He joins Himself with His people through covenant. A covenant joins two parties together and brings the strengths and weaknesses of each other into the other's situation. When, through simple faith, you entered the kingdom of God and the salvation of Jesus Christ, you also embraced the covenant foundation on which this kingdom operates.
A Covenant Of Victory
As the Body of Christ understands the power of covenant life with God, they will step out of weakness and defeat and into the victories Jesus obtained for them.
The Old Covenant depended upon the Israelites' obedience to the laws and commands of God. The people's faith was in God Who made those laws. This covenant gave them a hold on Him as the covenant-keeping God.
In Deuteronomy 7:9, Moses told the people, "Know, therefore, that the Lord thy God, He is God, the faithful God, who keepeth covenant and mercy with them who love Him and keep His commandments...."
God revealed Who He is and also how firm His commitment was. In Isaiah 54:10, He said, "For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of My peace be removed…."
His kindness and mercy toward you are more established than the mountains.
In Jeremiah 32:40, God spoke of the new covenant which would come:
I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their hearts, that they shall not depart from me.His covenant would ultimately bring His influence and presence from dwelling among men to dwelling within them.
The Old vs. The New
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.
In this new covenant, obedience in faith remains vital. But now it is faith springing from a heart that delights in obedience, and has the power to be obedient.
The word "grace" is used primarily in two different ways. First, it is central to the heart attitude of God which moves Him toward people. Because of God's grace, He is willing to be involved with you and me. He gives His love and resources freely, not on the basis of performance. That love is not swayed by what you do, or what you don't do. He loves you regardless of your actions, just because you are His child.
Second, grace is the power which is active within the heart of the believer, and that works in him, empowering him to do God's will.
If ever man had a need, it is for the grace of God. From the most talented person to the one who feels least qualified, grace from God is desperately needed. The natural mind wants to feel self-sufficient, capable of handling anything. The truth is that each of us is inadequate in many areas of life.
The successful businessman may lack the skills to influence his family and develop a warm and loving home. A wife may be a good homemaker, yet come short of the spiritual strength needed for a stable household. Even good people, faithful to their church, can fall miserably at living in the power of the Holy Spirit as the Word of God teaches.
Jesus Christ has uncovered the path into the very strength and ability of God to empower you for any task before you. That path is found in the covenant of grace.
The Riches of Grace
God has made Himself available to supply all people with the ability to do His will and enjoy His blessing. His grace can enable you to accomplish in life the things that God demands in His Word. He has longed to remove from you the limits of sin and sensuality, and open to you the riches of grace.
Through sin, Satan has kept people bound inside the realm of their own reason and flesh. The continual bombardment of ideas and attitudes from a world governed by sin presses to penetrate the life of every person. You find the things on the outside always trying to invade your mind and body.
Jesus came to deliver you from those limits and to deposit His Spirit within you to influence and lead you:
But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.God has placed within us the seeds of His kingdom and made us alive in the inner man of the heart.
(Rom. 8:11 NKJV)
Now you can live from the inside out. You are free to affect the conditions and environment around you with the power of His Word that has its home within your heart.
When God entered into a covenant with Abraham, the father of faith, He set in motion the events that would bring Jesus Christ and the redemption of all mankind into this world. Today you and I have been given the privilege of living in fellowship with the Almighty God and walking in the grace He continually provides.
This covenant of grace is not like the law of the Old Covenant. All of the benefits of this covenant are received by faith. They cannot be earned or merited. It is by faith and faith alone that you enter this covenant with God: "For by grace have you been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God" (Eph. 2:8 NKJV).
Salvation is more than going to heaven after you die. The inheritance Jesus gives is yours after His death on the cross, not after your death. That means all if His inheritance is yours now.
Before the sacrifice of Jesus, the people looked ahead to the promise of God which was to come. Now we look back to the promise which was established for us.
Faith does not look at the blessing which will come one day. It sees the Word of God which has been given and established through Jesus. The promises are linked to your covenant and belong to you now.
Salvation is wholeness - spirit, souls and body. Our wholeness is received through faith. But it is by the grace of God at work within us.
You are to live by grace, not by your own works and ambition. The works were finished at the foundation of the world. Everything now must be founded upon His work and your diligence to enter His rest.
Under the Old Covenant, the priests were forbidden to wear anything which would cause sweat as they served before the altar (Ez. 44:18). Sweat is a symbol of the curse (Gen. 3:17-19). God has provided the grace and the ability to fulfill His work with His strength.
In Matthew 11:28-30 (NKJV), Jesus said,
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.Notice, first He promises rest to those who bring their load of care to Him. This is imparted rest, freely given to anyone who will receive.
Then He tells how to find rest. This rest is learned by taking His yoke upon you. This is the lasting rest which enables you as His disciple to continually handle the weight and the work by drawing on the resource of His strength.
It All Begins With The Covenant
Jesus said that this ability to find lasting rest comes by taking His yoke. When your life comes under the lordship of God, and His Word becomes the final authority to you, where and how fast you go will be determined by Him and not by you.
Jesus taught that this is the key to lasting rest and the power to produce results.
The rest He imparts is wonderful for the immediate relief of some terrible situation. But the real disciple lives not for those imparted moments of rest, but for the life of rest that is learned and embraced.
Living by the covenant of grace - in which His strength is governing and directing you - is the key to bringing glory to Jesus and not yourself. Your part is to enter into His works and learn the laws of His kingdom.
It all begins with a covenant, the covenant of grace.
Excerpt permission granted by Dennis Burke Ministries