INTRODUCTION [PRAYER]
My parents taught me about God and Jesus as a child. When I was ten years old, I decided to submit to God, repent of my sins, and be baptized. But looking back, I cannot honestly say I understood Salvation.
I did not understand the Covenant of God. I was not instructed on what to do next, and for the next 12 years, I did not live a life following Jesus. I followed the things of the world. But He told them, “Beware, and be on your guard against every form of greed; for not even when one is affluent does his life consist of his possessions.” (Luke 12:15 )
God later reiterates this.
Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, “I will never desert you, nor will I ever abandon you,” (Hebrews 13:5)
But because I was not taught these things (or may not have wanted to listen to them), I lived for the things of the world. I believed that Jesus wanted me to have worldly things, and I looked at my wealth as a gift from God to be used for anything I wanted.
Because of this, I tried desperately to find joy in the things in the world. But the Bible teaches that Joy comes from the Holy Spirit. When I sought the things of the world, I only received temporary happiness but was shortly longing for something else.
When I was 23, a man approached me and asked if I wanted to study the Bible with him. Nobody had ever asked me this before, and I was unsure what to say. I was hesitant but decided to try it. When I studied the Bible for myself, I quickly began to understand what it meant to be a faithful Christian.
So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
This scripture says that if you believe, stay obedient, and continue reading the Bible, you will know the truth, which will set you free. You are free because you are beginning a relationship with God and are no longer bound to the world. But you have to continue seeking the truth.
The more I read the Bible and spoke with God, the more truth I understood. I began to realize that God loves me. John 3:16 says that God loves me so much that he sent His son to die for me. He shed his own son’s blood for me. Why would he do this? What was the point of sacrificing his son?
You see, God was signing a New Covenant into effect. Our God in Heaven is a covenant God. The word Covenant means a binding commitment or a contract. It should be no surprise to us that our God comes to us and makes covenants. He has been making these covenants since the beginning. I want to review a few of the covenants.
THE COVENANTS
In Gen 1, At the very beginning, with Adam and Eve, God offered them a covenant. God’s part of the covenant was to create and give man life. Man’s part of the covenant was to multiply, care for the garden, and not eat of the tree of knowledge. In a Covenant or contract, there are always two parties.
In Gen 3, Man broke the first covenant, and God issued changes to the contract. God cursed the serpent, He increased pain in childbirth, He took away the garden of Eden, He cursed the earth that man would work harder to grow crops, and He shortened man’s life span. These were the consequences of breaking God’s first covenant. At this time, God also promised that He would send a savior.
In Gen 9, There was so much sin on the earth that God removed it with a flood. After the flood, God came to Noah and re-established the Covenant. Noah’s part of the contract was to be fruitful and multiply in numbers, not to kill humans because they are an image of God, and they could now eat animals. God’s part of the contract was that he would never destroy the earth again by flood.
In Gen 15, God came to Abram and re-established the Covenant again. God told Abram that he was to have a son, and Abram’s son would be the beginning of a great nation. God’s part of the contract is that He promises that a savior will come from His son, Isaac, whose descendants will continue to multiply.
In Ex 19, God came to Moses and issued the Covenant of Law with the people of Israel. The Law stated that men would offer animal sacrifices as a substitute for the punishment of their sins because sin must be paid for. For the wages of sin is death, but the gracious gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23)
God allowed them to substitute the death of an animal in place of themselves. And these guys meant business. They took their best and brought it to God, and killed, cut it into pieces, and that blood sealed the covenant. God cannot overlook sin; He cannot ignore sin. And almost all things are cleansed with blood, according to the Law, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. (Hebrews 9:22 )
OUR RESPONSE TO COVENANTS
Throughout history, God has repeatedly come to us and offered Covenants. As Scripture shows, man has repeatedly rejected God and his Covenants. Man has sought the things of the world and tried to replace God with them, much like I did for 12 years of my life. And our generation is doing the same thing.
In India, I see the worship of idols made of man, I know the worship of independence, and I see the worship of status. In America, we are not better off. We worship money, ourselves, people, and businesses; the typical American church follows this style.
The battle is the same whether we live in the USA or India. We can choose to follow Christ and this incredible covenant that he offers us, or we can allow ourselves to be deceived by Satan.
NEW COVENANT
You see, God has come to us again with a New Covenant. Hebrews 9:15 says that His Son, Jesus, is the mediator of this new Covenant.
For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the violations that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. (Hebrews 9:15)
So, I pose the question again: Why would He send His Son to die for us? God wants a relationship with us. He is offering us Salvation and Eternal life with Him.
The New Covenant is so excellent! It offers Salvation! And how that works is God’s Son seals the New Covenant into effect with his blood. As I said earlier, Hebrews 9:22 says that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. God offers to forgive our sins only through Jesus’s sacrifice.
Through time, God has offered us blessings, future promises of a savior, and law; now, He is offering us Salvation. He became human (John 1:14), made an atoning sacrifice for our sins (1 John 2:2), and rose from death proclaiming victory (1 Cor 15:20-22), not to condemn you (John 3:17), but to have eternal life (Romans 6:23).
TERMS OF THE NEW COVENANT
Satan wants to do everything he can to keep this message from reaching the ears of the lost. And what he has done magnificently in America is water down the Covenant message so much that you have someone like me believe that all I had to do was repeat a prayer and be saved. Other religions teach you to be sprinkled with water to be saved. Some faiths teach that if you believe in Jesus, you are okay, or be a good person, you receive salvation.
But nowhere in the Bible will you see any of that. Salvation is a Contact. It’s a Covenant. If this were the first time we saw God make a covenant, then yes, I would understand skeptics or realize that this is not God’s nature. But it is His nature. He has been making them since the beginning.
In this New Covenant, God says we must Believe that He raised His son Jesus from the dead.
that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; (Romans 10:9)
God says that you must Confess Jesus as Lord. You cannot submit to idols; you cannot worship money; you must submit to Jesus. You are confessing Jesus as Lord obeys and accepts what he taught as truth.
God says that we must Repent our sins.
The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:9)
In Greek, Repent is an action verb that means to change the inner man – to change who you are – your being, essence, character, and thoughts. It is something you choose to do. If you are going north, repenting would mean turning around and going south. It is a life-altering direction change. And God tells us we must repent of our sinful lives. We must turn completely away and follow Him.
God says you must be Baptized.
Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” (Acts 2:38-39)
Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you – not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience – through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, (1 Peter 3:21)
It’s so important to have a good conscience about your baptism. You want to be able to stand before Jesus someday and say, yes, I did everything I could to obey you.
COUNTING THE COST
Remember when I mentioned earlier that I was baptized when I was ten? I was young and immature, and now I realize that when I was a child, I was not mature enough to make that life-altering decision. The Bible teaches that we must count the cost before we submit to God and follow Jesus.
For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who are watching it will begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This person began to build, and was not able to finish!’ (Luke 14:28-30)
In America, we see this all the time. I was this for 12 years. True Christians are mocked because of people like me who did not count the cost. Others are turning back and being defiled by the things of the world. Once I learned this truth, understood the covenant of God, and counted the cost of a life of following Jesus, I was baptized for the forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit, as it says to do in Acts 2:38.
RESPONSE TO NEW COVENANT
God is an amazing God. Over the last few thousand years, He has continually reached out to us. This is the history of man. God gave life to Adam and issued a covenant. Adam decided to go towards the things of the world, and he turned his back on God. Since then, God has continually reached out to us, sending us dreams and visions, sending promises, sending prophets; over and over and over again, man has been rejecting God’s promises, rejecting and killing God’s prophets.
Two thousand years ago, God sent his only son to take his children back from the world. We were enslaved to sin, but with God’s gift of Jesus, we have freedom. This is it. God’s final covenant offers salvation; if we reject Him again, there is no hope separate from God.
PURPOSE
Again, I stress, don’t live for the things of this world, don’t live striving after the American church, don’t live submitting to the rules and traditions this world offers like I did for so many years.
First, we need to understand this incredible relationship we get to have with God. If we hold to the teachings, then we will know the truth. People have been searching for the truth since the beginning of time, and God gives it to us. Then God says that we will be set free once we know the truth. God provides us with a relationship with him, forgiveness of sins, truth, and freedom.
The challenge for all of us, whether in India, the US, or anywhere, is to be grateful for this relationship that God has given us. We need to work on this relationship daily to make it stronger. At this, we will be able to do the purpose of Jesus. But
He said to them, “I must also preach the kingdom of God to the other cities, because I was sent for this purpose.” (Luke 4:43)
The gratitude and relationship with God that we have will lead us to our purpose – which is to proclaim the Kingdom of Christ. We hold truth and freedom, love and peace in our minds – this is something everyone seeks. All we have to do is share our lives with them.
NEXT STEPS
Today, I want to challenge you to spend time with God. Read the Bible and Pray. Build your relationship with God.
and I pray that the fellowship of your faith may become effective through the knowledge of every good thing which is in you for the sake of Christ. (Philemon 1:6)
As we share our lives and the gospel with others, God opens our minds and gives us more truth and freedom.
Ask somebody if they would like to study the Bible with you. It will not be comfortable or easy, but I promise you that you can do it and that God will use that faith to change your life.
