The Heart of God: Introduction (6)

And beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself. Luke 24.27

Read and meditate on Genesis 12.1-3 and Hebrews 13.20, 21.
We need to introduce one final idea. Throughout the Bible God carries His unifying threads of revelation along by a unique vehicle, His covenant. The covenant of God is like the shuttle of a loom. It gathers the unifying threads and combines them in various ways, as it moves through the unfolding of Scripture, to accomplish the overall design of the divine Weaver. At the heart of God’s covenant are the precious and very great promises of God.

For reflection
1.  God’s covenant was present in His Word from the beginning, although it was first given recognizable form in Genesis 12.1-3. Here we find six promises God made to Abram, the father of all who believe (Rom. 4.16). The land God promised to show Abram would provide the Old Testament staging-ground for the initial unfolding of these promises. How would you summarize the promises God made here?

2.  God’s covenant unfolds and develops by stages throughout the Old Testament, as we shall see during the course of our study, and realizes its full promise and prospect in our Lord Jesus Christ. Look at Luke 1.67-75. How did Zechariah understand the significance of his son’s birth, and what it portended, as this related to the covenant with Abram (Abraham)?

3. God’s covenant is packed with precious and very great promises, which Peter recalls in 2 Peter 1.4. According to Peter, what is the purpose of those promises, and therefore of God’s covenant? What is necessary in order to gain access to those promises?

4.  According to Paul, all the promises of God find their fulfillment in Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 1.20). What does this suggest about any promise of Scripture we might wish to claim, and any place in Scripture where we may be observing the unfolding or development of God’s covenant?

5.  Meditate on Acts 1.4-8 and Acts 2.32-39. How do the Spirit of God and the salvation offered in the Gospel relate to the promises of God’s covenant, which are in Jesus Christ, “Yes” and “Amen” (2 Cor. 1.19, 20)?

Summary
Promises are the engine of God’s covenant, driving it forward through Scripture and bringing the people of God along toward Him through His redemptive work on their behalf. How would you describe the role that God’s precious and very great promises have played in your life to this point?

Closing Prayer
Give ear, O my people, to my law;
Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings of old,
Which we have heard and known,
And our fathers have told us.
We will not hide them from their children,
Telling to the generation to come the praises of the LORD,
And His strength and His wonderful works that He has done.
For He established a testimony in Jacob,
And appointed a law in Israel,
Which He commanded our fathers,
That they should make them known to their children;
That the generation to come might know them,
The children who would be born,
That they may arise and declare them to their children,
That they may set their hope in God,
And not forget the works of God,
But keep His commandments;
And may not be like their fathers,
A stubborn and rebellious generation,
A generation that did not set its heart aright,
And whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Psalm 78.1-8

Next steps – Preparation: Do you have a system for keeping track of and organizing the things you learn from your time in the Word? Whom could you ask for some help in doing this?

T. M. Moore

Two books can help you gain a fuller understanding of the terrain we will be covering in this series. Kingdom Documentsprovides a concise overview of the primary teaching of the Old and New Testaments, and shows, through early Church creeds, how our forebears understand the primary teachings of God’s Word. (click here to order). I Will Be Your Goddevelops more fully the idea of God’s covenant and leads us to consider the practical implications of our covenant relationship with God (click here).

Visit The Ailbe Seminary, where our course, Introduction to Biblical Theology, offers a parallel study of our theme in this series, using brief video presentations and the workbook God’s Covenant: An Introduction. All courses at The Ailbe Seminary are available without charge.

We are happy to be able to offer each week’s Scriptorium studies in a free weekly PDF, suitable for personal or group use. You can download all the studies in this series by clicking here. Please prayerfully consider sharing with The Fellowship of Ailbe through your giving. You can contribute to The Fellowship by clicking the Contribute button at the website or by sending your gift to The Fellowship of Ailbe, 19 Tyler Drive, Essex Junction, VT 05452.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.