God’s covenantal love is a faithful, committed, loyal, no-messing-around love.
How many covenants are you in? That is, how many relationships are you in that are bound and ordered by a formal covenant?
A business contract is a weak form of covenant. I am bound by two contracts with publishers for books still in print. I have obligations and promises to fulfill under those contracts, and so do the publishers. I am also bound by contract with a rental company for my apartment, involving a host of promises and obligations, with financial repercussions for breaking them.
But beyond business contracts, I have also entered two formal covenants. When I married my wife, we each entered a marriage covenant in the sight of God and under the guidelines of Holy Scripture in which we made vows to each other. God is the witness to our vows, and he holds us responsible if we neglect or break them. A marriage covenant is far more than fine-sounding words in a marriage ceremony. It requires faithfulness.
In covenant with God
Finally, I have also entered a covenant with God. That’s the most serious business of all. Anyone who becomes a follower of Jesus Christ enters the same covenant. Jesus called it the new covenant in his blood. At the Last Supper, Jesus took “the cup after they had eaten, saying, ‘This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood’” (Luke 22:20 ESV). We are reminded of our covenant each time we receive Communion.
This covenant with God is ordered and bound by promises and obligations. God’s promises are found in the Bible, and you can be sure he will never be unfaithful to them, for he is incapable of breaking his Word. He is the God of perfect truth and faithfulness. He cannot lie; he cannot break faith; he cannot be disloyal.
In Scripture we also find our promises and obligations as followers of Jesus Christ and the repercussions of being unfaithful. Unfortunately, we have not yet been perfected, and so we do fail to keep the covenant completely. Thankfully, we have an advocate and High Priest who mediates for us, the Lord Jesus Christ, who shed his blood for the forgiveness of our covenant breaking if we will confess and repent of our sins (see 1 John 1:9–2:2).
God’s covenantal love
God makes covenants with people as an expression of his love. Just as a man and woman enter into the marriage covenant as an expression of their loving commitment to one another and their pledge of enduring faithfulness, so God in love pledges himself to us and calls us to pledge ourselves to him. He doesn’t do one-night stands. He doesn’t do no-obligation cohabitation. He doesn’t have partners; he has only covenant partners. It’s his nature. His love is a faithful, committed, loyal, no-messing-around love.
His love is a promise-making love. He delights to obligate himself to people he loves and come through forever. He promised himself in covenant love to Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Phinehas, Levi, the nation of Israel, and the followers of Jesus Christ. If you have surrendered your life to Jesus Christ, you are in the most wonderful, life-giving covenant imaginable, and if you remain faithful it will be your perfect satisfaction, safety, and security forever.
Our way and God’s way
Our way: In our fallen nature we are reluctant to commit to others and prone to breaking the commitments we do make.
God’s way: In love he yearns for covenant relationships and maintains his faithful love forever.
Life principle: The essence of keeping our covenant with God is to believe in him and all his words recorded in Scripture; to trust in Jesus for our salvation; to love him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength; and to love our neighbors as ourselves.
Jeremiah 9:23–24: “Thus says the LORD: ‘Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the LORD.’” (ESV)
I invite you to read my weekly posts about
knowing God and his ways better.
—Craig Brian Larson