Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Some important basic truths from the Old Testament:
Conditions and clauses were important, but more important was that which these were meant to safeguard:
a lasting relationship.
1. Covenant is a treaty or contract which established a relationship between two parties and bound them together
Through the covenant, God and His people are joined together.
2. The covenant was not a treaty between equals, but between a mighty person and a lesser person.
The Contents of the Covenant
a) Usually began with an introduction in which the mighty king identified himself as the one initiating the treaty and then proceeded to summarize the history of the relationship between the two parties, with emphasis on what the mighty king had already done for the lesser party.
God freed the people first, then entered into a covenant (God did not give the commandments first, then free the people if they obeyed).
Deut 5:6 and Exod 20:2. Introduction to the Ten Commandments
Our covenant with God is based on what He has done for us, and what we do in response is only secondary.
b) Next listed what the weaker party needed to do.
The obligations flow from what the other had already done.
All other commandments are part of our covenant
c) Concluded with a list of blessings (if they obey) and curses (if disobey)
Breaking God's commandments = breaking our relationship with Him. There are consequences.
Being faithful = blessings. Promise Land
a.) It was between God Almighty and a people owing their existence to Him.
b) It was issued by the stronger king at his initiative. The old covenant was initiated by God.
What is a covenant?
Also, as baptized Christians, we have a covenant relationship with one another.
We have a commitment of:
- Loyalty
- unity
- service
We need to understand more about this covenant with the Lord
We need to appreciate how the CFC covenant helps us to live out our faith in concrete situations in our day-to-day life.
Two types of covenant relationships:
1. Between parties equal in power and position
2. Between parties unequal in power and position
Genesis 21:22-32
In this case, it is
unilaterally bestowed
by the greater on the lesser
May God be praised
Covenant agreements do not just bind persons to something outside themselves (e.g. a business contract)
Rather, the parties are bound in a personal way. What is established is a significant family-like relationship between the agreeing parties.
"Come now, let’s make a covenant, you and I, and let it serve as a witness between us.”
So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. He said to his relatives, “Gather some stones.” So they took stones and piled them in a heap, and they ate there by the heap. Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, and Jacob called it Galeed.
Laban also said to Jacob, “Here is this heap, and here is this pillar I have set up between you and me. This heap is a witness, and this pillar is a witness, that I will not go past this heap to your side to harm you and that you will not go past this heap and pillar to my side to harm me. May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.”
“Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; your reward will be very great” (Genesis 15:1).
Our Response
But, in the Church today, there is a tendency to interpret this as a call to love all men and women
1. Our fitting response is contained in John 13:34-35
The Commandment of the New Covenant
Conclusion
1. The Old and New Testaments are God's old and new efforts to establish a relationship with His people.
2. CFC is a vehicle, an opportunity by which we can respond fully to God
New Testament Teaching
2. Many Christian groups are unsuccessful because:
a) Their models are secular in nature.
- Democratization of personal relationships.
Majority rules
- Aim is self-fulfilment. Promotes selfishness
- Priority of personal independence, of
individual freedom.
- Relationships proceed from feelings.
b) Relationships are not based on a covenant
c) There is no authority to oversee the
relationships.
d) There is no common life, no significant relationships within the body.
1. God wants to make a covenant with us and enter into a personal realationship with us.
a) Jesus came to bring about a new covenant.
b) The New Covenant is not merely a matter of obeying a set of laws, but of entering into a living relationship with Jesus
3. The Biblical Model for relationships
a) Like a Family
- Membership in one body, interdependence, unity, common life.
- Loving relationships (brotherhood and sisterhood), sharing
- Authority and order
b) If so, there are practical needs:
- Need to express commitment and love to a specific, concrete group of people.
- Need for such group of people to learn a specific set of relating and living out their commitments.
2. As with the old covenant, the new covenant is not an agreement between equeals, and is not done on our initiative. Rather, God acted first by sending Jesus.
4. The nature of our commitment
a) We are to love and serve God
- we are to be God's own servant people
b) We are to love and serve one another
- we are no longer our own masters
- We are to lay down our lives for one another
Practically, we should be willing to meet our brethren's needs with our personal resources.
c.) We are to live our lives in true righteousness and holiness
d) We are to be a people that the Lord can use as a body
- Have unity, order, peace, and support for our common life.
e) We are to be light and leaven to the world.
5. Practical considerations
When people agree to put their lives in common, the following are necessary:
a) Clearly spelled out commitments
- Thus, our written covenant.
b) An authority to govern the body and oversee the set of relationships
- Our pastoral structure of household, unit and chapter leaders.
- Our overall governing and pastoral authorities: the CFC International Council and the Board of Elders
c) Taking responsibility for one another and for our common life.
- not just the responsibility of the leaders, but of every member
- Correction, intercession, financial help, etc.
d) A visible common life
- Our various meetings and events
3. All that God asks of us flows from what God has already done for us.
God's commands are taken in the light of His action in Jesus
4. There are also blessings and curses. Our response has eternal consequences