The Covenant Experience

Relationships require people to connect on many compatibility levels. The erroneous belief that “opposites attract” holds true for forming enduring relationships is, in reality, little more than wishful thinking. Attracting opposites, incompatible in a number of areas, often fail to endure the reality of everyday life and commitment. Relationships based solely on the “opposites attract” phenomenon will, predictably, experience painful consequences. Since maintaining a successful relationship is dependent upon compatibility in areas of personality, belief system, friends and family, communication, finance, education, health and nutrition, and need system, attraction toward someone can be more of a burden than a bonus.

This book teaches Christians about their God-given purpose in life. Many people may not know their purpose in life even after they become believers in Jesus Christ. The Bible shows that each believer is a covenant being, meaning that he/she has a God-given spiritual purpose in life (a covenant). Abraham, Joseph, Daniel, Nehemiah, Peter, John, and Paul lived covenant lives before God. It is important that each believer realizes and believes that he/she has a personal covenant with God just like these people, although his/her personal covenant is different from those of biblical figures. The covenant life is inextricably related to our life of holiness, or sanctification. Sanctification is the way through which this covenant is actualized in our life. Thus, the covenant gives the answer to the question, “Why am I here?” And sanctification gives the answer to the question, “How should I live that life in the world?” The covenant person lives as a steward of Jesus Christ. The stewardship is the guiding principle for this person as he relates to material things in the world. And justice is the guiding principle for the covenant person as he relates to other people.

Popular claims about the old and new covenants have diminished the gospel and narrowed the faith and spiritual life of millions of Christians. Those claims have introduced confusion about what it truly means to "keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus." Christians earnest in their walk with the Lord will see a dynamic element of the gospel in the profound relationship between love and law. They will, perhaps for the first time, understand the apparent dichotomy of old and new covenants in the New Testament. And in the process they will be confronted with a powerful appeal and an unmistakable warning.

Covenant: A Vital Element of Reformed Theology provides a multi-disciplinary reflection on the theme of the covenant, from historical, biblical-theological and systematic-theological perspectives. The interaction between exegesis and dogmatics in the volume reveals the potential and relevance of this biblical motif. It proves to be vital in building bridges between God’s revelation in the past and the actual question of how to live with him today.

A guide to how meditations and principles from the Kabbalah can be used to profoundly renew spiritual practice. Renewing the Covenant discusses the importance of dream interpretation in ancient Jerusalem and how it is the key to the achievement of one's personal and spirtual goals.

Designed as a week-end retreat with follow-up meetings, this book is based on covenant theology, and gives couples an opportunity to work through relationship issues and make good marriages even better. It can be used by couples on their own, or as part of a group experience.

The Covenant Retreat affirms that each of us is called into a covenant with God. Through this retreat experience, high school seniors begin to identify their unique relationship with God, as an individual and as part of the larger Church. The leader's guide includes material to help teachers and leaders bring the experience into the classroom for weeks before and after the retreat. Leaders will find detailed directions for implementing the retreat; lesson plans, prayers, and handouts; material to help use the student component, Answering God's Call to Covenant, after the retreat; and suggested models for liturgical celebrations to bring the retreat to a close. It also includes suggestions on how to celebrate the retreat with the entire school through graduation and other activities. Answering God's Call to Covenant helps older adolescents consider where they want to go in life before they encounter the crossroads of young adulthood. Students address seven key questions and write their own covenant statements, which will help guide them through life's many challenges. The student text also helps seniors reflect, pray, and discern on their own after graduation.

God's grace demonstrated in the biblical narrative through the lens of covenant. This study analyses the different divine covenants of the Old Testament and argues that they are closely related. The successive covenants, from Noah to David, are seen to express the divine purpose for humanity from the creation onwards. William Dumbrell interacts extensively with attempts to explain the significance of concepts such as the gift of the land, victory, rest and the divine presence. This extraordinary book also throws light upon the Christian use of the Old Testament categories. This second, revised edition brings the subject right up to date.