“…Abraham grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. Therefore his faith ‘was reckoned to him as righteousness.’” (Romans 4:20-22, NIV)
God’s covenant with humanity to deliver, protect, and provide for the created is as old as Creation itself. The LORD makes explicit this promise when He tells Abraham, “I will make you exceedingly fruitful; and I will make nations of you,” thus promising offspring and land (Genesis 17:6). We see the covenant reiterated in the Psalms when the psalmist refers to the “offspring of Jacob,” part of the Abrahamic lineage, and when the poet proclaims that “all the families of the nations shall worship” the LORD (Psalm 22:23, 27). This ongoing promise between God and humanity is sacred, full of love, and an incredible gift. Yet, a covenant is a two-way street. God promises something to us; and, though God does not need anything in return, we need to trust in the LORD for our own well-being. This reciprocity makes the promise fragile because sin enables humanity to break our end of the covenant with the Creator and forget God’s goodness. We then lose sight of to whom to give the Glory, attempt to raise humankind above God, and commit egregious acts against Creation – the embodiment of God’s love. When sin enters our world, our faith waivers; and when we lose faith, God’s “promise is void” (Romans 4:13-25). In this void emerges darkness, death, and despair. Nevertheless, the beauty of God’s covenant is that it is continuously renewed through Jesus’s death on the cross. The covenant that God made first with Abraham and then fulfilled through Christ establishes that God truly is good, all the time; and that, all the time, God is good. While we may break our end of the promise, the Creator always delivers. In this period of Lent, may we reflect on the brokenness of the world; yet retain the faithful vision of hope in the renewed covenant that is to come through Christ’s resurrection on Easter. The question, therefore, remains, how do we respect God’s promised gift to humanity of deliverance, protection, and provision in our individual and collective relationships with land, animals, and other people in a way that glorifies God? |