3 C's of Covenant

January 27, 2021

Today as we look at the theme of covenant in our Core 52 week four. A covenant is an agreement between two people or groups. A covenant, generally had three parts: conditions, consequences, and a ceremony. The greater party set the conditions or terms of the agreement. If both parties kept the agreement, then the consequences would be good. Blessings for both would come. If either party broke the agreement then curses would come. The ceremony would most often ratify the agreement in blood. The expectation was that if the covenant was broken, then the offender would have the same fate as the bloody sacrifice.

Our Bibles are organized by two covenants or testaments. We have an Old Testament and a New Testament. It could be described as the first testament and the second testament.

So, let’s look at the conditions, the consequences and the ceremony of this New Covenant. The conditions of the New Covenant is to trust in Jesus. Jesus summarized it well in John 3.16.

​John 3:16 NIVFor God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

The New Covenant sets conditions to continually trust and grow in our relationship with Jesus. It is not one time event, but an ongoing experience. The consequences? If you continue in the relationship with Jesus, then you have eternal life. If you choose not to honor the covenant, then people perish.So, the condition is to trust and keep trusting Jesus. The consequences are life or death. The ceremony? God ratified this covenant with the blood of Jesus as He died on the cross and rose from the dead.

This weekend, we’ll look begins week 5 in Core 52 and look at the theme of holiness.

Let’s pray. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, thank you for inviting us into this covenant relationship. Help us to strengthen that relationship as you are so faithful. Amen.