The New Covenant
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What do I want them to know? Our relationship with God is covenantal
Why? It shows the deepness of God’s love
What do I want them to do? Rejoice! Receive Believe
Why? It praises God and emboldens our hearts
What do I want them to feel? LOVED
ME/WE
We live in a world with all types of relationships. That we have and interact with on almost a daily basis, if not daily weekly.
What are some of the relationships we have? (I am going to list 3)
1.. We have consumer/transactional relationships. These are the relationships we have with our barber, barista, banker, grocer. The foundation to many of these relationships is based on the product they provide. The reason you go to your barber or stylist is because they supply a product that you need and you like the product they give you.
but here is thing with the relationship, if the product they offer turns bad, bad hair cut, bad cup of coffee, bad prices
Will you continue to have a relationship with the barber or barista? NO
What will you do? Find a new barista and barber
We have all done this.
Most of us do not continue to go to the same barber, barista, restaurant, consumer goods store.
That’s a relationship is transactional/consumer driven
2. Work relationship....this relationship is based on performance…that if you perform to your job requirements(the duties, responsibilities) guess what happens? WE GET TO KEEP OUR WORK RELATIONSHIP, You have a job BUT if you do not perform to the expectations, what happens? Do they say oh you can stay here? No, you get the call into bosses office where they tell you. YOUR WORK RELATIONSHIP HAS ENDED. YOU HAVE BEEN LET GO.
3. The deep intimate relationship we have with best friend, spouse, and family members. (there is word for this type of relationship that I am going to share later).
These are 3 types of relationships that we live in day and day out. Week to week.
TENSION
But what about our relationship with God? What kind of relationship is that to be?
But before we answer that, let’s answer the question “how do we get into a relationship with God?” How does that happen?
Happenstance
It just happened
No
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love
he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will,
to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved.
In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,
which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight
When did God chose us? Before the foundation of the world, WOW
We were predestined as SONS and DAUGHTER of God, the king of kings. We are a child of God!
This is so amazing
How do we enter a relationship with God? He chose us before the foundation of the world, he adopted us as SONS and DAUGHTERS
But we are still left with a question and this question is a foundational question this at the foundation of our relationship
- What kind of relationship do we have in this adoption as Sons and Daughters
There are types of SONS and DAUGHTERS and FATHER RELATIONSHIPS.
DISTANCE, ABUSIVE, CARE, KIND, COMPASSIONATE
AND how we answer this questions is foundational to our relationship with God.
the reason this is so important is because “What kind of relationship we have determines the kind of relationship with have.”
the reason this is so important is because “What kind of relationship we have determines the kind of relationship with have.”
WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO WE HAVE WITH GOD? WHAT DOES SCRIPTURE SAY???
Is our relationship with God our father one of an absent Father where He is distant…yeah God’s my dad but He is never really around?
Is that our relationship with God? NO
Works righteousness, which is like your work relationship....if you perform do all the things God wants you to do the relationship is going to be solid but if you don’t live in God’s ways and standards, guess what happens? you are out
is that the way God has a relationship with us? Peform and you are in but if you don’t you are out?
NO and praise God no, because we would be in deep trouble
The Good News is our relationship with God is not with a absent dad, or performance dad, or abusive dad, but a loving dad who has a COVENANTIAL relationship with us.
What does that mean?
What’s a covenantal relationship?
This is a word that sadly and regretfully is not in vogue anymore because our world likes to live in convenantal relationship but rather convenient relationships and if the relationship is not convenient to me “we are out!”
What is a covenantal relationship?
A covenantal relationship most loving relationship we can have where two parties come together to form a sacred bond (we are going to agree to do ___we are going to commit to that)
I carries the attitude “We are going to commit to doing what we agreed to even if we do not feel like it.” This covenant is more important than how I feel today.
that is ratified by swearing an oath or a vow and many times happening in a ceremony that has has blessing attache to is you keep the covenant and cursings if you do not.
This type of covenant practice sounds similar to something we do in the natural world.
What type of relationship do this sound like, that many us have commited to in the natural humanly speaking? A marriage (the deepest of all human relationships)
What happens in marriage
A marriage is a covenantal relationship where two parties come together to commit their lives to one another (both parties leave their father and mother and become one flesh) and then ratify the marriage covenant by making vows to each other in a wedding ceremony.
"I, _Pete__, take thee, _Robyn__, to be my wedded wife, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part.
I am making a covenant with Robyn, the deepest of all human relationship. The most intimate.
It’s a combination of loyalty and love
Which you can see this is why people do not like getting married today.
We also then miss out on the blessings of the covenant of marriage
In similar way, God says I want to have a covenant relationship with you, the deepest of all human relationships.
It’s a combination of loyalty and love
Whoa! God wants to have the deepest of all possible relationships.
As SONS and DAUGHTERS of the KING the KING wants to be intimately involved with us.
This gives us great JOY that we have a deepest all relationships with God, but it also brings great fear, scares us
Why?
Why does a covenantal relationship scare us?
In our relationship with God where we are going to agree to commit our lives to each other that is ratified by a vow or oath (and they are only two relationships we can have with God NO relationship or COVENANTIAL)
Are we the one who is always faithful? NO we go and do our own thing, worship other gods, follow other gods or our flesh…and what is the curse for doing so? We see this in the garden of Eden? DEATH
This is not good news. THE GOOD NEWS IS GOD COMES TO US, the BAD NEWS IS WE CANNOT FULFILL OUR VOWS
How do people react to this? How do people react to not being able to fulfill the requirements of the oath? What is response to being a covenant breaker?
People do one of 2 things
1. Shift to a works righteousness relationship where we seek to earn God’s love and favor by performance. “HOPEFULLY IF I DO ENOUGH GOOD GOD WILL ACCEPT ME”
Problem
We can have two kinds of relationships with God NO relatoinship or covenantal (that’s it)
Works of rightouesness is a foolish endeavor
For all who rely on works of the law are under a curse; for it is written, “Cursed be everyone who does not abide by all things written in the Book of the Law, and do them.”
This is not Good News, God says option 1 does not work
2. We shift to God is a God of love THAT HAS NO STANDARDS. A LOVE THAT SAYS WE CAN DO WHAT WE WANT (It doesn’t matter if I am totally against Him)....God standards do not matter love is supreme to the point it drowns out God’s ways and commands.. PLUS IT SAYS OVER AND OVER IN SCRIPTURE (he didn’t say that)
So I can do whatever I want on my end of the covenant.
What happens when we belief this belief? Who becomes god?
No only does God’s standards get trampled upon but who becomes god in the ultra loving god belief? I DO, because I tell God this is what you have to do.
But scripture clear says I AM NOT GOD, GOD IS GOD
What are we to do?
The 2 moves we all make do not work
What are we to do?
Is all hope lost
What hope do we have as covenant breakers?
We go Genesis 12 (where a promise is made) Genesis 15 (where a covenant is made) and then to Jesus
First, Genesis 12:1-3
What happens in Genesis 12? A promise is made
let’s read
Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you.
And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.
I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Do you see what God says there?
Abram, I am going to make you a great nation, and through you family line the whole world will be blessed and God says they will be be as numerous as the stars in Gen 26:4
I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed,
Wow!
We have an interesting thing.
Interesting thing
When God called Abram was he someone faithfully following God? No, in fact Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said to all the people, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Long ago, your fathers lived beyond the Euphrates, Terah, the father of Abraham and of Nahor; and they served other gods.
God calls Abram not when he is faithfully walking with God but when he is serving others gods.
God has a pattern of doing this
He did this with the also with the Apostle Paul on Damascue road
I say this to say let us never discount what God can do in an instant.
2. Problem:
Abram and Sarai have no kids and to top it off Abram and Sarai are no spring chickens, they are past child baring age.
Abram is 75
Sarai is 65
Can you image you image if God came to you at this age how you feel? JOY and DISBELIEF
Is God really going to do this
And what happens?
Do Abram and Sarai fully trust God?
No, they have a half way faith (that increases as time goes on)…they go half way to were God wants them to go they go to Haran and not Canaan and Sarai laughs at the promise
Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
This where we are in Genesis 12 with this promise of child coming and a child who would be a blessing to the whole world. A promise that is intrusted to a couple who have a half-way faith.
Then we get to Genesis 15 where a covenant is made (this takes place 10 years after the promise God gave Abram)
Guess what Abram and Sarai do not have yet? A child
If you were Abram and Sarai what would you be thinking? Would you faith in having a child be super strong? Would you not question if you really heard from God?
Abram is frustrated and questioning
After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: “Fear not, Abram, I am your shield; your reward shall be very great.”
But Abram said, “O Lord God, what will you give me, for I continue childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And Abram said, “Behold, you have given me no offspring, and a member of my household will be my heir.”
And behold, the word of the Lord came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.”
And he brought him outside and said, “Look toward heaven, and number the stars, if you are able to number them.” Then he said to him, “So shall your offspring be.”
(my heir my servant, he’s going to get the reward)
God encourages Abram look to the stars
What does Abram do?
And he believed the Lord, and he counted it to him as righteousness.
Abram believed, He believed God against all odds, God said it is going to happen.
Abram then asked, like we all would, but how I am I going to know this going to happen?
And he said to him, “I am the Lord who brought you out from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.”
But he said, “O Lord God, how am I to know that I shall possess it?”
Then the next thing God does with Abram is makes a COVENANT with ABRAM about this promise.
We do not see that a covenant is being made because we don’t do covenants like they did back then, but what happens you see happen in many accient texts of how they did covenants and you see it happen in Jeremiah 34.
I am going to read it then explain it
He said to him, “Bring me a heifer three years old, a female goat three years old, a ram three years old, a turtledove, and a young pigeon.”
And he brought him all these, cut them in half, and laid each half over against the other. But he did not cut the birds in half.
And when birds of prey came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them away.
What is going on here??? This is weird, different.
How covenants were made in those days is you would take animals (a heifer, goat, ram, birds)
You make the scared bond (we are commiting to this)
Then you would walk together inbetween the animals saying if I do not keep this covenant may I be torn to pieces.
Abram and God are going to walk down the middle of the cut in half animals.
Abram is putting his life on the line to be faithful to God, that he is not going to waiver though he has wavered and will continue to waver.
But what happens next
As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell on Abram. And behold, dreadful and great darkness fell upon him.
Abram right before he is about to walk with God down the middle he falls into a great sleep....Abram what are you doing? Abram you need to wake up.
Then something so amazing happens, so unbelievable
When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch passed between these pieces.
While Abram is sleeping, while he is sleeping, God puts a sleep upon Abram.
What happens? God walks through the pieces alone
WHAT!?!
What is God saying when He does
1. Saying If I do not keep my promise to you about you being a great nation and that a through your line the whole world will be blessed.” MAY GOD BE TORN TO PIECES
2. AND ALSO GOD IS SAYING “ABRAM IF YOU DO NOT REMAIN FAITHFUL TO THE PROMISE MAY GOD BE TORN TO PIECES”
What happens?
1. Does keep the covenant? NO,
One chapter later he deviates from God’s plan, He breaks the covenant. Has relations with his servant Hagar and she gives birth to Ishamal (this was not God’s plan)
Not only does Abram not fulfill it,
Israel
We don’t fulfill it
2. But who does keep the covenant? God, God fulfills his covenantal promise
Do you know what that means?
God is going to take the curse of the broken covenant because Abram breaks the covenant....not Abram, not us, God takes the curse....how?
It also means the blessings of the promise come to us because of God’s faithfulness…the promise that God is going to bless the whole world.
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Jesus took the curse of the broken covenant
For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
Not only does Jesus take the curse (what we derseve) , he gives us the blessing of the promise because he fulfills the covenant.
Read Gal 3:14
so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith.
(God is going to bless the whole world through Abramham’s seed.)
What is the blessing of the promise?
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law,
to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.
The promise of the blessing it to redeem us to bring us back into relationship with God.
As covenantial Sons and Daughters of the king
How does Jesus redeem us?
By his death and resurrection we have the blessing of new life in Christ.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
This is what happens at the table, it is a connection to the Passover meal and the start and it is also connected to Genesis 15 but it si New Covenant
And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
The way we enter into a covenantial relationship with God is by the grace of God
This is our God.
All we need to do believed that Jesus took the curse of the law so we can receive the blessing of the PROMISE
As Romans 10:9-10
because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
This our God.
Christ gets sacrficed similar to the heifer and lambs that were sacrificed Genesis 15.
In speaking of a new covenant, he makes the first one obsolete. And what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away.
promise of God is based on God’s faithful love and gives Abram a son 25 years after the promise who grow into a nation, that 2000 the blessing of the promise years we read.