May 2, 2004

THE COVENANT

"I, the Lord, have called you in righteousness; I will take hold of your hand, I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles" (Isaiah 42:6, NIV).

Isaiah identifies the coming Messiah as "a covenant for the people." Christ is described as both the covenant and also as the mediator of the covenant. In the plan of salvation, Christ is said to be the peace as well as the peacemaker (see Ephesians 2:14).

All the members of the Godhead covenanted to redeem the human race through the plan of salvation. In this plan, Christ is the Redeemer, the one who reconciles, the substitute, the mediator, and the very substance of the covenant of salvation. He is the vital link that unites earth and heaven. He alone is qualified to represent both God and man through His incarnation and atonement. Whatever God does for humanity, He does through Jesus who is the one mediator between God and man (see 1 Timothy 2:5). Christ is the One who answers for sinners by His death on the cross and secures acceptance with God for the repentant sinner. In Christ, all covenant promises, privileges, and benefits pertaining to our eternal inheritance are confirmed.

Our covenant is fully ratified by the precious blood of Jesus (see Ephesians 2:13, 14). As the covenant, Christ is the unifying bond between God and man. It is through Him that we who were once "strangers from the covenants of promise,... are made nigh by the blood of Christ" (Ephesians 2:12, 13). "The terms of this oneness between God and man in the great covenant of redemption were arranged with Christ from all eternity."--Signs of the Times, August 24, 1891.

My Prayer Today: Lord, I thank You for Christ, the covenant of peace. May I be at peace with others. Amen.