Friday: Further Study: Christ, the Law and the Covenants
Further Study: For more information on this week’s topic, read Ellen G. White, The Covenant of Grace, p. 131-137, in God’s Amazing Grace.
“This same covenant was renewed to Abraham in the promise, In thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. Gen. 22:18. This promise pointed to Christ. So Abraham understood it, and he trusted in Christ for the forgiveness of sins. It was this faith that was accounted unto him for righteousness. The covenant with Abraham also maintained the authority of God’s law. . . .
“The Abrahamic covenant was ratified by the blood of Christ, and it is called the second, or new, covenant, because the blood by which it was sealed was shed after the blood of the first covenant. . . .
“The covenant of grace is not a new truth, for it existed in the mind of God from all eternity. This is why it is called the everlasting covenant. . . .
There is hope for us only as we come under the Abrahamic covenant, which is the covenant of grace by faith in Christ Jesus.-Ellen G. White, The Faith I Live By, p. 75.
Discussion Questions:
- What do Exodus 31:16 and Isaiah 56:4-6 suggest about the importance of the Sabbath to the covenant? See also Ezekiel 20. It is often thought that the Old Covenant, the one established with Abraham, was a covenant of works, in contrast to the New Covenant, which is of grace. Why is this idea wrong? What Bible verses can you find that prove it was always a covenant of grace? Why must it always have been by grace and never by works?
- Though Ephesians 1 doesn’t use the phrase, everlasting covenant, in what way does this phrase help us to understand why it has been called that?
- God promised that He would never again destroy the world by a flood, a promise symbolized by the rainbow. If, as some suggest, Noah’s flood were only local, what does that make of God’s promise? Why is the idea that the Flood was not global a major assault on Bible truth? (After all, look at all the local floods that have happened since then. If Noah’s flood were only local, what would these other local floods do to God’s covenant promise?)
The phrase “everlasting covenant” is used in this case to show us that God’s grace never ceases from our lives. His grace is the only one that holds us strong and closer to Him.
That is a great hope of life after death. Amen
I just got through listening to the Sabbath School lesson at Loma Linda University Church and today it was presented by Timothy Gillespie who is an associate pastor. What was interesting and something I really hadn’t thought of before is that covenants are vehicles for God to reconcile us to Himself.
The way it was presented is that it is not about a check list but about a relationship. That relationship is explicitly expressed in the new covenant, “I will be their God, and they shall be My people” (Heb 8:10 NKJV). That was the problem with the old covenant. The people had a relationship with a set of rules rather than with God which is what God wanted them to see and desire to change. I believe that is what Inge Anderson was getting at in her comment under Tuesday’s lesson.
When God is our friend and helper we will think, “Blessed be the LORD my Rock … My lovingkindness and my fortress, My high tower and my deliverer, My shield and the One in whom I take refuge” (Psa 144:1-2 NKJV). That is having a relationship like a little child (Mat 18:3).