THE BLOOD OF GOD'S EVERLASTING COVENANT.
By S. N. Haskell
CHRIST is "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." He brought Divinity from the courts of glory into fallen humanity, that fallen humanity might take hold upon Divinity and thus be a partaker of God's everlasting covenant. The blood of Christ, offered in the Garden of Gethsemane, shed upon the cross, became the eternal pledge of the covenant to the Father and before the whole universe of God. The price of man's salvation cost nothing less than this. In humanity He wove out a garment of righteousness without a thread of selfishness; and He offers this garment freely to us in the everlasting covenant. In it lies the assurance of perfecting every soul, and making righteous every one who will accept Christ. "Now 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, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ; to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen." Heb. 13:20, 21. There is virtue in the blood of Christ to remove every stain of sin, to cleanse the conscience from dead works, and connect the soul with God. "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh; how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" Heb. 9:13, 14. It brings a restoration of the image of God in man, and restores all that was lost by sin. The prophet caught a view of this as he saw Christ riding into Jerusalem for the last time, and broke out in these words: "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy King cometh unto thee; He is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. . . . He shall speak peace unto the heathen; and His dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. As for Thee also, by the blood of Thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water." Zech. 9:9-11. The men of God of all ages were familiar with this truth. Noah was righteous before God. To him God said: "Behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you; and with every living creature that is with you, of the fowl, of the cattle, and of every beast of the earth with you." "I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth." Gen. 9:9, 10, 16. Even the land itself can not be cleansed of the blood that is shed therein save by the blood of him that shed it. It was Christ's blood in our stead in the everlasting covenant that not only purchased the salvation of man, but a restoration of all that was lost by Adam. See Num. 35:33, 34; Ps. 104:25-31; Rom. 8:18, 24; Ps. 103:17, 18. These are some of the blessings and promises contained in God's everlasting covenant. Upon man can be conferred no greater honor than the privilege of entering into this covenant which God established with4Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David; and their righteous seed are sealed with the blood of Christ. It is the privilege purchased by the precious blood of our Saviour for every son and daughter of Adam. When Christ took upon Himself flesh and blood, He became "near of kin unto us," one that hath a right to redeem. In order to redeem, His genealogy must have been of the pure stock, and the prince of this world have nothing in Him. This relationship He has never laid down. At the right hand of God, in the heavenly courts, we have an elder Brother, who still bears in His body the marks of the crucifixion. "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted His people, and will have mercy upon His afflicted. But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of My hands; thy walls are continually before Me." Isa. 49:14-16. Can it be true that "He hath made with me [even me] an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, and sure; for this is all my salvation, and all my desire"? The experience of such an one will "be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds; as the tender grass springing out of the earth by clear shining after rain." 2 Sam. 23:4, 5.