- An Everlasting Covenant
Genesis 17:19 And God said, Sarah thy wife shall bear thee a son indeed; and thou shalt call his name Isaac: and I will establish my covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his seed after him.
God established His covenant with Isaac, the same covenant promised to Abraham and his seed. And now the covenant is renewed and extended to Isaac and his seed. The seed of Isaac is Jesus the Messiah, and ultimately the seed is all the believers in Christ, the Church. That’s you and me. The Lord established an everlasting covenant with me. The promise is sure.
The covenant is the guarantee of land (kingdom), descendants (church), and blessing to the nations (all people). This covenant with me is guaranteed, universal, absolute and certain, and it is also eternal. It will never come to an end. The life and the kingdom, the church and the blessing go on forever.
The Lord establishes the covenant with us when we are baptized and renews the covenant with us when receive Holy Communion. “This is the blood of the new covenant shed for you for the forgiveness of sins.” Technically, the covenant is not really new in the sense of replacing the old one; both the old and new covenants are based on the promised Messiah shedding His blood and rising from the dead. The Old and the New Testament are one and the same covenant blessing and promise. All the promises of God are Yea and Amen in Christ Jesus our Lord.
When we hear the Gospel and believe it the covenant is established with us again, anew, afresh, and alive. It never gets old; it never grows stale. It gives eternal life and spiritual health over and over. It is new, exciting and life-giving every time. We renew the covenant on a regular basis, “lest ye forget.” The love of God never stops; the peace of God goes beyond understanding; the joy of the Lord endures forever. Everything not of God comes to and end an passes away. Everything of God and everything from God lasts forever. That’s the covenant promise.