A Holy Agreement

圣约 (Shengyue) is how you say ‘covenant’ in Chinese. The combination of these two characters literally means ‘holy agreement.’

I now know this Chinese word because having showed up early for a meeting with a Chinese friend of mine I was reading a book about covenants in the Bible. The purpose of our weekly meeting is for him to practice speaking English. As he arrived he noticed a word in the title of the book I was reading that he did not understand – covenant. I explained to him what it meant in English, I then looked it up in my Chinese dictionary. I described it as an agreement or new relationship between two people where identity and resources are shared based on trust. I used as an example perhaps the only remaining use of this word in our vernacular and in our culture – marriage.

I once went to a wedding where the pastor listed the differences between a contract and a covenant.

A contract protects one’s assets. A covenant shares resources.
A contract defines the boundaries of the relationship. A covenant creates a shared identity.
A contract is prepared to protect one’s best interests. A covenant is entered to provide for the other party’s best interest.
A contract prepares for the breaking of a relationship. A covenant assumes no end to the relationship.
A contract is signed because of an assumed distrust between two parties. A covenant is entered because a complete trust exists between two parties.

One’s relationship with a client, a landlord, a cell phone carrier, or an employer is defined by a contract. What happens if that contract is broken is always included in the fine print. A contract is necessary to protect one’s own best interest. Covenants are different in every way. The book I was reading describes a covenant as a relationship where identity and resources are now shared between the two partners. We see this relationship fleshed out tangibly in a healthy marriage – you are mine and I am yours, the two become one flesh, what’s yours is mine, what’s mine is yours.

My friend is not a believer, and thus neither understands nor has experienced the wonder of living in a covenant relationship with the King of kings. However, what we as believers also sometimes fail to realize, and fail to take hold of, is the fact that as followers of Jesus our relationship with God is a covenantal relationship. Our identity has changed, we are now children of God, heirs of God and co-heirs with Jesus (Romans 8:17). And if our identity has changed then our resources and our power are shared with the one with whom we share an identity. Dwell on this statement for a moment: Our identity and our resources are inextricably linked with the one with whom are in covenant - the Lord God Almighty!

What’s mine is His, what’s His is mine!

And here is the thought that I will finish with that you can take with you to ponder and to thank Jesus for:

We give him our junk, our mess, our sin, our pitiful attempts at worship – and he gives us the keys to the Kingdom! Not exactly an equal partnership, but it was His idea in the first place.

Thoughts? Feel free to comment.

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