THE MIRACLE OF COVENANT AMBASSADORS
COVENANTS
Covenants, although not that frequently used in common
conversation, are very common in legal, marital and theological / biblical
contexts. The word “covenant” is of Latin origin, meaning ‘a coming together’.
When parties come together to contract, agree on promises, stipulations, privileges
and responsibilities, they enter into a covenant together. Both parties agree
to certain conditions to maintain and enforce the contract. It is said that a
covenant is much stronger, more sacred and binding than a promise or an oath.
Certainly weightier and more solemn than a child’s ‘pinky finger promise’. For
the purpose of this paper we will focus on the religious or spiritual use of
the idea of covenants.
The word covenant is referenced 274 times in the Old
Testament, 26 times in the New Testament, and 254 times in the other Standard
Works of LDS scripture – a total of 364 occurrences. There are approximately
2,444 pages of scripture in the all of scripture. That means that the concept
of covenants is addressed on average every 6 ¾ pages. With that frequency,
making and keeping covenants must be of significant importance to God and His
relationship with His children. Could it be that we have we missed the
significance and importance of covenants in the teachings our of holy text?
I have a good friend, probably the greatest scriptural
scholar I personally know. He also has a keen spiritual insight into
Christianity, its history, doctrines and situational context. He’s
unpretentious, humble and a man with no guile. He’s someone you could sit and
listen to for hours and hours, and then leave wanting more. If you could
imagine an old sage, wise, humble, scholarly, unassuming, patient, soft-spoken,
dedicated with a deep reverence for God and all things spiritual – that’s him!
He talks frequently about covenants, especially from a
scriptural perspective. He has identified the original covenant – the
everlasting covenant God offers His children, the covenant that permeates through
all through the scriptures. This covenant, we could refer to as the master
covenant (it’s the foundation on which all other spiritual covenants are based)
and is God’s all-encompassing covenantal proposal to His children (all of
mortality). He lovingly declares: “I will be your God, and you will be My people.”
SCRIPTURAL EXAMPLES
Some clear examples of God’s original covenant with His
children can be seen early in scripture. Not long after the creation, in Gen.
17 speaking to Abraham, God said –
“And when Abram was ninety years
old and nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty
God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant
between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell on
his face: and God talked with him, saying, As for me, behold, my covenant is
with thee, and thou shalt be a father of many nations. Neither shall thy
name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of
many nations have I made thee. And I will make thee exceeding fruitful, and I
will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee. And I will establish
my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations
for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee.
And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou
art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I
will be their God. And God said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my
covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed after thee in their generations. This is
my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee;
Every man child among you shall be circumcised” (emphasis added).
The Lord spoke of His covenant again with Moses in Exodus 6.
God said –
“Then the Lord said unto Moses,
Now shalt thou see what I will do to Pharaoh: for with a strong hand shall he
let them go, and with a strong hand shall he drive them out of his land. And
God spake unto Moses, and said unto him, I am the Lord: And I appeared unto
Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by my
name Jehovah was I not known to them. And I have also established my
covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their
pilgrimage, wherein they were strangers. And I have also heard the groaning of
the children of Israel, whom the Egyptians keep in bondage; and I have
remembered my covenant. Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the
Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I
will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out
arm, and with great judgments: And I will take you to me for a people, and I
will be to you a God: and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God, which
bringeth you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. And I will bring you
in unto the land, concerning the which I did swear to give it to Abraham, to
Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it you for an heritage: I am the Lord”
(emphasis added).
A third example is found when the Lord is speaking with Jeremiah,
in Jeremiah 18 –
“Thus saith the LORD; Behold, I
will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, and have mercy on his dwelling
places; and the city shall be builded upon her own heap, and the palace shall
remain after the manner thereof. And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and
the voice of them that make merry: and I will multiply them, and they shall not
be few; I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. Their children
also shall be as aforetime, and their congregation shall be established before
me, and I will punish all that oppress them. And their nobles shall be of
themselves, and their governor shall proceed from the midst of them; and I will
cause him to draw near, and he shall approach unto me: for who is this that
engaged his heart to approach unto me? saith the LORD. And ye shall be my
people, and I will be your God” (emphasis added).
I would gently challenge you to embark on a spiritual
journey of enlightenment by studying and pondering the other 350+ scriptural references
about covenants. I can promise sweet rewards and an enhanced relationship with
the Savior to all who accept the invitation.
GOD’S COVENANT WITH HIS CHILDREN
This everlasting covenant between God and His people
encompasses multiple promises from both parties. God covenants to partner with
His children, not just to lead them, but to be with them, at their side. Not a
distant ruler sitting on His throne on high and directing mortal with a wave of
His hand. No, He will be by our side, allowing us to lean on Him for support,
counsel with Him for strength, He will even carry us when we are weary or lost.
When an all-powerful and benevolent God offers to ‘partner’ with us, who could
reject that gift? His covenant (gift) to us is to –
- Love and have mercy for us
- Forgive us when we repent
- Never give up on us
- To sanctify us
- Send His Spirit (The Holy Ghost) to always be with us
- Offer us all the blessings promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
- Show us how to become joint heirs with Him in God’s kingdom
- Offer us access to all blessings reserved for the faithful (to inherit thrones, kingdoms, powers, principalities, and dominions, even to our eventual exaltation and glory in all things)
- And more…
As for the other half of the covenant, our half, we covenant
with the Savior Jesus Christ to –
- Take His name upon us
- To always remember Him
- Keep His commandments (live lives of righteousness, repenting frequently and renewing our covenants regularly)
- Live lives of service
- Be anxiously engaged in the ongoing work of gathering Israel and His work in redeeming God’s children (both the living – missionary work; and the dead – family history, genealogy and temple work)
- And more…
COVENANT AMBASSADORS
I’ve probably only scratched the surface of the details and
intricacies of covenants and the New and Everlasting Covenant. But I wanted to
spend some time with the idea of ‘covenant ambassadors’.
We may think that our covenant with God is a singular,
one-time, one-on-one transaction with God as one party and us, individually as
the other party. I guess that’s true in the ultimate sense, but the covenant
isn’t a one-time, single occurrence. Because we are mortal and flawed, we need
to actively repent and regularly renew our side of the covenant. Fortunately
God has mercifully provided for this situation. He generously allows us to
gather at the Sacrament table each week (partaking of the Sacrament renews all
of our covenants) and to repeatedly enter into His temple to refresh our memory
of temple covenants. Of course we should be renewing our covenants with
integrity and sincerity – consistently trying to improve and learn from our
shortcomings between renewals of the covenant. How blessed we are to have a
Heavenly Father that is patient, merciful, quick to forgive, and provides us second,
third, and hundredth chances. As for God’s side of the covenant, because He is
perfect and is “the same yesterday, and to day, and forever and forever” (Heb.
13:8) we have no need to be concerned that He will ever break the Covenant.
Back to the thought about ‘covenant ambassadors’. An
ambassador is an accredited official or diplomat that represents a head of
state or other world leader. As the leaders’ representative, they are given
specific assignments and activities. Fortunately the Lord has generously
provided an abundance of ambassadors to assist in activities that help us renew
our covenants. I affectionately refer to them as ‘covenant ambassadors’.
Who are these covenant ambassadors? They are many and their
mission is primarily to serve and minister to us with loving care. For example,
each week the Aaronic Priesthood assists in preparing, blessing and delivering
renewal covenants via the emblems of the Sacrament – they are covenant
ambassadors. Bishoprics and Melchizedek Priesthood oversee the Sacrament – also
covenant ambassadors. Thousands of temple workers, men, women, and youth are
covenant ambassadors assisting the daily work of covenant making and renewing
in the Lord’s temples. Tens of thousands (well over 100,000) of full-time
missionaries and local Ward missionaries serve throughout the world in teaching
and introducing God’s children to His covenants and the associated blessings
available. Their mission is to love, share and invite our friends to make their
own covenants with God. Hundreds of thousands of church members are actively involved
in genealogy research finding, recording, and taking names of their deceased
ancestors to the temples of God. Their ancestors’ salvation is ensured through
vicarious covenants if they accept the work done on their behalf. Together, these
covenant ambassadors number in the millions. They facilitate the initiation and
renewal of eternal covenants to God’s children! Covenant ambassadors are
gathering Israel! Covenant ambassadors are uniting fathers and mothers with
their children and turning the hearts of God’s children to their fathers and
mothers! Covenant ambassadors assist in the Lord’s sacred ongoing work of redemption
and salvation for all of us – all of God’s children!
And we can’t forget the heavenly hosts, angels that assist
with covenants on the other side of the veil. Perhaps these are the most active
and continuous covenant ambassadors of all!
In a moment of deep thought regarding covenant ambassadors, I
wanted to calculate the number of covenant ambassadors involved in the effort
to assist one individual in learning about, accepting and renewing covenants throughout
that person’s life. After only a few moments, I found myself in awe as I tallied
the throng! Literally dozens, maybe hundreds serve as covenant ambassadors in
order for one child of God to fulfill his/her mortal side of the covenant! It’s
humbling! Certainly gives expanded validation when the Savior prayed in Jn.
17:20-23 –
“Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they
all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may
be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as
we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one;
and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as
thou hast loved me” (emphasis added).
BEING A COVENANT AMBASSADOR
I have another friend, a sweet, elderly woman, somewhat
frail and experiencing seasons of difficult health. She is mostly house-bound,
just her and her beloved Shih Tzu-Lhasa Apso mix ‘Honeyboy’. She is spiritually
centered and dedicated to the Lord. Every week for years, come rain or snow,
sickness or health, she has faithfully found the strength and capacity to make
homemade bread. These two sacred, delicious homemade loafs are delivered to the
chapel each Sabbath as an offering to be used as one of the Sacrament emblems. Certainly,
she is a faithful covenant ambassador as her efforts help facilitate covenants
with hundreds of God’s children every week!
When thinking about her and her honorable efforts to be a
covenant ambassador, it occurs to me that we all can find unique ways to help
others learn about, make, keep and renew covenants with God. We can all serve
in some capacity and become covenant ambassadors. This is a most honorable or
worthy activity and how privileged we are to partner with God in His most
important work – “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39). Making and keeping covenants
is integral to God’s work and glory.
These followers of Christ partner with Him to be covenant
ambassadors. How wonderful it is to have the Lord’s trust and participate in
His sacred work of salvation and redemption. Thank you to all the miracle
covenant ambassadors who so freely and generously serve all of God’s children. How
blessed we are to have a God that is willing to covenant with His children by declaring
–
“I will be your God and you will be
My people.”
Dedicated to Lynda and Mark and all of God’s Covenant Ambassadors
Wm Calvin Hughes | May 21, 2023 | Lake
Elsinore, CA
