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The English word 'Covenant' is a translation from Greek 'diatheke'. The Hebrew word is 'berith'. It means agreement.

General meaning of the word, 'Covenant.' The meaning of berith as covenant seems to come directly from the Hebrew root, rather than as a derived meaning from agreement. If this root idea is to bind, the covenant is that which binds together two people together or two parties. This, at any rate, is in harmony with the general meaning of the word 'Covenant.

'Covenants' are commonplace in our human experience; they are the way that we establish a basis for trust and understanding in our dealings with one another, especially if the deal is long-term.

The most common covenants that people enter into are marriage, property purchase and trading partnerships. In each of these cases the two parties commit themselves freely to mutually-agreed terms within the prevailing law and all covenants of this kind can properly be terminated if the conditions are breached by one or both parties. Adultery, desertion and cruelty are accepted as grounds for divorce because they constitute a breaking of the covenant to love and to cherish exclusively for a life time.



Humans break their covenants through weakness, greed and perversity. However God never breaks His. Once he has made a covenant He sticks to it, relentlessly and passionately. That can be for us the source of greatest comfort and encouragement but it can also be quite challenging! How God behaves towards His covenants reveals to us something of the awesome holiness of His character and the depth of his commitment.

In the Old Testament the word has an ordinary use, when both parties are men, and a distinctly religious use, between God and men. There can be no doubt that the religious use has come from the ordinary, in harmony with the general custom in such cases, and not the reverse. There are also two shades of meaning, somewhat distinct, of the Hebrew word: one in which it is properly a covenant, i.e. a solemn mutual agreement, the other in which it is more a command, i.e. instead of an obligation voluntarily assumed, it is an obligation imposed by a superior upon an inferior. This latter meaning, however, has clearly been derived from the other. It is easy to see that an agreement, including as the contracting parties those of unequal position, might readily include those agreements, which tended to partake of the nature of a command; but the process could not readily be reversed.

Perhaps this is why God does not let us make up our own covenants with Him. He is always the initiator and he is the one who sets the terms and conditions. Unlike human covenants we do not have an equal say, nor do we have equal obligations.

In this series of teaching of God's word in his Covenant love, and to help us remember and understand different Covenants, I have selected seven covenants and colour-coded them using the colours of the rainbow, though not in the order they appear in the rainbow's spectrum.

Please note that these rainbow colour-coded series of teaching of God's word in his Covenant love is meant to the covey the truths under consideration and that you seek to relate them to your own life and situation.

Although these covenants were established many centuries ago they still determine the course of human history and are as relevant today as they ever were when they were first given. I hope you will discover this for yourself as you read these series.

1. Green. God's Covenant of Love,
2. Orange. God's Covenant of Life,
3. Blue. God's Covenant of Providence,
4. Indigo. God's Covenant of Faith,
5. Yellow. God's Covenant of Law,
6. Violet. God's Covenant of Kingship, and
7. Red. God's Covenant of Grace.

1. Green. The God of Covenant Love Genesis 1:26 & 27

God is passionately committed to keeping His Word because of His self-covenant. There are many kinds of gods and many kinds of idols in the world. What kind of god do we believe in? If we are Bible believers we will at once answer that there is only one true God, and He is God from everlasting to everlasting.

His very nature, Yahweh, means 'I am who I am, the ever being One'. Idols are the constructs of human imagination and fear but God has no need for us to verify or vindicate His existence, ' for him and through him and to him are all things'. He is the Mystery behind all the mysteries and source of all things. We may call Him our God but we neither possess nor control Him.

God is all seeing, all knowing and all-powerful; He is the Creator of all things and thus perfect in wisdom and knowledge and power. In the light of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ we will go further: God is love. He has demonstrated that love not only providentially in His general beneficence towards the world and humanity in particular, but especially in the sacrifice of His own dear Son for our salvation.

These two aspects of God's love, His love for all and His particular love or some, are distinguished in the Old Testament by two Hebrew words: ababah and chesed.

Ababah means unconditional love. Love without strings attached. Love in the Biblical narrative is the fundamental goodwill of God towards His creation that reveals itself in everything from the reliability of the laws of physics to the pleasure enjoyed by a family on a summer beach holiday.

Chased is a particular aspect of God's love. Many believers understand this as the Covenant love revealed in the scriptures. Hence, chased is God's loving-kindness, mercy, steadfast love and in Isaiah 54:10 reads 'Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed', says the Lord, who has compassion on you.

At the heart of covenant love is a sense of zeal, passion and keenness. It means that when God makes covenants He is utterly and faithfully, and particularly committed in love to fulfilling them.

Married love provides us with a human parallel: I may love all people in general and seek their well being. That is Hebrew ababah. However, there is one woman whom I love not simply more than the rest, nor just in a uniquely romantic and sexual manner, but zealously. I am covenanted to my wife and so I love her with covenant love, Chased.

We need people of passion in the Church. Many start well but wane. What do you think causes a decline in spiritual passion/ How would you remedy it today?

The saying goes, 'you can't trust anyone now days.' Well, you can trust God! And if you can trust God, you can become trustworthy yourself. God's zeal is contagious; it transforms our lives producing godly devotion and wholehearted faithfulness. The Old Testament calls such people 'saints', holy saints, and a word the New Testament uses to describe all true followers of Jesus.

Modicum



Prayer for the Month of March 2009

Romans 8:28-39. Prayer for the Persecuted Christians.

The Week of Prayer for Persecuted Christian Unity began in 50AD as the Apostles were persecuted in Acts 5:17. The author of Romans, Paul, reminds his readers that in Jesus nothing can separate us from the love of God.

Christian persecution reminds us of our Lords' ward in John 17:6-12.

Does your life reveal Jesus' character and presence?

It's our Monthly commitment here at St Matthew's Church to Pray together for our needs and for the needs of the word.

Thank you for those who came to pray at St Matthew's Church on 26th Thursday Night. Keep it up.

Gracious God, thank you for challenging me through these texts and passages of Scriptures. Let me use every day of my life in fulfilling the greatest purpose you have given me, loving you, and caring for others. In Jesus' name. Amen.