Hello All,
(Just a general disclaimer that I must insert here at the beginning. I am but a lay person, like most of you. And these weekly “thoughts” are but my own. Not the definitive word on this or any topic. Just my own conclusions derived from my own study and faith in God. The greatest hope I have for these weekly “thoughts” is to have them be a springboard for further study on your part. Not to be a weekly treatise to be blindly accepted. So, please read them with this intent, this motive in mind).
A new “Adult Sabbath School Study Guide” lesson quarterly for our second quarter of 2021 titled “The Promise… God’s Everlasting Covenant”. This is an important study for us. It is so important that Gerhard Hasel’s study has been a topic for our quarterly at least 2 other times in our history. I do hope it proves to be fruitful as we delve once again into God’s promise to us sinners.
As we look at this topic (the Everlasting Covenant) it is always good to look at the reason for this covenant and how it is a solution to our problem. But remember, we need to accurately identify any problem in order to understand any solution. For example, we sometimes state that Adam and Eve’s “fall” resulted in a penalty from God. As if the “sin-problem” is some imposed penalty. If this is our definition of the “sin-problem” we sinners have, than that will color our understanding of the “solution” of that sin-problem, and will color our understanding of the Everlasting Covenant, too.
It is imperative this quarter that we rightly keep the true nature of the sin-problem in front of us. Satan, that great deceiver, works to make sure we misunderstand our God and misunderstand the true nature of our sin-problem. Satan is delighted when we think our sin-problem is an imposed penalty from our loving Heavenly Father. Satan can so interpret God’s Everlasting Covenant and all God’s actions (even the “cross”) in a way that supports this “penalty” idea. Sad to say, we Adventists can be prone to this misinterpretation, too. Just look at Thursday’s lesson this week. The SDA Bible Commentary is quoted implying this very thing.
But the issue with sin is not that God must impose a penalty. The issue is a natural consequence. Sin is what kills us (the second death). “Sin pay its servants: the wage is death” (Romans 6:23 Phillips). This changes what we think “The Promise… God’s Everlasting Covenant” really is. In truth, it is a way to restore what was broken and lost. Trust. What was lost in the Garden of Eden was trust. Adam and Eve decided to trust their own ideas instead of trusting God. This is the problem. The problem is not that God must kill sinners if they sin. The problem is a loss of trust. So the solution by God is how to restore trust. How to show Himself trustworthy.
So as we study this quarter, keep this in mind. Keep this problem and this solution in mind. It will help us to not go astray with any faulty reasoning. And to grasp the true nature of God’s everlasting covenant.
With brotherly love,
Jim