The Eternal Covenant (Part 2)

In the last post, we started to explore a subject that I hold very dear to heart, since understanding it lies at the heart of my eternal relationship with God. That subject is the "eternal covenant" (Hebrews 13:20-21) that God has made with us through Jesus Christ.

If you haven't yet had an opportunity to read the first part of this two-part series, I recommend that you read it before starting this post:

The Eternal Covenant (Part 1)

There are many different types of ancient covenant, but only one has survived, more or less intact, into the twenty-first century. And by examining this one surviving type of covenant, we can understand more fully the covenant that God has made with us in Jesus. That covenant type is, of course, the marriage covenant.

Jesus gave the definitive description of marriage, as God intended it, in Matthew 19:4-6:

"'Haven't you read,' [Jesus] replied, 'that at the beginning the Creator "made them male and female," and said, "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate.'"

Jesus is quoting from the Book of Genesis, specifically Genesis 2:24. But let's look at the context of this quotation and read the whole of Genesis 2:20-24:

"...But for Adam no suitable helper was found. So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and closed up the place with flesh. Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, 'This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.

In this passage we discover the true meaning of covenant. Look more closely at verse 24, which says:

"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."

Covenant is about the uniting of two people as "one flesh" -- in other words, although the two people remain unique in personal identity, they merge into one in covenantal identity. This is the essential meaning of covenant -- a meaning that has largely been lost in our age of pre-nuptual agreements and temporary marriages. You see, from the beginning God designed marriage to be of a quality of unity that can only be described as two people becoming "one flesh." In fact, Adam, quite poetically, describes this "one flesh" unity in the previous verse. In his own words, in Genesis 2:23, he says:

"...This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man."

And although this applies, of course, to the marriage of a man and woman, it also applies to the covenant between Jesus and you. In fact, the Bible indicates that this "one flesh" description is primarily about you and Jesus, for Ephesians 5:25-32 gives these instructions, together with some background explanation:

"Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church for we are members of his body. 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.' This is a profound mystery -- but I am talking about Christ and the church."

Once again, Paul, like Jesus, quotes from the same original declaration in Genesis 2:24, but this time he refers not only to natural marriage but also to your relationship with Jesus! In fact, says Paul, this "profound mystery" is primarily "about Christ and the church." The natural marriage covenant is a picture of the spiritual marriage covenant that has been enacted between Jesus and the Church!

Have you been awestruck yet? Has the full import of this really hit you? Just as Adam pronounced over Eve, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh," so Jesus has pronounced the same thing over you! You are now, as far as Jesus is concerned, "bone of my bones" and "flesh of my flesh"! In fact, the picture of Eve being taken out of the side of Adam extends, I believe, to the Church being taken out of the side of Jesus upon the Cross (Jesus bears a scar in the same place that Adam did, after the divine surgery which extracted Eve!). This is why Paul says this "profound mystery" is, in the final analysis, really describing the relationship between Jesus and His Church!

In the "eternal covenant" that God made with you, the key is you being united with Jesus. In fact, right throughout the New Testament, one phrase is repeated, time after countless time. That phrase is "in Christ" or "in him". Take a look, just as one example, at Ephesians 1:3-13:

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillmentto bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ. In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit..."

Get the idea? I sure hope so. Because when you believed in Jesus, you became a new creation "in Christ" (see 2 Corinthians 5:17), and it is from this covenantal position "in Christ" that you now live your life. When God looks at you, He sees you not on your own, but "in Christ". And so God now deals with you as if He was dealing with His own Son! That is why the Bible says you have received redemption and forgiveness "in him." You did not deserve it on your own, but by being covenantally united with Christ, God can extend full forgiveness, as well as all the covenantal blessings that belong to His Son, Jesus.

If you want to learn more about the nature of covenant, then I recommend that you download two Online Bible College lessons that I wrote on this vital subject. You can download these lessons from the following links:

The Amazing Secret
The Bond of Covenant

But in closing this post, I want to share with you one last thought in this matter. In ancient times, there were three important stages in the marriage covenant:

1. Courtship
2. Betrothal
3. Marriage

As you are probably aware, betrothal in biblical times was not the same as modern engagement. When a couple became betrothed, they were from that moment considered husband and wife, and to break a betrothal required a certificate of divorce, just as with a proper marriage (note Matthew 1:18-19).

It is also interesting to note that the promise of Jesus in John 14:2-3 uses the same terminology that is used by a bridegroom, in biblical times, who must depart from his betrothed bride to return to his father's house, in a distant village, to build an extension in preparation for the day when he returns for his bride, to take her to be with himself in the final stage of marriage.

Can you see the beautiful picture of your covenant relationship with the Lord? Jesus described Himself as the Bridegroom (Luke 5:34-35) who He has returned to His Father to prepare a place for you, promising to return to take you back with Him (John 14:2-3). Upon his return, the great wedding feast will take place (Revelation 19:7-9), after which we enter into the final stage of our covenantal union with the Lord -- entry into the purposes He has planned for us throughout all of eternity!

The all-important question is this: What stage in the covenant are you at? Since the third stage begins only after Jesus returns for His Bride (what we call "the Second Coming"), which, of course, hasn't happened yet, this means that you can be in only one of the first two stages. One possibility is that you are right now being courted by the Lord. If so, are you responding to His wooing? Are you willing to make a commitment of your life to Him -- to enter into the eternal covenant that has been made for you in Christ Jesus?

Alternatively, if you have already responded in faith to the Lord's promise of redemption in Christ, then you are now betrothed to Jesus. Remember, even though the "wedding supper of the Lamb" has not yet taken place, this betrothal is still part of the eternal covenant God has made with you in Christ Jesus! What an incredible relationship we've been called to be involved in! The Christian life is, as far as I'm concerned, all about discovering the depths of this covenantal love and learning to walk with the Lord in the intimate communion of that covenant.