FOUNDATION STATEMENT: As believers we have to develop a working consciousness of covenant. We must get to a place where we do everything with this covenant on our mind. It is our victory guaranteed in blood. – Ephesians 2:11-12
I. Being strangers of the covenant has left much of the Body of Christ with no true revelation of the Father’s love and no boldness of faith (Ephesians 2:11-12)
A. Blood Covenant – a binding agreement where one totally gives himself over to another. It is a “coming together.” Two have become one. This agreement is sealed and guaranteed by the shedding of blood.
1. It’s like a contract
B. Blood Covenant Basics
1. It demanded absolute, unwavering loyalty
2. The only way out of a blood covenant is death
3. People most often came into covenant based on strengths and weakness, not on things that we have in common
4. There were long lengthy discussions before these covenants were ever cut ironing out the details and prejudices
5. The covenant representative was chosen
6. The covenant site was chosen
7. The animal was selected
8. Covenants were cut like this to effect remembrance
C. Covenant Ceremony
1. Each man takes off his coat and gives it to the other and says, this coat stands for “who I am, what I am”
2. They take off each other’s belt of weapons (girdle) and say, “I’m giving you my strength. Your enemies are mine. Even if I die, I’ll stand with you and lend you my sword.”
3. The walk of blood. They walk through the path of blood between the halves, twice through and stop together in the middle and say, “Even as this animal has died, I will stand with you even in the midst of death. Standing in blood I make promises that I will never break.”
4. The promises are made by each one
5. Each representative swears by God to keep his promises, making God the third party and witness to the covenant. They say, “Standing here in blood I swear by God to keep this covenant.”
6. The cutting of flesh
7. The hand is lifted as the oath is sworn, with blood running down the arm, to keep the terms of the covenant “so help me God!”
8. The seal of the covenant is the scar will never go away
9. The name change
10. We have become friends. To be a friend a covenant must have been made
11. The covenant meal is the grand finale.
D. Understanding a blood covenant will give you a boldness of faith (Romans 1:17 AMP)
1. For in the Gospel a righteousness which God ascribes is revealed, both springing from faith and leading to faith [disclosed through the way of faith that arouses to more faith]. As it is written, The man who through faith is just and upright shall live and shall live by faith.
a. Knowing just where you stand with the Father is going to arouse more faith
2. When you gain an understanding of blood covenant you will receive the true revelation of the Father’s love and that in itself will take your faith to a place of great boldness
a. Real Bible Faith is faith in the Fathers’ love (1 John 4:18)
II. When you were not born again/stranger to the covenants of promise you were without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world. However, you can be born again and be a stranger to the covenant and be with Christ, with hope, with God in the world, and not even know it.
A. Without Christ, the anointed one, the anointing – When you’re a stranger to the covenant you are unaware of the authority that you have
1. The anointing is the ability to win and not be oppressed by the devil (Acts 10:38, Isaiah 10:27)
a. I can do all things through Christ WHICH strengthens me (Philippians 4:13)
2. It’s the coat that believers were presented in covenant (Gal 3:27)
a. It’s who God is and what He is; it’s His authority and power
b. It came in and sat on them in the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:8)
1) It’s the ability to get a result that the world can’t get; it’s the ability to win, when the world can’t win
3. We’ve been walking around with the authority of a Commander and Chief that has never lost and we act like a bunch of puny privates
B. Having no earnest expectation – When you are a stranger to the covenant you read the Bible, but have no expectation that what the Bible said is going to come to pass
1. This hope/earnest expectation is birthed from blood covenant (Hebrews 6:18)
a. Because God stood in blood and swore by himself, that’s why I can earnestly expect that what He said is coming to pass
b. With God just speaking the Word, there’s no earnest expectation for man; but when God stood in blood and swore by Himself, that gave man an assurance and a reason to earnestly expect
2. This hope is supposed to anchor my soul
a. This earnest expectation is supposed to keep my soul (mind, will, emotions) intact, enabling me to receive from God
1) James 1:6-8 – A double minded man can’t receive
b. My earnest expectation is because God stood in blood and swore by himself, and it’s the earnest expectation that comes through covenant that keeps my soul anchored
C. Without God in the world – When you’re a stranger to the covenant you have no sense that God is with you and for you
1. God being with you does not mean that he is just hovering over you or around you; He’s omni present. He’s hovering over and around everybody.
2. God being with you is Him being in covenant with you helping you (Romans 8:26)
a. Sunantilambano is God being with you
b. Isaiah 43:10 – That’s God being with you
D. If you are a stranger of the blood covenant you can be with Christ, with hope, with God in the world, and not even know it, and consequently you’re just like the guy without Christ, without hope, and without God in the world
1. It’s kind of like the guy who’s live has taken some hard turns and he’s living under a bridge. While he’s living under that bridge there was a guy who he helped out years ago who died and left this guy under the bridge $500 million dollars. This man left him 500 million dollars, but he’s under a bridge and no body can find him. As long as he is a stranger to that will, then he can never take advantage of what was left for him in the will because he doesn’t know about it.
a. Here’s a multimillionaire living under a bridge starving out because he’s ignorant of the fact that this covenant exists.
E. 2 Samuel 9 – A stranger to his covenant
1. Hesed is burning in David because of his covenant with Jonathan
a. 1 Samuel 18:1-4 – Jonathan and David become one through covenant
b. 1 Samuel 19:1-10 – Covenant loyalty; Jonathan sides up with David
c. 1 Samuel 20:4 – Whatever you desire for me to do, I’ll do it
d. 1 Samuel 20:8 – David reminds Jonathan of his covenant and tells Jonathan to deal in hesed, loving-kindness, tender-mercy, covenant love, towards him
1) 9-“Far be it from thee”-It seems absurd to Jonathan to know that David’s life is in danger and break the covenant by not reveling it to him
2) 12-13-If I don’t tell you where you stand with my Father then may the Lord do worse to me
3) 14-15-Jonathan makes David promise to show him and his family hesed/agape, loving-kindess, tender-mercy
4) 42-We’ll be covenant friends forever and our families forever
e. 1 Samuel 23:16-18 – If you’re in need I’m here always ready to be the fulfillment of that need – Always ready to serve – Always had David on his mind
2. David is saying I want to be loyal to somebody I cut covenant with this man’s family
a. I got to show this loving kindness. I’m not trying to get out of serving, I live to give. I can’t get Jonathan off of my mind I still smell his blood
F. He’s been raised to hate David and he probably thinks that David is going to kill him His whole life he had probably been told what an evil man David was and how he’ll just kill everything in sight that is related to Saul (6)
1. They take this kid to see David and he falls on his face in fear
a. I will SURELY show you Hesed – I don’t have a choice
2. Don’t be afraid little guy I’m here to show you hesed because I had a covenant with your Daddy (7)
a. Because I was in covenant with your daddy now I’m in covenant with you
G. Mef-iba-sheth was saying I didn’t do anything to deserve this. What is this? I didn’t do anything? What’s going on here? (8)
1. He was experiencing hesed/agape, tender-mercy, loving-kindness that’s not based on what you’ve deserve, but it is based on the family you were born into
a. Because he was Jonathan’s son, he’s now my son and he is to be treated as a son of the king
2. Mephibosheth was down there in Lodebar all that time when he could have been eating at the King’s table, but he was a stranger to the covenant
H. You’re not just Christians, you’re covenant people
1. How many Christians are alive today, sick, defeated, depressed because they have not read the will that Jesus left us and they don’t know that we don’t have to live like that anymore
2. We’ve been tolerating things that the son of a King should not be tolerating because we don’t have an understanding of covenant
III. This covenant of blood put me in the family (Ephesians 2:12-14)
A. 4-Rich in Mercy (Eleos) – kindness, it assumes need on the part of him who receives it, and resources adequate to meet the need on the part of him who shows it
1. 4-His great love Great (polus) – Many, much, great Love (agape) unconditional, never ending, never failing
2. Agape occurs when an individual sees, recognizes, understands, or appreciates the value of an object or a person, causing the viewer to behold this object or person in great esteem, awe, admiration, wonder, and sincere appreciation. You see, agape is a love that loves so profoundly that it knows no limits or boundaries in how far, wide, high, and deep it will go to show that love to its recipient. If necessary, agape, will even sacrifice itself for the sake of that object or person it so deeply cherishes. Agape is the highest form of love – a self-sacrificial type of love that moves the lover to action.
B. We got the same life in us that he got in him (5-6 AMP)
1. What he gets we get when we receive him
2. (AMP) – We have joint seating with Him in the heavenly sphere by virtue of our being in Christ Jesus
a. Romans 8:17 – We are joint-heirs with Christ
b. Ephesians 1:20 – Where is he seated
c. 1 John 4:17 – As he is so am I in this world
1) We’re one through covenant
3. Agape raised us together and made us sit together with him (6)
C. Remember in times past you had no covenant with God to get a deeper revelation of just how much God loves you (11)
D. You are of the household of God – You’re kin to God (19)
1. Household (okeios) – of one’s own household , kindred
2. Romans 8:14 – I’ve got a Father, I’ve got a Daddy!