Oras ng Pag-aaral 1qtr | Mga Tipan Ng Diyos Sa Atin | Lesson 2

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A SUMMARY OF LESSON 2/ 1st Qtr, January 7-13, 2023
by Don Leo M. Garilva, DMin

GOD’S COVENANT WITH US

Memory Text
“ ‘Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the Lord your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the Lord your God’ ”
Deuteronomy 28:1, 2, NKJV

INTRODUCTION:
Amazingly enough, God has made covenants with us, humans. Most are BILATERAL COVENANTS, meaning that both parties (GOD and HUMANS) have a part to perform.

1. GOD’S OLD TESTAMENT COVENANT (MONDAY & TUESDAY)
The focus of DEUTERONOMY is the counsel to OBEY GOD and receive HIS BLESSINGS. MOSES portrays God as One who has the ability, and the desire, to care for His people. And nothing God had asked of them was too hard for them to do: “ ‘For this commandment which I command you today is not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. . . . But the word is very near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it’ ” (DEUT. 30:11-14, NKJV). The ISRAELITES were God’s chosen nation, recipients of GREAT BLESSINGS and GREAT PROMISES, but these were ON CONDITION. They needed to be accepted, received, and acted upon.

Further, God asks us to put HIM FIRST in the management of our possessions as an acknowledgment of HIS OWNERSHIP of ALL THINGS and as a demonstration of our FAITH in Him to provide for us. But even more than this, He says that if we will put HIM FIRST, then He will bless what’s left. God says that if we put HIM FIRST, our “barns will be filled with plenty” (PROV. 3:10, NKJV). Yet, this is not going to happen by a miracle. Instead, the Bible is filled with principles about good stewardship, careful planning, and financial responsibility, of which faithfulness to what God calls us to do is our foremost responsibility. ELLEN WHITE emphatically states, “Let God’s portion be first set apart.” CS 81.1.


2. GOD’S NEW TESTAMENT COVENANT (SUNDAY & THURSDAY)
JESUS taught that, though He died for all humanity, many people travel the broad way to destruction and eternal death (MATT. 7:13, 14). PAUL understood the BILATERAL NATURE of the SALVATION COVENANT. Knowing that he was soon to be executed, and in spite that many of his companions had forsaken him, PAUL confidently told his friend TIMOTHY that he had UPHELD HIS END of the bargain: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day . . . .”(2 TIM. 4:7, 😎.

Most of the people in the large crowds who followed and listened to JESUS were members of this class called the common people (MARK 12:37). JESUS said to them that He knows that they are concerned about providing for their families. They worry about the food and drink that they will need daily and the clothing that they need for warmth and protection. But JESUS laid to them HIS PROPOSAL contained in MATT. 6:33: “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.”

Yes, many of the PROMISES OF GOD have elements of a BILATERAL COVENANT. That is, in order to RECEIVE the BLESSINGS, we need to do OUR PART, as well. All these verses (ISA. 26:3; 1 JOHN. 1:9; 2 CHRON. 7:14) and many more, deal with the important fact that although God is sovereign, although God is our Creator and Sustainer, and although salvation is a gift of grace and unmerited on our part, we still have a PART TO PLAY in the GREAT CONTROVERSY DRAMA here on earth. Using the sacred gift of free will, free choice, we must choose to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit and OBEY what GOD calls us TO DO.

3. GOD’S TITHE COVENANT (WEDNESDAY)
There is a close connection between TITHING and OUR RELATIONSHIP to God. The ISRAELITES prospered when they OBEYED GOD and were faithful in TITHING. And they fell on hard times when they didn’t. It was during these periods of unfaithfulness that God, through MALACHI, proposed a BILATERAL CONTRACT with them (MAL. 3:7-11). God promised the people that if they would return to Him, He would return to them. When they asked what He meant, He explicitly said, “Stop robbing Me of tithe and offerings.” Their robbery was the reason they were cursed. Here is God’s solution: “ ‘Bring all the tithes into the storehouse’ ” (MAL. 3:10, NKJV). If you do this, then “ ‘I will . . . open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you such blessing that there will not be room enough to receive it.’ ”


CONCLUSION:
This week we have studied some significant BILATERAL COVENANTS between GOD and HIS CHILDREN. Let’s pray that, by God’s amazing grace, we will “uphold our end of the bargain” (2 TIM. 4:7, 😎.