Emotions of Covenant

We see many emotions in covenant response as people meet the challenges of covenant. Some emotions are part of the covenant expectation such as praise, resting in faith, and thanksgiving. In the chapters of John (13-17) where Jesus is preparing His disciples for the cutting of the New Covenant, we see Jesus moved by various emotions as He positioned Himself for the hours that were pivital for our eternity. This is very important for us to understand for we must do the same every time we approach God for a covenant transaction. You see it in many of the men in the Old Testament who were petitioning for God to move in their behalf. There is a positioning of yourself in the act of cutting a covenant and, also, in the act of petitioning the promised covenant provision. John 13:1, 3 NASB 1Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,

Know who you are in God. Know His purpose for you. That was what Jesus was doing. It is a part of covenant participation to know what you have in covenant and know your position. Establishing Himself in the authority over all things, even the hours of trial and crucifixion and the final surrender of His Life into the hands of the Father, Jesus began the ceremony of covenant. The disciples must have been awed by the authority with which He began the ceremony of the Passover, not realizing it was a New Covenant ceremony Jesus was initiating. This is a very human experience we all share. We do not know at the moment when God is leading us through a trying time, the eternal importance of that experience. This is why trust is a very important covenant response. Give God the glory in all you experience. Yes, Satan and people may be the instruments, but God is allowing you to experience the hate, rejection, hurt and humiliation so you can overcome them and experience the triumph of Jesus' victory over these "knee-jerk" reactions to the enemy's attack. Live your life from the position of victory and not as a victim of the enemy. This is your covenant privilege. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 10:19-20 (NIV) 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,...

Everything God had provided and commanded in the Covenant and the Prophets concerning His first coming, Jesus fulfilled. The expectation of the New Covenant He also fulfilled by taking us into Himself and nailing us to the cross and bringing us with Him to His exalted place in the Father's Presence. He provided the means for us to dwell in Him. His obedience opened the way for the Holy Spirit to inbide us. Our response of obedience and trust will allow us to come to the Father in a relationship not known before this Way was opened to us.

Jesus took our human nature and nailed it to the cross. Our response is to let go of it, and take on the nature of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will bring this to pass as we yield the control over to Him. Our emotions must yield to Him. Your first reaction to a situation will undoubtedly be your human reaction. But by the blood of the Lamb and your own testimony, you will overcome. Repentance (the blood of the Lamb) and a victorious shout of praise (your testimony) might be your second reaction but it will override the first. Just be faithful to respond with a covenant response until you find that His nature is responding first and yours is no longer strong enough to be heard. That day will come because you are His workmanship!