The Promises for You and Your Children

Every week we gather here to renew covenant. We are the covenant people of God; and God receives us in the covenant. This being the case it is important that we know what the covenant is. A covenant is a solemn bond which holds two parties together by oaths to keep particular obligations and there are blessings for faithfulness to the covenant and curses for unfaithfulness. A marriage is a kind of covenant. To be in covenant with God is to be married to him, to be his family, to be the recipients of all his promises. Before Christ, the sign of this covenant was circumcision which God gave to Abraham and to his descendents after him. God promised Abraham to be his God and to be the God of his descendents after him (Gen. 17:7). And the sign of that promise was circumcision. In the New Covenant the sign of the covenant is baptism. At Pentecost, Peter declared, “Repent and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39). What is the promise of the New Covenant? The promise is the remission of sins and the Holy Spirit. What is the sign of that promise? Baptism. And this is why we confess our sins at the beginning of the service every week. Every time we confess our sins we are remembering and renewing our baptism which was the promise of the remission of our sins. When we confess our sins, we are believing the promise of God to forgive our sins. We are gathered together here as the covenant people of God, those who have been washed in the waters of baptism and promised the forgiveness of all our sins and the Holy Spirit. Therefore as we confess our sins do not mumble or grumble or think about what’s for lunch. Remember the covenant. Remember your baptism. Remember the promises of God which are for you and for your children and for those who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call.