Throughout the centuries of human history, God has remained committed to lifting His people out of the limits of their own ways and into the limitlessness of His great ability. And the way He joins Himself with His people is through covenant. A covenant joins two parties together, bringing the strengths and weaknesses of each party into the life and situation of the other.
When a person enters the Kingdom of God through simple faith and the salvation purchased by Jesus Christ, that person also embraces the covenant foundation on which this Kingdom operates. As we better understand the power of this covenant life with God, we will begin to step out of the patterns of weakness and defeat we have known for so long and into the victories Jesus obtained for us.
The Old Covenant depended on the Israelites’ obedience to the laws and commands of God. Their faith was in God, who made those laws. The covenant they had with Him gave them the right to claim Him as their covenant-keeping God.
In Deuteronomy 7:9, Moses told the people, “Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments” (NKJV).
Because of the covenant God had with His people, He revealed not only who He is to them, but also how firmly committed He was to them. In Isaiah 54:10, He said, “For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed….” (NKJV).
This is the amazing truth God reveals in this scripture: His covenant kindness and mercy toward His people is more settled and established than the high mountain ranges of this earth!
In Jeremiah 32:40, God spoke of the New Covenant that would come: “And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me” (NKJV).
Again in Ezekiel 36:26 and 27, God looked ahead to this New Covenant:
“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them” (NKJV).
God’s covenant would ultimately cause His influence and presence to move from dwelling among His people to dwelling within them.
The Old Covenant was established on the earth by the blood of bulls and goats. The New Covenant was established in Heaven and on earth forever by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of this covenant is no less than the power of the blood by which it was established.
Under this New Covenant, obedience in faith remains vital. However, now your faith springs from a heart that delights in obedience and has the power to be obedient.
