Chapter One - Jesus IS Promise Covenant (1)

The introduction is over - we have made a quick "fly-over" and it is time to get out of our plane and explore the landscape.

Concept number one - Jesus IS Promise Covenant. That was the hardest idea to find because I wasn't looking for it. I just assumed Jesus came with a covenant. AND - if you know He IS the covenant - then obviously He came with a covenant wrapped up in Himself - so another tricky interpretation quandary presented itself. Translating words into English doesn't seem to be an impossible task, but many, many times a word or phrase has about three to five layers of meaning and translators feel the need to choose one. Then they stay with a limited meaning throughout their task. I have a few friends who teach Greek - and I am constantly trying to get fuller meanings and to understand the original context better. (Just because I got "A" in my Greek courses doesn't give me authority to decide what concepts mean - it just gives me a little - LITTLE access to do more study - and that is never over. Oh - one of those courses I got an "A" the second time I took it - after I learned a little more about study.)

When God talks to us, He uses "words" - which in that context (God's actual mind) is impossible to totally "get". However, God does try to "accommodate" us because He is trying to communicate to us. So, we must try to see the concepts in their original setting, all the time realizing that some of God's qualities are impossible to define or understand fully, so we "make do" and realize our own foibles and frailties. The subject of Covenant itself is the best example. Researchers go back and study ancient civilizations to see what kind of covenant God would chose in order to deal with mankind. Helpful - but we must not forget, God and people in Covenant agreements - cannot be like people and people in covenant. So - we have to allow the text to tell us what actually happened and what it meant - serious study; serious thinking !

When God came to Abram and directed him to leave Ur and Haran and go to an unnamed place where God would make him famous (Genesis 12:1-4) and very blessed, Abram left and journeyed to Canaan. There God appeared to Abram in a dream and "made covenant" towards Abram. "God said, 'I AM your shield and exceeding great reward' "(covenant overtures) and we understand almost nothing of this concept because it is God doing the covenant making - and He did it like NO man could. So - right way we are left with a difficult interpretation quandary. Do we call this a "Canaanite covenant" since that is where Abram was - of course not. What do we call it ? We call it God's covenant towards Abram - since God took it upon Himself to be a Blessing to Abram. Some call that a "forced" covenant, since God seemingly gave Abram no choice - but it isn't what is referred to as a "forced covenant"in historical study of covenants. (That would be when a King dominates a person or group and tells them "This is how it will be - do what I say or die !" So - to save your life you surrendered to the much more powerful King.)

Since NT writings associate this with God's Promise, let's call it The Promise Covenant. God promised certain things to Abram and he responded by surrendering to God's directive. From our perspective of History, we can call it The Promise to Abram's descendants actually, because we know Abram never lived permanently in the place we call the Promised Land. However - from Galatians we also know the Promise was to Abram's seed and that is CHRIST. Now we see that this is not a simple situation and we have to understand it from a perspective of a believer in God, not just a person living in Genesis history. When God deals with humans, all regular understanding is challenged and we simply have to allow God to explain Himself - if He does. God is not forced to explain much of His nature and doings - but He doesn't try to fool us either. Study is required and study is rewarded. That is why I used the word "strange" in our introduction - it isn't always apparent what words on a page mean - we simply must allow the story to unfold and see what God is "up to". With that in mind, let's just say "God is 'up to' Jesus - He is thinking of a way to sneak into the human race and get us back !" I'll try to show that fully - for now, when God came to Abram in Genesis 15:1 and said, "I AM your shield and exceeding great reward" and the Scripture records that Abram "believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness" we see part of God's dealing with people is for people to believe God's Promises - and that produces righteousness. How do you see that idea in any other nation, tribe or civilization ? God didn't set up a template for salvation on the basis of how He came to Abram - but He DID set up a template at the same time. Confused ? Sure - I didn't want to be alone in that ! Seriously, believing God's Promises bringing righteousness is a good "conceptual template" - but having God come to us in a dream is not required of everyone.

Someone asked, "Why don't you call it a forced covenant ?" My answer was "Well, because of John 3:16 - "God SO LOVED" - doesn't fit part of the concept of a regular forced covenant. BUT - make no mistake - when Jesus says, "I AM The way, The truth, The life" - it simply means "If you do not believe I AM He - you'll die in your sins" so - that is a forced covenant concept - another of those double or triple layers of meaning. The required response is a surrender - but God loves you before and after that decision is made - and He does wish for us to see that we better get under Jesus protective sacrifice or we cannot have to protection of it. So - I call it The Promise Covenant, since that is God's conceptual construct for humans to respond to Him-just like Abram - the Father of Faith. Don't forget, Abram believed an "impossible" statement of Promise - does that seem like a template ? Amazingly enough - it IS ! Dealing with God can be - interesting and challenging ! More to come