Covenant

The purpose of this lesson is not to expound on the various covenants that we find in the Word of God, but to clue the youth in on what a covenant is, and the fact that we are in one with our God when we accept what Jesus did for us.

A covenant is an agreement made between two parties to the benefit of one or both of the parties involved. The form of covenant God made with us through His Son, Jesus Christ, is called a patriarchal form of covenant. This type of covenant is a self-imposed obligation of a superior party (which is God), to the benefit of an inferior party (that would be us).

What this means is that there was nothing that we, as human flesh, could do to free ourselves from the punishment that sin demands. (Rom 3:23 "for all (of us) have sinned and fall short of the glory of God") That punishment is death. And there could be no covenant of friendship between a holy God and sinful man without a death as the penalty for sin. (Heb 9:22 "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.") So then, God Himself, Jesus the Son, freely took a flesh and blood body like yours, and shed His blood, as the only One righteous enough, the only lamb without spot or blemish, to pay for the punishment that sin demands.

Because you could not help yourself, Jesus bought and paid for your freedom from the penalty of sin with His own blood. And He offers every man, woman, and child the opportunity to come into agreement with Him and what He did.

Now you might be saying, "That offer sounds a little too good to be true. There must be something that I myself have to do." Well, there is. God wants us to find out all we can about Him through His Word, and talk with Him all the time to become really good friends with Him. And He wants us to tell other people about how great He is, so that what He did can help them, too. That is why it is important to "count the cost" when we are making a decision to follow Him. Oh! And don't forget that He also provides us with the Holy Spirit to give us power to walk with Him and help us draw close to Him. What a Great God we serve!

When you decide to follow Jesus and allow Him to free you from your sin, you enter into covenant with God. This is an agreement between you and Him. He has done for you everything that He could possibly do; always remember your covenant, your agreement with Him, and let the Holy Spirit help you to walk in obedience to Him.