A Covenant People

Ephesians 2:11-22 aul writes a lot about ‘us’ and ‘you’. He is referring to the Jews (us) and the Gentiles (you).

He knew what a privilege it was to be a Jew. They were the chosen people of God, called out from the world to occupy a land God had chosen for them. They were r ecipients of God’s love and faithfulness and had a history full of His deliverance and blessing. They had the Law by which they alone could find righteousness. They had a priesthood and sacrifices by which they could approach a holy God. And they were the people from whom the Messiah would come that would rule the world – and Paul knew who that was!

The Jews had a very low opinion of the Gentiles – ‘dogs’ they were called (note the words of Jesus in Matt 15:26!).

However, Paul has been the recipient of a ‘mystery’ – that he is to be the apostle to the Gentiles (3:1-7).

See how he describes ‘you’ – Gentiles.

2: 1 dead in trespasses and sins – as we also were, children of wrath (v3) 2:11 ‘uncircumcision’. This means they were not in covenant relationship with God.

2:12 separate from God; excluded from the commonwealth of Israel; strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. What a sad situation!

But note that he does not write about this in terms of their being sinners needing forgiveness, but rather, as aliens needing to be ‘brought near’. His thoughts do not center around salvation but on relationship and reconciliation.

Pv13: “ But now …” Brought near, made one with the Jew.

2:18 having access to the Father 2:19 no longer strangers and aliens; fellow citizens with the saints; of God’s household.

2:20 built upon the same foundation of apostles and prophets.

Paul continues this theme into Chapter 3: 3:6: ‘You have become fellow heirs and fellow members of the ‘body’; fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.

3:8 recipients of unfathomable riches in Christ.

We have become a covenant people. I want in this chapter to speak about COVENANT.

The Jews understood covenant. They were well taught that God had made a covenant with Abraham, their ‘father’ , and repeated it to Moses in the establishment of the Law . “I will be your God and you will be My people” (Ex 6:7).

What is a covenant ? It is an agreement between two parties. In OT times, God was the party that dictated the covenant terms. He called Abram from Ur (Babylonia) and promised him a great heritage and a land (Gen 12). God repeated these promises several times in Genesis. In Gen 17, it is to be through Isaac (the son of Sarah) that the covenant will continue, not through Ishmael (the son of the bond woman). In Gen 26, the covenant promise is repeated to Isaac; in Gen 28, it is repeated to Jacob after his vision of a ladder reaching into heaven.

It seemed that the promise was in vain after Jacob immigrated to Egypt at a time of great famine.

His descendants gradually became slaves in that land after being out of the “Promised Land” for 400 years. Then Moses is raised to deliver them.

Ex 2:24: God ‘remembered’ His covenant with Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob. Ex 3:6: God declared (from a ‘burning’ bush) “I am the God of Abraham, Isaac , and Jacob”. Ex 3:15: “ Tell the people, the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has sent you”.

Ex 6:2-4: God declares Himself to Moses as Jehovah (Lord) – a name NOT known before by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, who only knew Him as El Shaddai – Almighty God (impersonal).

Ex 19:5: A new promise is made to the Children of Israel, now out of Egypt. “If you keep My covenant, you shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above al l other peoples.”

Then in Ex 20 the “terms” of the (old) covenant are laid out – the 10 commandments (followed by various civil laws). These were established to teach the high demands of the life God required if His people would be accepted by Him as ‘righteous’. All history attests to the fact that they were unable (and unwilling) to meet their side of the covenant agreement.

The following chapters outline the ceremonies and their laws, by which man could “draw near” to God. The highlight of those ceremoni es was on the “Day of Atonement” (Yom Kippur) when the High Priest would take the blood of a (perfect) lamb and sprinkle it upon the ‘mercy seat’ in the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle. If the High Priest returned safely to his people, it was a sign that God had accepted the shed blood as a covering for their sins for another year, and the people would greatly celebrate! That was the OLD COVENANT , in which we Gentiles had no part (see above).

What is the NEW COVENANT into which we have entered? What are its benefits, and what are its terms (requirements)? Where/when did you agree to the terms?

A New Covenant was established by Jesus the night before He died. (John 13-17). He invited His disciples to share the Feast of Passover with Him. That annual feast was to celebrate the time when God had brought His people out of the bondage of Egypt by ‘passing over’ every house where the blood of a lamb had been placed upon the doorpost. (Ex 12). He had a room prepared and sent Peter and John to check that everything was ready (Luke 22). I can only imagine what each one was thinking as they entered that room.

Surely Peter must have been thinking, “Wow, what a week this has been! The crowds gathered to greet us as we came, throwing their clothes down on the street and waving palm branches! I wonder if this is the time when Jesus will reveal Himsel f as Messiah!” James and John, “Sons of Thunder , ” must have been more impressed as they watched Him cast the money changers out of the temple.

Surely, they must have thought, “He is about to reveal Himself as the Messiah!”

Similar thoughts must have crossed each of the disciple’s minds as they entered that room, but Jesus knew something that they did not know – tomorrow He would die!

If I knew I had only a short time to live, I would prioritise my actions. I would want to make sure that my wife and daughters knew how much I loved them. I would want to make sure I was leaving no work undone that I should have done, no debts unpaid, no promises unfulfilled.

I would not spend my time as I often do, watching sport on TV or reading a novel - I would want to deal with priorities.

This was to be a night when He would deal with PRIORITIES !

He made many wonderful promises! He promised them (and us) a place in heaven and that He will come again (John 14:3); power to do ‘greater works’ (14:12) ; the Comforter (14:16); peace, unlike the world’s peace (14:27); fruit (15:4); fullness of joy (15:11); guidance (16:13); answered prayer (16:24). I believe He meant to fulfill these promises as I have experienced His faithfulness in so many of them. This is His side of the Covenant.

He asked of them (and us) three things: to serve one another (as He demonstrated by washing their feet, 13:14); to love one another (a commandment, 13:34); to obey His word (14:15). This is our side of the Covenant.

He has promised peace, power, the Holy Spirit, etc., if we will serve one another, love one another, and obey His word. This is the New Covenant.

At the end of supper, He took the bread and said, “This is My body for you – take and eat”. Then He took the cup, saying, “This is the cup of the new covenant in My blood. Drink it.” Every time you and I take the bread and cup, we are declaring our agreement to the covenant. In other words, we are say ing, “I will serve Your people, I will love Your people, and I will obey Your word!”

What then are the ‘laws’ of this new covenant? They are written upon our hearts (Jer 31:33) , and we become aware of them by the teaching and convicting word of the Holy Spirit, who alone gives us the power to live according to them. They are contained in ‘the Sermon on the Mount’ and other teachings of Jesus, expanded by the teachings of the epistles. They can never earn us salvation, but they are the expectation God has of every one of His children.

In acknowledgment that they were in a covenant relationship, all male Jews were circumcised – lit: ‘a cutting away’ of the flesh. If circumcision was the symbol or token of a covenant relationship with God, what is the ‘symbol’ by which we also enter a covenant relationship? See Colossians 2:11-15, recognising the very close relationship between these two books. Baptism is the act by which our hearts are circumcised – a ‘cutting away’ of the flesh of the old nature. Without circumcision, the Jew could not inherit the promises of God. He could live according to the Law, even live as a ‘stranger’ in the land, but could not enjoy the riches of his inheritance.

In Col 2:14 we read that He has cancelled the ‘certificate of death, consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us’. This aligns with Eph 2:15 where we read of the ‘enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances’. To us , the Law was a decree of death, for we are unable to meet its awful requirements – but Jesus has cancelled that debt.

We are now being built on the double foundation of the prophets (OT) and apostles (NT). Jehovah has become our God – we have been brought nigh because of the shed blood of the perfect lamb, Jesus – blood that covers our sin, not for a year but for all eternity!

We have become a new people, people of a New Covenant, the terms of which were given at the last Supper, the Laws of which are written upon our hearts, and the commitment to such is expressed every time we take the communion elements.

Whenever I take the bread – “His body, broken for us” - I look around me and say, “Thank you, Father, that I am a part of this body, both local and global.” Whenever I take the cup , I say, “Lord, I will serve your people, I will love your people, I will obey your Wo rd.”

I am very aware that should I take the elements ‘unworthily , i.e. I am not serving or loving His people, not obeying His word, I risk bringing judgment and sickness upon myself. (1 Cor 11:27- 30).