Sunday 28 June, 2020

15 Brothers and sisters, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly established, so it is in this case. 16 The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. Scripture does not say “and to seeds,” meaning many people, but “and to your seed,” meaning one person, who is Christ. 17 What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away with the promise. 18 For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer depends on the promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Do you ever wonder why God chose to use us, the church made up of flawed human beings, to show the world who He is? I feel like we fail Him time and time again. I know many who have been burnt by experiences in the Church. I know many times I’ve winced at the actions of a fellow brother or sister in Christ. And of course I know many times I have been shocked at the ugliness of my own responses to things. 

But praise God that whilst He chooses to use us, His covenant of blessing and multiplication was never dependent on us. His first covenant with Abraham was one of grace. God promises to bless and multiply Abraham’s descendants, they need only to be obedient to Him. In Genesis 15 He ratifies this promise by asking Abraham to bring him a number of animals, cut them in half and lay their bodies out. Traditionally both parties would’ve walked through the animals (or at least the ‘lesser’ of the two parties would’ve), signifying ‘if I don’t hold up my part of the covenant may it be done unto me as these animals’. But instead of asking Abraham to walk through them, God Himself walked through them. And years later, when time and time again Abraham’s descendants had not held up their end of the covenant (obedience) Jesus did indeed shed his blood. God’s promise never depended on us, it depended on Him. 

God thank you for extending your promises to beyond Abraham’s physical descendants to all of us. Thank you that your people are no longer defined by a nationality but by Your Sprit. Thank you for shedding your own blood to keep a covenant that we broke.

Written by Rhiannon Mellor