Jesus Christ, the messenger of the covenant

beloved57 · Cobra Joined: 21 Mar 2007 Posts: 457

Mal 3:

1Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.

Their should not be doubt as to who is being referred to here as the messenger of the covenant..

Foe He would be preccede by another messenger, whom is John the baptist..

matt 3:

3For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight

No doubt, John knew that Jesus coming was to be that of a covenant messenger, for Johns Father knew as well, no doubt, he and John talked much about this..notice Johns Father statement:lk 1:

67And his[Johns] father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying,

68Blessed be the Lord God of Israel[the elect]; for he hath visited and redeemed[ransom from penalty of sin] his people[the elect],
69And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; [ limited atonement]
70As he spake by the mouth of his holy prophets, which have been since the world began:
71That we should be saved from our enemies, and from the hand of all that hate us;
72To perform the mercy promised to our fathers, and to remember his holy covenant;
73The oath which he sware to our father Abraham, see ps 105:5-10
74That he would grant unto us, that we being delivered out of the hand of our enemies might serve him without fear,
75In holiness and righteousness before him,[eph 1: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:]all the days of our life.
76And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;
77To give knowledge of salvation unto his people[the election of grace] by the remission of their sins,
78Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us, 79To give light to them that sit in darkness [the elect in the gentile nations]

Thats why John proclaimed in one point jn 1:

29The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John knew salvation was not limited to the jews, and he knew many of the jews werent to recieve salvation..matt 3:

7But when he[john] saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

So definitly John realized the limited and particular nature of Jesus christ coming, and for whose sins he would remove..

But returning, Jesus was sent as a messenger of the covenant.

Lets look at the word covenant..The word in mal 3 is beriyth:

) covenant, alliance, pledge
a) between men
1) treaty, alliance, league (man to man)
2) constitution, ordinance (monarch to subjects)
3) agreement, pledge (man to man)
4) alliance (of friendship)
5) alliance (of marriage)
b) between God and man
1) alliance (of friendship)
2) covenant (divine ordinance with signs or pledges)
2) (phrases)
a) covenant making
b) covenant keeping
c) covenant violation

Its a pledge, a pact, a agreement..

Its a compact whereby two parties pledge to one another to do specifics if the one fulfills their part of the bargin..its becoming a surety..

heb 7:

22By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. a surety:

One who has contracted to be responsible for another, especially one who assumes responsibilities or debts in the event of default.
Jesus contracted to be the surety of His peoples sins..

isa 53:

8He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken.

11He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

I believe this covenent was made with God the Father and His Son, the lord Jesus christ..

ps 89:

3I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant, 4Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

Well, some may readily say, uh correction, this is with david and not Jesus christ..Yes, but this covenant with david typifies and symbolizes that eternal covenant with the true david, the Lord Jesus christ, the chosen or elect of God..

notice that Jesus christ is elect or chosen Isa 42:

1Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

1 pet 2:

4To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious,

But here perhaps more applicable..ezk 34:

23And I will set up one shepherd over them, and he shall feed them, even my servant David; he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd.
24And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it.

Hos 3:

5Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.

It is true that God admitted king david into the substance of this eternal, or everlasting covenant.. 2 sam 23:

5Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure: for this is all my salvation, and all my desire, although he make it not to grow.

God admits into this covenant His election of grace..ps 25:

14The secret of the LORD is with them that fear him; and he will shew them his covenant.

Notice, His Covenant, a covenant made from everlasting with he and the Lord Jesus Christ..whom is the Mediator of this Covenant as well..

It was a Covenant agreed upon by The Triune God, witnessed in Heaven..

1 jn 5:

7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.

So I believe that Jesus christ was the messenger of a eternal , everlasting covenant, whereby he agreed to come in the flesh, and give his blood for the sins of the chosen sheep of God the Father.. therfore the writer of hebrews calls His blood, the blood of the everlasting covenant..heb 13:

20Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, .

ps 2 informs us that The Lord Jesus christ will declare the decree.

7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

That is he will shew it forth..the decree :

statute, ordinance, limit, something prescribed, due
a) prescribed task
b) prescribed portion
c) action prescribed (for oneself), resolve
d) prescribed due
e) prescribed limit, boundary
f) enactment, decree, ordinance
1) specific decree
2) law in general
g) enactments, statutes
1) conditions
2) enactments
3) decrees
4) civil enactments prescribed by God

He would show forth, that is declare his decree, or covenant to His chosen people..

This is referred to again in ps 22:

22I will declare thy name unto my brethren: in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee.

remember what Jesus said about the ones he chose and were given to Him of the Father jn 17:

6I havemanifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.

heb 2:

12Saying, I will declare thy name unto my brethren, in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee.

These men, the apostles, were to publish this everlasting covenant, this gospel as well..

Jesus terms it His or Gods word in jn 17 6

This is why we have the writers of the new testament writing things like.. 2 tim 1:

9Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
10But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel: [the gospel teaches the truth of vs 9]
11Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
amen vs 9 is making known the compact of the everlasting covenant of The Lord Jesus christ..how grace was given to some, who were chosen in him before the world began..

why we have eph 1:

3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ: 4According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:

11In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will: [decaring the decree] peter too preaches this decree in acts 2:

23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:

Titus 1:

1Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God's elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
2In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began; 3But hath in due times manifested his word[the covenant or decree] through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour; The mysteries of this everlasting covenant paul preached..notice his prayer in eph 6:

19And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, [that which he preached in chpts 1-3of ephesians]

These are truthes of the everlasting covneant, and that which the blood of christ was shed for, this was an established reality in Gods mind from everlasting, for it is written rev 13:

8And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

To sum it up, this is the Gospel of the kingdom that shall be preached during the tribulation period that will usher in the end of time..

The same gospel is termed everlasting in rev 14:

6And 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,

This is the Gospel and covnenat Jesus taught His disciples matt 13:

11He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

it is this gospel that must be preached as a testimony or witness to all nations..and then the end shall come matt 24:

14And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come..
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