"Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.
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Lesson 35: Covenant Relationship with God:
Review
In this series of studies we have been considering some of the
elements that lead to an understanding of the meaning of covenant and
commitment to personal relationships, first with the Father and then
with fellow believers.
We have considered...
1. The Cross and its
power over sin and the devil;
2. The humble, contrite
heart through which God promises to flow in resurrection power;
3. The testing of faith
through temptation and suffering;
4. The overall
predetermined plan of the Father for each believer;
5. Communication with
God and the danger of interference from Satan;
6. God's desire for
fruitfulness from His people;
7. The need to be
interconnected through covenant relationships founded upon God's love
and commitment to us.
In this last lesson of the series we will see...
1. The words and signs
needed in covenant relationship with God;
2. The nature of His
covenant being like the marriage of two partners;
3. The Christian sign
of the covenant God has made with us.
Our objective is...
to affirm the principles of covenant relationship so that as disciples
we can go on to maturity knowing that our vulnerability is covered by
the Father's relationship with us.
1. The words of the covenant.
1 Chronicles 16:15
Remember His covenant forever,
The word which He commanded, for a thousand generations,
A covenant is the guarantee of a given relationship.
It is a set of WORDS that define the nature of the
relationship and that set out the principles of commitment to it.
Marriage is a good example of a covenant relationship. A man and
a woman have a deeply felt relationship between the two of
them. The covenant of their relationship, marriage, is set
out verbally and clearly so that they can both be committed to
it. Signs of the covenant are even established to remind
the partners of their commitment to each other.
1. A covenant is
something to be remembered. It has several important parts;
a. the personal relationship,
b. the words of the oath of the
covenant,
c. the signs of the covenant,
d. the blessing for keeping the
covenant,
e. the curses for breaking the covenant.
2. A covenant is to be
remembered.
3. Covenants require
sacrifices from both sides of the relationship.
4. The sacrifices must
come from a heart experience. If one's heart attitude is
correct then the signs of the
covenant
become a valid expression of the reality of the heart.
5. Although the
covenant sign of circumcision was done in the flesh of Abraham and his
descendants, God was really looking for an attitude of heart.
2. The Abrahamic sign of the
covenant - Circumcision.
Genesis 17:10-14
10 "This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and
your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be
circumcised;
11 "and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it
shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
12 "He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male
child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with
money from any foreigner who is not your descendant.
13 "He who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money
must be circumcised, and My covenant shall be in your flesh for an
everlasting covenant.
14 "And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the
flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut off from his people; he
has broken My covenant."
Genesis 17:4
As for Me, behold, My covenant is with you, and you shall be a father
of many nations.
Genesis 17:9
And God said to Abraham: "As for you, you shall keep My covenant, you
and your descendants after you throughout their generations.
Genesis 17:12
He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised, every male
child in your generations, he who is born in your house or bought with
money from any foreigner who is not your descendant
Deuteronomy 10:16
Therefore circumcise the foreskin of your heart, and be stiff-necked no
longer.
Jeremiah 4:4
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD,
And take away the foreskins of your hearts,
You men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
Lest My fury come forth like fire,
And burn so that no one can quench it,
Because of the evil of your doings."
Romans 2:29
but he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the
heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men
but from God.
3. Cutting the blood covenant.
Genesis 15
1 After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision,
saying, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly
great reward."
2 But Abram said, "Lord GOD, what will You give me, seeing I go
childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?"
3 Then Abram said, "Look, You have given me no offspring; indeed one
born in my house is my heir!"
4 And behold, the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "This one shall
not be your heir, but one who will come from your own body shall be
your heir."
5 Then He brought him outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and
count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him,
"So shall your descendants be."
6 And he believed in the LORD, and He accounted it to him for
righteousness.
7 Then He said to him, "I am the LORD, who brought you out of Ur of the
Chaldeans, to give you this land to inherit it."
8 And he said, "Lord GOD, how shall I know that I will inherit it?"
9 So He said to him, "Bring Me a three-year-old heifer, a
three-year-old female goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtledove, and a
young pigeon."
10 Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, down the
middle, and placed each piece opposite the other; but he did not cut
the birds in two.
11 And when the vultures came down on the carcasses, Abram drove them
away.
12 Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and
behold, horror and great darkness fell upon him.
13 Then He said to Abram: "Know certainly that yourdescendants will be
strangers in a land that is not theirs, and will serve them, and they
will afflict them four hundred years.
14 "And also the nation whom they serve I will judge; afterward they
shall come out with great possessions.
15 "Now as for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you shall be
buried at a good old age.
16 "But in the fourth generation they shall return here, for the
iniquity of the Amorites is not yet complete."
17 And it came to pass, when the sun went down and it was dark, that
behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a burning torch that passed
between those pieces.
18 On the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying: "To
your descendants I have given this land, from the river of Egypt to the
great river, the River Euphrates;
19 "the Kenites, the Kenezzites, the Kadmonites,
20 "the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Rephaim,
21 "the Amorites, the Canaanites, the Girgashites, and the Jebusites."
4. The Jewish sign of the covenant - the
Sabbath.
Exodus 31:13
Speak also to the children of Israel, saying: 'Surely My Sabbaths you
shall keep, for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your
generations, that you may know that I am the LORD who sanctifies you.
Exodus 31:17
It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel forever; for in six
days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day He
rested and was refreshed.'"
Matthew 12:8
For the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath."
Malcolm Vine, Cornerstone Ministries. September 2004.
To contact the Bible School email: bibleschool@cornerstoneministries.org.uk
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