God’s Everlasting Covenant
of Grace
There is infinite value in the atoning blood of the Lamb of
God.
The new covenant with the LORD God is ratified by the blood of Jesus Christ
(Matthew 26:28; 2 Corinthians 3:6; Hebrews 7:22; 8:6-10; 10:16-17; 12:24; 13:20;
2 Timothy 1:9).
We have peace with God “through the blood of the eternal
covenant, even Jesus our Lord.”
The “blood of the eternal covenant” with Jesus Christ
stands over against “the blood of bulls and of goats” in the old covenant with
Israel. Christ shed His precious blood in fulfillment of the stipulation of the
everlasting covenant. Christ’s atoning blood is the foundation of this covenant
with God. The eternal salvation of sinful men and women is guaranteed by this
eternal covenant in the blood of Jesus Christ.
“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the
sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you
in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His
sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen"
(Hebrews 13:20-21).
The everlasting guarantee of the covenant of grace is the
shed blood of Jesus Christ. It is by His blood that all our sins are cancelled,
justice of God was satisfied, and the law was honored. Christ has done
everything that God can demand. The blood of Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of
the debtor’s side of the covenant. Because of the atoning sacrifice of Jesus
Christ on the sinner’s behalf, God is bound by His own covenant to show grace
and mercy to all whom Christ redeemed by His blood.
Jesus’ death is the divine seal of the covenant. I put my
trust in the merit of His blood. I have no other hope or trust but in Him alone.
This “eternal covenant” is not a covenant of works, but is
a covenant of free grace that was made between God the Father, God the Son and
God the Holy Spirit before the foundation of the world. In this covenant within
the Trinity, Christ stood in the covenant as man’s representative because man at
that time did not exist. This covenant of grace was established in eternity, put
into force at Calvary by the death of Jesus Christ, and sealed to the hearts of
God’s elect by the Holy Spirit. We receive the blessings of this covenant by
faith in Christ.
God the Son, in His own blood, paid the debt of all the
elect of God. He suffered the full payment of divine wrath against the sinner.
No question remains; it has all been paid in full. “The wages of sin is death,”
and our divine substitute paid the debt in full.
Every individual for whom Christ died shall be pardoned,
justified, and adopted into God’s family. The LORD God shall bring all of them
to heaven.
What motivated God to make this covenant of grace? It was
His own free mercy and grace. It is all of God. God in His sovereign grace made
the eternal covenant. Before all things were made God thought of you and chose
you. God made a covenant of love with His Son on your behalf. Our salvation from
beginning to end is His idea, His operation, and He will perform it to His
perfection.
Moreover, God’s eternal covenant is immutable because God
changes not. Man once in grace is in grace forever. His covenant is
everlasting; it will never cease. The heirs of God’s grace will be blessed
forever.
God’s work of grace in the elect begins when they are born
again by the quickening operation of the Holy Spirit. From that moment on this
work of grace is continued throughout our remaining life on this earth. It is
true that this perfection of grace is not attained in this earthly life.
However, we are to diligently seek that holy life (Phil. 3:12-13; 2 Pet. 1:5-7).
Because of God’s grace we cannot rest satisfied in our present spiritual
progress. In deed, it is the realization that God has turned away His wrath, and
has only thoughts of grace toward us that motivates us to live a life pleasing
to Him in thought and action. We need to pray for a constant supply of
sanctifying grace that we might please Him in our daily life.
Are you relying wholly on “the blood of the eternal
covenant, even Jesus our Lord” to make you right with God? Have you received the
pardon, cleansing, remission and forgiveness of all your sins by the blood of
Jesus? Do you glory in the cross of Jesus Christ as your only hope of eternal
life with God in heaven? Is your faith firmly fixed on the precious blood of the
everlasting covenant in Christ Jesus?
“This is My blood of the covenant which is to be shed on
behalf of many for forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28). God’s everlasting
covenant by which we are saved is the work of His everlasting free and sovereign
grace in Jesus Christ.
Oh, praise be to the Lord God for His everlasting covenant
of grace! “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness are my glory, my song; forever and
ever!”
Selah!
Message by Wil Pounds (c) 2006
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