Covenant (Internal Grace I)

SUMMARY: Grace is something intended to be personal and intimate. It is individualized in many ways. We gather as churches and some are in the habit of limiting their spiritual experience, work, and growth to those assemblies alone. Because of this, the cynical fall into one of two camps. The first camp insists that their faith exists 'without a church' because they see that there is a personal element (as expressed scripturally) missing from these large assemblies. The second camp insists that if something is a "God thing" it must be support by, sanctioned by, and resourced by the church. If they don't see something happening that they are convicted of, it must be because the church is failing! They miss that there is a personal element to their faith which is not bound by the assembly. The assembly is a critical part of our experience, but we should recognize the assembly is a way to connect to the intimate elements of our restoration with the Creator. Jeremiah spoke about this deep sense of intimacy when he mentions that God’s covenant is written in our hearts. We can see that intimacy when we look at the many events that don’t occur in massive assemblies, but instead happen in the intimacy of private meetings with God.

More Than Corporate Gatherings

I have met several individuals who swear “I can be a Christian without being a part of a church”. This creates a walking contradiction...

1) You do not want to be a part of the church… but you claim to love Jesus.

2) The church is described as the bride of Christ and the body of Christ… how can you love Christ but hate His body or bride?

Yet still, this may be better than the believer who professes a relationship with Christ yet has no intimacy with this Messiah outside the assembly.

Hosea 6:6 CSB

6 For I desire faithful love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.

God’s call for Mercy, rather than sacrifice, highlights a desire to KNOW rather than merely OBSERVE

Pharisees observing the laws Matthew 12:1-8

Matthew 12:1–8 CSB

1 At that time Jesus passed through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick and eat some heads of grain. 2 When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “See, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath.” 3 He said to them, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and those who were with him were hungry: 4 how he entered the house of God, and they ate the bread of the Presence—which is not lawful for him or for those with him to eat, but only for the priests? 5 Or haven’t you read in the law that on Sabbath days the priests in the temple violate the Sabbath and are innocent? 6 I tell you that something greater than the temple is here. 7 If you had known what this means, I desire mercy and not sacrifice, you would not have condemned the innocent. 8 For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”

NOTE: Sabbath is a personal peace we all desire; built into us from the very beginning (Genesis)

Pharisees keeping away sinful company Matthew 9:9-13

Matthew 9:9–13 CSB

9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office, and he said to him, “Follow me,” and he got up and followed him. 10 While he was reclining at the table in the house, many tax collectors and sinners came to eat with Jesus and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 12 Now when he heard this, he said, “It is not those who are well who need a doctor, but those who are sick. 13 Go and learn what this means: I desire mercy and not sacrifice. For I didn’t come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

What we see in these two example is God’s heart, desiring intimacy and not merely grand displays of corporate religion.

The examples continue...

God appears and sends three messengers meeting with Abraham at his tent

God meets with Moses in the privacy of the mountain where Moses removed his shoes

God reinforces Elijah through a whisper in a cave

In your own life you may have experienced moments of intimate connection with God, perhaps when with a group and perhaps alone.

It is important to remember that God desires an intimate relationship with you

Comes partially through our building of intimate relationships with one another and partially through fostering a relationship with God in solitude.

God sees your heart and that is the chief regard he has for our person

1 Samuel 16:7 CSB

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature because I have rejected him. Humans do not see what the Lord sees, for humans see what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”

The self-inflection that all believers should make is “what God do I profess to know… a generic figurehead at the top of a religious culture, or a God who sees the heart.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Read Hosea 6:6 and how it is referenced in Matthew 12:1-8 and Matthew 9:9-13. Consider the value God clearly places on the heart and the intimacy that implies. 1) What aspects of faith can someone miss out on by refusing to participate in the “body of Christ”? How does it hinder the depth and “root” of your faith? 2) What aspects of faith can someone miss out on by only interacting with God through things like church and other gatherings? How can this lead to a less sincere faith? 3) God clearly desires to know YOU, not just a role you play in the church. What is the significance of a personal relationship with God versus a “public gathering” dependent relationship? What does it say about your relationship with someone if the only time you want to associate with them is when you’re in a group?

Written In Our Hearts

One theme which occurs several times in the Old Testament is the idea of God writing things in our hearts.

Solomon...

Ecclesiastes 3:11 CSB

11 He has made everything appropriate in its time. He has also put eternity in their hearts, but no one can discover the work God has done from beginning to end.

Jeremiah...

Jeremiah 31:31–34 CSB

31 “Look, the days are coming” —this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt—my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. 33 “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them” —this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin.

God-Shaped Hole

We are reflections of God, made in His image.

We exist for a purpose, to honor and glorify God’s name.

COMBINED CONCEPT —> We crave our purpose, which is rooted in God’s image.

Recent Buddhist “Walk for Peace”…

Everyone was struck by these monks walking for the inner peace they desire.

Faith tradition seemed irrelevant; everyone was drawn to it.

ENCOURAGEMENT/DISCOURAGEMENT: While I was encouraged by the continued desire of society to attain peace, I was saddened that many refuse to see it around them in God’s presence.

We crave God. It is in our nature. The blessing is that God extends that invitation to a deep, intimate knowledge of Him. Yet through our stubbornness, worldliness, and nihilism we often refuse to see it.

God didn’t send His son to die on a cross so we could wander around alone. That’s why He sent Himself, first as the Messiah, and then as the Holy Ghost.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: Read Ecclesiastes 3:11 and Jeremiah 31:31-34 and consider the significance of God’s Word, His intent, and His glory being etched in our hearts. 1) Do you see people around you appearing to “crave” some kind of God in their life? What do many people cling to? What things to many Christians even cling to in attempts to fill the God-shaped hole in their hearts? 2) What is the significance of looking for peace in the world, or “self”, versus in the Creator? 3) What are ways you have found effective, or believe you could improve on, to ensure that God’s etching on your heart takes priority over other things that may compete for the same real estate?

Cuts Through These Pages

I think a good litmus test for whether we let God’s writing reign in our hearts is how we respond to revelations of truth.

When was the last time you were blown away by something scripturally?

When did you last have a spiritual epiphany that nearly brought you to tears?

“Great Are You” by the group DOWNHERE had this to say... “Your love cuts through these pages to my heart As you grieve our sins, right from the start And sacrifice and paradise are in The plans that you made, The plans that you made Because I'll never hold the picture Of the whole horizon in my view Because I'll never rip the night in two It makes me wonder Who am I, Who am I, Who am I And great are you.”

The biggest blessing we receive from maintaining this intimate relationship with God is understanding how big He is and how small we are.

It convicts, comforts, motivates, and humbles us… all needed to be a lot more like Christ.

When we live as individuals who embrace the truths God has placed on our hearts, perhaps we will start seeing how God is so much more than a mascot of a culture or a distant deity in the clouds… He is your God and you are His people.

Is this the God you know today and if not, what bigger, better God are you holding out for that you think will fill the God-shaped hole in your heart?