Study Notes

FOUNDATION STATEMENT:  Without and understanding of covenant you will never come to a full understanding of the Word of God, the faith of God, or the love of God – Ephesians 3:14-20

 

1.     We are after a revelation of God’s love for us and that revelation is going to come through covenant (Ephesians 3:14)

A.    Covenant love – Hesed/Agape – Loving-kindness, tender mercy

1.     Hesed – Unfailing love, loyal love, devotion, kindness in a covenant relationship, goodness, mercy

2.     Agapao – That love someone to the point that you bind yourself to them and become one with them

2.     Covenant Basics

A.    Blood Covenant – a binding agreement where one totally gives himself over to another.  It is a “coming together.” Two have become one.  This agreement is sealed and guaranteed by the shedding of blood.

B.     A blood covenant is the most serious agreement that people can enter

1.     It demanded absolute, unwavering loyalty

2.     The only way out of a blood covenant is death

a.    It was so serious that one would kill his own family, if they violated the terms of that covenant

3.     This covenant is forever weather we get along or not

C.    People most often came into covenant based on strengths and weakness, not on things that we have in common

1.     The basis for covenant is your strong where we are weak and we are strong we you’re weak

2.     There were long lengthy discussions before these covenants were ever cut ironing out the details and prejudices

D.    The covenant representative was chosen

1.     That person being there is a good as me myself being there

E.     The covenant site was chosen

1.     A place where everybody could see; because that’s you down there

F.     The animal was selected

1.     It was parted down the back bone and split down the middle creating a pathway of blood

G.   Covenants were cut like this to effect remembrance

1.     When you are standing ankle deep in blood and you smell the warm blood and the guts, and you smell the digested hay in the bowels of a heifer you don’t forget than very soon.  The smell well be in your nostrils forever. 

3.     Each man takes off his coat and gives it to the other and says, this coat stands for “who I am, what I am”

A.    My authority – I give myself to you

1.     Who I am – My authority

2.     What I am – What I do with that authority

3.     EXAMPLE: A General or Soldier in the army has all those medals on his coat and it represents who he is and what he is. 

B.     The coat God hands to us the coat of his body and the Anointing that covered it

1.     The anointing is God’s ability on us giving us supernatural ability

2.     Galatians 3:27 – If you’re born again you’ve put on the anointing

3.     Romans 13:14 – That coat will keep you from failing

4.     Acts 2 – The Holy Spirit covered them inside and out

C.    The coat we hand to God is our physical body (Romans 12:1)

1.     It is our reasonable service because we’re in covenant with him and He gave you his coat

2.     Jesus presented his body to the Lord (John 8:28-29, John 14:9-12)

a.    When you present your “coat” to the Father, it activates the coat he gave to you and the anointing will work

4.     They take off each other’s belt of weapons (girdle) and say, “I’m giving you my strength.  Your enemies are mine.  Even if I die, I’ll stand with you and lend you my sword.”

A.    God gave us His armor (Ephesians 6:10)

1.     I’m strong in the power of his might-He has given me His strength

a.    He gave you His armor so that you could stand strong in the day of battle not in your strength, but in his strength (11)

2.     Having whooped them all STAND (13)

a.    His truth – That will set you free

b.    His righteousness – I’m right with Him

c.     Gospel- I walk in the good news of the covenant

d.    His faith, which is the victory that overcomes the world

e.    His helmet of soundness, nothing missing, nothing broken

f.      His Sword-His word which is His power

B.     God has chosen sides and my enemies are his enemies

1.     Romans 8:31 – If God be for me who dare be against me

2.     Psalm 118:6 – Draw the line and put God on your side

3.     Is 54:17 – Any weapon formed against me is against Him

4.     Genesis 12 – He keeps that covenant-That wasn’t the wrath of God, that was the love of God keeping His covenant

C.    The Help of the Holy Spirit –Sunantilambano (Rom 8:26)

1.     First time the word help in the Greek was used.  The Holy Spirit created a brand new word to describe his help to the believer

2.     Sun – partnership (becoming one) and cooperation, This verse is not about what the Holy Spirit does independently for us, but this help that we receive when we are cooperating with Him

3.     Anti – The attitude of the Holy Ghost, He is extremely upset about something, furious, he is so angry that he is ready to take some kind of action

4.     Lambano – The desire of the Holy Ghost, He is so upset of something that he’s wanting to reach out, grab hold of that thing and seize it for himself

5.     The attitude of the spirit towards that attack is anti, he is enraged, he is on edge, and the desire of the Holy Ghost is to reach out with you and grab hold of that thing and remove it from your life

D.    The weapons that we present to God

1.     The greatest weapon that you have as a believer is your free will

a.    Our heart, our mind, our will, our emotions, our resources

2.     Your enemies are my enemies – I will not tolerate one thing that Jesus bore for me on the cross at Calvary

5.     The walk of blood.  They walk through the path of blood between the halves, twice through and stop together in the middle and say, “Even as this animal has died, I will stand with you even in the midst of death.  Standing in blood I make promises that I will never break.”

A.    I stand with you even in the midst of death

1.     Isaiah 41:10-14 – God holds our hand and walks up and down the way of the blood with us

B.     This covenant is forever and my allegiance to you is unbreakable

1.     Hebrews 13:5 (AMP) – God has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down ( relax My hold on you)! [ Assuredly not!]

6.     The promises are made by each one

A.    The blessings of covenant

1.     God is pointing his finger in your face declaring the New Testament to you – That Bible is God speaking the covenant to you.  These promises are absolutely unbreakable (2 Peter 1:3-4)

B.     The curse of the covenant

1.     There is no curse in this New Covenant because it’s been made by two parties who never fail

2.     If you violate the covenant term to walk in love you don’t break the covenant, you just get outside of it’s protection and benefits

C.    My promise to God is to walk in love and do everything in my power to walk in the fullness of this covenant accurately representing Him

7.     Each representative swears by God to keep his promises, making God the third party and witness to the covenant.  They say, “Standing here in blood I swear by God to keep this covenant.”

A.    Hebrews 6:12-18 – God swore by Himself to show Abraham the absolute unchangeableness of His Word

B.     Men swear by the greater and there is no more discussion

8.     The cutting of flesh

A.    The wrist or hand was cut and the life blood of the family is being shed

B.     The flesh that was cut was the Jesus’ back, his brow, his feet, and hands

C.    The blood is mingled

1.     God mingled His blood with Jesus blood and the glory of the almighty God is running through His veins

9.     The hand is lifted as the oath is sworn, with blood running down the arm, to keep the terms of the covenant “so help me God!”

A.    Genesis 14 – When Abraham saw the High Priest with the bread and wine, he knew those were covenant elements and that’s why he said I lift up my hand unto God, telling that king I’m in covenant with God

B.     You lift your hand to God acknowledging your covenant with Him

1.     Psalm 63:4 – I’ll lift up my hands in your name

2.     Psalm 134:2 – When you lift up your hands you’re acknowledging your covenant with God and that gives him praise

C.    Isaiah 41:10 – God lifts his hand to you

10.  The seal of the covenant is the scar will never go away

A.    John 20:27 – You’re glorified body will be flawless

1.     Those had to be left there because they are the marks of the covenant

2.     That scar let everybody know who I’m in covenant with

3.     That scar let everybody know which family I belong to

B.     It is the sign we are absolutely one

1.     Romans 2:29 – There’s a cut across your spirit that every demon and hell recognizes

2.     Hebrews 4:12 – That two-edged sword cut my spirit and emptied me of death and then I was filled with the very life of God

3.     1 Corinthians 6:17 – We are one and we carry the scar to prove it

11.  The name change

A.    The testimony forever – we are one family, our names are one

1.     God became the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob

B.     Acts 3:1-12 – In the same authority and power that Jesus Christ would have he was standing here today, “Rise up and walk.”

1.     Acts 4:7 – Name represents power

2.     They got that name through covenant

C.    Hebrews 1 – God gave Jesus his name

1.     Philippians 2:9-11 – That name has authority up to the throne of God stretching all the way down into the very pit of hell

D.    Ephesians 3:15 – I’ve taken on the name of God 

12.  We have become friends.  To be a friend a covenant must have been made

A.    There is a friend that sticks closer than a brother (Proverbs 18:24)

1.     Blood is thicker than water – Blood is thicker than milk

a.    The blood of the blood covenant is more serious than the water of the womb

b.    You can’t choose who you’re born a kin to you, but you can choose who you enter blood covenant with

2.     A relationship is born-all that has been done in one word-hesed

a.    John 15:13-14 – That’s covenant love

B.     Abraham a Friend of God (2 Chronicles 20:7, Isaiah 41:8, James 2:23)

1.     Genesis 18:20 – Abraham stand before God over

2.     Exodus 32:1-14 – Moses for the people of Egypt

C.    Remember

1.     I hold you in my mind – You are ever before me – I live in constant reality of the bond between us – It is as if I am at this moment standing n the blood swearing – I am- Never I did or I will in the future, always now – I am plotting and planning ways to bless you and surprise you as I keep the covenant terms – Always action.  Knock-I’ll open.  Seek you’ll find.  Ask-you’ll receive

13.  The covenant meal is the grand finale.  The leaders are together. 

A.    The piece of bread

1.     They fed each other the bread as a final statement.

a.    “Take me-all that I am.  Eat of me, I am yours.”

B.     The cup of wine

1.     They drank, saying, “Drink my life’s blood as I drink your life’s blood.  I see you fulfilling all the terms of the covenant as I fulfill your life. This is the blood of my life.  Drink my life.  My life is now your life blood.” 

C.    John 6:50-68

1.     53-If you want zoe you have to receive his zoe through covenant

2.     56-Eat me flesh and drink my blood and you’ll dwell in me and I in you – That’s covenant talk

D.    Luke 22:14-20 – Do this in remembrance of your covenant, do this in remembrance of the hesed of God