It appears that I have taken many detours on my way through the Road in the Land of Abundant Living this past month! Not going where I had originally intended, I found that God's plan was better than mine. A fact which is always true. So today, with Christmas approaching closer and constant on my mind as I prepare for it, I want to share thoughts about covenants and promises. If you missed the last two blogs where I shared about the rainbow God gave us on the beach in Mexico, you may want to refer to the blog archives.
I've been thinking about covenants lately. God instituted His first covenant, I believe, with Noah and His family after the flood had destroyed the entire population of the earth except for them. They found refuge on the Ark because of Noah's faith in God's provision and his obedience to God's command to build the ark.
This first covenant was God's promise that He would never again "curse the ground on account of man . . . and will never again destroy every living thing," (Genesis 8:21) "while the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Genesis 8:22) The sign of His promise was the first rainbow which God displayed in the sky after the flood. Up to that time, rain had not yet appeared to water the earth. Instead the ground was watered by rivers and mists. (see Genesis 2:6 and 10) Can you imagine, since the first rain sent by God caused a flood that covered the whole earth, how fearful people may have been each time it began to rain afterwards? A few raindrops falling from the sky might have turned many hearts to terror! But God does not want His children to fear. So He gave His promise that whenever we see a rainbow, we are reminded that a flood will never again destroy the entire earth.
God always keeps His promises. And one of his greatest promises is the one He made to Adam and Eve in the garden after they had disobeyed and fallen into sin. God told them that one day He would send a Savior in Genesis 3:15 when he spoke this curse to Satan: "and I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed (my explanation: her seed refers to Jesus Christ); He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel. (my explanation: referring to Satan's later attempted to destroy Jesus on the cross)."
This month, we celebrate the culmination of that promise with the birth . . . the gift . . . of God's only Son, sent to this world as the life of God, Himself, in the form of a human baby. And 33 years later, Jesus spoke of the fulfillment of God's covenant with Abraham by His words, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood." Luke 22:20 Through Jesus' blood, we are given an opportunity to share in His new covenant, referred to in 2 Corinthians 3:6, "(God) who made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit . . . " And it is brought together by the writer of Hebrews in 8:6, "But He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He (Jesus) is also the "mediator of a better covenant, which has been exacted on better promises."
Obviously, there is so much more to be said about covenants, and a greater explanation can be found in Hebrews 8, if you want to pursue this topic. But for now, it is enough to focus on God's promise being fulfilled during this season of Christmas.
God always keeps His promises.
PLANS FOR MY NEW YEAR'S BLOG: My habit of many years past has been to read my chronological Bible all the way through during one year. Every year . . . month . . . day (!) God gives me new thoughts and insights from the depth of His Word. And I have barely scratched the surface! So my plan, beginning in January, is to write down some thoughts that occur to me as I go through the corresponding passages in my chronological Bible. I could do this for the rest of my life and not make a dent in the wisdom found therein. Maybe I will! So I invite you to stick with me as together we dig deep into the bottomless pit of God's Wisdom!
ANOTHER NOTE: This may be my last blog sent from blogger.com. So if you want to join me on my new site and not have any disruption in receiving my blogs, please go to http://www.lindaruthstai.com and sign up to receive them in your inbox! I will also continue to make them available weekly on Facebook. See you next Wednesday, one week before, as I tell my grandsons, "the best birthday party of them all!"
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