His story 34: Covenant

A covenant with God is a commitment.
A commitment that is made without first trying each other out and taking something from the other that can not be returned.
This does not mean that we commit to him blindly, without any prove that He can be trusted.
On the cross God proved that we can trust him.
By taking the fall for our mistakes He showed us his devotion even before we entered into a covenant with him.
He showed us the selfless nature of his love.
He showed us that his commitment to love us is not based on our behaviour or our own trying to get back to him.
It does not even depent on us feeling sorry.
It is only after we see God’s forgiveness and kindness that we repent and turn back to him.
His commitment to us is purely based on his intention and decision to get us back no matter what it would cost him.
Because his faithfulness does not depend on anything we do.
It is not an answer to our contrition.
Rather we become penitent for our former way of living after we have seen his love for us.
The covenant He offers us is based on the blood of Jesus that was shed for us.
It is the ground for the agreement we make with God.
Because of it our sin is fully paid for and there is nothing that stands between him and us anymore.
A transaction was made when Jesus died for us.
He purchased us with his own blood so that we now could belong to him, if we were willing.
It is like the bridal price that in some cultures has to be paid to the family of a bride.
This does not mean that she is some unpersonal merchandise.
No, rather it shows her great value.
And so Jesus paid a very high price to have us.
To high to leave us on a whim.
Or ever.

The cross shows us God holds us in high esteem and that we can safely entrust our lives to him.
We do not have to be afraid He leaves us based on our infidelity and bad behaviour, because that was never the ground He entered into a relationship with us in the first place.
It is purely based on his love for us, and our willingless to receive this love and to return it.
But our response to his love is not what holds the covenant together.
What holds it together is the blood of Jesus that paid the price for even our future unfaithfulness when already being in covenant with him.
God has so much trust in the effectiveness of the cross that He is willing to make a covenant with us that is purely based on what He did for us, and not on what we would do for him.
He is not even a little bit concerned with our unability or even unwillingness to be faithful at times.
Knowing that we are not able to remain faithful to him without him enabling us to do so.
Knowing that when we intently look at what He did for us on that cross, even if perhaps our gaze lost its focus for a while, we would be so in love with him again that our resolve would be to never ever be unfaithful.
He knew the cross holds everything that was needed for an Almighty holy God to enter into covenant with sinful frail human beings that have a tendency to break covenants all the time.
He would pour out his own Spirit on all who entered into this covenant that was based upon the shedding of the blood of his own Son.
Thereby enabling them to truly become sons and daughters of the Most High.
Writing his laws in their hearts so they could live by them and become like him in character and nature.
So they would reflect his likeness to those around them that had not entered into a covenant with God.
That is how merciful He is.
He transforms the greatest rebels kindly and tenderly into children and intimate lovers of himself.
And although in an instant change takes place inside of us and our spirit is transformed when we convert, it takes the rest of our lives to become more and more like him, the way He intended us to be.
To get rid of all the junk that still permeates our way of living and loving.
It is through relationship with him that we grow and learn to live from our spirit instead of our soul with its selfish tendencies.
This shows us even more that a covenant with God is not based on our own behaviour and success in attaining this but solely on the provision He made for us on the cross.
Otherwise we would never be accepted by him, if it was based on our obedience and moral living.
The only way we can be in rightstanding with God is by accepting his grace through the sacrifice of Jesus.
There will never come a moment in our lives or eternity that his acceptance and faithfulness towards us will be based on what we have done or abstained from.
Like I wrote earlier in this book, all our ability comes from God.
So even if we were perfect we could never earn the love of God.
It is always a gift.
And that is what love is supposed to be.