Your Covenant-Keeping God

 He sent redemption to the people; he commanded his covenant forever.  – Psalm 111:9

A covenant is an agreement, usually formal, between two or more persons to do or not to do something specified. A promise or a vow differs in that it is generally given by one party without requiring anything reciprocal. In early Genesis, God made certain vows and promises, including that of an ultimate Redeemer in the Garden of Eden, but it was not until Abraham that a covenant was made. In the Abrahamic Covenant found in Genesis 12, God promises to bless Abraham and all of his descendants but as part of the covenant, God asked Abraham to circumcise himself and all his male heirs. The covenant between Abraham extended to the Jewish people and has continued as a thread running through history ever since, and Jewish men are still circumcised as a symbol of the covenant, usually on a baby boy’s eighth day in a rite known as a bris. 

Redemption has been in God’s eternal plan. But, as today’s verse indicates, it is part of a covenant inasmuch as the plan involves two or more parties.  Bible commentator R.C. Sproul says this particular covenant is not between God and humans: “It is a covenant among the persons of the Godhead, specifically between the Father and the Son.“ He says that the point of this covenant of redemption is that the Son comes willingly, not being coerced by the Father, but relinquishes His glory, subjects Himself to a human life and a human death, for the sake of your salvation. 

Sproul also said, “Because God honored the eternal covenant of redemption, Christ became the heir of His Father’s promises. Because this covenant was never violated, we reap the benefits as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ.” Jesus did what needed to be done to provide redemption for you. Give thanks this Christmas for this Gift that exceeds all other gifts. Intercede for the nation’s leaders to gain an understanding of the cost of that Gift on the Cross that is available for them also.