"Fear God, Love God, Serve God": "The Covenant"

"For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise

it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth."

(Hebrews 9:17)

The Lord Jesus Christ

It was a plot from the beginning. Huh? From the moment Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden, and perhaps even before that because God is inifinite; the plot was seeded in the mind of the eternal God. What plot? The plot to redeem man, the plot to leave an inheritance for mankind, the plot to save creation; it was brilliant, torturous and bloody; it was "The Covenant."

The word "Covenant" is defined as 'conditional promises made to humanity by God.' God has made many covenants; in the book of Judges, He brought the children of Israel out of Egypt, and promised to be their God and the God of their descendants after them. The promise of forgiveness of sins by the killing of animals as sacrifices in the Old Testament was a "temporary fix." The blood from animals sacrificed only "covered" the sins of the people temporarily; they had to keep coming again and again with bullocks and turtle doves, etc. The God of eternity purposed to become the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world; He became the ultimate sacrifice for every human in earth, and He shed His blood once and for all. There must be the shedding of blood to remit sins, and the Lord Jesus Christ, paid it all.

The new covenant was when the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross and "that precious blood" still flows to hearts, lives, humans, people of all Nations, kindred and tongues today. When He said, "It Is Finished;" the inheritance was in force. What? We inherited "eternal life." He paid the cost; all we have to do is repent of our sins, ask Him to be our Savior, be baptized in His name and receive the Holy Ghost, His Spirit. It was a promise made to creation that if we come to Him in humility and sorrow for ungodly sins that He would forgive us, remember those sins no more, and give us life everlasting that where He is, we may be also.

"Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out

of all nations you will be my treasured possession.

Although the whole earth is mine."

(Exodus 19:5)

The Holy Bible is full of many of our Holy God's promises, covenants, and conditions for the favor of God. When Almighty God makes a promise, you can count on it. He made a covenant with Noah that the world would never again be destroyed by flood, and to prove it, He sent us the "rainbow." Every time it rains, "covenant" kicks in! We see the rainbow, and we say, Thank You, Lord. It was a covenant, a promise, and that covenant has manifested itself for thousands of years. The rainbow is an "unconditional covenant" of God and, as such, it should be respected for its intended purpose. It was Holy then, when it shined over the settled Ark on Mount Ararat, and it's Holy now, when it settles over a covenanted earth.

"The solemn transactions between God and man, are sometimes called a covenant,

here a testament, which is a willing deed of a person, bestowing legacies on

such persons as are described, and it only takes effect upon his death. Thus Christ died,

not only to obtain the blessings of salvation for us, but to give power to the disposal

of them. All, by sin, were become guilty before God, had forfeited every thing that is

good; but God, willing to show the greatness of his mercy,

proclaimed a covenant of grace."

(Matthew Henry)

It's beautiful; is it not? We serve a Creator who makes covenants and keeps them, who promises that if we will do our part, as in the Ten Commandments, then, He will do His part, who even gives us signs to confirm His promises. Our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins, and rose again the third day ... then, He said He would catch away His Bride in the air before He sends judgment on the earth.

"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice

of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise

first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together

with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air:

and so shall we ever be with the Lord."

(I Thessalonians 4:16-17)

Finally, He said He will come again; He will set His feet upon the Mount of Olives and take back planet earth. It was always His, but He will prove it once and for all before long. It's another "covenant," another promise ... You can count on it!