Covenant Relationship #1
I feel strongly that we should begin our study talking about what it means to being in covenant relationship with Jesus Christ. Especially because our ultimate goal is to draw closer to our Lord and Savior. John 7:38 Jesus said “Believe on me, as the scripture has said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water”. Well, we are then drawn to the question, what do the scriptures say about being in covenant relationship?
From Genesis 1:1, and even before that, God desired to have a relationship with man. He created the heavens and the earth and everything in the heavens and earth with man in mind. He visited with Adam and Eve in the garden in the cool of the day every day because he loved them. The covenant for them was easy. You can eat anything you want in the garden except for the fruit from the tree in the midst of the garden. He said don’t even touch it or you will surely die!
God is a gentleman and gives us choices in life. He will never forces us to walk with Him. And He is a very just God. He gives us guidelines to follow and won’t change them to suit our whims. Adam and Eve broke covenant by choice. But God knew this was going to happen, nothing takes Him by surprise. Isaiah 46:9-10 “I am God and there is none else; I am God and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning.” He knows the choices we make and already has a plan in place for those choices. With that being said, He doesn’t change. When we come into covenant with Him then we will never be the same.
Cain and Able (as you well know) were called to make a sacrifice to God to be in covenant with Him. Their parents, when they realized they were naked,made the first blood sacrifice to gain covering for their nakedness. The sacrifice made by Adam and Eve set the stage for the future. God required blood be shed to be in covenant with Him. Cain didn’t understand the process and brought what he thought was his very best. When God tried to correct him he wasn’t having it and became an outcast.
Let me follow a rabbit for a moment. Cain was very sincere. He brought the fruit of his labor as he was a tiller of the ground. In our world today we have very sincere people that truly believe they are doing the right thing by following their conscious. These people kind of assume biblical principles by what they’ve seen on tv or by something someone else has told them. They don’t study the word to find out for themselves. How many times have you heard…”I don’t have to go to church, the woods/home is my church… me and God have a relationship wherever I am” 2 Timothy 2:15 says that we should “study to thyself approved unto God, a workman that needed not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”. In another place (2 Peter 1:19-21) it says the word isn’t for private interpretation. In other words we can’t take a few words here and a few words there and make it say what we want. The word came to men as God inspired them. Everything found in the word will have supporting scriptures to back it up. If it doesn’t then it isn’t verified truth. Men have died fighting for their truth but not “the” truth. I want to know what is “the” truth no matter what it costs me. Eternity is too long to miss it.
God longed to be in relationship with all of the children of Israel. However, we as humans, aren’t without sin (Psalms 51:5) and are unable to be in direct contact with our creator. If you study Moses on the mountain with God, God hid Moses in the cleft of the rock and only showed him His hinder parts. God said “You can’t see my face and live” (Exodus 33:18-23). Therefore we needed atonement for our sins so God instructed Moses to build a tabernacle in the wilderness. He told him exactly what measurements it had to be even for the furniture. He told them the type of wood to use, the exact fabric for curtains. He even gave certain men the knowledge to construct metal fasteners, the altar of sacrifice and the outer fence. He specifically told them how to take it down and even what direction to face it when putting it back up again. His strict instructions said only the high priest could enter the holy of holies and absolutely no one could touch the ark of the covenant. And the ark could only be carried not carted. These were very specific instructions.
To be in covenant with God, He gave us the Ten Commandments and gave specific instructions on how to approach the tabernacle in the wilderness. You could only enter through the one gate/door.
The Old Testament is a type and shadow of the New Testament. The way the tabernacle in the wilderness was built shows us specifically how to be in covenant with Jesus Christ in our day.
I think this is a good place to stop. Look up the scriptures listed.
Your prayer today is: Lord show me how to get closer to you. Give me revelations in your word that will change me forever. I want to receive all that you have for me. Open my heart and my mind as we open the scriptures. Let me see Your truth oh Lord… in Jesus name I pray!
