When man obeyed the words of the devil, the covenant between man and death and the agreement with hell came into being. ሁሉም ሰው, ከሰው ዘር የሚወለድ, would be born and live in the covenant with death and the agreement with hell. But Jesus came to expose and destroy the lies of the devil and the works of darkness and to break the covenant between man and death and the agreement with hell. What does the Bible say about the covenant with death and the agreement with hell? How can you be delivered from the covenant with death and hell and enter the everlasting covenant with God and inherit eternal life?
God created man with a free will
አሁን ስለዚህ, if ye will obey My voice indeed, and keep My covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto Me above all people: for all the earth is Mine: And ye shall be unto Me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation. These are the words which thou shalt speak unto the children of Israel. And Moses came and called for the elders of the people, and laid before their faces all these words which the Lord commanded him. And all the people answered together, በማለት ተናግሯል።, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord (ዘፀአት 19:5-8)
God had chosen one people among all the people on earth and made the people His own, namely the children, who were born of the seed of Jacob; እስራኤል. This was the grace of God and a privilege. Because the children of Israel were the only people among all the people on earth, who were chosen by God and set apart.
The children of Israel were in a covenant with God, which was visible through the circumcision in the flesh and their way of living.
Because as God is holy and righteous, የሱ ህዝብ, who belonged to Him, also had to walk holy and righteous, which the people did, as long as they obeyed the words of God and kept the law of Moses with all its commandments, precepts, ህጎች, rituals and feasts.
ቢሆንም, the children of Israel did not always consider it a privilege and were not always happy with their God, since the nature of the devil that reigned in their sinful flesh strove against God and His will.
The people had a choice to reject the words of God and give into the will, ምኞት, and desires of the sinful flesh and do things, which were an abomination to God, which God had revealed through His Word and His commandments, and bear the fruit of sin, ይህም ወደ ሞት ይመራል, or to obey the words of God and not give into the will, ምኞት, and desires of the flesh and bear the fruit of righteousness, which leads to life. This power was given by God from the beginning of creation.
God had created mankind with a free will and had given them power to do what man wanted to do, even after the fall of man.
The rulers of God’s people had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell
Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, that rule this people which is in Jerusalem. Because ye have said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves: ስለዚህ ጌታ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል።, እነሆ, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste. Judgment also will I lay to the line, and righteousness to the plummet: and the hail shall sweep away the refuge of lies, and the waters shall overflow the hiding place. And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it. From the time that it goeth forth it shall take you: for morning by morning shall it pass over, by day and by night: and it shall be a vexation only to understand the report (ኢሳያስ 28:14-19)
It is very sad to read, how the rulers of God’s people in Jerusalem, who had such a privilege, didn’t believe the words of God and rejected their God and scorned Him, by making a covenant with death and an agreement with hell. They assumed they were safe, when the overflowing scourge (ፍርድ) would pass through, by making lies their refuge and hiding themselves under falsehood.
But God prophesied about the coming of Jesus Christ, የሕያው እግዚአብሔር ልጅ, who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and would be a precious Corner Stone, not only for the children of Israel, but for all the people, who belong to the generation of fallen man and live in the covenant with death and the agreement with hell, which is visible through their disobedience to God and their sins and iniquities.
And so Jesus came to the earth and represented, preached, and brought the Kingdom of God to the children of Israel. Jesus exposed the lies and falsehood of the leaders, who had made a covenant with death and an agreement with hell, and revealed and destroyed the works of darkness and called the people to repentance, and finished His perfect work of redemption for mankind (እንዲሁም አንብብ: የመስቀል ትክክለኛ ትርጉም ምንድን ነው??, What is the difference between Jesus and the religious leaders? እና What are the similarities between the leaders of God’s people then and now?).
Jesus broke the covenant with death and the agreement with hell
I the Lord have called Thee in righteousness, and will hold Thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house (ኢሳያስ 42:6-7)
And when I saw Him, I fell at his feet as dead. And He laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: እኔ ሕያው ነኝ, እና ሞቷል; እና, እነሆ, እኔ ለዘላለም ሕያው ነኝ, ኣሜን; የገሃነም እና የሞት መክፈቻዎች አሏቸው (ራዕይ 1:17-18)
Jesus came to provide a way out, for all those, who belong to the generation of fallen man and live in the covenant with death and the agreement with hell and walk in darkness in the lies of the devil and put their trust in these lies and hide themselves under falsehood and as a result do the works of the flesh and bear the fruit of sin.
God gave out of love for humanity the ability to be redeemed from the power of darkness through Jesus Christ (ኦ. ዮሐንስ 3:16-21, ቆላስይስ 1:12-14).
እነዚያ ሁሉ, who believe in Jesus Christ and His redemptive work and obey His words and become born again in Him and build their faith upon Him, shall not be ashamed.
Since they live from Jesus; ቃሉ, Who is seated in the heavenly places above all principality, ኃይል, and dominion, and therefore live in the truth of God’s Word and has made God’s truth their refuge and hiding place, whereby they are save in Him and live under God’s protection (እንዲሁም አንብብ: Are you living in the shadow of the Most High or in the shadow of death?).
Becoming born again in Christ is a requirement to be released from the covenant with death and the agreement with hell.
The covenant with death and the agreement with hell in the flesh, can only be broken through the death of the flesh in Christ.
ሁሉም ሰው, who believes in Jesus Christ and is baptized shall be saved
ሁሉም ሰው, በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ የሚያምን, የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ, and decides to follow Him, should be baptized. This is not a choice, this is a commandment of Jesus Christ.
The rebirth, the renewal of mankind, must take place on earth. It’s impossible to live from your old state as a sinner in the New Covenant in the new state as a saint.
በሚያሳዝን ሁኔታ, many people think that it is possible and try to live from their old state as a new creation, whereby many walk after the flesh and in the occult, thinking they walk after the Spirit (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ከተፈጥሮ በላይ በሆነው ውስጥ ለመራመድ ዳግመኛ መወለድ አለብህ??).
ከዚህ የተነሳ, we see a lukewarmness and indifference towards sin that has led to a compromised gospel that allows the works of the flesh and tolerates sin in the church. We see an increase in disrupted families, አመፅ, pride, ወሲባዊ ርኩሰት, ፍቺዎች, and other works of the flesh.
But walking after the Spirit means submission to God and His Word and keeping the words and commandments of Jesus, whereby you walk by faith in the will of God and do righteous works (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ስለ ጸጋ እና ሥራ ምን ማለት ይቻላል??).
ከክርስቶስ ጋር አንድ ትሆኑ ዘንድ የተጠመቃችሁ ሁሉ ክርስቶስን ለብሳችኋልና።
በእምነት በኩል ሁላችሁ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ የእግዚአብሔር ልጆች ናችሁና።. ከክርስቶስ ጋር አንድ ትሆኑ ዘንድ የተጠመቃችሁ ሁሉ ክርስቶስን ለብሳችኋልና። (ገላትያ 3:26-27)
Through baptism, you identify yourself with the death and resurrection (from the dead) የኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ. Your flesh dies in Him, whereby you are redeemed from the power of darkness, and the covenant with death and the agreement of hell are broken. Since every covenant and every agreement and commitment ends through death (እንዲሁም አንብብ: What is the meaning of baptism?)
ስለዚህ, if the flesh dies in Christ, the covenant between the person and death and the agreement between the person and hell ends and the የኃጢአትና የሞት ሕግ, which reigns in the flesh ends.
Not until the flesh dies, የሰው መንፈስ, who is under the authority of death, can be raised from the dead.
And as Jesus Christ rose from the dead, the spirit of man will also be raised from the dead. Through the resurrection of the spirit from the dead, man has become a new creation and lives from the spirit in the New Covenant, the eternal Covenant, which is sealed with the blood of Jesus, in which the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus reigns (እንዲሁም አንብብ: ስምንተኛው ቀን, the day of the New Covenant).
The new man shall walk in the New Covenant
Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, Make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በኩል; to Whom be glory for ever and ever. ኣሜን (ዕብራውያን 13:20-21)
The new man is spiritual and has a new nature, namely God’s nature, and shall walk from this new nature after the Spirit in obedience to God and His Word and shall put off the old habits and works through the Spirit (ኦ. ሮማውያን 8:1-13; 13:12-14, ገላትያ 5:16-26, ኤፌሶን 4:2-እንዲሁም አንብብ: አሮጌውን ሰው እንዴት ማስወገድ እንደሚቻል? and How to አዲሱን ሰው ልበሱት?).
The new man believes in God and shall obey God and His Word and shall no longer listen to and believe the lies of the devil and do the works of darkness, but the new man shall expose and destroy the lies of the devil and the works of darkness with the truth of God’s Word.
The new man shall no longer put his trust in the words of the world, ውሸቶች ናቸው።, and shall no longer make the lies of the world his refuge and hiding place. But the new man shall believe the words of God and build his life on Jesus Christ, the living Word, and the precious Corner Stone and God shall be his refuge and hiding place (እንዲሁም አንብብ: Is Jesus a precious Cornerstone or a Stone of stumbling?).
But although Jesus has accomplished this great work of redemption for humanity, we also see in this age, that just as in the Old Covenant, many Christians, who have tasted the new life in the New Covenant, return to the flesh and the poor worldly spirits and through their disobedience to God and their lives, enter a covenant with death and an agreement with hell again.
‘የምድር ጨው ሁን’
