FIRST QUARTER 2025
SABBATH SCHOOL INSIGHT #2
JANUARY 11, 2025
"COVENANTAL LOVE".

 

“‘For the mountains shall depart

And the hills be removed,

But My kindness shall not depart from you,

Nor shall My covenant of peace be removed,’

Says the LORD, who has mercy on you….

‘This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD,

And their righteousness is from Me,’

Says the LORD." (Isaiah 54:10,17, NKJV).

I must admit I was a bit disappointed by the introduction to this week’s lesson and its treatment of agape. A quick review of the use of the word in the New Testament shows it to be used much more often in the context of God’s principled, directional love toward us, and the responsive love that it should engender in us. Perhaps a love that doesn’t ever give up, a committed love, is also included—as in “love never fails.” Unfortunately, some exercise that kind of love toward the world (2 Timothy 4:10), but that of course is misdirected love, not responsive to the Creator, but to the creation, as idolatry.

After all, agape and phileo are different words, and must have different meanings. Agape is the one which more closely aligns with what the lesson later brings into focus, the Old Testament hesed of God, His lovingkindness as it is often translated. My initial disappointment was allayed by the more thoughtful treatment of the Everlasting Covenant as the covenant of God’s everlasting love, His hesed. 

We should all agree that God’s love is showered (not forced) upon all, as Jesus said, evidenced by the sun and rain blessing everyone, the evil and the good. Or how about that atmosphere of grace that surrounds the earth that is as real as the air we breathe? Resisting all of this is as unreasonable as holding one’s breath while in the darkest recesses of a desert cave! Yet some do. In the face of this rejection, God never stops loving and never stops being kind. And this is the love into which we are called to “be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).

As many commentators point out, God’s lovingkindness is not only his attitude toward us but His attitude as revealed in His actions, His blessings in our behalf. How we receive and how we appreciate from the heart all of these aspect of hesed determine the depth of our experience in the covenantal relationship He desires to have with us. This is how the author of the lesson succinctly puts it: “God’s love is not conditional, but the covenantal relationship with His people is.” Of course, He purchased the whole race, so the implications are significant for all people, not just those who now identify themselves as His people.

The Apostle John tells us that we love because God first loved us, and we recognize that “only by love is love awakened.”—Ellen G. White, The Desire of Ages, p. 22. So the first condition of the relationship is that we view the love of God as on the shore of a boundless ocean.

 “It is the love of Christ that makes our heaven. But when we seek to tell of this love, language fails us. We think of his life on earth, of his sacrifice for us; we think of his work in heaven as our advocate, of the mansions he is preparing for those who love him; and we can but exclaim. ‘O the heights and depths of the love of Christ!' As we linger beneath the cross, we gain a faint conception of the love of God, and we say, ‘Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.’ But in our contemplation of Christ, we are only lingering round the edge of a love that is measureless. His love is like a vast ocean, without bottom or shore.”—Ellen G. White, Review and Herald, May 6, 1902.  

Where must we linger to gain a faint conception of the love of God? At the foot of the cross, where the Everlasting Covenant of love was demonstrated and secured. When we see ourselves there, we see everyone there in Christ as new creatures (cf 2 Cor. 5:14-21). Only then can we love others with God’s active lovingkindness, regardless of how difficult or unpleasant some may seem to be.

In this context, I encourage you as an assignment to take a look at all of the thought questions throughout the lesson, and contemplate how the love revealed at the cross gives clear answers to these questions. The Ellen G. White companion notes for the lesson (published separately) are also quite rich. Look at this last one for this week:

 “Those who identify their interests wholly with Christ will want to serve him, and the more they work the works of Christ in seeking to bless others, the more will Jesus impart his light and his love to them, that they may communicate it to others. Be guarded that you do not try to teach others unless you are a daily learner in the school of Christ yourself. We must repeat his lessons; we must manifest his spirit of kindness, patience, forbearance, and love. You cannot impart to others that which you have not yourself. Keep the light and love of God burning in your hearts, that you may help others; for more zeal, greater devotion, and more steady, earnest faith is needed. You must do much watching and praying, as well as searching of the Scriptures if you learn the precious lessons of faith. You must guard against making feelings a criterion; this of itself is no evidence that you are a child of God, or that you are not. ‘By their fruits ye shall know them.’ It is obedience and faith that unite us with Jesus Christ. You must learn the simple art of taking God at his word. Then you have solid ground beneath your feet.”  —Ellen G. White, The Youth’s Instructor, August 18, 1886. 

And for extra credit, here are some heartwarming thoughts regarding the Everlasting Covenant from God’s delegated messengers who brought us the “most precious message” in the 1888 era:

The Lord continued, after telling Abraham of the change in his name, "And I will establish My covenant between Me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God." Gen. xvii. 7, 8.

Let us take up the different parts of this covenant in detail. The central part of it is the promised land, the land of Canaan. It is the same as in the fifteenth chapter. The promise is to give it to Abraham and his seed. The covenant is the same that was made there; but here we have it sealed.

Notice that it is 

AN "EVERLASTING COVENANT"

that the Lord made with him. It is the one everlasting covenant, which is so often spoken of in the Bible. It is "through the blood of the everlasting covenant" that men are made perfect in every good work to do the will of God. Heb. xiii. 20. Moreover, the land promised in this everlasting covenant, was to be

"AN EVERLASTING POSSESSION,"

for both Abraham and his seed. Mark well that Abraham himself, as well as his seed, was promised the land for an everlasting possession. It is not an inheritance that is simply to be the possession of his family for ever, but both Abraham and his seed together were to have it for an everlasting possession.

But a land can be held for an everlasting possession only by those who have

EVERLASTING LIFE

Therefore in this covenant we find the promise of everlasting life. It could not be otherwise, because when the covenant was first made, as recorded in the fifteenth chapter, Abraham was told that he should die before the land should be given for a possession; and Stephen said that God did not give him so much as to set his foot on. Therefore it could be his only through the resurrection; and when the resurrection takes place, then there will be no more death. For "we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump; for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Cor. xv. 51-53. 

So we see that the making of this everlasting covenant with Abraham was simply the preaching of the everlasting Gospel of the kingdom, and the assuring to him of a part in its blessings. The promise to Abraham was a Gospel promise, and nothing else, and the covenant was the everlasting covenant, of which Christ is Mediator. Its scope is identical with that of the new covenant, in which God says, "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be My people." Heb. viii. 10. But this will appear more plainly as we proceed.

A COVENANT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS

The Lord said to Abraham after this restatement of the covenant with him and his seed, "And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt Me and thee." Gen. xvii. 11. Now if we turn to the Epistle to the Romans we shall learn much more of the meaning of this transaction. We must have the Scripture before us in order that we may consider it understandingly, and so we will quote it at length. 

"What shall we say then that Abraham our father, as pertaining to the flesh, hath found? For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God. For what saith the Scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness. Now to him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace, but of debt. But to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. Even as David also described the blessedness of the man unto whom God imputeth righteousness without works, saying, Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Cometh this blessedness then upon the circumcision only, or upon the uncircumcision also? for we say that faith was reckoned to Abraham for righteousness. How then was it reckoned? when he was in circumcision, or in uncircumcision? Not in circumcision, but in uncircumcision, and he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had yet being uncircumcised; that he might be the father of all them that believe, though they be not circumcised; that righteousness might be imputed unto them also; and the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised. For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith." Rom. iv. 1-13.

The subject of the entire chapter is Abraham and justification by faith. The apostle takes the case of Abraham as an illustration of the truth presented in the preceding chapter, namely, that a man is made righteous by faith. The blessing that Abraham received is the blessing of sins forgiven, through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. See verses 6-9. Therefore when we read in Gen. xii. 2, 3, that in Abraham all the families of the earth should be blessed, we know that the blessing referred to is the forgiveness of sins.This is positively proved by Acts iii. 25, 26: "Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up His Son Jesus, sent Him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.”

This blessing came to Abraham through Jesus Christ and His cross, even as it comes to us. For "Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; . . . that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith." Gal. iii. 13, 14. So we find that the blessings of the covenant with Abraham are simply the blessings of the Gospel, and they are brought to us through the cross of Christ. Nothing was promised in that covenant except that which comes through the Gospel; and everything that the Gospel contains was in it. —E.J. Waggoner, Present Truth UK, May 28, 1896, p. 387,388. 

 The inheritance is the thing referred to in the promise. But with what is the inheritance connected?—Plainly, and only, with God's covenant with Abraham—the everlasting covenant. Notice in the context that "the covenant [that is the covenant with Abraham, the everlasting covenant] that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, can not disannul, that it should make the promise [the promise of the inheritance of that covenant] of none effect." Gal. 3:17.

As we have seen in a former study, the inheritance is the great thing in the covenant with Abraham, the everlasting covenant. Indeed, the covenant with Abraham was made by God in pledge to Abraham that he should inherit that which God had promised. For after God had promised it to him, Abraham said, "Whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?" And, in answer, God made with him, and entered into with him, that blood covenant, in which he pledged his life that the promise of the inheritance should never fail. Gen. 15:8, 18.

And as we also found in the former studies, all that ever come in after that covenant was made, was, in blessing men, to enable them to attain to the fullness of that covenant, and to the inheritance of which that everlasting covenant is the pledge. And this was exactly the object of the giving of the law of God on tables of stone on Mount Sinai, and in the Bible. For if men had kept that covenant, they would have kept God's law in mind, and there would have been no necessity for it to be proclaimed from Sinai or engraved upon the tables of stone." The object of that law, thus written and given to men, bringing transgressions to a head, making sins abound, was and is that men might find the grace of Christ much more abounding,—that through him they might attain to the fullness of that everlasting covenant with Abraham, and so to the inheritance of which that covenant was and is the pledge.

And to allow the coming of the seed to whom the promise of the inheritance was made, to be the second coming of Christ, and not his first,—this gives opportunity for the law of God, in its written form, to fulfill its grand object, which is the bringing of men, through faith in Christ, to the fullness of that everlasting covenant. The fullness of that everlasting covenant is the righteousness of God—the keeping of the commandments, and the faith of Jesus." And men must be brought to the fullness of that everlasting covenant in order that they may receive the inheritance, of which that everlasting covenant is the pledge.

That this view is the correct one, and is the truth of the matter, is emphasized by the fact that the everlasting covenant is not met in its fullness, in believers, until the second coming of Christ; that is, till the seed really comes to whom the promise of the inheritance was made.

One provision of that everlasting covenant is. "I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts." And that provision will not be accomplished in its fullness until, by the Third Angel's Message, men are brought to the actual keeping of "the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;" so that the Lord, looking down from heaven upon them, can say, in perfect truth: "Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus."

Another provision of that covenant is: And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest." Heb. 8:11. Although we are now living in the times of the new covenant as really as was Abraham, yet neither the world nor we have attained to that point where it is not necessary any more for any man to teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, Know the Lord. And this part of the everlasting covenant will not be met in its fullness until, through the blessing and power of God in the Third Angel's Message, the mystery of God shall have been finished. Col. 1:26, 27; Rev. 19:7.

It is not necessary here to take up all the clauses of the new covenant one by one. These are enough to illustrate the truth that the everlasting covenant, the new covenant, the covenant with Abraham, which is the pledge of the inheritance that is promised to the Seed, is not met in its fullness in those who accept it, till the second coming of Christ.

And if this be not plain enough by the scriptures presented, or is not convincing enough, then read the following sentences from the testimony of Jesus, which is the Spirit of Prophesy:—

“It was at midnight that God chose to deliver his people. As the wicked were mocking around them, suddenly the sun appeared; shining in his strength, and the moon stood still. The wicked looked upon the scene with amazement, while the saints beheld with solemn joy the tokens of their deliverance. Signs and wonders followed in quick succession. Everything seemed turned out of its natural course. The streams ceased to flow. Dark, heavy clouds came up and clashed against each other. But there was one clear place of settled glory, whence came the voice of God like many waters, shaking the heavens and the earth. There was a mighty earthquake. The graves were opened, and those who had died in faith under the Third Angel's Message, keeping the Sabbath, came form from their dusty beds, glorified, to hear the covenant of peace that God was to make with those who had kept his law. 

The sky opened and shut, and was in commotion. The mountains shook like a reed in the wind, and cast out ragged rocks all around. The sea boiled like a pot, and cast out stones upon the land. And as God spoke the day and the hour of JESUS' COMING, and delivered the EVERLASTING COVENANT to his people, he spoke one sentence, and then paused, while the words were rolling through the earth. The Israel of God stood with their eyes fixed upward, listening to the words as they came from the mouth of Jehovah, and rolled through the earth like peals of loudest thunder. . .The wicked could not look upon them [the saints] for the glory. And when the never-ending blessing was pronounced on those who had honored God in keeping his Sabbath holy, there was a mighty shout of victory over the beast and over his image."—"Early Writings," pp. 145, 146.—A.T. Jones, Advent Review and Sabbath Herald,  March 13, 1900, p. 169.

He so loves us that He wants to save us. But He can not save us in our sins. He will save us from our sins. And as our whole self is sin and sin only, in order to get us, in order to buy us, He had to buy our sins also. So in giving Himself for us, He gave Himself for our sins too. And as we are His, because He bought us with that great price, so also our sins are His, for He bought them with the same great price. And what will He do with these sins? O, He will forgive them! 1 John i: 9. He will make them as white as snow. Isa. i: 18. He will put them away. Heb. ix: 26. He will cast them into the depths of the sea. Micah vii: 19. He will remove them from us as far as the east is from the west. Ps. ciii: 12. He will cast them all behind His back. Isa. xxxviii: 17. And when they are all cast behind His back, He and His own throne will stand between us and them, as the pledge that we are free from them; and the rainbow round about the throne will be the sign—the token—of the everlasting covenant round about the throne will be the sign—the token—of the everlasting covenant that our sins and iniquities will be remembered no more. Heb. viii: 12.

"Reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord. . . . Yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you." "Sin shall not have dominion over you,"—is that promise worth anything to you, brethren? It is worth all that God is worth to the one who reckons himself to be dead indeed unto sin, and alive unto God through Jesus Christ, and who yields himself unto God, and his members unto God as instruments for God to use. To this one God has declared, "sin shall not have dominion over you." Thank the Lord for this blessed promise of freedom from sin and all the power of sin. And this promise He will make a fact in the life and experience of every one who reckons thus and yields to God. You furnish the reckoning, He will furnish the fact. You yield to Him, and He will use you. You yield to Him your members, and He will use them only as instruments of righteousness. And so, "sin shall not have dominion over you," for God is stronger than sin.—A.T. Jones, The Missionary Magazine, April 1899, pp. 176,177.

 

~Todd Guthrie