The Immanuel Principle & People (Hebrews 11:39-12:3, Ezekiel 37:24-28)
Rev. William L. Barron, November 26, 2023Part of the Morning Worship at North Greenville Church series, preached at a Sunday Morning service
We have a covenant relationship with God. The cloud of witnesses had faith in the promises of God. Yet, they never saw the whole fulfillment of the promises. We must lay aside everything that would stop us from moving forward in understanding salvation in Christ. Immanuel--God will be His people's God; they will be His people. Christ fulfilled the covenant of works lost by Adam and Eve. With the fall came the covenant of grace. In the background is a battle. A seed is going to come--the Redeemer. From the line of Seth comes the Redeemer. The covenant of grace is an outgrowth of the covenant of redemption made within the Holy Trinity before creation. The focus of this covenant is the Immanuel People. There is a continuation of the Adam covenant. First in the garden, then Noah with a new beginning. This covenant is based on obedience. God is working to bring about His purpose for His people. What does it mean to be God's people? The next continuation is God's covenant with Abraham. With Abraham comes the promised land. This points ahead to a land that can never be taken away. The land's king is the son of David, and the land is the new heaven and earth. He brings to fulfillment the covenant of grace. A product of that grace is faith. Jews and gentiles alike are saved by the same faith. Another continuation of the covenant was through Moses, the law-giver. The law was a reflection of God's purity, which we cannot live up to. The promised Messiah must keep the law for us. His people from every generation will be saved through the blood of Christ.
| Earlier: | Same day: | Later: |
|---|---|---|
| « Ever Increasing Faith | None | Awaiting The Kingdom » |
Hebrews 11:39–12:3 (Listen)
39 And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised, 40 since God had provided something better for us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2 looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
3 Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted.
(ESV)
Ezekiel 37:24–28 (Listen)
24 “My servant David shall be king over them, and they shall all have one shepherd. They shall walk in my rules and be careful to obey my statutes. 25 They shall dwell in the land that I gave to my servant Jacob, where your fathers lived. They and their children and their children’s children shall dwell there forever, and David my servant shall be their prince forever. 26 I will make a covenant of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant with them. And I will set them in their land and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 My dwelling place shall be with them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 28 Then the nations will know that I am the LORD who sanctifies Israel, when my sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”
(ESV)