Covenant

Did you see the news story about the San Francisco Giants pitching staff? They got into a little bit of trouble with Major League Baseball during the league's "Pride Month" celebration.

The team had modified the logo on their baseball caps with wonderful, happy rainbow colors.

But then the Giants pitchers wrote something on the cap. "Genesis 9:13-16." What is that?

"And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: ¹³I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. ¹⁴Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, ¹⁵I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. ¹⁶Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.” - Genesis 9:12-16

The rainbow was created by God and therefore belongs to God (v13). Humans have taken God's symbol of a covenant and used it to symbolize something else. Something that God calls sinful and "an abomination."

Back in the Old Testament there is a verse that is repeated a few times. Because of our society's desire to please everyone, it has made obvious its straying from God's Word.

"In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit." - Judges 21:25

And that's the problem with this "anything goes" culture we are living in. It has no king. If it did, if it truly knew Jesus, I would not be writing this story today. We would not be in danger of incurring God's wrath.

There are churches that embrace sin and do so in the name of social justice. This is wrong. As a prominent pastor once said, "There is no such thing as SOCIAL justice. Only JUSTICE."

When we decide to embrace things that are outside of God's commands for us, we enter into the danger zone. And that never ends well.

"Anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁹How much worse punishment, do you think, will be deserved by the one who has trampled underfoot the Son of God, and has profaned the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified, and has outraged the Spirit of grace? ³⁰For we know him who said, “Vengeance is mine; I will repay.” And again, “The Lord will judge his people.” ³¹It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God." - Hebrews 10:28-31

 

“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword." - Jesus, Matthew 10:34

The Ring

As is often the case, our pastor said something in his Sunday sermon that made me think. If you have your Bible handy, you could open it to Romans 2.

When my wife and I got married (49 years ago this coming July) we put rings on each other's fingers. Why did we do that? Well, tradition. Our parents did it, and THEIR parents, etc. But do wedding rings really DO anything, other than to show others that we are married?

Back in the day, God gave Moses the command (Genesis 17) that all males must be circumcised. It was a physical act, a sign to others, of the covenant between God and the Jewish people. But then Paul came along, and under the NEW Covenant, said this:

"A man is not a Jew because he is one outwardly, nor is circumcision only outward and physical. ²⁹No, a man is a Jew because he is one inwardly, and circumcision is a matter of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man’s praise does not come from men, but from God." - Romans 2:28-29

Do you remember Gollum's obsession with "the ring" in the Lord of The Rings movies? That's basically the same obsession that the Pharisees had with The Law of Moses. But then God offered a NEW Covenant through Jesus. The Pharisees didn't like it so they killed Jesus, because of their obsession.

A wedding ring means nothing, if it is not accompanied by loving, sacrificial hearts.

And how about our "wedding" with Jesus. Is He not the bridegroom and we are the bride? John The Baptist's disciples came to John and asked him about this Jesus who was also baptizing. John told them...

"The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom stands and listens for him, and is overjoyed to hear the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete." - John 3:29

It is not the cross we wear around our necks, or the communion wafers and wine we sample at church, it's our hearts!

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." - Ezekiel 36:26

This question must be asked then: Do our hearts truly belong to Jesus, or do they follow ritual or tradition? Do we follow Him because He is our Lord, or do we go to church because of our tradition?

“Watch your life and doctrine closely." - 1 Timothy 4:16

The Betrothal

Your best decisions have gotten you to the place where you are right now. So, how have you done? Satisfied? Happy?

We all make decisions in life. Some good. Some bad. But we make them. And then we have to live with the results.

In the Galilean wedding ceremony of old the groom poured a cup of wine for his would-be bride. The bride had to make a simple choice. She could hand the cup back, thereby rejecting the groom's proposal, or she could drink the cup agreeing to the covenant of marriage. Does that sound familiar? Communion maybe?

"Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” - Matthew 26:27-29

Do you see any similarities between the Galilean weeding ceremony and Jesus offering a "new covenant" to His disciples? Did you know that 11 of the 12 disciples were all Galileans? They were. They would have all recognized what Jesus said and did as a Galilean betrothal ceremony. It is not surprising then that Jesus referred to Himself in scripture as "the bridegroom" and The Church as His bride?

Each of us has a decision to make in this life. Are we going to choose to be "married" to Jesus by accepting His free offering of salvation? Or will we refuse and reject the bridegroom's proposal? The choice is ours. It's yours.

What will you do? The choice is yours. Choose wisely.

Before The Wrath Preview

Perfection

Photo by David Thomaz

Marriage. Most of want a perfect one. And, if done right, marriage can become an amazingly beautiful and wonderful thing. If done wrong however, it can turn into an ugly, frustrating mess. To be honest, most marriages today are probably somewhere in between. That's not where they were designed to be. A marriage should really be perfection.

I am preparing to officiate at a wedding in a few weeks. At first I was going to speak on Paul's letter to the church in Ephesus from Ephesians 5 - Instructions for Christian Households. But then I heard something from the Book of Luke this past Sunday that altered my decision. It was during communion.

^"20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you." - Luke 20:22

Before we get started today, we need to define a word - covenant. This is from Merriam - Webster's Dictionary.

Covenant - a usually formal, solemn, and binding agreement, a written agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action.

Marriage is a covenant.

Now let's go to Ephesians 5. 2000 years ago, in a culture much different from ours today,husbands and wives had different roles. Women were treated much like property, with benefits, if you will. I'd like you to read the text and then linger a bit at verse 32.

²¹ Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.

²² Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. ²³ For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. ²⁴ Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, ²⁷ and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. ²⁸ In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church - ³⁰ for we are members of his body. ³¹ “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” ³² This is a profound mystery - but I am talking about Christ and the church. ³³ However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband." - Ephesians 5:21-33

Paul describes a marriage relationship the same as our relationship with Christ! As Christians, we are "the bride of Christ." Jesus is the bride groom. We are to be dressed in white, pure, radiant, without stain or blemish. Holy and blameless!

How can we possibly do that? We are all sinners. We are all stained. We ALL have blemishes. None of us are worthy.

Ah, but God . . .

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." - John 3:16

We are made perfectly blameless through our faith in Christ - "whoever believes in Him."

The best marriages today are the once based in faith. Why? Because that's how they were designed to work. Marriage is like a triangle. The closer a married couple gets to God, the closer they automatically get to each other. Draw closer to God today and then watch what happens to your relationships. Listen to this song, and while you do, remember that "God IS love."

The Wedding Song - Paul Stookey