The Lord announces a covenant with Abraham. He will be the father of a multitude of
nations, his name will be great, his offspring will inherit the land of their
sojournings, Canaan, and both the covenant and the possession of the land are
everlasting. The covenant is not
contingent on human faithfulness or righteousness. The present enjoyment of the blessings of the
covenant are contingent on covenant faithfulness but the covenant itself cannot
be annulled. Abraham’s offspring or seed
are those who enjoy this covenant so where does that leave Ishmael? The covenant is with those who will now be born. Ishmael has a promise of his own but the
covenant applies to those who come after the covenant is struck. The sign of this covenant comes after
Ishmael’s birth. Why is the sign
circumcision? It seems very earthy but if you think about the promise as
offspring, dedication of this particular part of the anatomy makes sense. It would certainly serve as a reminder that
sex is something submitted to the Lord and a restraint on illicit sex.
Jesus announces something about the new covenant, the way
things will work going forward. Whatever
is asked “in my Name” will be given or done for those who believe. The covenant sign is baptism. Because He took on our sins we now partake in
His righteousness and share in His relationship with the Father. We have access to the Father that we might
make our requests directly because of the blood of His sacrifice on the
cross. Our lives then are His. Baptism is our entrance into the covenant and
it signifies our death to self and re-birth in Him. It is not only a part of our bodies that is
devoted to Him, it is all of our life for without the cross we have no life and
no hope, only death and decay working in us.
In Jesus, we have the gift of true life that will outlive the grave. Access to the Father is but one benefit but
Jesus held it up here as a great gift.
Do we treat that gift with great care or do we take it for granted? Think about that in comparison with my
comments on circumcision.
Paul gives the theology of the new covenant regarding
baptism. If we are in Christ Jesus we
have already passed through death to self and been raised to life in Him by the
power of the Holy Spirit. We are the
first fruits of the new creation if we are in Him. Unlike the old covenant we have a new nature
within us, the fulfillment of the prophecy of Jeremiah that He will give us a
heart of flesh rather than the heart of stone of the old person. We now have the ability to live differently,
to think differently, and to love differently.
We must be transformed by the renewing of the mind, moving beyond the
enmity and competition of the old nature to the new way of understanding life,
people and ourselves. As the mind goes,
so goes the heart and the life.
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