Good Morning Friends,
A friend of mine pointed out to me that a lot of terms we use as scriptural do not appear in the Bible. For example, no where will you see the word Easter in scripture. There has been a cultural subversion of the Biblical faith and it is now so embedded in the ways of worship that it is hard to extract the truth. And if scripture is our guide, I am not sure we can. Commentary on the commentary has taken the truth and has commoditized the Good News into well, what we have today. And yet there are a lot of things Jesus did that is not recorded in scripture either, so we need to be mindful of that truth as well. What is amazing is that the faith through Jesus goes on. The ways of the great I AM and our ways seems to have diverged but still in the tension of love, God’s purposes continues. And it all hinges on who Jesus is. And so, Do You Believe Jesus Is The Covenant Of Love He Claimed to Be?
Scripture: Then Abram fell on his face; and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You shall be the ancestor of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be Abram, but your name shall be Abraham; for I have made you the ancestor of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you, and kings shall come from you. I will establish my covenant between me and you, and your offspring after you throughout their generations, for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you, and to your offspring after you, the land where you are now an alien, all the land of Canaan, for a perpetual holding; and I will be their God.” God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations.
Genesis 17:3-9 (NRSV)
Very truly, I tell you, whoever keeps my word will never see death.” The Jews said to him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham died, and so did the prophets; yet you say, ‘Whoever keeps my word will never taste death.’ Are you greater than our father Abraham, who died? The prophets also died. Who do you claim to be?” Jesus answered, “If I glorify myself, my glory is nothing. It is my Father who glorifies me, he of whom you say, ‘He is our God,’ though you do not know him. But I know him; if I would say that I do not know him, I would be a liar like you. But I do know him and I keep his word. Your ancestor Abraham rejoiced that he would see my day; he saw it and was glad.” Then the Jews said to him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, before Abraham was, I am.” So they picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself and went out of the temple.
John 8:51-59 (NRSV)
While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you; for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you, I will never again drink of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” When they had sung the hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.
Matthew 26:26-30 (NRSV)
The Lord God said to the serpent, “Because you have done this, cursed are you among all animals and among all wild creatures; upon your belly you shall go, and dust you shall eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” To the woman he said, “I will greatly increase your pangs in childbearing; in pain you shall bring forth children, yet your desire shall be for your husband, and he shall rule over you.” And to the man he said, “Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken; you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”
Genesis 3:14-19 (NRSV)
Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Genesis 28:15 (NRSV)
Message: It is amazing that without money and arms, without modern science or a college education that Jesus conquered more than any person ever to walk on this planet. It is amazing that he shed greater light on things human and divine than all the great philosophers. It is amazing how the words he spoke prompted more pens in motion and discussions and works of art and songs and music of praise than all the great armies that have ever existed. Friends, Jesus’ influence on history and culture of this world is unmatched. But this success did not come easy. It came with a great price, considerable disagreement, and controversy. Jesus was constantly pitted against the laws of Moses. Constantly plagued by the Romans. Friends, Jesus is who he claimed to be. So, believe it, but also know it is not about cold doctrine. Know that we are to open our hearts to the joy of Jesus and the truth. Know that God is the good foundation for our future. He is Father, Son and Holy Spirit and gives us balance in our journey, our pursuit of the life that is really life. In today’s scripture from the Gospel of John, Jesus says some radical stuff that rocks the relationships of the religious leaders off their pedestal, and it instructs us about how we are to develop a bond with God given the challenges of a world that may not know a living Jesus. It is about having a personal, meaningful, expressive, and intentional relationship with the divine. And here as we prepare ourselves to be witnesses to the remembrance of the most dramatic events in all of history, we see that God is revealed in the life of Jesus and provides a plan that cannot only save us but also transform us all. It is a relationship of the eternal and perpetual Son of God in the person of Jesus, one with the Father and the Spirit, routing a solution to the problems of the world. So, you can research the Covenants on your own, but for now think about the first covenant that was made in the Garden of Eden. And the second covenant found in Genesis 3:14-19, the first promise of a Redeemer. And the third covenant where God makes a covenant with Noah and his descendants. And see the covenant of faith between God and Abram that begins to extend the blessings to the whole world. But then, especially in the week to come, embrace the new covenant Jesus established for you and me. Friends, God has made a meaningful covenant with every Christian manifested in the communion with shared with each other. Jesus prayed we would be one in this regard. Let us not disappoint God.
And So, there are seven I am statements of Jesus in the Bible and eight if we count the I am that I am of God at the burning bush. The one in today’s text is perhaps the most explicit claim of the deity of Jesus. These statements are designed to bring people to a point of belief and conviction about Jesus…that the Father and the Son were one. Jesus says he is the bread of life, the light of the world, the gate, the good shepherd, the resurrection and the life, the way, the truth and the life and the true vine. And the fusion forces us, as a matter of faith, to either accept or reject the divinity of Jesus. There is no middle ground when it comes to Jesus. He was either a mad man or a very sane man who was also God. For here through him grace and truth are balanced on the scales of justice and ultimately demand forgiveness be offered. Not so much me forgiving you and you forgiving me, though we should, but God offering us a means of being forgiven by God through the surprising love of Christ on the Cross.
Pray we experience a hunger for Jesus like a loaf of fresh baked bread after a fast. Pray we believe in Him like a light that appears out of the darkness to lead us home. Pray we experience Him giving us a new opportunity like entering a door that opens to the touch of our belief into a brand-new life. The bread of life. Pray we experience Jesus guiding us to still waters and green pastures. Pray that when we feel lost, we experience His Way answering the deepest questions of life. Pray we are connected to the energy and source of life that brings out the beauty and joy of our hearts. Pray we believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing we gain a life everlasting. Pray we place our trust in Christ in the new covenant and joy of love. Pray we ask the Lord of grace to give us the faith to believe. Pray we are one in the Spirit of our faith. Pray we realize that Jesus has established a new covenant with us for the forgiveness of our sins. Pray we realize that this covenant is a promise of unconditional love based on the redemptive life of Jesus. Pray we live a life of faith worthy of that covenant. Pray we take up the examples of how the Christian life is meant to be lived in a life of hope and the covenants of faith and love. Pray we realize that every ending is also a new beginning. Pray we realize that most of the world just does not get this reality and might even be angered by it, but that we are to love and forgive anyway. Pray we believe the promise of Jesus to lead us home to heaven. Pray we embrace the covenant of love.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 