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NEW COVENANT

covenant (n.) a formal and binding agreement or promise

When God created the world and everything in it, he said it was very good. It functioned as he designed it, as it was meant to. It was glorious. It was breathtaking. It was perfect. 

For a while.

Then, when humanity decided to trust a liar instead of God (you can read about that in Genesis 3), creation went from very good to broken and cursed.

God had every right to abandon everything and everyone. Instead, he chose to reach out in love and create a covenant with a certain nation. He would be their God. They would be his people. He would love, protect, and guide them. They would love, obey, and follow him; he would reveal himself to them, and they would share the truth of him with the world. The plan was that God would be known, loved, revered, and followed throughout his creation, just as it was meant to be. It was a very gracious and generous covenant. 

While it lasted.

Not surprisingly, God held up his end faithfully. He never abandoned his people. He never forgot his people. He never gave up on his people. He never rejected his people, even though they (not surprisingly) continually abandoned, forgot, and rejected him.

Once again, God had every right to abandon everything and everyone. Instead, he again chose to reach out in love and create a NEW covenant with humanity: he would come to them, as one of them, and live among them. He would take on himself the consequences of humanity’s selfish rebellion and then usher in a new era of repaired relationship with him and faithful loyalty to him.

At Christmas, we celebrate the arrival of God in the baby Jesus Christ. He came to us.

At Easter, we celebrate the death and resurrection of the man Jesus Christ. He died and rose for us.

And every single day, we should celebrate the New Covenant that we enjoy — the promise that King Jesus has loved, rescued, and redeemed his children, and that in return his children love, trust, and obey him as their powerful Lord and loving Savior.

As a new year approaches, remember the New Covenant, and commit to living in it faithfully.  

REFLECTION

How has God been faithful to you? 

How do you strive to be faithful to God?

How can you live as a covenant partner with God and with his children each day?