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Grace takes you from where you are to where the eternal God wants you to be in your life. And, all that He does in you and through you is everlasting, for He is the Everlasting God. Studying it in the realm of peace, His word that will never pass away declares, He who would love life to see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil to do what is good; let him seek peace and pursue it. [1 Peter 3:10,11] Peace is more than an absence of strife; it is a well being, and wholeness that comes in you, as your area of lack, one that everyone experiences in one aspect or the other, is addressed and rectified, so that you can fulfill God’s purposes for your life. And, pursuing it is to bring your focus upon the God of peace who is with you, Christ, who Himself is your peace.
The life of Abraham, who was called out by God, to be in a covenant relationship with Him, is a valuable study towards it. For, amidst all the challenges and doubts that arose in him, costly mistakes even, he was ultimately blessed by God in all things. Abraham experienced wholeness, as he put his faith in the covenant of God, and as God remained faithful to His covenant. It was a faith walk with God, who remains faithful even when we are faithless, for He cannot deny Himself. He is a faithful God forever ! It also though emphasizes the need of hearing from God continually for man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God. Abraham had questions, even as you and I can sometimes have. But, God answered him, in a way, and in a language that he could well understand. He does the same with you today; hence, the need is always there, to be sensitive to His voice, and what He says to you in His word.
For, it is by faith that you can give to God, give up something for God, and also receive from God. ‘What will you give me ? and how will I know it ?’ were Abraham’s questions after God’s word to him, that He would be his shield, and his reward would be exceedingly great, and his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens. Abraham had doubts, for he did not have a single descendant then ! But, God stooped down in love, to make a covenant with Him. It was a common practice in the culture of those days, in order to ratify an agreement between two parties. It was singularly different in one aspect though, for even as Abraham was in deep slumber, God took upon Himself the entire responsibility of fulfilling the covenant. And, it was the word that He spoke at the end of it declaring, ‘I have given you this land’. It was a done deal even then, though it was during the time of Joshua, hundreds of years later that it was visibly seen. And the old testament in which the covenant was established unilaterally by God, connects you this day to the power of the Cross, and the New Covenant.
CROSS – the eternal covenant of peace :
The New Covenant was ratified through the Cross of Calvary, were the Savior laid down His life in love for the sins of the whole world. He took upon Himself the chastisement for our peace and well being, and by His stripes we are healed. It happens as you put your faith in God, in His Son Jesus Christ, to receive all that has been prepared and accomplished for you through the Cross, as He remains faithful to His covenant. What would happen otherwise, and what you can see in the people of the world around you, who are going around in circles searching for answers, is man trying to help himself, in order to come out of what he knows is a very internal problem.
It is how psychology tries to bring a solution, but the problem of sin that is a cyclic bondage, needs a Savior. And, it is by knowing the truth, that you can be set free – the truth that, when the Son sets you free, you are free indeed ! It is the revelation knowledge of the fine prints of the new covenant, when received by faith, to be applied in your life, which will take you step by step, towards experiencing the peace that is wholeness from God. Glimpses of the truth, shine through the covenant promises, which God made with the people of Israel, for the Old Covenant is a foreshadowing of the new and greater covenant of the Cross. The prophet Ezekiel captures it in powerful terms; one that you and I, living in the experience of it can well understand, for we are His chosen people now, having been redeemed by the Blood of His Beloved Son that has been shed for us.
They shall dwell in the land forever :
They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children, and their children’s children shall dwell there forever. I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. [Ezekiel 37:25-27] There are three key aspects, in the covenant promise that God makes in the verses above, to the Israelites, and they serve to reveal the essence of His unchanging character. And they are 1. It will be everlasting 2. They will be established and multiplied, and His sanctuary set amidst them, and 3. He will be their God, and they shall be His people. And, He is a faithful God who remains faithful to His covenant.
On examining the uniqueness of it, you will see that, it was certainly not a contract; as is the custom so often these days when an agreement is made between two parties for any particular reason. The Christian marriage though, still remains a sacred covenant, entered into in the presence of God by a man and a woman, to become husband and wife, even as they commit to it by saying ‘I will’. Today, in your life, in your walk with God, it is about the new covenant; and the responsibility that lies with you, to put your faith and dependency upon it, to receive the privileged riches that become available to you through it. And, unraveling the truth, to experience the blessing, you will see the primary nature of the covenant to be an everlasting one !
Eternal covenant :
It is an eternal covenant, for He is an eternal God, and by what He does, He shows who He is. He is the Everlasting God. And therefore, all that He gives to you, and what you receive by faith, is of eternal and immeasurable value. He gives you a life that is eternal. In a world that is temporary, you have an eternal God, with eternal purposes for you. His love for you goes on and on and on !
Everlasting love :
God loves you with an everlasting love; you may not feel it all the time. But His love for you has no beginning or end, and remains constant and immeasurable all through your life, whether you feel it or not. And when you know that He loves you, you will then invariably move on to feel His love too. He is the God who lovingly carried you while you were yet in your mother’s womb, and has promised to carry you even in your old age. And, it is His unchanging nature that the Lord affirms in the words of the prophet, as He declares that His promises never change, and therefore you will not be consumed or overwhelmed by any danger. [Malachi 3:6] You and I are alive today all by the grace of God. And, you need to be thankful for the fact that in this world, there are many things that are beyond your control, but God is in control of all. And if you are wise, you will understand this great truth and also be very thankful for it.
It is what the apostle James counsels as he writes about being aware of the truth that God needs to be the centre of all your plans and actions, and not an arrogant dependence on your own self. [James 4:13-16] But, the truth of God should not be twisted to suit a person’s convenience; for ‘God willing’ should not be an escape clause, to take the lazy and easy way out when the going gets tough while travelling on the narrow road in the path of Christ ! God alone is permanent and unchanging; man is very temporary; for, the day he dies his plans, however good they may be concerning you, also come to an end. But, it is not so with God’s word and His promise to you. His word goes on from one generation to another. His mercies never come to an end !
The psalmist captures the truth of man’s temporariness, however high and lofty his position and material wealth may have been in life in very clear terms as he says, Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no salvation. When his breath departs, he returns to the ground; on that very day his plans perish. [Psalms 146:3,4] But God never dies, and so His plans never perish ! The central verse in the bible is the one which declares that it is better to trust in God, than to put your confidence in man. [Psalms 118:6] Not trusting in princes is in one version of the verse, described as not putting your trust in the one who has no ‘salvation life’. And, it is not disregarding or down playing the role of professionals and experts in every field, be it finance, medicine, education etc. Rather, it is the honest admission of the truth that is much higher. For, the mathematics that your accountant puts forth before you, will take on a totally different and greater picture when you bring Jesus into the center of it all. And so it is with any issue in life, and any expert in a purely worldly sense.
For, salvation life is indescribably higher and better. It is one that has often been loosely but aptly described to be the sum total of all the blessings of God, in Christ, through the Spirit and by His word. And, when the psalmist counsels you not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, [Psalms 1:1], he is not referring to bad and evil men, but to the person who does not accommodate Christ into the centre of the equation, whatever the issue may be; in short it is the person who has not experienced the love and joy of salvation, to have the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, leading and guiding him. It is when you know the Savior, and are saved, that you enjoy the blessing of God, as you put your trust in the Lord, more than in anything or anyone else. God comes first, and you seek Him first. And, your trust in men needs to come through your trust in God. Negating and ignoring all counsel from men, would again be an act of presumption, but Lord Jesus needs to be in the center of it all.
And, when you apply the finished work of the Cross, the new covenant in your life, it will all become a vastly different picture and scenario; one that strengthens and empowers you. The eternal covenant affects your past, present and future; and the knowledge of it will see you walking in freedom to fulfill what the Lord has ordained, to do the good works that He has already prepared for you. For, through the eternal covenant, you are redeemed forever from the yoke and bondage of sin.
Eternal redemption :
Eternal redemption becomes your experience, for you have an eternal God. The writer to the Hebrews describes what the Cross has done, the glorious weight of redemption that is eternal, and the need for it. The fall of Adam into temptation and sin, saw the entire human race that came after him, being born corrupted with a sinful nature, and needing redemption. The word ‘redeemed’ is used even in the natural world, when jewels that are pawned need to be redeemed. There is then a cost involved in regaining it. It serves to illustrate in a very small way, the necessity of redemption, and the unimaginably high cost that the Savior had to pay. It was His precious sinless Blood, shed on the Cross of Calvary that became an atoning sacrifice for our sins once and for all. Oh, what a glorious truth !
The Lord entered into the most holy places, once and for all, not by means of the blood of bulls and goats, but by His own Blood, thus securing eternal redemption. [Hebrews 9:12] The problem of sin that came through Adam needed a Savior’s intervention, to redeem all of humanity. And when you put your faith in what happened on the Cross, the new covenant, God remains faithful to His covenant, and redemption is appropriated in your life, through the finished work of Christ.
‘It is finished’ – your sins carried away !
It was the cry of victory, of the Lord on the Cross, to establish very clearly the difference between the old and the new. For, in the old covenant, the sin was covered, as the high priest offered the blood of animals as the atoning sacrifice. It was a temporary soothing of conscience that they experienced, until the next year. And, high priests came and went, but the ritual went on as year after year, the people were reminded of their sins, to offer up sacrifices once again. But in the fullness of time, Christ came, and once and for all, by one sacrifice, removed and carried away the sins of the whole world. Your sin, not in part, but the whole of it was nailed to the Cross, two thousand years ago, and you bear them no more ! And with all guilt removed from within you, you can be grateful and thankful to bring a sacrifice of praise unto the Lord, for the eternal redemption that He now gives you. It is what the writer to the Hebrews goes on to say …
How much more … :
How much more will the Blood of Christ, who through the Spirit offered himself to God, purify our consciences from dead works to serve the living God.[Hebrews 9:14] And, a translation of it puts it across as ‘consciences that are purified from acts that lead to death, to serve the living God’. You can indeed be generous in your thanksgiving, for the removal of all curses in you, for having been redeemed from the futile ways of your forefathers to receive by faith a brand new start, a heart cleansed by the Blood of the sinless Lamb of God, to become a clean slate upon which the Lord Himself writes His promises, that you may keep it and be blessed.
The new covenant proclaims the truth of a once and for all sacrifice, through which your sin has been carried away once and for all. And redemption such as it, demands from you a sacrifice of praise that is not limited and too sophisticated, but is one of exuberance ! It is a life style of worship and thanksgiving that is yours as a child of God, redeemed forever, by the new covenant of the Cross. For, worship is not limited to a Sunday, but needs to flow from you all through the week, even in your workplace, as you do it all, not unto men, but unto God, that He may be glorified.
And, when did it all start to work in your life ?
It was when you put your trust, your faith in the finished work of Christ, the new covenant. Your past sins have been dealt with and removed, to see your conscience cleansed. But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, and have fellowship with one another, the Blood of Jesus His Son, cleanses us from all sin. [1 John 1:7] And then, the next verse goes on to address the presence of sin in you. [1 John 1:8] For, it is concerning your present and your future, the sins that you could commit, as the sin principle is still there, and the propensity to sin still remains, And, the apostle goes on to establish God’s eternal redemption, in words of clarity and truth, in the successive verse. But if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. [1 John 1:9] And now eternal redemption gives you the power not to commit the sin again, and get entangled in its bondage.
Your Redeemer lives :
It was Job’s confession of faith, in the midst of his turmoil and pain; and indeed his latter days were better than his former. You have a Living and Eternal Redeemer, even this day. Job longed for a mediator, who will take up his cause with God. Today, you have a Mediator, the Man Christ Jesus interceding for you, seated at the right hand of God. Therefore He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance. [Hebrews 9:15] The Lord became man, took on flesh and blood, to redeem you from all your sins forever. He understands you completely, sympathizes with your every weakness, for He was tempted in every way, and yet without sin. And, He is the compassionate Savior, who does more than sympathizing and empathizing with your pain and sorrow. He is the Mighty God, who can and who will intercede and intervene in your pain as no one else can, in order to bring you out of it.
It was sheer compassion that saw Him reach out to raise the widow’s son who was the only child to his mother. The Lord understood completely the painful tears of the mother and also did something to remove it, as He said, ‘Young man, get up’. And, the young man being carried in death in a procession to his grave arose from death to life ! [Luke 7:11-25] There is indeed nothing that the Risen Redeemer who is alive forevermore cannot do in your life today. He gave His life for you, and now He gives to you, His life giving word. He is not the hireling, who will run away at the first sign of danger. He stands with you in your time of need to lovingly carry you through. He remains your Good Shepherd forever.
As a sheep of His flock, you are safe in the Lord’s hand. And all the good work that He has begun in your life He will carry through to completion, to present you spotless without any blemish or wrinkle unto God the Father on that glorious Day. Give thanks unto the Father through His Son continually, for the eternal redemption that is yours today, the everlasting gladness and joy that is your hope and expectation, one that will see all sorrow and sighing fleeing away. May your problems which are all merely temporary, be driven away permanently because you have an Eternal God, who has blessed you with eternal redemption. He is a faithful God who remains faithful to His covenant of blessing with you forever.
In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
