The Everlasting Covenant
Hebrews 13:20
“Now the God of
peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of
the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in
every good work to do his will, working in you that which is well pleasing in
his sight, through Jesus Christ ; to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
King
David’s consolation was that God had made with him “an everlasting covenant,
ordered in all things, and sure:” and
he said “for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.” (II Samuel 23:5)
This
everlasting covenant ordered in all things and sure is all the salvation of the
people of God, for God in His Unity of Essence, and Trinity of Persons has bond
Himself to men in that covenant by one unique person, The Lord Jesus Christ,
who is Himself the covenant. For the Holy Ghost by the Prophet Isaiah has
written “Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched
them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he
that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and
will keep thee, and will give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light to
the Gentiles:” (Isaiah 42:5, 6). And again the same prophet has by the Holy
Ghost written “Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time have I heard thee,
and in a day of salvation have I helped thee: and I will preserve thee, and
give thee for a covenant of the people, to establish the earth, to cause to
inherit the desolate heritages; that thou mayest say to the prisoners, go
forth; to them that are in darkness, Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the
ways, and their pastures shall be in all high places.” (Isaiah 49:8, 9).
God,
in His three Persons has bound Himself to men by one of the Three Persons of
Godhead being made flesh; for “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1) “And the Word was made flesh, and
dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of
the Father,) full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14). And in this one Person
“dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.” for the holy human nature of
Jesus Christ is the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man.” (Colossians
2:9; Hebrews 8:2). It was to this tabernacle that our Lord had reference when
He said “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19)
of course the Jews thought He was speaking of the material building of the
temple. The true tabernacle of God, the human nature of Jesus Christ was
brought in to being in a manner that was pitched upon by Divine Wisdom, and
revealed by the Spirit of God in the gospel of Luke.
In the sixth
month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy with John the Baptist, “the angel Gabriel was
sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth. To a virgin
espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the
virgin’s name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail thou that art highly favored, the Lord
is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and
cast in her mind what manner of salutation this shall be. And the angel said
unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God. And, behold, thou
shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name
JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the
Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign
over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Then Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? And
the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and
the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy
thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.(Luke
1:26-35).
Jesus Christ the God-Man is all
things in this covenant, He is the mediator of the covenant, “For there is one
God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;” (I Timothy
2:5). As the mediator of the covenant our Lord Jesus assures the terms of the
covenant are met on each side of the covenant, both toward God, and toward men.
Toward men, our Lord Jesus assures that the children of the covenant will be
accepted of God in peace and fellowship. (I John 1:3; Ephesians 2:14) Toward
God, our Lord Jesus has fulfilled the law of God for the heirs of the covenant
and in their stead by His own perfect obedience to the law, and He has put away
the sin of the children of the covenant for ever, such that God in His three
persons has sworn that He will remember their sin no more. (Hebrews 8:12).
Christ
Jesus is the Testator of the New Testament, (Hebrews 7:22) for the everlasting
covenant is to the children of the covenant, the last will and testament of the
Testator, the God Man, Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 9: 16) It was the Son of God who
accepted the surety-ship of the covenant before the world began, in that
engagement He agreed to take human nature (sin excepted) into union with His
Godhead, and in that nature, pay the vast sin debt of His children of the
covenant, reconcile God, and make peace through the blood of His cross.
(Colossians 1:20). As Mediator, Advocate, Intercessor, and Testator; Christ
Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father and bequeaths His goods. The good
things (Hebrews 10:4) that Christ bequeaths to His children of the covenant are
the blessings of the covenant as: the expiation of sin (Hebrews (:26) the
pardon of iniquity (Isaiah 40:20 eternal life (John 10:28) the righteousness of
God (Romans 1:17; 3:22) absolute holiness in the sight of God (I Corinthians
1:30) all spiritual blessings (Ephesians 1:3) all things that pertain to life
and godliness (II Peter 1:3).
Christ
Jesus is the wisdom of the children of the covenant; for it is by His Spirit
that the children are taught that they are sinners, and worthy of eternal ruin.
It is the Spirit of Christ that teaches the children of the covenant just how
it is that God does justify the ungodly; for it is written, “But to him that
worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted
for righteousness. Even as David also describeth the blessedness of the man,
unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they
whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. (Romans 4: 5-8).
Christ
Jesus is the Righteousness of the children of the covenant; God does not infuse
the righteousness of God into believers, but accounts, reckons, or imputes the
righteousness of the righteous branch of David to the children of the covenant.
For it is written, “Behold the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise
unto David a righteous Branch, and a king shall reign and prosper, and shall
execute judgment and justice in the earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely: and this shall be the name whereby he shall be called, THE LORD
OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Jeremiah 23:5, 6). Jesus Christ is to the children of the
covenant “THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS” it is He Himself who is the righteousness
of the children of God. The righteousness of God is in the Person of Jesus
Christ, and it is “unto all and upon all them that believe:” (Romans 3:22). As
it is written, “But now the righteousness of God without the law (that is,
without our personal obedience of the law, for, our obedience is, without the
law, for it is in and by Jesus Christ) is manifested, being witnessed by the
law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that
believe: for there is no difference:” (Romans 3:21, 22).
Christ
Jesus is the Holiness of the children of the covenant; for the children of the
covenant are holy in the holiness of Him in whom they are. For the children of
God are in Christ Jesus, they are in Him as members in His spiritual body, “For
as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one
body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or
free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” “Now ye are the body of
Christ, and members in particular.” (I Corinthians 12: 12, 13; 27). The
children of God are “sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus
Christ, and called. (Jude 1) Before the worlds were formed, God set apart (sanctified)
the children of the covenant in Jesus Christ for their preservation, and in
time He calls them to the bond of the covenant by His Spirit. (II Timothy 1:9;
Ezekiel 20:37; I Corinthians 1:2).
Christ
Jesus is the redemption of the children of God, “Hear, O my people, and I will
speak; O Israel, and I will testify against thee: I am God, even thy God. I
will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices or thy burnt offerings, to have been continually before me. I will
take no bullock out of thy house, nor
he goat out of thy folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I
know all the fouls of the mountains: and the wild beasts of the field are mine.
If I were hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the
fullness thereof. (Psalm 50:7-12). Our God and Creator places value on what He
will, according to the perfections of His character. There was nothing under
heaven or in the earth, not in all the universe that could be of sufficient
value in His sight to assuage the anger of His Soul, and put away the cry for
retribution that God’s justice demanded for the treachery of the race of men,
when, in the first man all sinned against God. The offence was so vast, so
magnificent, that one of infinite value, merit, and worth was necessary to
appease the fury of a thrice Holy God. But God said “I have found a ransom”
(Job 33:24). “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book
written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a
strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and
to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under
the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much,
because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look
thereon. And one of the elders saith unto me, weep not: behold, the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to
loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the
throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as
it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven
Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book out
of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And when he had taken the
book, the four beasts and four and
twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and
golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. And they sung a
new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals
thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of
every kindred, and tongue, and people and nation; And hast made us unto our God
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth. (Revelation 5:1-10). “And we have seen and do testify
that the Father sent the Son to be the
Savior of the world. (I John 4:14) The Father sent that of highest value (His
only begotten Son) to make reparation to His offended law and justice, and our
Lord Jesus Christ has magnified the law and made it honorable, (Isaiah 42:21). Therefore
the Lord saith “Fury is not in me:” (Isaiah 27:4). God, is now to, the children of the covenant
“the God of peace” but to unbelievers He is still an angry Judge. For, “He that
believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not he Son
shall not see life: but the wrath of God abideth on him.” (John 3:36).
A.J.Ison
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