Which One Is Important? Covenant or Relationship?

Hebrews 8:8-10 (NIV) – 8 But God found fault with the people and said:“The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

Hebrews chapter eight tells about an old covenant and a new covenant. The focus seems to be the covenant, but it’s not. Many times we spend a lot of time discussing the differences between the old covenant and the new covenant, yet that wasn’t God’s focus. We inadvertently make the covenant more important than what He is preserving!

During the old covenant time, God had a relationship with His people. The relationship failed or rather struggled. God’s response was not to end the relationship but to terminate the old covenant. God’s focus was on the relationship. For the sake of the relationship He ended the old covenant!

The new covenant is new but the relationship is still the same. The new covenant comes to make the relationship easy. The covenants facilitate the relationship. God’s focus is on the relationship.

The covenant defines how we relate with God. The relationship remains the same. The relationship remains the main focus of God. Old  covenant or new covenant isn’t the main issue that should obsesses us. We should be concerned about the quality of our relationship with God!

God’s interests is that we remain in a good relationship with Him. If the agreement is a problem, He changes it for the sake of the relationship. The agreement has His expectations for us. They are very important but the relationship is what concerns Him.

A covenant defines how we relate. There is a framework in which we should relate. We need to operate within that framework. But we shouldn’t forget that the relationship is the main goal.

When God’s law was broken, the relationship was lost. God brought a plan of salvation. God wasn’t saving the law, He was saving the relationship. The law was upheld no doubt, but much more was done to salvage the relationship. Is your focus the law or the relationship?

Jesus died on the cross because the law that required death of a sinner couldn’t be changed. Did Jesus die to impress the law? Did Jesus find satisfaction at the end that the law has been satisfied? Doesn’t John 3:16 tell us that He died so that whosoever believes should not perish. He didn’t die looking at the law and asking the law if it’s happy. Jesus doesn’t want us to perish, His focus is our relationship with Him. 

Wouldn’t our relationships be better if we focused on the relationship more than the fact that someone offended the rules? Are we working towards saving the relationship or proving that your partner broke the rules? What is your focus? When we were unfaithful God did everything to save us so that we continue relating. God did not continue gathering evidence to prove us wrong.

The woman caught in the act was restored to a good relationship first. The people who condemned her emphasized what the law said. The Savior focused on saving her! Saving the relationship!

Focus on saving your relationship with your spouse. Focus on saving your relationships with siblings, parents, children, relatives and friends. Focus on saving your relationship with workmates, school mates,neighbors etc. 

If necessary come up with a new covenant but save the relationship. Change the framework. Change the rules. But do everything to keep the relationship. If the rules are those which can’t change, then forgive as God did. Focus on saving the relationship!

Dear God forgive us for being obsessed with the law and proving others wrong. Give us a new focus on our relationship with You and others. May we be obsessed as You are on saving the relationships. In Jesus’s name, Amen!

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