2Corinthians 5:17-18 (Amplified) says, "Therefore, if any person is (ingrafted) in Christ Jesus (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old (previous moral and spiritual condition) has passed. Behold, the fresh and new has come. But all things are from God, Who through Jesus Christ reconciled us to Himself (received us into favor, brought us into harmony with Himself) and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation (that by word and deed we might aim to bring others into harmony with Him)."
I've only thought of myself as being a "covenant man" with God, throughout my entire Christian life. I knew that God was now my "Father," and I am His son, but I still thought of myself as covenant. However, the Lord recently spoke to me, while I was in prayer and very gently He said, "You are not covenant, you are family." When God made covenant with mankind before, the covenant depended upon man's upholding his end of the covenant. Since man couldn't do this, God instituted different kinds of sacrifice and rituals, to cover man's inability to carry out his end of the covenant.
In this new creation, we are not covenant people, but are the family of God. God could no longer depend on any covenant in which man could uphold his part of the covenant, so He made a new covenant and swore by Himself to make this covenant unbreakable. Hebrews 6:17-20(Amplified) says, "Accordingly, God also, in His desire to show more convincingly and beyond doubt to those who were to inherit the Promise the unchangeableness of His purpose and plan, intervened (mediated) with an oath. This was so that, by two unchangeable things (His Promise and His Oath) i which it is impossible for God to ever prove false or deceive us, we who have fled (to Him) for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before us." Verses 19-20 go on, "(Now) we have this (hope) as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whatever steps out upon it-a hope) that reaches farther and enters into (the very certainty of the Presence) within the veil, Where Jesus has entered in for us (in advance). A Forerunner having become a High Priest forever after the Order of (with the rank) of Melchizedek."
Hebrews 9:22 (Amplified) says, "In keeping with (the Oath's greater strength and force) Jesus has become the Guarantee of a better (stronger) agreement (a more excellent and more advantageous covenant)." This covenant wasn't made with us, but with Jesus. God couldn't lie and break it, Jesus wouldn't lie or break it (even unto death, He wouldn't quit and break it). Now this covenant between God the Father and Jesus the Son, was ironclad forever. By faith, we entered into a sonship relationship with the Father through Jesus and His obedience to this Oath.
This covenant doesn't depend upon our own ability to keep it, but upon the Oath that God and Jesus settled for us. We've not covenant, but family. Hebrews 2:10-11 (Amplified) says, "For it was an act worthy (of God) and fitting (the the Divine nature) that He, for Whose Sake and by Whom all things have their existence, in bringing many sons into glory, should make the Pioneer of their salvation perfect (should bring to maturity the human experience necessary to be perfectly equipped for His Office as High Priest) through suffering. For both He Who sanctifies (making men holy) and those who are sanctified all have One (Father). For this reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren."
Hebrews 2:12-13 (Amplified) says, "I will declare Your (the Father's) Name to My brethren; in the midst of the (worshiping) congregation I will sing hymns of praise to You. My trust and assured reliance and confident hope shall be fixed in Him. Here I am, I and the children Who God has given me." Jesus made the covenant with the Father and not with man. That covenant was ratified by Jesus' death and resurrection and there is no need for another covenant with fallible men. By faith, man only needs to enter into the family of God, by the Promise in that covenant. We simply believe in this eternal agreement and enter into the Father's House as family, through Jesus.
The Promise that was made to Abraham, was by faith and under grace, before the Law was brought into place by Moses. Now, the fulfillment of this Promise is made eternal, by the Covenant between the Father and the Son. Romans 8:16-17,18 (Amplified) tells us, "The Spirit Himself (thus) testifies together with our own spirit, (assuring us) that we are children of Go d. And if we are (His) children, then we are (His) heirs also; heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ (sharing His inheritance with Him) only we must share His suffering if we are to share His glory." Paul goes on in Verse 18 saying, "(But what of that?) For I consider that the suffering of this present time (this present life) are not worth being compared with the glory that is about to be revealed to us, and in us, and for us, and conferred on us."
As family, we have a relationship with the Most High God, as "Father." Even those who only know Him as "God," can receive from a certain extent, but are hindered by the lack of ability to "fulfill" what we think our part of this covenant entails. If we fail in any part of this covenant, then our hearts condemn us and we feel like we cannot receive from God. When we understand that Jesus has already fulfilled this covenant and has already brought into family with God, it changes our faith in prayer and fellowship with not God, but Father.
John writes about this in 1John 3:20-21 (Amplified) saying, "Whenever our hearts in (tormenting) self-accusation make us feel guilty and condemn us (For we are in God's hands) For He is above and greater than our consciences (our hearts), and He knows (perceives and understands) everything (nothing is hidden from Him). And beloved, if our hearts do not accuse us (if they do not make us feel guilty and condemn us) we have confidence (complete assurance and boldness) before God."
If we try approaching Him as only covenant people, then we are always aware of our own failures and under guilt and condemnation. If we come before God as family, then we know that Jesus has already made us clean to the Father and we aren't obligated to make our own righteousness, because we have been made righteous, by His righteousness. If my own children fail in some way, then they don't need to work at trying to be my children, because they have always been my children. If they were covenant, then they would need to rectify the mistake, before we could move on the promise. This isn't so with family. I am God's son, despite what I think or others think about it. I am His family and a joint heir with Jesus, forever and always. My heart cannot stop this Promise, with its accusations. Jesus is greater than my heart. Amen.
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