Covenant Life

Part 7 - Covenant Security

In the wake of 9-11, many people are fearful and uncertain. Are we secure? Are we safe? Will death come in the mailbox? The movement of troops and military equipment and hardware has a trickle-down effect. Families are separated. Anxieties mount with the reality of husbands or sons entering actual hostilities. Where is our ultimate security? It is covenant security. We find our rest in the faithfulness of the covenant keeping God.

Leviticus 26:12 gives the basic promise. "I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." God promises His special and gracious presence. He promises to be our God. He promises we shall be His people. God holds us in this covenant because of Jesus Christ. "Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so that He might bring us to God" (1 Peter 3:18). Christ purchased God's people. Christ paid for their sins.

The purpose of the death of Christ is to bring us into this covenant relationship with God. The contingency in 1 Peter 3:18 does not rest with us. This text does not imply that if we place faith in Christ then Christ will take us to God. This is not the import of the language. Christ died for sins in order to take us to God. He died in payment for sins and thus takes those for whom He died into the presence of God. As a result of what Christ has done, God says, "I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people." This promise holds because of Jesus Christ.

But how do we know covenant security is ours? We understand and know God's love for us in Christ. We grasp His promise. We trust God. We trust Jesus Christ. The sense of security a child feels in the arms of her mother is a natural response to mother's love. Trust is a reflex. It is the appropriate response to God's embrace. Trust, welling up within our hearts, therefor evidences God's love for us. We know covenant love. We know covenant security. It does not end in this life. It extends into the next. We know we will be like Lazarus resting in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16:23). Heaven is ours. This is covenant security.

Revelation 21:2-3 gives the fulfillment. Leviticus 26:12 is in the background. "And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them.'" In the end, God's people enjoy God's presence. They know they are His. This is covenant security.

All tragedy, 9-11 included, displays the tenuous nature of earthly existence. We sense this. We are fearful. The fire official called his wife from the World Trade Center. "We're going in. I love you." It was a poignant good-bye. In such circumstances, how can we cope?

We need the embrace of covenant security. We need security based upon the work of Jesus Christ and the sure promise of God. This earthly life may be cut off suddenly, unexpectedly, tragically. We need a security rooted in eternity. We need a security rooted in God and His covenant promises. We have such security because of Jesus Christ. We have such security because of the promises of God. It is covenant security.