The real import of the covenant-relationship with God which we have is
brought out by David in 1 Chron. 16:15-18: “Be you mindful always of his
covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; Even of the
covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; And has
confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting
covenant, Saying, Unto you will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your
inheritance”. The covenant, the promise that God’s people really will
inherit the land, becomes a law, a “word which he commanded”, something
which should be thought about all the time. The sure promise of entering the
Kingdom, the knowledge that by grace, according to the covenant, ‘we will be
there’, cannot be accepted passively. The covenant-certainty of that great
salvation becomes a command to action. We’ll now look at some of those
actions in practice. Reflect a moment upon the sheer power and import of the
fact that the Father promised things to us, who are Abraham’s children by
faith and baptism. The Law of Moses was a conditional promise, because there
were two parties; but the promises to us are in some sense unconditional, as
God is the only “one” party (Gal. 3:19,20). And as if God’s own
unconditional promise isn’t enough, He confirmed those promises to us with
the blood of His very own son. Bearing this in mind, it's not surprising
that Ps. 111:5 states that God "will ever be mindful of His covenant". This
means that He's thinking about the covenant made with us all the time! And
yet how often in daily life do we reflect upon the fact that we really are
in covenant relationship with God... how often do we recollect the part we
share in the promises to Abraham, how frequently do we feel that we really
are in a personal covenant with God Almighty?
Joy
Abraham rejoiced to
see the day of Christ (Jn. 8:56)- and this is surely an allusion to how he
laughed [for joy] at the promise of Isaac. He " gladly received the
promises" (Heb. 11:17 RV). And realizing that through baptism the promises
are made to us ought to inspire a deep seated joy too. Yet we will only
achieve this if we firmly grasp the real, pointed relevance of the promises
to us; that we who are baptized are each one truly and absolutely in Christ,
and the promises apply to me personally.
Notes
(1) David Bosch,
Transforming Mission (New York: Orbis, 1992)