In Covenant...

Sorry that I have disappeared for a while, but I'm back and in the saddle!!

Read Genesis 2:24

I would like to talk over the next couple of days about covenants. We are people of covenants. Covenants are not contracts. Contracts can be broken; covenants are designed to be permanent. When you enter into covenant with someone or something, it is until death. Contracts are time sensitive and if one party does not fulfill their side of the contract, the contract is null and void. Covenants are binding whether or not one party fulfills their particular responsibility. For instance, Jesus Christ made a covenant with all mankind that He would pay the penalty for our sins. His blood was shed and it does not matter whether you and I respond to that shed blood, it was shed nonetheless.
In literal terms, covenant means “to cut”. It is a solemn agreement, negotiated or unilaterally imposed that binds parties to each other in permanent, defined relationships with specific promises, claims and obligations on both sides. There are two types of covenants: “Parity” covenants, which are among equals and negotiated mutually, or covenants of “sovereignty” which is among non-equals; the greater party sets the conditions and the lesser either accepts them; or rejects them; non-negotiable.
God is a covenant God when he created man He made a covenant with Him in Genesis (Edenic). We are created in God’s image and are therefore created for covenant. Adam and Eve were in covenant relationship. Genesis 2:24 “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” Matthew 19:5 “and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?” Being joined basically means "cling to" or "stick to," the same word is used in Deuteronomy 11:22 when the Jews were commanded to "stick to" or "hold fast to" the Lord. This was part of their covenant with God. If you remember, when God gave them the Ten Commandments, they made a vow and said, "Yes, we want you to be our God, we’ll do whatever you say." So it was a covenant. Both parties agreed to do what they promised. God promised to take care of them and make them prosper, and they promised to obey him. So when we read here that the husband is to cleave to his wife, it suggests the idea of a covenant. When you take your wedding vows, it’s a covenant. It’s a promise. It’s a deal. You can’t go back on your word. In God’s eyes it’s permanent. You’re stuck with and to each other. Once you realize that, you’ll be much more willing to work on your marriage than to just give up when it gets difficult.
Among friends, Jonathan and David were covenant friends. I Samuel 18:1-4 “Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt.”
Jonathan recognized Gods call on David, and so he made a covenant of love with David. By doing so, he gave up his own position to usher David into his purpose. Jonathon legally had the right to the throne of his father Saul, but loved David and God enough to realize that the covenant he would make with David would usher in an everlasting kingdom. For David’s part, he fulfilled the covenant with Jonathon after Jonathon had been killed by taking in Jonathan’s crippled son Mephibosheth as his own family.
It is imperative that we develop a covenant relationship with God, and with someone that we love dearly. I think it is quite obvious why we should be in covenant with God, but because we are created in Him image, we must find those people in our life, either marital spouses and/or friends that will help us stand in the last days when everything else seems to be falling apart.
The question becomes, how do you establish covenants? I am so glad that you asked. Over the next couple of devotions, I would like to share with you the nine biblical steps in making a covenant.

“A covenant made with God should be regarded not as restrictive but as protective.”
- Russell M. Nelson