The Constitution \ Covenants
"Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth”
II Timothy 2:15
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:" 2 Timothy 3:16 (KJV)
The Constitution! The United States is still the symbol of hope for most of the world. Many people come to the United States after having dreamed of it all their lives. They finally get here and work hard to make a better life for themselves and for their family. At some point, they might be afforded the opportunity to join this country (by oath) as a citizen.
When they do, they do it to receive and retain all the rights and benefits inherent to citizenship. The problem is that most don’t really understand their benefits, nor truly understand their rights. We have many rights and the base document for those rights is our Constitution. Now, let’s be honest, how many people have read through and understand the Constitution? Not many.
Not only that, many don’t even know where to go to find a copy of it. You can’t read what you can’t find. Likewise, Christianity is a symbol of hope for a dying and decaying world. Many people come to Christ for a better life for themselves and for their family.
They are afforded the opportunity to become a citizen of the Kingdom of God (by oath) and -- praise God -- many do so daily; by repenting of their sins and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord.
Now, after they are born-again and are citizens of the Kingdom, they, too, have many rights and privileges inherent to this new citizenship.
Our base document is also our Constitution (the Bible). The big difference is that most born-again believers today, unlike the believers in the Old Testament, have free access to our Constitution.
We have copies of it on our coffee table, in our car, on the internet, at church, etc. Now, how foolish would it be to become a citizen of a new kingdom and carry around a copy of the Constitution with you all the time and never read it?
Let us look at some the Biblical Covenants that help to understand the Constitution that we have today!
Biblical Covenants
In the Bible, God made Covenants with people regarding salvation, and the Old Testament Covenant revolved around salvation through the Laws of Moses. The New Testament covenant promises salvation through belief in Jesus Christ as Savior. Both covenants gave us the opportunity to be forgiven for our sins. Understanding the covenants gives us a better understanding of God and the sacrifice made for us by Christ.
A). God’s covenant with Noah
Genesis 9:1-18; (unconditional) - One of God’s first Covenants with people were given to Noah. God re-established the earth with Noah and promised never again to destroy it with a flood. “And I will establish my covenant with you; neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11).
Noah’s Ark was an early foreshadowing of the plan of salvation that God had in store for us with Jesus Christ. Those that took refuge in the ark were saved, just as those of us who take refuge in Christ are saved.
B). God’s covenant with Abraham
(Genesis 12:1-4; 13:14-17; 15:1-7; 17:1-8 ;) (Unconditional) To establish His people, “And he brought him forth abroad, and said, look now toward heaven, and tell the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, so shall thy seed be.” (Genesis 15:5) Because of his faith, Abraham was made the father of the nation of Israel.
Because of his faith, Abraham was made the father of the nation of Israel. God promised, through Abraham, a homeland for His people: “And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” (Genesis 17:8)
C). God’s covenant with Moses
Exodus 20:1–31:18; (conditional) At Sinai, God established His covenant with His people through Moses. “For thou art and holy people unto the LORD thy God:
The LORD thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself, above all people that are upon the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 7:6).
God presented Moses with the Law and promised His people salvation through the faithful keeping of the Law. “Know therefore that the LORD thy God, He is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations;” (Deuteronomy 7:9)
Though the Law was a path to salvation, it was also a curse and a burden. Continual sacrifices had to be made to wash away sin and stringent standards of living must be obeyed to remain clean. Later, the covenant of Christ would free us from the curse of the Law because Christ made Himself the final and perfect sacrifice.
D). God’s covenant with David
2 Samuel -7:416; 1 Chronicles 17:3-15; (Unconditional) He promised salvation and then with David God promised the coming Messiah.
“Howbeit the LORD would not destroy the house of David, because of the covenant that he had made with David, and as he promised to give a light to him and to his sons forever.” (2 Chronicles 21:7)
The New Covenant establishes the Law in our hearts. “But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; after those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.” (Jeremiah 31:33)
The sacrifice of Christ, no other sacrifice must be made. We must only believe in His saving sacrifice and internalize the Law by allowing the Holy Spirit to dwell in us.
E). New Covenant - Jesus the Messiah
(Jeremiah 31:31-40; Unconditional) The New Promise is fulfilled in the Messiah. “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.” (Malachi 3:1)
It was put into effect by Jesus’ death. “And for this cause, he is the mediator of the New Testament that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
(Hebrews 9:15) And it was sealed with Christ’s blood. “Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, and this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” (Luke 22:20)
God’s New Covenant with His people is superior to the old because it offers complete forgiveness.
“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1)
Jesus’ final sacrifice offers us freedom from the law “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us:” (Galatians 3:13a)
Jesus ministry is superior to the ministry of the Law because His sacrifice ended the need for blood sacrifice and established the New Covenant of salvation through faith in Him.
“But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” (Hebrews 8:6)
Only the sacrifice of Christ could have completed the Law: “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:14)
Christ gave Himself perfect, without sin, to free us from the death penalty of sin. By His perfect sacrifice, we are set free.
Since the beginning of time, God has wanted to have a relationship with us and has provided us with a way of communing with Him after the fall from grace, when sin entered the world and separated us from God, but in His mercy, He has provided us with opportunities for restoration.
Through Noah, Abraham, Moses and David, God established His Old Covenant of salvation. Through Christ, He perfected His covenant with us and inscribed it on our hearts with the indwelling of His Holy Spirit. He taught us to appreciate sacrifice with the Old Covenant and provided us with the perfect sacrifice of Christ. His covenants are kept and we, through His grace, are saved by them.
F). Marriage Covenant (Genesis 2:21-25)
A marriage agreement is not only a covenant between man and wife, but the name and blessing of God are often invoked as well. The marriage union is the closest relationship between two human beings. When a man and women decide to join together in marriage, they should do so with full realization of their responsibilities.
Marriage is serious business. As they pronounce the marriage vows in faith, the power of God goes into operation and a miracle takes place.
They are united by God and become as one in His sight. Their union is threefold: They are joined together spiritually by God, legally by contract and physically when the marriage is consummated. A husband and wife are joined together as Jesus is joined to the church. It is a miraculous union.
The state enters into marriage covenants because it licenses marriage, and the families involved usually pledge to work together to strengthen the marriage bond between man and wife. Marriage is the oldest institution in the world, honoured in the OT and the NT and approved by God.
The marriage covenant is not merely sacred in its own right. It is sacred also because it typifies other relationships of great spiritual significance. The first and the most important of these is the relationship that God desires to have with His people.
In Hosea, as in Jeremiah, there is a prophetic promise that God will eventually bring Israel back into covenant with Himself and thereby restore His relationship with them as their Husband. God declared the following:
It will come about in that day," declares the LORD, "That you will call Me Ishi [my Husband] And will no longer call Me Baali [my Master] Hosea 2:16 (NAS)
Then, Hosea 2:18, God spoke of a new covenant that He would make with them. In verse 19 and 20, He pictured the result of this covenant as the restoration of His marriage relationship to them:
“Will betroth you to Me forever; Yes, I will betroth you to Me in righteousness and in justice, in lovingkindness and in compassion, 20And I will betroth you to Me in faithfulness. Then you will know the LORD. (Hosea 2:19-20)”
Basic roles of Husband and wife and The Husband (Male) contribution:
Please see 1 Corinthians 11:7, Ephesians 5:22-31, and Hebrews 13:4);
All of the covenants between God and Man in the Bible are really based on our Creator's unmerited favour and loving kindness towards His fallen and sinful creatures.
Although man's expected response to God's grace may be stated differently in one covenant as compared to another, God always meets man on the basis of grace. Man's proper response is always to come from the heart resulting in repentance, cleansing, a renewed spirit and worship as stated beautifully in Psalm 51.
The Wife’s (female) contribution:
Please see (Proverbs 31:10-31).
A man may choose to live in covenant relationship (faithfulness) and redeem the promises of God or may choose to disregard his obligations and accept the consequences, but that is all the freedom that man has in the relationship.
God may supersede the covenant or may subsequently reveal additional details of the covenant, but it cannot be altered by man, nor will God alter it after it has been established.
G). Old Covenant and New Covenant Compared and Contrasted
Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was prepared, the outer one, in which were the lamp stand and the table and the bread of the Presence; it is called the Holy Place.
Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, which contained a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of Glory overshadowing the Mercy Seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.
These preparations having thus been made, the priests go continually into the outer tent, performing their ritual duties; but into the second only the high priest goes, and he but once a year, and not without taking blood which he offers for himself and for the errors of the people.
By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary is not yet opened as long as the outer tent is still standing (which is symbolic for the present age).
According to this arrangement, gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper but deal only with food and drink and various ablutions, regulations for the body imposed until the time of reformation.
When Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the Holy Place, taking not the blood of goats and calves but his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the sprinkling of defiled persons with the blood of goats and bulls and with the ashes of a heifer sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify your conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Therefore He [Jesus] is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred which redeems them from the transgressions under the first covenant.
For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Hence even the first covenant was not ratified without blood.
When every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled the book itself and all the people, saying, "This is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you." And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.
Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.
For Christ has entered, not into a sanctuary made with hands, a copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the Holy Place yearly with blood not his own; for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the age to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.
Just as it is appointed for men to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him. (Hebrews 9)
Are we beginning to commend ourselves again? Or do we need, as some do, letters of recommendation to you, or from you? You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on your hearts, to be known and read by all men; and you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the Living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts. Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are competent of ourselves to claim anything as coming from us; our competence is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not in a written code but in the Spirit; for the written code kills, but the Spirit gives life.
Now if the dispensation of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such splendour that the Israelites could not look at Moses' face because of its brightness, fading as this was, will not the dispensation of the Spirit be attended with greater splendour?
For if there was splendor in the dispensation of condemnation, the dispensation of righteousness must far exceed it in splendor. Indeed, in this case, what once had splendor has come to have no splendor at all, because of the splendor that surpasses it. For if what faded away came with splendor, what is permanent must have much more splendor. Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not see the end of the fading splendor.
But their minds were hardened; for to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains, because only through Christ is it taken away. Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their minds; but when a man turns to the Lord the veil is removed.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being changed into his likeness from one degree of glory to another; for this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." (2 Corinthians 3)
Summary
The Bible is the story of God's covenantal kingdom – its creation, its corruption by sin and folly, and God's gracious redemption of that kingdom to the praise of the glory of His grace. The central theme of the Bible, the covenantal kingdom of God, reveals the nature of the Triune God as a God of love who has called man into a fellowship of love with Himself.
1. Jesus came to re-establish the Kingdom of God in the earth.
2. We are born again into His Kingdom.
3. His Kingdom has a Constitution that outlines our rights and benefits.
4. Our King has ensured that we have free access to our Constitution.
5. It is our responsibly to read it and clearly understand the rights and privileges to its promises.
6. Our text teaches us that as citizens of this new Kingdom, part of our responsibility is to study the
Constitution.
7. Citizens who ignore the Constitution are still citizens, but their ignorance limits them from enjoying
the full benefits of their citizenship. Do you have a copy of our Constitution, the Bible? When was the last time you read it?
CONFESSION
Heavenly Father, I am a born-again believer. I have declared my citizenship in Your Kingdom. I have a copy of the Constitution and I declare that I will read it, study it, apply it, and receive from it. I can have what it says I can have. I can do what it says I can do. I can be what it says I can be. I will never, ever be the same. In Jesus’ name Amen!
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