Covenant of Grace
Covenant of Grace
Selected Scripture: Gen. 15: 1 – 21
Introduction: Gas price is going up and up and all petroleum based products follow suite. The cost of living is getting higher and higher and I wonder sometime; where does this end? Oil is the key to the global economy and the future is very uncertain. There are so many wars and rumor of war. Iran seems developing the nuclear bomb. Israel, the United States and European Union are getting very nervous. I believe the coming of the Lord is very near.
We know, at least, in our mind, Jesus will come at any moment and we are encouraged to live accordingly.
2 Peter 3: 10, 11 say,
“But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and the earth and its works will be burned up. Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness.”
The middle-aged man was visibly shaken when his Doctor advised that he had only 6 month’s to live because of the terminal disease that was detected during a recent physical check-up.
The Doctor suggested that he should get his “house in order,” make sure his will was current and ensure all final arrangements were in place for the funeral. He should then make plans to enjoy what might be left of his life, to the fullest.
“What will you do for the last six months? Asked the Doctor. His patient thought for a few minutes then replied, “I think I’ll go and live with my mother-in-law.” Surprised by the answer, the doctor asked, “of all people, why in the world would you want to live with your mother-in-law?”
“Because it’ll be the longest six months of my life!”
What would you do if the Lord returns tomorrow? Martin Luther said, “If the Lord comes tomorrow, I shall still plant a tree.” Care of the world tends to skew our outlook. We are pressed with different world views and so easy to lose track of what the true Gospel is. The truth is on trial now a-days.
Col. 1:10,
“so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respect, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God”
Manner worthy: aξίως (axiōs) = equal weight
Illustration: You heard a story of a farmer and a baker: Kg of butter for the Kg of bread. But the bread a farmer getting was smaller and smaller.
How could we live a life that is the same weight with the Lord?
We must know God. Proper knowledge of God is the key to the life of Christians in order to walk manner worthy of the Gospel.
In other word, theology is very important.
R. C. Sproul in his book “Following Christ” says,
The goal of theology is not to confuse but to clarify. Doctrine is intended to sharpen our understanding of faith, not to dull it. The assumption of classical theology is that, the more we understand Jesus, the more we will love him. Knowledge should fuel zeal. It is like the genetic code that programs the growth of all living things. The knowledge of God shapes our Christian development. The more we know, the more we should grow. Unless we know who Christ is, we cannot become more Christ-like.
Now-a-days, there is a notion that the theology divides the people therefore, theology is something to avoid with all cost. Consequentially, clear teaching of the Scripture became so fuzzy.
William Wilberforce (1759 – 1833) contemporary of John Newton:
The fatal habit of considering Christian morals as distinct from Christian doctrine insensibly gained strength. Thus the peculiar doctrines of Christianity went more and more out of sight, and as might naturally have been expected, the moral system itself also began to wither and decay, being robbed of that which should have supplied it with life and nutriment.
This is very true when clear teaching of the Scripture goes, so goes the morality. In Christian world view, doctrine must dictate the life style but this kind of perspective is now gone out of the window and the life style now dictates the teaching of the Scripture.
Richard Niebuhr “The Kingdom of God in America” describes liberal theology this way,
“a God without wrath, who brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment, through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross.”
H. Richard Niebuhr, The Kingdom of God in America (New York: Harper, 1959), p. 193.
If we are not careful, we call this liberal theology as the grace of God.
2 Pet. 1: 2 says, “may grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.”
2 Pet. 3: 18 also says, “grow in the grace and knowledge of our lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”
Proper understanding of Grace of God is very important to grow in Christian maturity.
Grace and knowledge of God go hand in hand.
Someone said, “The will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you.” A good saying! But it made me thinking. It somehow gives an impression that God is obligated to exercise grace when we obey, what we think of grace that is. If this saying reads like this, would you agree? “The will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you except, Martyrdom, hardships and persecutions.” Is this true? Do you agree? No!
It something like this; when I was in Bible School. A missionary who led me to Christ found a person to support me financially: $5 US a month. He was very faithful, it continued for 3 years, but sometimes it got behind. When a couple months I did not receive this support, I started to wonder where is “MY Money?” Isn’t it how we feel about God’s grace sometime? We are now under grace and God is somehow different from 2000 years ago and God is getting older and becoming more understanding, gentler and mellower.
A little girl sitting on grandpa’s lap listening to the story but somehow this little girl is oblivious to the story and rubbing grandpa’s wrinkled face and then rubs her own face. She does that a few times then asks grandpa,
“Grandpa, did God make you?” To this grandpa answers
“Yes, a long long time ago, my dear.”
“Grandpa, did God make me?” “Yes, of course”
“Whomm, God got better at it!”
We know God is the same yesterday and today and forever. But deep in the corner of our hearts, we feel that God’s grace is different now from 2000 years ago.
We feel we deserve what we don’t deserve.
How then should we live as the ones who profess to know the grace of God?
Today I would like us to see the Grace from God’s perspective so that we would have a deeper understanding of God’s Grace.
Let’s Pray.
In order to understand the grace of God. We must understand the covenants. Eph. 2: 12 says,
remember that you were at that time separate from Christ, excluded from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.
Also in 2 Cor. 3: 6
who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
We are transformed from “strangers to the covenants” to the “servants of a new covenant.” This is grace. Covenants reveal how the grace of God reached us. So this morning we shall look at a covenant. So now let us look at the:
Abrahamic Covenant Gen. 15: 1 – 21
God told Abra(ha)m that He will bless him and make him a great nation and make his name great (12: 2). In Hebrew culture, the name was very important. Keep the name generation after generation was the display of God’s blessings. But in order to keep the family name, you have to have children, but Abraham was childless. God again brings this promise to him in Ch. 15. Up to this point in Genesis, Abraham did not speak to God but here for the first time, Abraham spoke to God, raising a question how the promise would be fulfilled. Then God promised him again that his descendants shall be countless as the stars in the heavens (15: 5). Then Abraham believed in God and God counted it to him as righteousness (15: 6). But God wanted to tell him more in detail how He would do this. So He promised Abraham again that his descendants will possess the Promised Land (15: 7). Then Abraham again asked the Lord and said, “How may I know that I will possess it?” (15: 8). Let’s read verses 9 – 12. Then God told him how his descendants be enslaved and oppressed for four hundred years (15: 13). But God will deliver them and they will come out with many possessions (15: 14). Now skip to verse 17.
It came about when the sun had set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces.
This verse puzzled many commentators as to the proper interpretation of it, because not many information is available about this. Can you picture this? In the darkness of the evening, it says, “very dark,” no street lights or bonfire of the farmers’ fields, suddenly appears smoke and fire as if children are playing with a Hibachi full of smoke and the burning torch. They passed between those animals that are cut in half and placed in the opposite to each other. Kind a spooky scene!
There are two interpretations to this at least. One is to look at the previous verses; vss. 13 to 16, that God gave detail of Israel be enslaved in Egypt and how and when God will deliver them. God is showing Abraham He will deliver them out of Egypt with the pillar of smoke and pillar of fire. God is assuring Abraham this will surly take place. Another interpretation, which I want to emphasize, is to look at the following context, verse 18, which says,
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your descendants I have given this land.’” Then God Himself went through the divided animals. Taking Smoke and Fire as the symbol of God’s presence. Why? Because, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. Please turn your Bible to
Jer. 34: 18, 19 which say,
‘I will give the men who have transgressed My covenant, who have not fulfilled the words of the covenant which they made before Me, when they cut the calf in two and passed between its parts—
19 the officials of Judah and the officials of Jerusalem, the court officers and the priests and all the people of the land who passed between the parts of the calf—“
Apparently, this is how people made a covenant to each other. If one does not keep the promise, he invokes on himself a curse to pay it with his life. One of the extra-biblical writings of the 8th century has a record saying, “May God make me like this animal, if I do not fulfill the demands of the covenant.”[1] So here, “it is God himself who walks between the pieces, and it is suggested that here God is invoking the curse on himself, if he fails to fulfill the promise.”[2]
Abraham did not walk between the animals in this instance. Only God did. This is the covenant God made to Abraham: Unilateral agreement that God is the initiator and fulfiller of the covenant. Also the root meaning of the word “made” is to “Cut.” So God “Cut” the covenant with Abraham by cutting the animals.
This is Grace!
Usually God’s oaths generally take the form of “As I live, saith the LORD!” (cf. Num. 14: 21). So this is extra ordinal for God to make this covenant and affirms it in this manner. God bet His life for Abraham, God is willing to lay His life, if in case this covenant is not fulfilled. This is Grace! I do believe that this covenant is made within the God head. Heb. 6: 13 says, “For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.” I believe, this is a perfect picture of the New Covenant. Covenant is a promise made between the two parties. God the Father made (Cut) the covenant with His Son and the Son was cut and God the Father, while the darkness fell, went through the torn body of His own Son to give us life. Unilateral agreement that God the Father initiated and the Son accomplished it by hanging on the Cross. There are many covenants in the Scripture and many of them failed but with the New Covenant, unless the Son fails this covenant stands in eternity. Will He fail? Never! That is the reason we who are in Christ, are eternally secure. Hallelujah?!! We can not add anything to what God has done. This is the reason, only through faith we can come to Him. This is Grace!
When Jesus the King was crucified on the Cross, He, out of excruciating pain, cried out: “It is finished!” (John 19: 30)
It was just one word in original: τετέλεσται
This is the word often used in commerce that when debt is paid, they sign this word indicating the debt is paid in full. This is Jesus the King, His way of saying, “I have kept the covenant You cut with Me. Now Father, You will forgive sins of those who come to me by faith.” He is the King of universe, but died as a sinner for you and me. John Newton said once,
“I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I wish to be, I am not what I hope to be; but, by the grace of God, I am not what I was.”[3]
You might have a wrong idea of assurance that you think you can do anything you want to because all work is done on Calvary. Grace is the power to do what we ought to do. God’s Grace will accomplish what God planned. Grace is not a license but it is the power. You must understand the real Grace. Or you might not have the assurance of Salvation. It is a good time to settle it once for all. Jesus has accomplished it completely for you. Do not rely on what you think is the salvation. May be sin is infesting your Christian walk and you feel defeated. God will grace you so that you can overcome sin. Talk to pastor Yong or church elders. Jesus said, “I give eternal life to them; and they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch them out of My hand” (John 10: 28). Let’s Pray!
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[1]Wenham, G. J. (2002). Vol. 1: Word Biblical Commentary : Genesis 1-15. Word Biblical Commentary (332). Dallas: Word, Incorporated.
[2]Ibid.,
[3]Tan, P. L. (1996, c1979). Encyclopedia of 7700 illustrations : A treasury of illustrations, anecdotes, facts and quotations for pastors, teachers and Christian workers. Garland TX: Bible Communications.