Theology Lesson 4

Theology Lesson 4

God's Everlasting Covenant

God never changes. Yet our understanding of God changes with each new revelation. As we study the Scriptures our understanding of who God is and what he requires of us grows. For example Heb 13:8 states "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever" and Malachi states "I the Lord do not change".

Therefore His requirements (EverLasting Covenant) never changes, just our understanding of It. The Bible says that God is a covenant making God and keeps His covenant for a 1000 generations. How many generations from current generation back to Abragham, back to Adam? Most Bible scholars say that it is much less than 1000 generations.

God is the same. His truths do not change. God is always faithful to all His promises, good and bad, blessing or curse, life or death! Again it is not God or His word changing but our undersatanding through His revelation. God makes promises about Eve's, Abraham's and David's seed and we see clearly in the New Testament all these promises was the one SEED, Christ.

For example Gal 3:16 states "Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ." Paul goes on in Romans to show that the true Jew is not a physical descendent of Abraham, but spiritual. Rom 2:28-29 states "For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither [is that] circumcision, which is outward in the flesh: But he [is] a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision [is that] of the heart, in the spirit, [and] not in the letter; whose praise [is] not of men, but of God."

Just as God's Covenant requirements never change (everlasting), the solution never changes; "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant," Heb 13:20. What does the Lord God require of the Covenant keeper? Deut 10:12-13 states "And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, To keep the commandments of the LORD, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good?" This concept of a covenant keeper is defined by Christ in John 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

John 14:23 ties in the terms of the everlasting covenant with the concept of a circumcised heart (born again of the Spirit) from Romans and then Revelation 14:12 identifies the saints as "they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Then the writer od Revelation in verse 22:14 states "Blessed [are] they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city."

Before the foundation of the World God put a plan (covenant) in place and kept it a mystery as stated in 1 Cor 2:7-8 which states "But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, [even] the hidden [wisdom], which God ordained before the world unto our glory: Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known [it], they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." Then if you interperet Eph 1:4 to be speaking about the method of salvation (chosen us in him before the foundation of the world) through the blood of the everlasting covenant by putting the focus of the verse on Christ and not man.

For example Eph 1:4 states "According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:", not only are the three pronouns (he, him, him) are refering to Christ, but in the first ten verses of Eph chapter 1 Jesus is referenced 21 times, therefore it makes more sense to me to interpret verse four with a focus on Christ as the method of salvation for all mankind (blood of everlasting covenant) and not that He (Christ) has chosen a specif person (election) before the foundation of the world.

Use the "Blue letter Bible) in the kjv mode and do a word search on the following two strings "mystery" and then "everlasting covenant". The word "mystery" should return 22 verses and "everlasting covenant" 16 verses. Read these verses, pray and meditate and then send me a few comments on what God reveals to You.