Covenant Needed

“And the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only EVIL continually.”  Genesis 6:5.  With the fall of Adam, Satan's nature had permeated into every living being and every element within the Physical Dimension.  The earth was cursed, nature was violent, and the soul of man was cut-off from it's original spiritual source - GOD.

Why was the soul of man cut-off from GOD?  Because it contained Sin, and Sin is the essence and nature of Satan.  “He who sins is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning ...”  1 John 3:8.  How could GOD be unified to something that was outside of His own nature?  In other words, how could GOD be unified to man, and through man to Sin?  The only way this would have been possible is for GOD to accept Sin and make it a part of His own nature.  That would mean GOD would have to CHANGE and therefore cease to be all that He is.  Can GOD cease to Love?  Can GOD cease to be Righteous?  Can GOD cease to be Holy?  Yet all these things GOD would have ceased to be if He had accepted Sin, for Sin is the nature of Satan, the complete opposite of GOD.

So GOD could NOT accept Sin under any circumstances.  Man's soul, which contained Sin, was now unified to it's fallen Spiritual source - Satan - therefore it was cut-off from GOD.  It is no wonder that EVERY intent and thought in man's heart was EVIL.  It was evil because man's soul now contained a part of the nature of Satan (sin) within itself.  It was also evil because the fallen Angels had defiled the human gene pool.

How could man be rescued from this deadly trap?  He certainly could not rescue himself for man cannot change the nature of his own soul.  GOD would have to do it for him.  How would this be done?  Through Covenant.  A Covenant is a binding agreement or contract between two parties.


Why Covenant?

GOD never works with man outside of a Covenant.  Why?  Because GOD is Love, and Love always works in co-operation.  Remember the model of the Trinity?  Love ALWAYS works in co-operation.  A Covenant works like this:
*  GOD sets the conditions and terms of the Covenant.
*  Man complies to the Covenant by Obedience.
*  GOD fulfils the Covenant. 

Note: Covenant means GOD has two parts and man has one part.  Man's part is always obedience to the terms of the Covenant.  Without man's part of obedience, a Covenant cannot be established.


1.  The Covenant of Circumcision

The 1st Covenant given to man as a sign of the coming together between GOD and man was Circumcision.  “And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the Covenant between Me and you.”  Genesis 17:11.  “And the uncircumcised male child, who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin, that person shall be cut-off from his people for he has broken My Covenant.”  Genesis 17:14.

Why Circumcision?  To understand this we must understand the Spiritual insignificance of Circumcision.  What does the penis represent?  Self-gratification.  (Satan is often depicted in Art with a giant erect penis symbolising the fulfilment of all self-gratification).  So the removal of the foreskin would represent the purging of self-gratification, or the denial of the SELF.  This is a very profound move for GOD is asking man to imitate Him in the relationship of the Trinity, where nothing is ever done for the SELF at any time.

So GOD is saying to man: if you want a relationship with Me, then you must stop gratifying your flesh, your desires, your SELF.  This was the first requirement, for Satan gratifies the SELF, but GOD denies the SELF.  “When you were dead in your Sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature ... ”  Colossians 2:13.


2.  The Covenant of Law

The 2nd Covenant given to man as a sign of the coming together between GOD and man was the Law.  What was the purpose of the Law given at Mt Sinai?  It was to teach man how to STOP sinning.  The 613 Old Testament Commandments and Regulations are summarised here: The 613 Commandments of GOD 

If we read all of the Commandments and Regulations in the Law, we see they fall into two categories.  
1.  365 Negative Commandments.  i.e. You shall NOT ...
2.  248 Positive Commandments.  i.e. You SHALL ...

The breaking of BOTH positive and negative Commandments constitutes Sin, for Sin is not just doing Evil, Sin is also omitting to do what is Good.  The Negative Commandments teach us what NOT to do in order to avoid Sin, the Positive Commandments teach us what to do in order to avoid Sin.

So GOD is saying to man: if you want a relationship with Me, then you must stop sinning and do what is Good.  This was the second requirement, for Satan is Sin (and Sin means to be devoid of all goodness), but GOD is without Sin.

What is the Difference between these Two Covenants?

Note the progression of these two Covenants: Circumcision FIRST, the Law SECOND.  
Meaning: Man has to stop gratifying himself in order to renounce Sin, for self-gratification ALWAYS leads into Sin.  A good example of this is in the story of Joseph and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39.  Joseph does not Sin because he was a man who did not gratify the SELF.  Thus he kept the Covenant of Circumcision perfectly.  Israel, on the other hand, did NOT stop gratifying the SELF, on the contrary, they indulged the SELF at every given opportunity, and that is why they continued to Sin over and over and over again.

Note the Dimensions of these two Covenants: 
*  Circumcision is both Physical and Spiritual.
*  The Law is Physical only.

What does this mean?  It means the Law is relevant to the Physical Dimension ONLY, but Circumcision extends into the Spiritual.  (Note: the Physical Dimension meaning the earth and the body of man.  The Spiritual Dimension meaning the soul of man).  How?  What we have in the Covenant of Circumcision are the first stages of separation between man and the SELF.  As man is both a physical and Spiritual being the SELF must be removed from BOTH these dimensions.  Cutting a part of your own SELF - living flesh - off as unclean was the physical fulfilment of this Covenant.  Denying your own self-gratification was the Spiritual fulfilment of this Covenant.

What about the Law?  What we have in the Law are the first stages of separation between man and Sin (sin through works), between man and Satan, because the Law forbids us to manifest Satan's evil into the physical world through physical deeds.  There is no Spiritual dimension to the Law whatsoever, because Law deals with action and works.  It cannot change the inner nature of man.


Were these Covenants Sufficient for Man?

As we examine these two Covenants, Circumcision and the Law, we will observe that these are not just “relationship rules.”  Indeed, these Covenants go much further and deeper than this.  GOD is calling man through them to imitate Him.

Yet there is ONE vital element missing in all of this.  To deny all forms of self-gratification, and to do only what is good, these are all attributes of GOD, but GOD's primary attribute is LOVE.  If man truly wants to have a relationship with GOD at it's highest and most intimate level, then he must learn to Love as GOD Himself Loves.

Do the Covenants of Circumcision and the Law teach man to Love?  No.  There is NOT one Commandment in these Covenants which commands us to Love the way GOD Loves.  Let us take two of the 10 Commandments as an example.  In the 5th Commandment, I am commanded to honour my parents.  I can keep this commandment PERFECTLY simply by being obedient to my parents and providing for their needs, without ever having to Love them.  In the 7th Commandment, I am commanded not to commit Adultery.  I can keep this commandment PERFECTLY, simply by refraining from having sexual relations with anyone other than my spouse, without ever having to Love my Spouse.  Likewise with the Laws of Charity.  I can leave the gleanings of my field to the poor, I can feed the widow and orphan, but no where I am ever obligated to Love them.  Matter of fact, I can despise the poor in my heart yet still fulfil this commandment by merely providing for their physical needs.

So is the Law sufficient for man to be in union with GOD?  No.  Love is where the Law fails, because man can observe the entirety of the Law by sheer will power alone without having one shred of Love in him.  Why does the Law fail in this area?  Because the Law deals with the PHYSICAL side of man, NOT with the Spiritual.  Love comes from the heart (Spiritual) but the Law deals with Works (Physical).


Without Love, there is NOTHING

“If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not Love, I gain NOTHING.”  1 Corinthians 13:3.  Because Love is NOT a condition of the Law, the Law is VOID and DEAD.  Thus the Law cannot unite us to GOD - now read carefully - because the Law is devoid of Love, just as Satan is devoid of Love.  The point where it separates man from Satan is in it's refrain from Evil.

The Covenant of Circumcision however, remains but only in it's Spiritual form, as the denial of the SELF remains a constant throughout all Covenant Ages.  “Circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code.”  Romans 2:29.  It is through the denial of the SELF that we are brought into Abraham's lineage and thus into GOD's family.  “For we are the Circumcision, who worship GOD in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.”  Philippians 3:3.

In order for man to regain unity with GOD, something far greater than the Law was needed.  Something that would give man the ability to Love and GOD Himself Loves.  “The LORD has made a proclamation to the ends of the earth.  Tell My people, I, the LORD your GOD, am coming to SAVE you.”  Isaiah 62:11.