Tuesday, September 30, 2008

49 - Christ - from BEFORE the Beginning - (2)

The Eternal Covenant - what a concept! AND - by IT, Christ was raised from the dead. That anticipates to me, Christ DYING, Christ being necessary for God's plan and promises; Christ dying as part of the plan before the world even started PLUS, WE were involved back then and are part of an Eternal Covenant. WOW - what a concept!

Several phrases are part of this teaching to me - "chosen IN HIM - before the foundation of the world" which tells us that the "Lamb slain before the foundation - or FROM the foundation - of the world" is an assumed subject in Scripture. Apparently THEY - the first century readers, knew much better than do we - the structure of God's plans and promises.

People NEED to know that their sin wasn't a situation which threw God for a "loop" - or caught Him unawares. As a Psychologist, I do appreciate counseling Christians as they seem to be SO SURE their sins cannot be forgiven, and telling them - "God anticipated you". HE paid for ALL SINS which could ever be committed. So - did YOU accept the payment? OR - did you think your sin was just too much for God to think Christ's sacrifice could COVER?

NOW - add to that - this all happened before the creation of us humans - can you see this is GOOD NEWS? To use a NT story - when the Prodigal left home - he had a HOME to return to - even though he didn't realize it. The lamb which wandered away - had a sheepfold to go back to - and Someone to carry him there - unbeknownst to him. God is ALWAYS prepared for us.

The concept is an Eternal one - and possibly MORE eternal and present than we realize.

CONSIDER - this might well mean that when God came to Adam and Eve, He was simply announcing the ETERNAL COVENANT in the Promise of Genesis 3:15.

CONSIDER - when God came to Abram, and proclaimed "I am your shield and exceeding great reward - and Abram believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness" - God was simply announcing the Eternal Covenant to come down through the ages as the concept of faith - birthed though Abram as the Father of Faith and reiterated in the NT as "Faith - from first to last" as an Eternal concept of Covenant Grace.

What about the OLD covenant? It was used to contrast the NEW with former lifestyle - but Paul reminds us - "it was added" to THE PROMISE. Don't forget, the PROMISE was made from the beginning - and existed BEFORE the beginning. (BUT - God did come to Abram to force it upon him - but that's not a perfect word since Abram believed - even though it was a DREAM - and believing is not a forced concept - but an invitation.) Added - the Law - so as Paul reminds us in Galatians - it cannot annul the former Promise. (Galatians 3:15-20) Maybe a challenging thought - since God told Moses to give a message to Pharaoh, "Let MY people go" - they were already covenant people. And - even during Christ's three year ministry they were referred to as "Children of Abraham." The same concept is available to all who trust God's promises - and Paul taught about that in Galatians 3 and Romans 3-5. Those who put on Christ are "heirs according to THE Promise" - Galatians 3:29.

I know Western thinking likes to separate and divide Scriptural concepts - sometimes it seems "man-made" to me - and in THIS case a failure to see THE ETERNAL COVENANT - focused in JESUS - from before the beginning and always in place. More to come.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I’m having trouble seeing that Genesis 3:15 is meant to be a reference to God’s announcing the eternal covenant to Adam and Eve. The verse reads, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” I take the passage to refer to enmity between humans and snakes. Biologists tell us that we are born with an intuitive fear of snakes. To kill a snake, one must either cut its head off or strike its head with a mortal blow. Snakes often strike humans in the lower extremities. A rattlesnake can still inflict a lethal bite for several minutes after its head is separated from its body, so it’s better to “bruise” the head rather than cut it off.

I know some see the verse as a reference to Christ’s victory over Satan, after he (Satan)strikes Jesus a blow through the crucifixion. That is somewhat speculative, it seems to me. However, I'm not entirely sure that a symbolic readings does an injustice to the text, unless one is dogmatic about it.