Good Morning Friends,
Today I would like to explore something many believers feel but rarely articulate: the tension between the ancient, unchanging covenant of God and the cultural layers that have grown around the church like ivy on an old cathedral. Some of that ivy is beautiful. Some of it obscures the stonework. And some of it—well, it needs pruning. So Do You Believe Jesus Is The Covenant Of Love He Claimed To Be For The Church?
Scripture Summaries Tracing The Arc of God’s Covenant Love:
• Genesis 17 — God binds himself to Abram with a promise that outlives empires.
• Genesis 3 — Even in judgment, God plants the seed of redemption.
• Genesis 28 — God promises presence, protection, and return.
• Ephesians 5 — Christ’s love for the church is self-giving, covenantal, sacrificial.
• Matthew 26 — Jesus seals the new covenant with his own blood.
• John 8 — Jesus claims the divine name itself: Before Abraham was, I AM.
Message: Many of the terms we use—Easter, Trinity, even “Bible” as a bound book—aren’t in Scripture. And yes, commentary on commentary has sometimes replaced the living Word with a curated, marketable version of faith. But the deeper crisis isn’t vocabulary. It’s displacement. People have chosen other gods not even realizing that they have done so. There is a crisis behind the crisis. People aren’t leaving the church because they’ve outgrown it. They’re leaving because they’ve lost sight of the One the church exists to reveal. When Jesus becomes a concept instead of a covenant, a memory instead of a presence, a doctrine instead of a Person, the institution becomes optional. But the astonishing thing is that the faith goes on. God’s purpose continues. The covenant holds, even when the culture frays. This is not a God who stands far off. This is a God who binds himself to humanity with a love that refuses to let go. Jesus doesn’t merely announce a covenant. He embodies it. He is the covenant.
• He is the bread that sustains.
• He is the light that reveals.
• He is the gate that opens.
• He is the shepherd who protects.
• He is the resurrection that restores.
• He is the way that guides.
• He is the truth that frees.
• He is the vine that gives life.
• And in John 8, he is the I AM—the eternal God who keeps the covenant forever.
There is no middle ground. Either Jesus is who he says he is, or the entire Christian story collapses. But if he is who he says he is, then the church is not a human invention—it is the living community of the covenant connected to the Holy Spirit, The Father and Jesus in a Loving Presence.
And So, the Church still matters even if people can experience God outside the church. God is not confined to buildings or bulletins. But Covenant is never a solo project. God’s promises are always communal. When scripture says: I will make you a people. I will be your God. You will be my witnesses. Do this together in remembrance of me it should be clear that the Church still matters. If someone has truly discovered how to walk with God, the Spirit will eventually draw them back into the body and love between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit—not because the institution is perfect, but because love always seeks communion. Jesus is the covenant of love. He is God’s promise made flesh. He is the bond that holds the church together. He is the One who leads us home. And the question posed is the question every generation must answer: Do you believe? Not: Do you understand everything? Do you agree with every tradition? Do you like every hymn or sermon or structure? But simply: Do you believe Jesus is who he claimed to be? Because if the answer is yes, then everything else—church, mission, communion, forgiveness, hope—flows from that one confession. Friends, the world is full of competing god’s. But the God who names Himself calls us back home to one God. One Lord. One Spirit. One Faith. One Love. The God who said “I AM” is the God who says “I am with you.”The God who commanded love is the God who became love. The God who spoke from Sinai is the God who speaks from the cross. And the God who is One invites us to become one in Him.
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. 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 into God’s Triune presence. Pray we join the covenant of love between Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit living in us.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 