Lesson 3, October 9-15
Sabbath Afternoon
Read for This Week’s Study: Genesis 12:1-3, Romans 4:1-5, Exodus 2:24, Deuteronomy 5:1-21, 26:16-19, 8:5, Matthew 28:10.
Memory Text: “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.” Genesis 17:7
“And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Revelation 14:6). Notice, “the everlasting gospel,” everlasting as in always existing, as in having always been there, as in having been promised to us in Christ Jesus “before the world began” (Titus 1:2).
Hence, it’s no wonder that the Bible talks at other times about the “everlasting covenant” (Genesis 17:7, Isaiah 24:5, Ezekiel 16:60, Hebrews 13:20), because the essence of the gospel is covenant, and the essence of the covenant is the gospel: God out of His saving grace and love offers you a salvation that you do not deserve and cannot possibly earn; and you, in response, love Him back “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30), a love that is made manifest by obedience to His law: “For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments” (1 John 5:3).
This week we will look at the idea of the covenant as expressed in the book of Deuteronomy, where the covenant and all that it entails is made manifest.
