BIBLES * Bulldogs * & Beards

“The cross was not an isolated event in history that sprang up spontaneously. Rather, the atonement of Christ was the culmination, the climax of centuries of redemptive history. Ages before, God had set certain things in motion that reached their acme with the death of Jesus.” – RC Sproul

ATONEMENT & COVENANT

Dr. Sproul says; “It is impossible to fully understand the death of Christ apart from an understanding of the whole process of covenant that is worked out in the Old & New Testaments.”

Do you agree with him, and why or why not?

A covenant is a relationship between the Lord and His servants.

In this relationship, the Lord verbally speaks to His servants, defining the covenant relationship.

He tells them His name, His laws or stipulations, His blessings & His cursings.

There is a verbal giving of the covenant, God tells us to “Obey my Voice” and “keep My covenant” (Exodus 19:5+many others).

The covenant is also written:

On Stone: - “And He declared to you His covenant, which He commanded you to perform, that is, the Ten Commandments, and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.” - Deuteronomy 4:13

In the Bible and on our Heart: – “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.” - Jeremiah 31:33 - The Importance of God’s Word.

This is how God reveals Himself, through the Bible. Without the Bible there would be no covenants, there would be no Gospel, & there would be no salvation.

We recognize 2 sacraments; Baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Communion).

(WCF – 28:1) “Baptism is a sacrament of the New Testament, ordained by Jesus Christ, not only for the solemn admission of the party baptized into the visible Church; but also to be unto him a sign and seal of the covenant of grace, of his ingrafting into Christ, of regeneration, of remission of sins, and of his giving up unto God, through Jesus Christ, to walk in the newness of life. Which sacrament is, by Christ's own appointment, to be continued in His Church until the end of the world.”

Jesus made sure to identify with baptism and He made painstaking preparations in preparing PASSOVER. In the upper room, Jesus instituted another New Covenant –

Explain how the Old Covenant Passover changes to the New Covenant?

COVENANT BLESSINGS & CURSES

A covenant has sanctions. Rewards or Penalties. Blessing or Curses.

Read Deuteronomy 28:1-6.

What is the significance of blessing & cursing to the world today? Explain the parallel between the two.

Note the far-ranging extent of the curse of God. It extends over all of life.

BLESSED: IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD

Most people equate blessing with being happy. You have been preaching the beatitudes, and you gave a excellent explanation of the term blessing. Tell the folks that might be listening; does blessingmean being happy?

Dr. Sproul talks about a Hebrew literary device called parallelism. You are a writer, what is parallelism?

The curse is the exact opposite of the blessing.

For the Jew, to be blessed was to have God draw near. In times of crisis, in times of tumult, and upheaval. It is a frightening time. They found confidence in the assurance the presence of God.