ICS Daily Devotions
Being God’s Covenant People
1 Peter 2:9-10 (NKJV) But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
The Apostle Peter was addressing the Gentiles in the region of Asia Minor who came to know the Lord. If we are not Jews, then we are considered as Gentiles while the Jews are the chosen people of God to bring forth the Messiah. God always refer to the Israelites as “My people.” Therefore, the Apostle Peter mentioned here that the Gentiles were not a people whom God had chosen. The Jews are God’s chosen people and they had a covenant with God who is a God of covenant. He operates in covenant relationships. The sign of the covenant with God for the Jews was the physical circumcision of the flesh by hand.
Genesis 17:10-11(NKJV) This is My covenant which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: Every male child among you shall be circumcised; and you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you.
This is the reason why David was so bold to confront Goliath and made a statement about the uncircumcised Philistines who dare to come against the army of the Living God. The Jews were operating in two parallel covenants, namely the Mosaic covenant and the Abrahamic covenant. The Mosaic covenant was a conditional covenant that had blessings for obedience and curses for being disobedient.
On the other hand, the Abrahamic covenant is an unconditional covenant that God brought into fulfillment without the help of men. Through the Abrahamic covenant, God had a channel to bring forth the Messiah into the earth to redeem humankind—and not just the Jews—back to Himself.
Ephesians 2:11-13 (NKJV) Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands— that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.
It is the Abrahamic covenant that brought the Messiah Jesus Christ into the earth to redeem mankind from their sins through the shedding of His blood. We, the Gentiles were once strangers to the covenants of promise (both the Abrahamic and the Mosaic covenant) but we have entered into a new covenant by faith through the blood of Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:29 (NKJV) But he is a Jew who is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the Spirit, not in the letter; whose praise is not from men but from God.
Therefore, the Christian will have the circumcision of the heart when he or she professes Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. We are set apart for being in covenant with God.
Faith in our heart will arise when we know the seriousness of the covenant that is established by God with us. We will proclaim of God’s faithfulness when He fulfills His covenant. We will also apply the same covenant commitment of love to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ whom we meet in the church. It is the highest form of commitment. The covenant binds us together as God’s family and we will spend the eternity both with God and with one another. Nothing will separate us anymore!
Sermon series: Our Church experiencing God Together (CG campaign 2)
