Monday Reflections...Back to school after a long time...

The school buses start their routes tomorrow morning in this part of the nation.  I can identify with the children in the above picture as I was a bus rider for 13 years of my public school education.  We could hear the bus turning the corner from a quarter of a mile away and would run down the hill to the mailbox to be picked up.  

I am back in school but of the online variety.  I am working on my masters, a Masters of Biblical and Theological Studies, from Belhaven University in Jackson, Mississippi.  My class started in the middle of August and I am starting to feel the weight of another responsibility to my already loaded calendar.

I try to combine my worlds so that is my goal this morning with this blog post.  I want to share with you something that I have learned so far.  My first class is titled "Biblical Themes."  We are looking at the entirety of the Bible in light of the kingdom of God, the covenants, and the temple.  I have read the entire Bible and I have studied these different elements but I have not stretched them out over every era of the Bible.  

The covenants are probably the most foreign to me.  I know of them but I was not in a church that focused on them as a major theme throughout the Bible.  I heard about the covenant that God made with Noah and the sign of the rainbow.  I also heard about the covenant that God made with Abraham about the Promise Land.  Of course, there was the New Covenant that Jesus ushered in with His birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension and promise of coming again.  This was probably the extent of my covenant knowledge.

The course has opened my eyes to this list of covenants concerning Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and Christ.

The covenants to Adam and Noah are universal covenants because the creation of the people of God, the Israelites, had not been created yet through the faithfulness of Abraham to God.  All people are under these universal covenants.  God showed His benevolence to us all by giving us the "common grace" to physically live in this world that He created.  We are to show loyalty to our Creator.  Consequences come to us all for wise or foolish living and to those who don't have faith and obedience to God, eternal judgment.

The covenants to Abraham, Moses, and David are national covenants because they focus on the people group God formed to be His national witness to the world.  We see the benevolence of God to create "family grace" for those who are a part of this group, believers and nonbelievers.  They were able to witness first hand God's provision and protection.  Their loyalty to their God is heighten because they were given the Law of God.  Consequences are experienced for wise or foolish living within this group but also eternal judgment to anyone within the group who doesn't accept God's provided Messiah.

The covenant of Christ is the new covenant.  Within this covenant are those associated with the bride of Christ, the church.  You will find in the church those who are saved and unsaved.  We see the benevolence of God to create "saving grace" to those who are born again by Him and respond with repentance and obedience to follow the resurrected Jesus.  Their loyalty is out of gratitude to what was provided for them by Jesus' perfect sacrifice and heighten because we have God with us, Emmanuel.  The consequences of this group are also to experience with wise or foolish living but those who are saved will inherit eternal life while those of the group who are unsaved with experience eternal judgement.  

Each type of covenant, (universal, national, and new) requires an acknowledgement and obedience in faith to God to received eternal blessing.  Adam's covenant provides God's foundation.  Noah's covenant provides God's stability.  Abraham's covenant provides God's promise.  Moses' covenant provides God's law.  David's covenant provides God's kingship.  Christ's covenant provides God's fulfillment.  When you look at these major covenants this way and in order you can see the unfolding of God's plan.  You can also see the flow through the Scriptures of God's remnant who are true believers of Him.

So there is a little insight into my world beyond the work of an interim pastor.  Pray for me as I craft my schedule to reading whole books while working the transition process before me.

Adam