made with Abraham, the oath He swore to Isaac. He confirmed it to Jacob as a decree, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
Abraham’s understanding of covenant made the changes that God demanded very important to him. He realized his covenant was with a holy, majestic, and eternal God. His reverent response to God’s covenant demand was immediate. He was also learning that while God’s method or way of cutting covenant was His Own, God expected Abraham to heed the covenant response with careful obedience. This response to God’s covenants is also an important lesson for us and we will be going into this in future lessons.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
The cutting and keeping of covenant is traced all through the history of man by archaeology and historical documents. During the 2000 years of God's laying the foundation by manifesting Himself through the family line, each generation taught the next. The Patriarchs lived so many years they could guarantee the accuracy of what was taught. At the time of the flood Noah was the only person in the genealogical line that had not lived in Adam's lifetime. What was taught concerning covenant was as God had taught Adam.
After the flood Abraham, who lived in the same area as Noah, was 56 when Noah died. Abraham's knowledge of covenant was so in line with God's teaching to Adam that his faith in God's willingness and faithfulness to cut a covenant with mortal man was accounted to him as Righteousness.
Let us look at the procedure of cutting the Abrahamic covenant. We see the age-old procedure called into action by God in this obedience to the ritual of the cutting of covenant. After the initial verbal approach which was always instigated by the protector (the one offering the covering of covenant), the instigator would designate the animal or animals that were to be used. These were cut into pieces and laid out in a pattern so the persons cutting the covenant would walk between the pieces and meet in the center facing each other.
Abraham was naturally puzzled at how the procedure would be carried out. Genesis 15:1-11 shows God’s verbal invitation to covenant and Abraham’s human concern as to how such a visual ceremony between two mortals could be finalized when one participant was invisible and eternal. God answers his questions and chooses the animals.
Genesis 15:1-11 (New Living Translation) 1 Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” 2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” 4 Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. 7 Then the LORD told him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” 8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” 9 The LORD told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
God patiently meets Abram where he was and lead him into the focus where he accepted that God could cut covenant with him. Then God proceeded with His request for the animals of His choice. Abram proceeded with the ritual by obeying and cutting the animals and laying out the pieces and protecting the pattern by driving away the vultures. Then God took over the ceremony and did it His way. Abram in his “deep sleep” could observe but not participate and God, the Father and God, the Son in the smoking fire pot and the blazing torch, moved through the pieces in Abram’s stead. Genesis 15:17 (New Living Translation) After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
Romans 5:8 (New Living Translation) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
God followed the keeping of covenant because He had instigated it as the means of bringing man into His image. He demanded that Israel follow His covenant in full obedience.
Jeremiah 34:18-19 (New International Version) 18 The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf…
I will not post a blog tomorrow but will be back Monday. The Lord bless you and give you understanding.
After the flood Abraham, who lived in the same area as Noah, was 56 when Noah died. Abraham's knowledge of covenant was so in line with God's teaching to Adam that his faith in God's willingness and faithfulness to cut a covenant with mortal man was accounted to him as Righteousness.
Let us look at the procedure of cutting the Abrahamic covenant. We see the age-old procedure called into action by God in this obedience to the ritual of the cutting of covenant. After the initial verbal approach which was always instigated by the protector (the one offering the covering of covenant), the instigator would designate the animal or animals that were to be used. These were cut into pieces and laid out in a pattern so the persons cutting the covenant would walk between the pieces and meet in the center facing each other.
Abraham was naturally puzzled at how the procedure would be carried out. Genesis 15:1-11 shows God’s verbal invitation to covenant and Abraham’s human concern as to how such a visual ceremony between two mortals could be finalized when one participant was invisible and eternal. God answers his questions and chooses the animals.
Genesis 15:1-11 (New Living Translation) 1 Some time later, the LORD spoke to Abram in a vision and said to him, “Do not be afraid, Abram, for I will protect you, and your reward will be great.” 2 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, what good are all your blessings when I don’t even have a son? Since you’ve given me no children, Eliezer of Damascus, a servant in my household, will inherit all my wealth. 3 You have given me no descendants of my own, so one of my servants will be my heir.” 4 Then the LORD said to him, “No, your servant will not be your heir, for you will have a son of your own who will be your heir.” 5 Then the LORD took Abram outside and said to him, “Look up into the sky and count the stars if you can. That’s how many descendants you will have!” 6 And Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted him as righteous because of his faith. 7 Then the LORD told him, “I am the LORD who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land as your possession.” 8 But Abram replied, “O Sovereign LORD, how can I be sure that I will actually possess it?” 9 The LORD told him, “Bring me a three-year-old heifer, a three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.” 10 So Abram presented all these to him and killed them. Then he cut each animal down the middle and laid the halves side by side; he did not, however, cut the birds in half. 11 Some vultures swooped down to eat the carcasses, but Abram chased them away.
God patiently meets Abram where he was and lead him into the focus where he accepted that God could cut covenant with him. Then God proceeded with His request for the animals of His choice. Abram proceeded with the ritual by obeying and cutting the animals and laying out the pieces and protecting the pattern by driving away the vultures. Then God took over the ceremony and did it His way. Abram in his “deep sleep” could observe but not participate and God, the Father and God, the Son in the smoking fire pot and the blazing torch, moved through the pieces in Abram’s stead. Genesis 15:17 (New Living Translation) After the sun went down and darkness fell, Abram saw a smoking firepot and a flaming torch pass between the halves of the carcasses.
Romans 5:8 (New Living Translation) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
God followed the keeping of covenant because He had instigated it as the means of bringing man into His image. He demanded that Israel follow His covenant in full obedience.
Jeremiah 34:18-19 (New International Version) 18 The men who have violated my covenant and have not fulfilled the terms of the covenant they made before me, I will treat like the calf they cut in two and then walked between its pieces. 19 The leaders of Judah and Jerusalem, the court officials, the priests and all the people of the land who walked between the pieces of the calf…
I will not post a blog tomorrow but will be back Monday. The Lord bless you and give you understanding.
Friday, July 3, 2009
What is covenant? Covenant is God’s creative way of relating to and working in and revealing Himself to this realm. I have found no other way in which God reaches to man or interacts with mankind in the Scriptures. What people think of as historical accounts are lessons for us in the way people have or have not given a covenant response to God and the outcome of such action. Wisdom for God’s desire to make man in His image is available to us at any time we seek for Wisdom’s input into our life. James 1:5-8 (New Living Translation) 5 If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and he will give it to you. He will not rebuke you for asking. 6 But when you ask him, be sure that your faith is in God alone. Do not waver, for a person with divided loyalty is as unsettled as a wave of the sea that is blown and tossed by the wind. 7 Such people should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Their loyalty is divided between God and the world, and they are unstable in everything they do.
Wisdom governs both God and man through the established covenants God has made with this realm and with man. When I say that God only deals with this realm through covenant, I want to express what the Spirit revealed to me of the vastness of God Who loves us. God is so much higher, so much more than our beings can grasp. We cannot relate to so much Holiness, Splendor, Light and Power. He fills all space. He is Spirit and Life and in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 (New Living Translation) 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Only through the protection that covenant provides can God interact with sinful man. Covenant contains both blessing and curse. Obedient response to God allows God to bless and shape us.
It is mind boggling that Adam was able to walk and talk with God. Though created of dust, God had breathed into Adam His breath and Adam became a living soul clothed in Light. In this Light, Adam was taught of God. The teaching of covenant Adam received had to contain the opportunity to respond. The question has arisen several times, “Why was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil placed in the garden at all?” Covenant demands a covenant response. God had given Adam Life but Adam had to choose Life and the right to dwell in God’s Presence. God clearly told Adam that to choose to disobey His command was to choose death or separation from God and the Life he had with God. The only knowledge Adam had was what he had received from God. The only experience he had with covenant was his “covering” the animals with his authority over them and the giving of each one the identity of a name. Nothing in Adam’s experience responded to his authority or challenged him to choice.
When Adam woke to see Eve, he spoke in covenant language accepting his role as the covenant protector. He was the one God had taught but now a whole new experience opened to him. He was challenged to choice and a divided focus. No longer was God his only focus. He had a fascinating companion he was now teaching and communicating his feelings. Her response to him became vitally important and how to please her challenged his undivided reactions and responses to God. In this new experience, the unchallenged response to God’s warning took on less importance. His response to Eve took precedence of what he knew God said and the importance of obedience faded. His role in covenant became secondary to Eve’s role in his life. Sin entered the world through Adam when he made the choice to not cover Eve and remove her from the temptation. It was his disobedience that ripped the Light from them and the separation from God became immediate. Death entered this realm.
Jesus came that we might have Life. He is the Light of the world. He is God in the flesh of man and only He could take back from Lucifer what he usurped from Adam. He extends to us the relationship with God, the Life, the Light that Adam lost. What distracts us from walking in and abiding in such promise? Have we given back to God the right to be our only source of knowledge? Or do we still retain the right to judge every person and every circumstance through the eyes of our own control? The fifteenth chapter of John is your invitation to the Life of Light. It demands a covenant response from you. Your covenant response is the only way you can know the secrets and joys such a Life can bring you. No sermon or song can produce in you what a covenant response will open to you. Adam failed to give God a covenant response and sin entered the world. We are born in sin but Jesus opens the Way back to God. Day by day, circumstance by circumstance, we are given choice. The lack of understanding covenant and the authority of covenant dims the importance of the choices we make.
It was the lack of understanding of covenant that drove me to search God’s Word. The promise Jesus gave of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to each believer took on new meaning as I gave my effort to search into the Spirit’s hands. I became as a little child and let the Spirit guide me. I saw through His eyes the language of covenant and the Scriptures became new to me. No longer was the Old Testament full of accounts of men’s lives but parables for me to see my own reactions to the circumstances in my life. How important was a covenant response in each trivial matter? What did the New Covenant in Jesus’ Blood mean in each thing I faced daily? No longer was it just an experience of salvation but a way of life I would one day give an account to God, not in words but in Light. Did I live in the Light or just believe in it?
Covenant understanding definitely spawns questions.
Wisdom governs both God and man through the established covenants God has made with this realm and with man. When I say that God only deals with this realm through covenant, I want to express what the Spirit revealed to me of the vastness of God Who loves us. God is so much higher, so much more than our beings can grasp. We cannot relate to so much Holiness, Splendor, Light and Power. He fills all space. He is Spirit and Life and in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 (New Living Translation) 5 This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
Only through the protection that covenant provides can God interact with sinful man. Covenant contains both blessing and curse. Obedient response to God allows God to bless and shape us.
It is mind boggling that Adam was able to walk and talk with God. Though created of dust, God had breathed into Adam His breath and Adam became a living soul clothed in Light. In this Light, Adam was taught of God. The teaching of covenant Adam received had to contain the opportunity to respond. The question has arisen several times, “Why was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil placed in the garden at all?” Covenant demands a covenant response. God had given Adam Life but Adam had to choose Life and the right to dwell in God’s Presence. God clearly told Adam that to choose to disobey His command was to choose death or separation from God and the Life he had with God. The only knowledge Adam had was what he had received from God. The only experience he had with covenant was his “covering” the animals with his authority over them and the giving of each one the identity of a name. Nothing in Adam’s experience responded to his authority or challenged him to choice.
When Adam woke to see Eve, he spoke in covenant language accepting his role as the covenant protector. He was the one God had taught but now a whole new experience opened to him. He was challenged to choice and a divided focus. No longer was God his only focus. He had a fascinating companion he was now teaching and communicating his feelings. Her response to him became vitally important and how to please her challenged his undivided reactions and responses to God. In this new experience, the unchallenged response to God’s warning took on less importance. His response to Eve took precedence of what he knew God said and the importance of obedience faded. His role in covenant became secondary to Eve’s role in his life. Sin entered the world through Adam when he made the choice to not cover Eve and remove her from the temptation. It was his disobedience that ripped the Light from them and the separation from God became immediate. Death entered this realm.
Jesus came that we might have Life. He is the Light of the world. He is God in the flesh of man and only He could take back from Lucifer what he usurped from Adam. He extends to us the relationship with God, the Life, the Light that Adam lost. What distracts us from walking in and abiding in such promise? Have we given back to God the right to be our only source of knowledge? Or do we still retain the right to judge every person and every circumstance through the eyes of our own control? The fifteenth chapter of John is your invitation to the Life of Light. It demands a covenant response from you. Your covenant response is the only way you can know the secrets and joys such a Life can bring you. No sermon or song can produce in you what a covenant response will open to you. Adam failed to give God a covenant response and sin entered the world. We are born in sin but Jesus opens the Way back to God. Day by day, circumstance by circumstance, we are given choice. The lack of understanding covenant and the authority of covenant dims the importance of the choices we make.
It was the lack of understanding of covenant that drove me to search God’s Word. The promise Jesus gave of the ministry of the Holy Spirit to each believer took on new meaning as I gave my effort to search into the Spirit’s hands. I became as a little child and let the Spirit guide me. I saw through His eyes the language of covenant and the Scriptures became new to me. No longer was the Old Testament full of accounts of men’s lives but parables for me to see my own reactions to the circumstances in my life. How important was a covenant response in each trivial matter? What did the New Covenant in Jesus’ Blood mean in each thing I faced daily? No longer was it just an experience of salvation but a way of life I would one day give an account to God, not in words but in Light. Did I live in the Light or just believe in it?
Covenant understanding definitely spawns questions.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
Welcome! I have been teaching lessons from the Bible for more than 70 years (I started young!) and the awe and thrill of speaking His Word is more real today than ever before. I do not intend to give you all the answers because I have found that God chooses to reveal answers in His time and by His methods, but I do pray I can stir in you the questions that will deepen your relationship with Him.
Questions are our important stepping stones in the Great Adventure of arriving at God's goal for us. Genesis starts out with some very important questions. The first came from Lucifer, "Did God really say....?" The second came from God, "Where are you?" When we listen to the first question which comes to everyone, we must heed and ask ourselves the second.
So I am going to ask, "What is Covenant?" and this is going to lead to many questions and a quest that I have been on for many years. I still have not found all the answers but my quest has lead me to questions I never would have known to ask without the Spirit leading me deeper into this awesome subject.
There are clues to covenant all through the book of Genesis, starting in the first chapter. Our first introduction to covenant language comes in Genesis 2:18. ".....I will make a helpmeet suitable for him." Many have changed that word to helpmate not understanding the old English meaning for helpmeet as "one who answers to". We see Adam's verbal response to the lovely creature God presented to him was in covenant language and so we know that for however long God chose to teach Adam in his solitude, covenant was one of the lessons.
I see God's method of revealing Himself to man for man's approach to Him has three distinct characteristics almost equally divided into three. The first two thousand years God deals with a family line. Family is the main characteristic of this first period. Two things we see God gives man as a response to Him is covenant making and city building. These are such important responses to God that He uses them as a foundation for His purpose in creating man. And this brings us to the heart of our first lesson.
God has a purpose in all He does. God chose to make man and time and a creation to satisfy His desire expressed in Genesis 1:26. "Let Us make man in Our image..." This desire began way back in eternity long before there was creation as we know it. The "oldest" portion in the Bible is described in Proverbs 8:22-31. Wisdom is the oldest of God's "creations". Wisdom is the first entity God set aside, out of Himself, to be the guiding Light in this journey (or process) of making man in God's image. I see it as an architect having a vision of what he wants to have built. He sees it clearly but he needs to not only produce it but to protect his vision. So a blueprint is drawn, precisely and with complete detail to even a picture of the finished project. This blueprint will control and instruct. It will protect not only the vision of the Artist/architect, but the people who will be involved with the project. It will outline not only the building project but the cost and the outcome.
When we set out to build a house, I learned a great deal from the experience of how covenant works. I began to see covenant response in a new light. The blueprints took on a life of their own. Proverbs 8 became a new chapter to me. I saw the importance of God setting Wisdom as an entity alone--outside of God. God is so complete, so awesomely perfect and holy and full of wisdom and power and majesty, that the creation could not respond to Him without being destroyed. God created angels (after He declared to make man!) in all levels but they are just that--created beings. Man is created to change. He is created with a will to change. We have a choice to be what God wants and so develop in Him according to the path laid out in the blueprint, or go our own way to darkness.
Wisdom created covenant as the protection for both God and man in this process. God will have what He desires but covenant is the guide to the process.
That is enough (!) for our first lesson. If it creates questions in you that is my goal. Feel free to ask not only in this blog but in your private moments with your Creator. He loves your questions and your searching.
Questions are our important stepping stones in the Great Adventure of arriving at God's goal for us. Genesis starts out with some very important questions. The first came from Lucifer, "Did God really say....?" The second came from God, "Where are you?" When we listen to the first question which comes to everyone, we must heed and ask ourselves the second.
So I am going to ask, "What is Covenant?" and this is going to lead to many questions and a quest that I have been on for many years. I still have not found all the answers but my quest has lead me to questions I never would have known to ask without the Spirit leading me deeper into this awesome subject.
There are clues to covenant all through the book of Genesis, starting in the first chapter. Our first introduction to covenant language comes in Genesis 2:18. ".....I will make a helpmeet suitable for him." Many have changed that word to helpmate not understanding the old English meaning for helpmeet as "one who answers to". We see Adam's verbal response to the lovely creature God presented to him was in covenant language and so we know that for however long God chose to teach Adam in his solitude, covenant was one of the lessons.
I see God's method of revealing Himself to man for man's approach to Him has three distinct characteristics almost equally divided into three. The first two thousand years God deals with a family line. Family is the main characteristic of this first period. Two things we see God gives man as a response to Him is covenant making and city building. These are such important responses to God that He uses them as a foundation for His purpose in creating man. And this brings us to the heart of our first lesson.
God has a purpose in all He does. God chose to make man and time and a creation to satisfy His desire expressed in Genesis 1:26. "Let Us make man in Our image..." This desire began way back in eternity long before there was creation as we know it. The "oldest" portion in the Bible is described in Proverbs 8:22-31. Wisdom is the oldest of God's "creations". Wisdom is the first entity God set aside, out of Himself, to be the guiding Light in this journey (or process) of making man in God's image. I see it as an architect having a vision of what he wants to have built. He sees it clearly but he needs to not only produce it but to protect his vision. So a blueprint is drawn, precisely and with complete detail to even a picture of the finished project. This blueprint will control and instruct. It will protect not only the vision of the Artist/architect, but the people who will be involved with the project. It will outline not only the building project but the cost and the outcome.
When we set out to build a house, I learned a great deal from the experience of how covenant works. I began to see covenant response in a new light. The blueprints took on a life of their own. Proverbs 8 became a new chapter to me. I saw the importance of God setting Wisdom as an entity alone--outside of God. God is so complete, so awesomely perfect and holy and full of wisdom and power and majesty, that the creation could not respond to Him without being destroyed. God created angels (after He declared to make man!) in all levels but they are just that--created beings. Man is created to change. He is created with a will to change. We have a choice to be what God wants and so develop in Him according to the path laid out in the blueprint, or go our own way to darkness.
Wisdom created covenant as the protection for both God and man in this process. God will have what He desires but covenant is the guide to the process.
That is enough (!) for our first lesson. If it creates questions in you that is my goal. Feel free to ask not only in this blog but in your private moments with your Creator. He loves your questions and your searching.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Welcome to Learn Covenant
This blog was created for Eve Bickhart designed to share teaching about Biblical Covenant.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)