 Okay, good morning once again. Good morning to our students online as well, wishing you all very happy and blessed and fruitful 2024. So I'm really excited about this semester. The semester I'll be teaching on the covenants, the cross and the blood. So I'm sure you've got your notes. Those who are online, the notes are posted on the stream. So feel free to download them and pack along, even as we go through the entire course together. Alright, so let's just begin with the word of prayer. Let's surrender this entire semester that the Lord will speak to us, minister to us and we will continue to grow in the things of God. Would anyone like to pray? Anyone online or here? Would you like to pray? Just go ahead and pray please. Online anyone like to pray? Sam or Sanjay? Yeah, I'll go ahead. Father, we just thank you for today Lord. Thank you for bringing us together. Lord, as we look at your word and as we learn, I pray Holy Spirit that you will teach us, you will minister to us Lord and I pray that our hearts and minds would be open and everything that is spoken will fall on good ground Lord and we would grow in your ways Lord. We thank you for this time. We just surrender this time into your mighty hand. In Jesus' mighty name we pray. Amen. Amen. Thank you Sam. Alright, so last semester we talked about identity, right? We talked about how you and I have a new identity and as a new identity, we walk in fellowship with Him. We walk as new creation. In continuation to that, we're going to be talking about what does it mean to be in covenant with God? When you look at the old covenant, when you look at the Old Testament, God is a God who made covenants. What is the meaning of covenant? Covenant means it's not promise. We make promises, we break it the same day or the next day, right? But covenants are far more binding and stronger than promises. Yes, God is a promise keeper but God is a covenant maker and a covenant keeper, right? So what does it mean to be in a covenant? Also we talk about how does being in covenant with God affect our daily lives? So we may say, hey, God made a covenant with me, so what should I do? How does it affect me? What are the things that will change in my life because God is in covenant with me? So we learn about that as well. And how do we walk in covenant in our everyday life, right? And even as we continue to study in, you know, the entire course, feel free to stop me. Those who are online as well. Feel free to stop me if you have any questions. You can post it on the chat here as well. If you have questions, just feel free to ask and now we can learn together. Okay, so let's get into chapter one. Understanding covenant, understanding the word covenant and what covenant is, right? The God of the Bible is a God of covenant. Let me see in the book of Genesis, God made a covenant. He said, my seed will crush the serpent's head. It was a covenant because God's saying something and he kept it, right? God is a covenant keeping God. Let's read Deuteronomy chapter 7 and verse 9. Deuteronomy 7 verse 9. Would anyone like to read? Pastor, can I read? Go ahead, please. Deuteronomy 7 verse 9. Therefore, know that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love him and keep his commandments. Thank you. It says, therefore, know the Lord your God, he is God, the faithful God who keeps his covenant, right? God is faithful to keep his covenant and it says, for a thousand generations for those whom he loves, he has those commandments and keeps those his commandments. Psalms 89 and verse 34 says, my covenant I will not break nor alter the word that has gone out of my lips. And there are plenty of verses in the Old Testament where God talks about his covenant, right? The Bible is a book of covenants and we all know the two covenants, the Old covenant and the main covenant and the Bible also indicates that the covenant is the center of God's of the Word, right? The Bible. The covenant is a center meaning. In the Old Testament, God made covenant after covenant, you have the Abrahamic covenant, you have the Davidic covenant and we learn about these covenants. God made these covenants and in the New Testament also, God has made covenants for us. Now, here's the thing about a covenant. Even when we don't keep the covenant or we don't keep his word or obey his word, God is faithful to his side of the covenant. We learn more on that, right? He is faithful to his covenants through thousands of generations. So, for example, if we are not faithful, if I say, Hey, I don't believe in God, I, all this is made up. But on God's side, he is still keeping the covenant. I'm not keeping the covenant yet, but God is still faithful to keep that covenant, right? God has created us to have a covenant relationship with him. The ultimate purpose of God's covenant with us is relationship. Abraham was called a friend of God. So, think about this. God who is the creator of the heavens and the earth. God who did everything, this great big God, this miracle working God, is a God who wants to have a relationship with you and me. I love the, some of the verses in Psalms that says, Psalmist says, he holds the universe in his hands, right? And it says, heaven is my throne room. The earth is just my footstool. You know what's a footstool? We've seen the kings, they sit on a throne so that the leg doesn't get hurt enough, they have a footstool. So, we feel comfortable. For God, the earth is a footstool. So, how big God is, right? And this big God decides to have a relationship with us, right? God is the father and we are his children. God is the king and we are his heirs and part of his kingdom. God is a covenant God and we are his covenant people. I think the perfect example would be of that of Israel. In the Old Testament, what does God tell Abraham? Okay, Abraham, I'm going to bless you. I made a covenant. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to give you a land that is going to flow with milk and honey. I'm going to take the people of Israel. I'm going to make you a great nation. It was a covenant to Abraham, right? And God did it. Moses brought the people out of Egypt. Joshua took them into the Promised Land. Now, here's the question. Did they deserve to go into the Promised Land? The Israelites? They did everything wrong. But God, he kept his covenant. I told you, I'll do it. I'll do it. Now, when I'll do it, that is my side of this. But my covenant is I will do it. And he did it. Right? So what is our, when we say God is relational, he wants to have a relationship. He desires to have a relationship with us. What is this relationship we can talk about? The father and the children. We talked about this even in identity, right? The father and children. God is our father. We are his children. And in this relationship, we use the word adoption, which is basically being born of God and born into his family. A father and a child. When you and I are in covenant with God, we have this relationship. We are father, we are children. The moment we become believers, we accept the Lord Jesus, our covenant is sealed. Amen? Father and son. Father and child. So we can go to the father as a, in a simple way. See, if we want to impress our parents in the natural, we don't need to use big words. Do we? Imagine you go to your parents, you know, you finished your, you become an MBV, you've done your MBBS, you become a doctor. You go back home and you take that MBBS certificate and you start showing off that MBBS certificate at home. What will your parents say? Go sit quietly. Why? Because no matter what you become, they are your parents. That MBBS certificate is they'll be happy for you. They're proud of you. Okay. Good. You become a doctor. But they're not going to say, oh, wow. You're still there son. No matter what, right? That relationship will not change. Now, why am I saying this? Because as a, as a, as a son or a daughter, whatever we do in covenant, it is not because of our own ability. As God's children, we are doing it. We cannot say, God, I'm, I've done all of this. So here's my certificate. God is not impressed with it. God will say, good. But for you and me, my relationship with you is more important than what you have achieved, right? The father and the child relationship. Then you've got King, Kingdom and is there are Kingdom descriptor descriptors that describe our relationship. That is, we are is and joint is with Christ. We are in covenant relationship based on a solemn promise. Right. So when God is saying we are in a relationship with him, it is a solemn promise. What is the word solemn is a binding promise. One of the good examples is for marriage. You have a husband and wife, they're standing there. What do they do? They make a solemn promise. Whether in life, whether in sickness, whether in health, I will be there for you at all times. Solemn promise. And what do they do? They, they have a testimony to that solemn promise, either a ring or chain, whatever it is to signify that front of God, I've made a covenant, a solemn promise. But now the solemn promises are broken very easily. God is a God who keeps his side of the promise. Right. A covenant relationship in marriage itself is a covenant relationship, a relationship based on promises made before witnesses. And the marriage ceremony, the marriage ceremony is, is, is testified by the tokens that have exchanged. And they say, till death do us apart. It's a solemn promise. And what happens when there's a divorce or a marriage is broken? We have broken the covenant. We may have differences and all of it, but we have broken the covenant. God is saying, I know that you are the people, I will keep my covenant, but you have broken it. God is not going to force himself and say, no, you have to do it. No. And we do wrong. When we break the covenant, yet God is faithful. You get what I'm saying, right? Just because a person can be a believer and, you know, and, you know, flowing the gifts of the Spirit, maybe a wonderful man or woman of God. And if they get divorced, doesn't mean God will bring that person to nothing. No, it is his grace. Because God is keeping his side of the covenant. I promised that I will bless him. He's my child. But there are certain things I have to do now. I have to correct him. He'll go through certain situations, through certain circumstances, for the mistakes that he has made, certain things I will not do. But my solemn promise will continue. My covenant upon his life will continue. Right? The covenant was ratified. The word ratified means confirmed. The covenant was confirmed by a ceremony. Redemption is God's act of bringing it into effect. Now, just because God made covenants doesn't mean God agrees to everything. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. All his promises are yes and amen. Correct? Yes or no? All his promises are yes and amen. But when you look at covenants, there are certain responsibilities, there are certain terms and certain promises and blessings and privileges that are available for us as believers. Right? And when we don't obey those covenants, there are curses and there are consequences, I can say, to breaking the covenant. Let's look at this. The covenant has a testator, the one who made the covenant. And there are mediators who enforce this covenant. God's covenant to Noah and to the human race. Look at this in Genesis chapter six. God made a covenant to Noah. What did he say? Never again. Can we read that? Genesis 6 18. Anyone can read please. Genesis chapter 6. Go ahead. Genesis chapter 6 was 18. But I will establish my covenant with you and you shall come into the ark. You, your sons, your wife and your sons, wives with you. Yeah, go back to Genesis nine and verse nine onwards. This is the first covenant. What does God tell Noah? Noah, listen, here's what you do. I will establish a covenant with your Noah. You build the ark, you take the people, you go, you take your families, everyone who you believe in you, you get into the ark. Covenant one. Then what he says? Genesis nine. Behold, I established my covenant with you and you're offspring after you. Nine verse nine onwards. Keep reading. And with every living creature that is with you, the birds, the livestock, and every beast of the earth with you, as many as came out of the ark is for every beast of the earth. I list the plasma covenant with you that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood and never again shall there be a flood to destroy it. Yeah, stop there. Right. First, what did God tell Noah? Noah, build the ark. I've made a covenant with you. I will not destroy you. I will not destroy your family. So you make the ark, get everyone ready, get into the ark. Go back Genesis. Go after that Genesis chapter nine. God is telling Noah, Noah, I brought this flood. I destroyed everyone. But he's making a covenant. Never again will I destroy the earth with a flood. Never again I will do this. That's what God is saying. Yeah, go on. Read from where you stop. What is the token of that covenant? Keep reading from where you stop. Yes. God said, this is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you for all future generations. I have set my bow in the cloud and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh and the water shall never again become a flood to destroy all this. Yeah, that should do. Thank you. So again, God is saying, Noah, I'm telling Noah, Noah, I made a covenant with you. You get into the ark. I will save you too. God saying, telling Noah, Noah, never again will I destroy the earth with a flood like this. Now after making the covenant, what is God saying? I'll give you a sign or a token of my covenant. Now does God need to do that? God is a God who's faithful to his word. Once he says it, he doesn't. But God is, I would say, emphasizing this covenant or reiterating the covenant and saying, I'll give you a sign and that sign is a rainbow. And every time the clouds come up and the rainbow comes, I will remember the covenant I made with you. So beautiful, no? God himself. Now, listen, Noah did not say, give me a sign, God. Give me a sign that you will not do this again. No, I didn't ask for it. But God is saying, I will give you a sign. Since I'm making the covenant, I will give you a sign. The sign is when the rainbow comes, I will remember my covenant with you. Now picture this. When you and I, you know, we may be out somewhere and then we see a rainbow. What is the first thing that can come to our mind? Normally, what is the first thing that comes to our mind? If you're a, if you're a believer, you know a little bit of the Bible. Sorry? It'll not come again. What else? I'm just looking for one word. Covenant. Okay. Yeah. What? What was it? I'm looking for one word. Sorry? Sorry? Sign. Yeah. So the sign was a rainbow. But what was the covenant? What what what was God trying to say through this experience for Noah? God was giving a guarantee. Guarantee. Okay. I'm looking for just one word. Yeah. No, it's just one word. Promise. Promise. Okay. I'm looking for another word. Come on. You should know this. It's covenant hope will remember. Sorry. Sorry, Pankaj. Remember. God will remember. Okay. I was just looking for one word. Okay, I'll say it. Mercy. Alright. God said with this rainbow because you go back to the book of revelations, there's a rainbow over him. Signify is mercy. God said in my mercy when I show you that rainbow, when you see a rainbow, you will remember that I was merciful. It was my mercy. What is mercy? Grace is something that we don't deserve. Mercy is something that we deserve, but we don't get it. Do you understand that? Right? So, God is telling Noah, if I want to, I can wipe this nation people out in no time. I've done it. But this covenant of the rainbow, there's this rainbow, the sign that you see, I will remind myself that I've made a covenant with you and I will be merciful no matter how bad the next generation will be. They may disown me. They may be worse than the people that you lived with Noah. But my covenant is I will be merciful. I will not do this again. You understand that? Right? And so that is the importance of these covenants. God doesn't change his mind. It's not like God will wake up one day and say, okay, I know I made a covenant with Noah, but I've got to break the covenant now. I'm going to wipe out this entire nation. No, he'll not do it. Why covenant? Because when he, it's like God is telling himself rainbow, Noah, mercy. Okay, I'm angry. I'm upset with the people, what people are doing. But Noah, mercy, I'm going to be merciful. It's like God is reminding himself. Does he need to be reminded? Does God need to be reminded? He knows what he's doing. But it's a sign that God is giving. It only shows that God is a relational God. He wanted to inform Noah. Noah, this is what it is. This is what my covenant is. Right? And so even in our lives, remember that God is in covenant with us. So just like how he spoke to Noah, saying, I'll give you a sign, there are ways that God will speak to us because he's in covenant with us. Right? So let's look at the cornerstones of God's covenant. When you say cornerstone, meaning the pillar, the important, you know, when you buy a land or a plot, then what happens? And you before begin building normally most families do this, you know, they go, they call everyone and they have a cornerstone prayer. So they'll, they'll go, they'll find one spot on the land, dig a little bit, put a stone there. I don't know if they do that nowadays, but normally believers would do that, put a stone there. Okay. And just say a prayer. It's like you're laying the foundation, saying, God, this place, this land, this property belongs to you. Right? So what are the cornerstones of God's covenant? Two cornerstones of God's covenant are his word and his nature. Everyone say his word and his nature. His word, we looked at it last Sunday, right? Take God at his word. His word and his nature are always the same. God is not a God who says something and does something else. Right? If he says, I am gracious, slow, abounding in love, that's who he is. If he says, I am Jehovah Jaira, that's who he is. If he says, I'm the God who heals, that's who he is. That's his nature. Right? And so the cornerstones of God's covenant is his word, who he is, and his nature, his attributes. Now, it's not like his word is different, his nature is different. No, it's the same. They align with each other. That's why I love the book of, in the book of John in chapter one, what does he say? The beginning was the word. The word was with God. In the book of Revelations again, he says, I saw one and he looked like the word. He's the word. And when God establishes a covenant through making a solemn promise, he's giving us his word. So when God makes a promise to you and to me, and when we look at the old covenant, when he made covenants and promises, he's establishing it with his word. You want to look at a few examples? Let's look at Abraham. What did God tell Abraham? God told Abraham, Abraham, come out of your father's, come out of your tent, come out of your father's house, leave from there, and I'll take you to a land which you will inherit. Then he says, you know, Abraham's covenants are, God made so many beautiful covenants for him. Okay, once you go out, I will bless you. When people will see, they'll say, what are you doing that you're so blessed? Three, I will make you the father of many nations. And what does he give? He gives a sign to Abraham. He doesn't just say, I'll make you the father of many nations. No. God tells Abraham, listen, you come out of your tent about 10 years later after the covenant was made. Come out of your tent. Look up to the stars. Can you count the number of stars? Abraham said, no ways. Here, one, two, three, four, okay, give up. The number of stars in the sky are the number of your descendants. So think of Abraham. He doesn't have a son, but he's walking, he's living in the land that God has called him to every time he looked at the stars. What would have come to his mind? What would have come to his mind? God made a promise to me. What was the sign? Stars. He said, my descendants will be like the stars in the sky. That means innumerable. How can I be God? I don't even have one son, but that's a sign. In the daytime, he must have forgotten the covenant this day, right? But once the night comes, have you, I'm sure many of you have seen this, you know, a couple of years, quite a few years back, I was, we went towards Indore, right? A few years, maybe about six or seven years back. I was in Indore and we were doing a small event in a conference in a village in Indore and it was, I think it was December Jan, very, very cold, extremely cold. And I was not used to that kind of cold. And, you know, my friend said, hey, come, we'll go out for a walk. I said, man, it's so cold. I'm not able to, I was like really shivering. It's really cold because it was, firstly it was North India in December, January is very cold. And, you know, I had just gone with a sweater. I didn't know it was going to be so cold. It's very cold. So I was only in the room. This, my friend said, come, we'll go out for a walk. So I said, okay, let's go. And when we were walking out, he said, Paul, look up. And I tell you not, you know, in villages, normally there's no pollution, right? It's very clean. And I looked up, it was like, as if, how many of you have been in a planetarium? Have you seen a planetarium? You've not seen a planetarium in a planetarium? They talk about the solar system and all of it. I felt like I was, like the stars were right here. They were so bright. They were so beautiful. I will never forget that picture. And the first thing that came to my mind was, God, I am one of those. You promised Abraham, you will have descendants as a number of the stars. And the stars look so beautiful. And I can picture Abraham's time. There was no pollution at all. He came out and he was living in the desert. He would have come out and look at those stars. The stars would have been very close. It would have looked very close. And he would have thought, oh man, in the daytime it's different, but in the night it's very beautiful. Imagine Abraham, he, he, God showed his covenant with a sign, right? Look at the next one. God's covenant is strong because God is absolutely faithful and true in his nature. When God told Abraham, right, that I will bless you, I will make a covenant with you, what did God say? It took 25 years, but he was faithful. He was true to it. He is true to the word that he has spoken and faithful to those he spoke his word to. Now look at this. Okay, let me give you another example, right? In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah is in Babylon. He's living there right now. And the Babylonians have, you know, come and destroy Jerusalem and they are, they are, you know, controlling the nation. And so what is happening is the people of Israel are very sad. They're broken. God, we don't have a place for worship. We are in a foreign land. These Babylonians have come and destroyed us. They've taken everything of us. We are like slaves in this place. We are nothing. But God speaks through Isaiah, the prophet and says, your light has come. I think it's Isaiah 65. A rise and shine for your light has come. Though darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the skies, the Lord will arise upon you and his glory will be seen upon you. Now imagine this. The people of Israel are sad. They're worried. They're burdened. They're oppressed. And Isaiah is writing, the glory of the Lord has risen among you. Where's the glory? There is no glory. Right? Your rise, your light has come. And he's writing all of this. But what happens later on? God brings them out. God blesses the nation of Israel. They become a light to many people. Right? Now, of course, this prophecy was also talking about Jesus and all of that. But when you look at it, when he says something, he's a God who keeps it. You get what I'm saying, right? So all through the Old Testament, he worked that way. All through the New Testament, he continued to work that way. He hasn't changed. Just because there's one blank page from the Old to the New Testament doesn't mean he's changed. He's the same. Same covenant keeping God. Look at the word covenant. Covenant is parallel or equivalent to the Hebrew words dhabar, which is word and hawk, which is statute. You don't need to know these Hebrew words, but just the meaning. It just gives weightage to what a covenant means. Right? It means commandments. It means the testimony. It means his loving, kindness. His covenant and his God, sorry, these words emphasize the authority and grace of God in making and keeping the covenant. God's authority and God's grace. Look at that. You know, two sides of a coin. Authority is what? Dominion, power, rule, and grace is what? Humility, being able to, you know, walk in grace. The words covenant were written in this book and God gave his word and backed it up with his covenant. Remember what God told Moses? Moses is one of the burning bush. He's probably shaking. Oh man, how will I go to Israel? You want me to go to Egypt? Talk to the Pharaoh. First of all, I can't talk. I was saying, talk to the Pharaoh. If you read that first portion, it's really interesting because Moses is going on saying the same thing. God is saying, I'm there, no? No, I can't talk. No, I can't talk. Finally, God says, okay, you have a brother, no? Yes, Aaron is there. Okay, Aaron will talk on your behalf. But you go. I have a covenant with you. And then what does he say? Moses asks him a very crucial question. If the Pharaoh and the people of Egypt ask who sent you, what should I say, God? What does God say? God says, tell them I am has sent. God didn't have to explain. Tell them the God of Israel, God of Abraham, the God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, the God who's all powerful, who's all mighty, he has sent you. No, they say, I am has sent you. Now picture Moses. Moses says, how will I explain I am to them? They will ridicule, they will mock, they will make fun of me. But God says, you don't worry about all that. When I give my word, I will back it up with myself. So God, Moses goes and he says, Pero, let my people go. Who sent you? I am sent me. And then when you read through, we see those, the way God's hand miraculously through those miracles and through the, you know, the signs that God did. God used Moses to bring the people out of Egypt. Right? So when God says something, he backs it up with his word, with himself. Now, very important lesson. Moses, what if he had not tried more and more? What if he had just given up? Okay, God, no, they're not listening. It's okay, leave it. I'll go back to go back and, you know, it was a peaceful life. They're looking after sheep, go back home, have dinner and sleep. Why should I worry about all this? Now, Moses had felt that and gone back. What would have happened? God is still keeping his covenant. I'm just questioning. Right? God is saying, this is what I want to do. Moses, I want to use you to bring the people out of Egypt, the people of Israel. But if Moses says, no, I don't want to go. Right? I will not go. And Moses said, okay, no, I will, I want to just look after sheep. What would have happened? God would have chosen somebody else. Yes or no? Will God say, oh, no, Moses is not there now. What to do? God is not sweating in heaven. Oh man, Moses said, no, what to do? No, God is the one who keeps the covenant. He will get it done through people. Now, it's our responsibility to be open and to obey our side of the covenant. Right? God says, I'm going to make you a pastor and you will, we have a church with 10,000 people. What is the responsibility we have? Check Instagram, check YouTube and sleep. No? What do I say, do? Oh, we have to go back, pray, spend time in God's presence, learn, grow, develop ourselves, prepare ourselves, put a plan down, take that plan to God, ask God, this is what I desire. Even though God has put it in our heart, we can write it. God, this is what I want to do. And then God begins to open doors. Now, if I'm totally not in line with God, he's not going to force me. What will he do? He'll keep giving opportunity after opportunity, more and more and more opportunities. But the more we push him away, God will choose somebody else to do what he wants to do. But he has already promised, he's kept the covenant. I'm going to raise this person up for, and he's going to be a pastor for 10 with 10,000 people. But if I keep saying no, God will choose somebody else to do it, because I've not kept my side of the covenant. God is still willing. I can be 50 years old and change my mind. Okay, God, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have done that. Now I'm 50 years old. Can you, can I start the church now? God will say, okay, start. I will still bless you. I'll still keep my covenant. Age does not matter to me. Time does not matter to me. How long will it take for God to use somebody to raise raise up a church for 10,000 people? You can do it in two years. You can do it in five years. You can do it in 10 years. So if he's 50 in 10 years, you can have 10,000 people. If God wants to, he'll do it. Yes or no? Right? So he's, the point I'm trying to make is God is keeping his covenant and we on the other side must keep our side of the covenant. We'll learn more on that. Right? So everyone got this? God is through the two cornerstones of his covenant, his word and his nature. God is not a God who lies. He will never lie. He will never say something and not do it. Right? He's a God who's true. Right? So remember that when when you and I are going to God and he makes a covenant here, you feel that God is speaking to you, giving you a prophetic word as a covenant. Hold on to it. Hold on. Take God at his word. Say, God, this is what you said. So this is what I'm going to do. Right? God's covenant is a relationship of love and loyalty between the Lord and his chosen people. It's a relationship of love and loyalty. What is loyalty? Loyalty means being faithful, being true to a person or an organization. Just being true. That's being loyal. Right? Let's look at the nature of God's covenant with man. And any questions? Anyone has any questions? I see a lot of messages here. The covenant of Noah. Yeah, thank you. Yeah. Promise relationship. Yes. Right? So the nature of God's covenant with man. Now we establish the fact that God is a covenant keeping God. Right? We establish the fact that when God makes a covenant, he keeps his side of the covenant because his word and his nature are true. But what is the nature of God's covenant with man, with you and me? Like how we saw in Noah. Let's look at a few points here. God is the initiator and the keeper of the covenant. That means what? It's not like we are making a covenant with God. We are not initiating the covenant. God is initiating the covenant with us. It's like God is reaching down and saying, okay, I'm reaching down to you and I'm going to make a covenant with you. What if we feel, okay, God can be minding his own business in heaven. A lot of things to do, a lot of angels, a lot of work in heaven. That's not how he is. He is the initiator. He is reaching out and he's saying, I'm making a covenant with you. You understand what's happening here? Abrahamic covenant, Davidic covenant, Noah covenant, all covenants. God is the initiator of the covenant. Right? God in Genesis chapter 15 and verse 17, let's read that. Genesis 15 verse 17. When the sun had gone down and it was dark, behold, a smoking fire fought and a flaming torch passed between these pieces. Yeah, this is when in Genesis 15, the Lord made a covenant with Abraham. Again, you know, when God gives the covenant, he normally gives a sign with that covenant. So in Genesis 15, the Lord makes a covenant with Abraham and what does he do? He, God tells Abraham, okay, you put an offering. If you read the whole context, he says, you put an offering, you cut this offering into two pieces and I will come and I will, you know, I will ratify or I'll confirm my covenant with this burnt offering as a burnt offering. And so here, God appeared as a smoking furnace and a burning lamp that passed between those two pieces. Imagine two pieces of meat which are kept on a sacrifice and Abraham is standing there. God, you told me to, you know, prepare this, I've prepared it. Now, God, you ratify, you confirm what you're telling me. You're saying, I'll be the father of many nations. Confirm it. Right? And so what happens? In Genesis 15, in Genesis 15, the furnace comes, it's like a burning furnace and it goes between the offering and the offering is consumed. The Lord made the covenant. He initiated the covenant. God told Abraham, Abraham didn't come up with the idea. Okay, God, should I go get a lamp? Should I cut it and make it into two pieces? And can you walk around it so that you're confirming the covenant? No. God is saying, I will tell you what to do. I needed it. Right? These verbs make it plain that God is the sole initiative in covenant making. Genesis, sorry, Exodus 19.5 says, now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my commandment covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine. If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my commandment, you will be a special treasure. So again here, God is emphasizing, you obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you will be a treasure. So the emphasis is, God is the initiator of the covenant. We are, he's calling us, he's inviting us to be part of the covenant. It's like he's signing a letter and he's saying, David, Joseph, you're all part of the covenant and he's giving this letter. Who's signing it? We are not signing. He's signing. He's the main person in the covenant. Way down below, he may ask us to sign. But if we don't sign also, he's still, the main signature is there. That's not a problem. He is the initiator of the covenant. Right? Okay, we'll take a break. We'll come back and we'll continue with, from where we stopped.