A Covenant of Peace

Milestone Church - MA

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A Covenant of Peace

Ezekiel 37:21-28

August 6, 2023 • Edgardo Rosa • Ezekiel 37:21–28

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Four distinct components to the new covenant:

1. A Shepherd King

2. An Edenic Land

3. A Resurrected People

4. A Glorious Presence

Filled with shame and guilt, feeling hopeless, lost with no real direction in life, full of lust, anger, bitterness, jealousy, hatred, deep dissatisfaction, we are reminded of this time in our lives that it is in this moment that the Lord, in His kindness seeks us, calls us,

rescues us, gathers us, feeds us, gives us rest, protects us, and heals us.

Like Israel who was sitting mourning in a foreign land with no song to sing, we sit with no hope but God in His kindness shine a ray of hope. He, through the preached word and the working of the Holy Spirit open our eyes to see and our ears to hear of the good news of Christ, of His covenant of peace which graciously promises us an eternal and secure future in which He is our king, a blessed land, a new life, and his presence.

In the moment of salvation the Lord puts a song in our heart so that we no longer mourn but rejoice with singing. With the psalmist we must join saying, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things! His right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him. The LORD has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered his steadfast love and faithfulness to the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises! Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody! With trumpets and the sound of the horn make a joyful noise before the King, the LORD!” (Psalm 98:1–6).

One final question that would be right to ask would be, “Isn’t this covenant only for Israel?” “Isn’t God just addressing a particular nation and not everyone?” The answer to these questions is “Yes”! God is talking to Israel, and “Yes” God is only making a covenant with Israel. This is where the good news of the gospel is so important. The good news, or the gospel tells us that by faith, those who were once alienated and separated from the promises of God, like all of the rest of the nations, can partake and participate in the promises made to Israel. Over and over, again and again, the New Testament makes clear that those who have faith, no matter what their background is can participate and be grafted into the Abraham.

In the Beginning: The King, His People, in His Land

June 18, 2023 • Edgardo Rosa • Genesis 1:26–31, Genesis 2:15–17

We study the following under these two markers: Identity and Purpose 1. Land 2. People 3. King Let us approached the beginning of the story. Let us reconsider how deep and meaningful the Genesis 1 and 2 are. It is not only good enough to know what day God created what. We must dig deeper into why He created. Genesis 1 and 2 are inviting us to see the narrative of God and to get or mistreat the beginning will have catastrophic results. The reason we dug, and will continue to dig into land, people, king is because these three themes will ultimate and continually point us to Jesus, His character and work. All of Scripture, everything written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms, is pointing and culminates with Jesus (Luke 24:27, 44). So, the more we contemplate and mediated on the narrative of Scripture—from Genesis to Revelation—the more that we will encounter and delight ourselves in Jesus. So, please keep joining us as we unfold this summer the narrative of Scripture.

In the Beginning: The King, His People, in His Land Pt. 2

June 25, 2023 • Edgardo Rosa • Psalm 95:1–7

What do we learn about the King in the first two chapters of Genesis? He is: 1. Transcendent 2. Source & End 3. Rules By His Word 4. Benevolent This morning we started by reading Psalm 95 and not reading from a portion of Genesis. This is because the aim, the end, of creation is God’s glory that is magnified in our praise. If we did not praise and worship God after studying His kingly rule over his creation, we would be falling short of our creaturely purposes. As we read in Psalm 95, a right posture before the King is a posture of praise and worship. We bow the knee in adoration. This is the posture of all of subjects of his kingdom. While Psalm 95 gives us an earthly picture, Revelation 4 gives us the heavenly picture. We read in Revelation 4 that the heavenly beings praise the King before his throne crying out. The question is not whether God is king or not, the questions is whether you recognize him as your king. The questions this morning is, “Who is the king of your life? God or you? You see, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess his rule. But will you confess his rule over you as your King or as your conqueror? We will either bow the knee in praise and worship or bow the knee in defeat. We hope that you would see that there is no greater or kinder King to follow. He is the great King who stands above creation; the great King who is the source and end of all things, working everything out for his glory and our joy; the great King who rules justly and joyfully by his word; the great benevolent King who seeks the good of his people. This world and our own sin temp us to doubt and usurp his rule over us, but we must know that his rule is not heavy but light. To live under the rule of the King is to live under peace, under love, under grace, under mercy, under hope, under victory, under protection, under his blessing. By grace through faith, in Jesus we hostile enemies are reconciled to the King and are promised to one day live in his land with him and his people forever. This is the great narrative and promise that the Bible lays before us.

The Deceit, The Despair, and The Defeat of Sin

July 2, 2023 • Edgardo Rosa • Genesis 3

Continuing with The Narrative of Scripture we look at what Bible has to say about Morality and read Genesis 3. Understanding what God has to say through His Word in Genesis 3, we see: 1. The Deceit of Sin 2. The Despair of Sin 3. The Defeat of Sin