As the world shakes around you, you can be unshakeable. Learning to live in a covenant relationship with God is how.
Though chaos, confusion, and catastrophe swirl around you, you can be calm, clear, and protected if you know how to live in a covenant relationship with the Lord.
As I continue teaching about living by covenant (see Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 to catch up), I want to remind you of my definition of covenant.
A covenant is a formal, extremely solemn and binding agreement based upon a common purpose, often secured by a blood sacrifice, which binds two parties together as one for life.
God’s ultimate intention in the New Covenant is not for us to have an external hold on God but for God to have an internal possession of us. Not part of us, but all of us—spirit, heart, and soul.
You see, many only view covenant as the way we can receive God’s promises. We quote God’s covenant promises so that we can receive external provision. Things like healing, protection, and prosperity. These are certainly part of the New Covenant, but not the primary purpose.
God’s ultimate aim in the New Covenant is not for us to receive God’s blessings; it’s for us to be united fully with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Both internally by the Spirit and to Jesus Christ enthroned in heaven. Let me explain.
Two Major Purposes of the New Covenant
First, the New Covenant binds us internally together with God. We become one spirit with Him. At new birth, when the indwelling Spirit of Christ takes up residence in our spirits, He binds our spirits together with Himself (1 Cor. 6:17).
Second, the New Covenant binds us together with Jesus Christ, who sits enthroned in heaven, uniting us with God’s eternal purpose that was established before time and creation.
Let me explain further.
The New Covenant Binds Us Internally with God
Speaking of the New Covenant, Hebrews 8:6 states,
But now He [Christ] has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises. . . . ‘Behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will effect a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. . . . for this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be My people.’ (Heb. 8:8-10, emphasis mine)
The New Covenant stands in stark contrast to every other covenant. Why? Because the former covenants were primarily external in nature. The New Covenant is a better covenant with better promises because it is primarily internal in nature.
As part of the New Covenant, the indwelling Spirit writes God’s laws into our minds and hearts. In addition, the New Covenant gives us the opportunity to know God intimately for ourselves. We don’t have to go through a priest or pastor to experience deep intimacy with Him. We merely have to turn inward, where Christ dwells deep in our spirits.
Hebrews 8:11 states, “And they shall not teach everyone his fellow citizen, and everyone his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for all will know Me, from the least to the greatest of them.”
One of God’s primary works in the New Covenant is for the indwelling Christ to take complete possession of us internally—in our spirits, hearts, and souls. He won’t relent until He has conquered us fully. His great desire is for us to yield to Him absolutely so that He can live His life in us and through us.
The New Covenant makes this possible.
The New Covenant Joins Us to Jesus Christ in Heaven
Not only does the New Covenant join us with the indwelling Spirit; it also connects us to the person of Christ enthroned in heaven.
Hebrews 8:1-2 states, “Now the main point in what has been said is this: we have such a high priest, who has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens, a minister in the sanctuary and in the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, not man.”
The New Covenant joins us to the Man, Jesus Christ, who sits upon the throne. This unites us to God’s eternal purpose that is being released from the throne.
You see, each of us has a deep yearning for purpose and significance. We want to fulfill our destiny. We want our lives to have meaning.
The New Covenant accomplishes this for us, binding us together with Christ for a common purpose. The result: God’s eternal purpose becomes our life purpose.
You can learn more about this from my teaching called The Arising of the Corporate Man.
Tying It All Together
Seeing God’s ultimate aim in the New Covenant to bind us together with the indwelling Spirit and with Christ enthroned in heaven changes our perspective of Christianity. It opens our eyes to the awesome blessings and great requirements of living in the New Covenant.
We begin to realize that living by covenant is far different than what most Christians have ever conceived.
As the world system totters, you can be unshakeable. God, through the New Covenant, has bound you together with Himself for a common purpose.
