November 25th, 2025
by Stacy Long
by Stacy Long
Saved By Covenant: Understanding Our Union With God
The ancient prophets delivered some of the most shocking words in Scripture when they confronted religious leaders who thought they had everything figured out. In Micah chapter 3, God speaks through His prophet with startling imagery—accusing leaders of "eating" His people, of building Jerusalem with blood, of accepting bribes and practicing divination for money. These weren't literal cannibals or murderers in the conventional sense. Yet God equated their economic oppression, their cheating of workers, their financial injustice with murder itself.
This reveals something profound about God's heart: when we steal from others, when we oppress through financial manipulation, we are stealing the very thing that sustains human life. God takes this as seriously as bloodshed.
The Limitations of Sacrifice
Here's what many of us have missed about the Old Testament sacrificial system: it couldn't atone for murder, idolatry, adultery, Sabbath-breaking, or economic oppression. The sacrifices were designed to cleanse God's temple—sacred space—not the people themselves. People cleansed themselves with water before entering God's presence.
This distinction changes everything.
The sacrificial system was never meant to be a cosmic transaction where God's anger needed appeasing. Rather, it maintained the purity of the dwelling place where heaven and earth met. When moral impurity reached catastrophic levels—when murder, idolatry, and oppression became rampant—even the sacrificial system couldn't help. The land itself would vomit out its inhabitants.
This is why the prophets didn't call for bigger and better sacrifices. Instead, they pointed to something entirely different: God's divine forgiveness, a new exodus, a new covenant, and a divine water washing.
The Pattern of Redemption
Think back to the original Exodus story. There was a Passover, then an exodus from Egypt, then a covenant at Mount Sinai. These weren't three separate events—they were one unified redemptive act. The Passover initiated the Exodus. The Exodus culminated in covenant. And the covenant, not the Promised Land, was their salvation.
Notice the sequence in Exodus: In chapter 19, before any sacrificial system is explained, God declares to Israel: "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They were declared holy through covenant with God, not through sacrifice. The Ten Commandments come in chapter 20. Instructions for treating one another follow. The covenant is ratified in chapter 24 with blood sprinkled on the altar, the book, and the people. Only after all of this does God explain the tabernacle and sacrificial system.
The people became holy through covenant, not sacrifice.
Water, Not Blood
Throughout Scripture, water—not blood—cleanses people. Blood cleansed sacred space, but water cleansed individuals. This becomes critically important when we understand the prophetic vision for restoration.
Ezekiel 36 paints a breathtaking picture: God promises to sprinkle clean water on His people, cleansing them from all uncleanness and idolatry. But what is this water? The very next verse explains: "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you... And I will put my Spirit within you."
The cleansing water is the Holy Spirit.
Jeremiah calls God "the fountain of living water." Isaiah promises, "I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring." Jesus stood at the Feast of Tabernacles and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink... Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John clarifies: "Now this he said about the Spirit."
The divine water washing that brings forgiveness and cleansing is the outpouring of God's Spirit.
Understanding Covenant
Consider a modern parallel: When Prince Charles married Diana, a commoner, she didn't make him common—he made her royalty. Through covenant, through marriage, she was elevated to his status. She became part of the royal family, entitled to be treated differently, required to think and act differently. This transformation happened not through sacrifice but through covenant relationship.
This is our story with God.
We are declared "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession"—the exact same language used of Israel at Mount Sinai before any sacrifice was offered. We don't become holy through a cosmic transaction. We become holy through covenant union with the Holy One.
The Lamb, Not the Goat
When John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," first-century Jewish listeners would have heard something we often miss. If Jesus were an atonement sacrifice, John would have said "behold the goat"—because goats were sacrificed on the Day of Atonement to cleanse the temple.
But John said "Lamb"—the Passover animal, the covenant animal, the peace offering animal that celebrated union with God. John was announcing: "Behold the Lamb of the new Passover, therefore the new Exodus, therefore the new covenant, who forgives sins by divine grace."
Jesus Himself made this explicit at the Last Supper: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." He connected His death to covenant and union, not to appeasing divine wrath.
How Then Shall We Live?
If we are saved by covenant—by marriage to God—then we must dress for the occasion. No bride wears street clothes to her wedding. She prepares, she adorns herself, she rises to the significance of the moment.
Revelation tells us "the bride has made herself ready." Not that God dressed her, but that she dressed herself. This is our responsibility—to clothe ourselves in righteousness, to crucify the flesh, to take up our cross daily, to become like Jesus through intentional discipleship.
We say "yes" once to the marriage proposal. But then we must say "yes" every morning when we wake up. We choose covenant faithfulness daily. We choose to put off the flesh and walk in the Spirit daily.
The Daily Choice
The flesh will not remove itself. The Spirit will not force Himself to be obeyed. As we crucify fleshly desires, more of the Spirit manifests in and through us. As we entertain the flesh, the Spirit's life in us diminishes.
This is the natural conclusion to the good news: We need more of God's Spirit. We need His living water. We need to hear His voice and obey. We need intimacy with the One who proposed to us, who saw beauty in us, who declared our warfare ended and offered forgiveness freely.
God became human to unite humanity with divinity. He conquered death to transform our greatest enemy into a graduation, a promotion, a celebration. He poured out His Spirit to wash us clean and give us new hearts.
We are His beloved bride. He loves us exactly as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. The question is: Will we dress ourselves for the wedding? Will we say yes today?
(This blog was created from Pastor Stacy's original sermon using pulpit.ai)
The ancient prophets delivered some of the most shocking words in Scripture when they confronted religious leaders who thought they had everything figured out. In Micah chapter 3, God speaks through His prophet with startling imagery—accusing leaders of "eating" His people, of building Jerusalem with blood, of accepting bribes and practicing divination for money. These weren't literal cannibals or murderers in the conventional sense. Yet God equated their economic oppression, their cheating of workers, their financial injustice with murder itself.
This reveals something profound about God's heart: when we steal from others, when we oppress through financial manipulation, we are stealing the very thing that sustains human life. God takes this as seriously as bloodshed.
The Limitations of Sacrifice
Here's what many of us have missed about the Old Testament sacrificial system: it couldn't atone for murder, idolatry, adultery, Sabbath-breaking, or economic oppression. The sacrifices were designed to cleanse God's temple—sacred space—not the people themselves. People cleansed themselves with water before entering God's presence.
This distinction changes everything.
The sacrificial system was never meant to be a cosmic transaction where God's anger needed appeasing. Rather, it maintained the purity of the dwelling place where heaven and earth met. When moral impurity reached catastrophic levels—when murder, idolatry, and oppression became rampant—even the sacrificial system couldn't help. The land itself would vomit out its inhabitants.
This is why the prophets didn't call for bigger and better sacrifices. Instead, they pointed to something entirely different: God's divine forgiveness, a new exodus, a new covenant, and a divine water washing.
The Pattern of Redemption
Think back to the original Exodus story. There was a Passover, then an exodus from Egypt, then a covenant at Mount Sinai. These weren't three separate events—they were one unified redemptive act. The Passover initiated the Exodus. The Exodus culminated in covenant. And the covenant, not the Promised Land, was their salvation.
Notice the sequence in Exodus: In chapter 19, before any sacrificial system is explained, God declares to Israel: "You shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." They were declared holy through covenant with God, not through sacrifice. The Ten Commandments come in chapter 20. Instructions for treating one another follow. The covenant is ratified in chapter 24 with blood sprinkled on the altar, the book, and the people. Only after all of this does God explain the tabernacle and sacrificial system.
The people became holy through covenant, not sacrifice.
Water, Not Blood
Throughout Scripture, water—not blood—cleanses people. Blood cleansed sacred space, but water cleansed individuals. This becomes critically important when we understand the prophetic vision for restoration.
Ezekiel 36 paints a breathtaking picture: God promises to sprinkle clean water on His people, cleansing them from all uncleanness and idolatry. But what is this water? The very next verse explains: "I will give you a new heart and a new spirit I will put within you... And I will put my Spirit within you."
The cleansing water is the Holy Spirit.
Jeremiah calls God "the fountain of living water." Isaiah promises, "I will pour water on the thirsty land and streams on the dry ground. I will pour my Spirit upon your offspring." Jesus stood at the Feast of Tabernacles and cried out, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink... Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John clarifies: "Now this he said about the Spirit."
The divine water washing that brings forgiveness and cleansing is the outpouring of God's Spirit.
Understanding Covenant
Consider a modern parallel: When Prince Charles married Diana, a commoner, she didn't make him common—he made her royalty. Through covenant, through marriage, she was elevated to his status. She became part of the royal family, entitled to be treated differently, required to think and act differently. This transformation happened not through sacrifice but through covenant relationship.
This is our story with God.
We are declared "a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession"—the exact same language used of Israel at Mount Sinai before any sacrifice was offered. We don't become holy through a cosmic transaction. We become holy through covenant union with the Holy One.
The Lamb, Not the Goat
When John the Baptist saw Jesus and declared, "Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world," first-century Jewish listeners would have heard something we often miss. If Jesus were an atonement sacrifice, John would have said "behold the goat"—because goats were sacrificed on the Day of Atonement to cleanse the temple.
But John said "Lamb"—the Passover animal, the covenant animal, the peace offering animal that celebrated union with God. John was announcing: "Behold the Lamb of the new Passover, therefore the new Exodus, therefore the new covenant, who forgives sins by divine grace."
Jesus Himself made this explicit at the Last Supper: "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." He connected His death to covenant and union, not to appeasing divine wrath.
How Then Shall We Live?
If we are saved by covenant—by marriage to God—then we must dress for the occasion. No bride wears street clothes to her wedding. She prepares, she adorns herself, she rises to the significance of the moment.
Revelation tells us "the bride has made herself ready." Not that God dressed her, but that she dressed herself. This is our responsibility—to clothe ourselves in righteousness, to crucify the flesh, to take up our cross daily, to become like Jesus through intentional discipleship.
We say "yes" once to the marriage proposal. But then we must say "yes" every morning when we wake up. We choose covenant faithfulness daily. We choose to put off the flesh and walk in the Spirit daily.
The Daily Choice
The flesh will not remove itself. The Spirit will not force Himself to be obeyed. As we crucify fleshly desires, more of the Spirit manifests in and through us. As we entertain the flesh, the Spirit's life in us diminishes.
This is the natural conclusion to the good news: We need more of God's Spirit. We need His living water. We need to hear His voice and obey. We need intimacy with the One who proposed to us, who saw beauty in us, who declared our warfare ended and offered forgiveness freely.
God became human to unite humanity with divinity. He conquered death to transform our greatest enemy into a graduation, a promotion, a celebration. He poured out His Spirit to wash us clean and give us new hearts.
We are His beloved bride. He loves us exactly as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. The question is: Will we dress ourselves for the wedding? Will we say yes today?
(This blog was created from Pastor Stacy's original sermon using pulpit.ai)
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