The Covenant of Peace and Glory

UV 1483/10,000 The Covenant of Peace and Glory
Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them; it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them for evermore.
Ezekiel 37 v 26

The Lord has made a covenant with us. If we obey the conditions of this covenant, we will be blessed with Shalom or peace. The splendid promises of God that cover and fulfil our every specific and general need and desire emanates from commitment, obedience and keeping of this covenant of peace. The Lord will act towards us consistent with the terms of the covenant. It is the way to do business with the Lord. A covenant involves an exchange of sacred vows. These vows release the “ wow” power or amazing grace and peace of God in the lives of human beings. It is an everlasting covenant that outlasts our lives on earth.

The nearest thing to covenant on earth are the vows of marriage between a bridegroom and a bride. The Lord is the Bridegroom and we are the bride. The Lord will by the terms of the everlasting covenant cause the evil against us to cease. The first blessing of the eternal covenant is safety or security. The first duty of the bridegroom is to protect the bride in her vulnerabilities. The second duty of the bridegroom is provision. The Lord acts as a husband to His people. The third duty of the bridegroom is to give the bride a place of honour in his home and a place of endearment in his heart. The Lord affirms His love for His people and honours us. He causes us to multiply in numbers, in blessings and in impact in the course of our lifetime. The fourth duty of the bridegroom is to be a blessing to his descendants through the bride. The Lord will be our God and our generations forever as long as our descendants remain faithful to Him. He establishes His covenant and makes it ordered in all things or perfected in all details. The promises of God are certain to be fulfilled. Hence, we should not entertain doubt. We enter into this covenant by faith and continue in love. The covenant that God offers is the basis for our relationship with Him –how else can sinful, frail and mortal man enter into a partnership with the holy, perfect, all powerful and eternal God? The mercies He extends to us are sure, precise and definite.

Frail and faithless as we are, the fear of the Lord keeps us faithful to the covenant with the Lord and prevents us from departing from it. The Lord is betrothed or engaged to us forever. He is betrothed to us in righteousness, in justice, in love and in compassion. The peace that we obtain from a covenant relationship with God cannot be obtained from any other source in the world. The Lord will perfect us even as a bridegroom should contribute to developing or enabling the bride to be her best so that she is flawless and perfected. He will cause us to take root, to blossom, bud and bear fruit in our character and our deeds. The covenant with the Lord is also a covenant unto glory: our lives will no longer be humdrum, mundane or vain. He will cause miraculous increase and reveal His splendour in and through our lives. We will neither be small, weak or insignificant. He promises to set His sanctuary or dwelling place in us and in our midst. He inclines His ear to the voice of rejoicing and gladness, the interceding voice of Jesus, the eternal Bridegroom who purchased us by His blood, the voice of the bride. He will walk among us. He will be a wall of fire around us and His glory will be in our midst.

Prateep V Philip