Covenants and Promises, Pt. 2

Click HERE to access this program’s Study Guide

There’s a difference between someone who says, “I’ll always be there for you” and someone who puts it in writing, makes it binding, and actually shows up. One is a feeling. The other is a commitment. Pastor Nick Gatzke explores the power of God’s enduring Covenants and Promises.

Martyn Lloyd-Jones once said that for those of you who feel like you are one of the teeming millions in the world, and though the world would have you to believe that you do not count and that you are but a speck in the mass of people, God says, I know you.

God promises to be God. He promises to be their God. And that leads to the next covenant.

It’s the covenant that God makes with his people after a good amount of time of captivity in Egypt and leading them out and saving them through the Passover. He makes a covenant with Moses.

God had… formed a people for himself through Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the people of Israel that have become 12 tribes. He’s shown grace to them in the midst of their sin. And now he makes another covenant, the Mosaic covenant, to help them to understand who he is and to help them to be faithful to him. At its core, this covenant in Deuteronomy chapter 11 and other places says, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. And God will bless you as you follow him in faith and obedience. The covenant comes through Moses to Israel in the form of the Old Testament law with its 10 commandments and the sacrificial system that would follow. Through Moses, God would draw near to his people with great majesty and terrifying power as he presents this covenant. Exodus chapter 19 verses 16 through 18 accounts for this.

It says this. It says, “And they took their stand at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire. The smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. And the whole mountain trembled greatly.” And we see from there that Moses ascended the mountain to meet God. And when he came down, his countenance was glowing from being in the presence of the father. And he held two stone tablets written by the very finger of God himself, which was a covenant, a way in which God would relate to them from that day forward.

God was gracious again. He was gracious to show his people, Israel, his holiness. He was gracious to show their need for him because of their sin. He was gracious to begin to create the environment for a savior. God was also gracious to the nations in this covenant because through this law, the nations would see the manifold wisdom of God on display in this people. And through this law, the holiness of God would be made known in such a way that a clear answer to this greatest need would be seen some hundreds of years later in Jesus. God was indeed their God. And they were indeed his people. And this covenant was sign of that. And as time progressed, God would make a new covenant.

A covenant that would not create a new way for people to approach God or relate to God. People have always been called to relate to God by faith. But this covenant would be a way in which not just Israel, but all of the people of the world could relate to God by faith and confidence. This new covenant would be a way in which all of the blessings of God would be mediated for people going forward. This new covenant would be a way in which God would not only provide blessing, but eventually provide all of the required stipulations for the covenant to be met.

The new covenant is alluded to through one more covenant, the covenant to David.

As God wishes to bless the nations, he makes a promise to David in 2 Samuel 7, verse 16. He says, “Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure before me forever. Your throne shall be established forever.” God was making clear that the earthly lineage of Jesus would come through the line of David. And that was important because the next hundreds of years, Israel would continue to be faithful for a season and then rebel and faithful and then rebel and faithful rebel. Does that sound like anybody you know? And when they were rebelling and they were in exile, they had promises to hold onto that a king would come, that his throne would be restored and that the Lord and King of the universe would again bestow his blessing upon them.

God had promised to be God and he had promised to be their God.

And in the midst of all of their wanderings, they held to that promise because of who it came from.

And that leads to the final covenant. It’s called the new covenant.

It’s expressed in that God would send God. He would send God to dwell with people and he would send God to dwell in people. Jeremiah chapter 31 is the framework for this covenant and we see just a couple verses in verse 31 through 34. Through the prophet, God says, “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant, a new way of relating with you. With the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand and bring them out of the land of Egypt. My covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord. I will put my law within them and I will write it on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor or each his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for they shall all know me. From the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord, for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

Jesus would come and he would be the covenant blessing as his coming would accomplish the work of God, would allow us to relate to God with this new confidence. The word would become flesh and dwell among us. The spirit would be sent and dwell within us. In Abraham, the Jewish nation would be defined as God’s people. But in Christ, people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, from high to low, could be called God’s people. In the Mosaic Covenant, the people would bring animal sacrifices to deal with their sin. In the New Covenant with Jesus, the ultimate sacrifice has been offered and paid for for all of our sin.

The covenant that comes after David, people would draw near to God physically by going to the temple. But now in the new covenant with Jesus, God dwells in his people by the Holy Spirit and he even calls your body a temple of that Holy Spirit. Through Jesus, all of the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant and the Davidic covenant are seen, not just for the Jews, but for all of the nations. Listen to some of the descriptions of this covenant. Hebrews 8:6 says, “But as it is, Christ has obtained a ministry that is much more excellent than the old, as the covenant that he mediates is better, because it’s enacted on better promises.” Hebrews 9:15, “Therefore he, Jesus, is the mediator of a new covenant so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant.” Second Corinthians chapter 1 verse 20, “All of the promises of God find their yes in him. That is why through him we utter our amen to God for his glory.”

And so when people put their faith in Jesus to forgive them, they’re justified based on his perfect standing. No status is needing to be earned for stipulations of this covenant. You can interact with the Lord and the King of the earth because Jesus earned that for you. No obligations need to be met except for the obligation of faith. Following this new covenant, the law of God, which can to some at some point surely feel overbearing or difficult or begrudging in its nature, now is written on your heart in such a way that you want to follow it. You want to please God with your life. You want to experience his goodness. This is the story of the Bible. This is the story of all reality. The Lord God has secured a relationship with his people through his son. What’s the story of humanity? What’s the story of God? God secures a relationship with people through his son. Period. In the universal covenant, we see that God promises to be God. Lord and king of the world. The covenants to Abraham and Moses, you see God will be your God, which makes all of the difference. And in the new covenant, you see that God will be your God through Jesus, through faith in Jesus.

God has secured a relationship with people and he does it through his son. Friends,

God loves people so much. That he continues to seek them.

Think about just the story of this interaction that we talked about.

Again and again and again, God pursues and people turn away. God pursues and they might enjoy faith and blessing for a time, but they turn away. And so God makes another covenant to help them. And for a while, they pursue and then they turn away. But God knows, he loves, and he knows that you are at your best when you are with him. He knows that we will never come to him unless he seeks us.

Tozer once wrote that God wants us to worship him. He doesn’t need us. For he couldn’t be a self-sufficient God and need anything from anybody. But he wants us. When Adam sinned, it was not he who cried out, God, where are you? It was God that cried out to Adam, Adam, where are you? And when Israel sinned, it was not Israel that said, God, where are you? It was God that cried out, Israel, where are you? You crying out, God, where are you? It was God looking into your soul and saying, where are you? That is the story of God and his love for humanity.

And it all culminates in the work of his son, Jesus. And all of the blessings and the promises of God are mediated through him for you.

All the promises of God find their yes in him. And so I want to close this morning and say, you guys just made it through seven covenants in record time. And I know that there are some of you that are wondering, well, what about the 7,451 other promises of God and how do they apply to my life? This morning I want to close and read for you just 12 promises, no explanation, 12 promises that God makes to you if he is your God and you are his people through Jesus. These promises come to you through the Lord Christ himself and they mean everything for your most fundamental needs in this life and for your most basic desires that you have. The desires you wrestled with last night. The desires that you will have when you walk out of here today. At the core of who you are, what you truly and really want. God promises to meet it in these blessings. And so listen. Listen and let these promises wash over you as we close.

This is the way that God relates to you. God promises to be a refuge for you when you are in trouble. Nahum 1:7 says that the Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. God promises to give you favor and honor. It’s his to give. He’s the king of the earth. Psalm 84:11 says, “For the Lord God is a sun and a shield. The Lord bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless.” God promises to give you peace. And for some of you,

that is really good news today. Philippians 4:6-7, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Jesus.” God promises to give you food and provision. Something that we all want and that we all need. Jesus says in Matthew chapter six, verses 31 to 33, “So do not worry saying, what shall we eat or what shall we drink or what shall we wear? For the pagans run after all of these things and your heavenly father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness and all of these things will be given to you as well.” God promises to give you abundant blessing.

“Second Corinthians 9:8, and God is able to bless you abundantly so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.” God promises to give you rest. Some of you are very tired. And Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” God promises to give you life to the full.

The best possible life you can have comes through God, mediated by Jesus. Jesus says in John 10:10, “The thief being the devil comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life and have it to the full.” God promises that. God promises to make you new.

2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away. Behold, the new has come.” God promises you to make the situations of your life work out for good. Romans 8:28, “We know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, those who are called according to his purpose.” And that is such a great promise when you feel like none of it is working out for good. God promises to give you wisdom. James 1:5, “If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to you.” God promises to make you an heir, an heir of heavenly riches, a co-heir with his son, Jesus. It’s hard to even try to get your mind around Romans 8:16-17 that says “the spirit bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God. And if children, then heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided that we suffer with him in order that we may be also glorified with him.” And God promises you to give you joy.

John 15, verses nine through 11, Jesus says, “As the father has loved me, so I have loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things have spoken to you that my joy, the joy of the eternal son of God may be in you and your joy may be full.”

Pause and think about it for a minute. Refuge, favor. peace, provision, blessing, rest, the fullest life that you can have, recreation and making you new. Good circumstances and difficult seasons of life, wisdom, heirs, and joy. Every desire at its core that you have in this life is met with the promise and the blessing of God. And that is why God says, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them and I will be their God and they will be my people.”

The story of God is a story of promise and blessing and response and it points to the truth that God will be your God and he will be that through faith in the Lord Jesus.

###

This transcript was generated using AI transcription technology and reviewed for accuracy, but may contain errors. Please refer to the original audio for precise wording.