March 16, 2006 - Deuteronomy 28-29 and Mark 14:54-72
God is a covenant keeping God. Covenants are very important to Him. He always keeps His part of the covenant. I think this is because He values relationships, and covenants are a vital part of relationships. He wants a close relationship with His people. To have a close relationship with God we must keep our part of the covenant. Therefore, He gives us every incentive to keep our covenant with Him. Did you notice the number of blessings and curses in this passage? Why were there so many more curses than blessings for Israel? I believe it was because of God's understanding of human nature. He knows that people need every encouragement to do the right thing and every discouragement to stop them from doing the wrong thing. It is all an expression of His love for us. If He did not love us, He would not care enough to punish us when we sin. He would just let us destroy ourselves and our relationship with Him.
What about the New Covenant? Are you a part of the New Covenant with God through Jesus Christ? What is your part of that covenant? Yes, we must repent of our sins, trust Christ as our Savior based on His death and resurrection, and surrender to Him as Lord. However, is that all? Is that the end of the covenant agreement? I don't think so. We are to be conformed to the image of Christ. We are to be holy. We are to put off the old man and to put on the new man, created in Christ. What happens if we don't keep the New Covenant? Does God send curses? Yes, He chastens those He loves. Does it break our close relationship with Him? Yes, we must confess our sins and repent to restore full fellowship. I hope you see how serious this is in light of what we read in Deuteronomy.
The same goes for Mark 14. Peter denied Jesus 3 times. Was that sin? Did he need to be restored to full fellowship with Jesus? Yes, he did. Jesus specifically went to him at Galilee and asked him 3 times if he loved Him. Then, He told him to feed His sheep. That was the way Peter was restored. It was an intimate time of soul searching and confession. We all need that when we sin. In fact, we need it every day, since we are so frail. Let's make sure and be faithful to Jesus as He is faithful to us all of the time. Let's keep our part of the New Covenant.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 30-31 and Mark 15:1-25.
What about the New Covenant? Are you a part of the New Covenant with God through Jesus Christ? What is your part of that covenant? Yes, we must repent of our sins, trust Christ as our Savior based on His death and resurrection, and surrender to Him as Lord. However, is that all? Is that the end of the covenant agreement? I don't think so. We are to be conformed to the image of Christ. We are to be holy. We are to put off the old man and to put on the new man, created in Christ. What happens if we don't keep the New Covenant? Does God send curses? Yes, He chastens those He loves. Does it break our close relationship with Him? Yes, we must confess our sins and repent to restore full fellowship. I hope you see how serious this is in light of what we read in Deuteronomy.
The same goes for Mark 14. Peter denied Jesus 3 times. Was that sin? Did he need to be restored to full fellowship with Jesus? Yes, he did. Jesus specifically went to him at Galilee and asked him 3 times if he loved Him. Then, He told him to feed His sheep. That was the way Peter was restored. It was an intimate time of soul searching and confession. We all need that when we sin. In fact, we need it every day, since we are so frail. Let's make sure and be faithful to Jesus as He is faithful to us all of the time. Let's keep our part of the New Covenant.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Deuteronomy 30-31 and Mark 15:1-25.