Understanding Covenant Theology

6 · Third demonstration, now in Colossians 3—workplace ethics

So again and again and again you'll see in scripture this particular formula working through. Now you won't always see these things in the exact same order. So when you're reading scripture, don't always think like, well, it starts with the T, then goes to the H. No, these five questions, who's in charge? Who do I report to? What do I do? So on these five questions are what you should be looking for. These are the. They're not always going to appear in order. For instance, look at Colossians 3. 22. Here we have God's covenantal structure for the workplace dynamic. Okay, this is God's covenantal structure for the workplace dynamic. God actually, when he instructs people how to behave within the workplace, how to actually uses covenantal structure. Verse 22 of Colossians 3. Bondservants, obey in everything that you, those who are your earthly masters, not by way of eye service as people pleasers, but with sincerity of heart, fearing the Lord. Whatever you do, work heartily as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ for the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done. And there is no partiality. So they're not in order. But all of our questions are answered in this text. Who's in charge here three times we see fearing the Lord, verse 22. Work heartily for the Lord. Verse 23. You're serving Christ. Verse 24. Who do I report to? What's the answer in this text? To who do I report to? Who's in charge? God's in charge. I'm really ultimately serving him. The but who do I report to? In this text? I work heartily for earthly masters. My boss is the mediator of this Particular covenant. He's the one I report to. God's in charge, but I report to my boss. What are the rules? I obey my boss in everything with sincerity of heart. Verse 22. I work heartily. Verse 23. What do I get for obeying or disobeying? If I obey, I receive an inheritance from the Lord. Verse 24. If I disobey, the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done. Verse 25. What is the future? Well, it's blended in, but it's inheritance, the future justice of God. So, like every institution, every structure, everything that exists in the world, this is as close as you'll get to a real theory of everything. It is essentially the answer to these five questions. These five questions being asked over and over and over again in the world, in every organization, you're a part of, every unit of social structure that you're a part of. These are the questions.

7 · Pivots from positive exposition (here's the structure) to diagnostic exposition (here's what's broken)

Okay, so now let's think about how sin screws this all up.

8 · Demonstrates how the five universal questions remain operative even under sin—the individualist/humanist simply substitutes self for God at every level

So let's ask those same five questions, but from the perspective of someone who is what we would call either a formal or informal individualist. Okay, this person is just for themselves. They're not attached to any covenantal structure, but they still have to have answers to these five questions. Because these five questions are just. You just have to have answers to them. You can't do life without answers to them. So let's think about how an individualist would answer these five questions. Who's in charge here? Well, that's easy. How would an atheistic, humanistic person answer that question? Who's in charge here? Me. I'm in charge here. And then the next one is, well, who do I report to? And you might think, well, this is a little confusing because if the person's in charge, then why is there someone else that they're reporting to? It's like, well, that's just the way that God structured the world. There's always an over, and then there's a second, and so on and so forth. So how would an individualist handle this question? The second question, who do I report to? An individualist is like, I'm in charge. And then I say, okay, but who do you listen to? And the answer is, well, probably a certain part of me. This is what's interesting about people, is that even people develop hierarchies of structure within themselves. And so, like, for one person, their sexuality is the thing they report to primarily. And to another person, their intellect is the thing that they report to primarily. So even the radical individualist has a hierarchical structure within himself, and he listens to certain voices inside of himself more than others. And Paul says in Ephesians 2, for instance, that people are enslaved by their various passions. What does that mean? It's like. It means that the passions are my boss. I do what my passions tell me to. So an individual is like, who's in charge? I am. Who do you listen to? Probably my sexuality or my intellect or my power or my strength or my greed or whatever. Like a certain part of me comes to the fore. What are the rules? Well, the rules are do what your passions tell you to. What are the consequences if you disobey? Here's the you start to hear this and talk from humanists, and some of you are humanists, you just don't know it. What are the consequences to disobeying or obeying? I won't be true to myself. That's. See, there are always consequences. These questions are pervasive. It's like, who's in charge? I am. Who do I report to? My sexuality? What are the rules? Be true to yourself. What are the consequences if you aren't true to yourself? Repression, Sadness, Missing out, humanistic hell. What is hell for a humanist? It's not being true to yourself somehow if you violate that. Be true to yourself standard, you've entered into Dante's Inferno. For humanists, you are in the worst place possible. You have not been true to yourself. And what about the future? I mean, it varies. You know, you can make up your own version of heaven, whatever, whatever. There's lots of options this far down the chain. But you can see how sin actually answers these questions, because these questions must be answered. And so if we know that sin answers these questions because these questions must be answered, maybe we would be interested in saying, how does God answer these questions?

9 · Pivots from abstract diagnosis (sin's distortion of covenant) to concrete application (your home)

As I could see a lot of problems flowing out of me answering these questions without God. So let's now shift and think specifically about this structure at work in your home. Let's think about this structure at work in your home.

10 · Diagnoses two foundational problems in covenantal homes: (1) husband and wife struggle to see God's transcendence because sin, world, flesh, and devil all conspire to obscure creation, revelation, and redemption; (2) husband and wife struggle with hierarchy—husband either abdicates or oversteps, wife either usurps or idolizes

And first, let's acknowledge some problems. The first problem is that every part of this structure depends on you believing that there is a God who is all powerful and fully present. And the problem is that a home, in a home, both husband and wife are burdened by a sin nature that does not see God as he is. And so from the very beginning, having a covenantally sound home is difficult because husband and wife, apart from the work of God, don't see God and don't delight in his holiness like they should. And there's another problem that comes up when you do an expansive study of all of the times God shows himself to be transcendent in the Scriptures. He shows himself to be transcendent through his acts as creator, his acts as revealer, and his acts as redeemer. So these are the three ways God shows His holiness, through creation, redemption, and revelation. And guess what? There's this really interesting thing when we flip over, when we flip over a rock and we realize, oh, my goodness, the world has alternative explanations for all of this. So if we take God at His word, he created the world, and therefore we see God as transcendent because he. He created the world. Or we could listen to another voice and say, God didn't create the world. And in that way our sense of God's transcendence is obscured. We could see God at work in His Word and say, God wrote a book, it's the Holy Bible, and all scripture is breathed out by God and useful for teaching and so on and so forth. And we can see God's transcendence. God wrote a book, here's the book. Or we can say, that's a book written by man. And we could see God's transcendence in his initiating salvation. And we can say, God redeemed us, he stepped into the situation and he chose us. We did not choose Him. And we could see God's transcendence in salvation. Or we can say, well, no, salvation is my idea. I'm the one that initiates salvation. And so like, actually our ability to see God as husbands and wives, for instance, just as people, to see God as truly holy, it's quite challenging, not only because of our own sin, but because of the world and the flesh and the devil. It all works together. Well, that's one difficulty. But there's another difficulty. It's like, how do I have a home that is covenantally sound? Well, the first one is we have a problem. We're sinners. And we don't see God as transcendent in the way that we ought to. There's a second problem, and that is we all struggle to embrace and appreciate God's hierarchical structures in various covenants. When we get to the covenant, when we get to the rules of work and we say, obey your masters, obey your boss and everything, well, you don't like that very much. It's one thing to give me an abstract, God's in charge, but it's another thing to tell me. And now you've got to listen to Moses. And Moses is a murderer. And he seems to not always be on the ball. We don't like the hierarchical structure. And in terms of marriage, a husband, he's been ordained by God to be the main mediator, to be the Moses of the marriage, so to speak. But just like Moses, husbands often lack the faith to obey and lack the faith to take up the job with enthusiasm. Or also like Moses, sometimes he accepts the responsibility and oversteps his role and he winds up making himself the top of the structure instead of the one who works for God. And the wife is just like her husband. She too lacks faith, and she struggles that God knew what he was doing when he gave her this husband. And she looks at the position of her husband as the mediator on the hierarchy, and she wonders if maybe she wouldn't do a better job. Or she makes him more than he is and doesn't just see him as the mediator of this covenant, but as the top of the chain, as needing to be truly transcendent and holy. And sometimes the wife or the husband just misunderstands the scriptures and they think that the hierarchy piece is the top of the chain. It's not. God's always in charge. So you've got a lot of challenges in creating a covenantal home. We are not especially good at seeing God and appreciating his holiness, and we don't especially love God's plans related to hierarchies.

11 · Introduces the third problem: children as covenantal crisis

But there's a third problem that enters, and that is children as covenantal crisis. Children as covenantal crisis. So husband and wife before kids, they're already really hanging on by a thread to the whole idea of covenant. They have their own struggles with God's transcendence and with hierarchy and so on. And then they make a baby, and the baby is born with bad information about the covenant. So let's go through those questions again. Let's interview. Let's interview a baby. All right, Ask this baby. Give me the answer to these five questions. Who's in charge here, baby? Me, for sure. Who do I report to? Baby's like, well, am I sleepy? If. So that. Am I hungry? If. Then that. Am I sad? Am I curious? Are my pants messy? There could be a potential. Like a large number of potential bosses in the moment. So who's in charge? Me. Who do I report to? The thing that's front and center. The most acute need is in my small existence. What are the rules, baby? So you're in charge and you report to this appetite that you have this thing. What are the rules? Like, do the thing your appetite tells you to do, like food, sleep, diaper change, lick the outlet, Phineas, whatever. It's like, do the thing that the desire says to do. And then it's like, well, baby, what happens if you don't get this? Baby's like, I will die. Are you kidding me? If you don't feed me soon, I will die. I am sure. I have never felt babies are such wimps. Like, we know what a hunger pain is. You know, that's nothing like stubbing your toe or something. But to them, that's the most acute pain they've ever felt in their life. And so they think they're going to die. It's like, if I don't get food, it's over, I'm done. What's my future? Well, it depends if you feed me or not, because if not, I'm dead. So babies enter this already questionable covenantal structure as real challenges to the very notions of covenant. And parents are going to have to decide. Are we going to rule and subdue and teach this kiddo the rules of the covenant and replace their wrong answers with the right ones? Or will we just decide to make the baby the boss?

12 · Turns to the primary text (Ephesians 6:1-4) and performs the same mapping exercise: locating all five covenantal elements in Paul's instructions to children and fathers

Well, look at Ephesians, chapter six. This will be our last text. Main text of the Message, Ephesians, chapter 6. Paul knows that this is a real thing. And so after writing different wives and husbands and previous chapter, he says to children, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor your father and mother. This is the first commandment with a promise that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land. Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. So where's the covenant structure? Who's in charge? God's in charge. Who do I report to? I report to my parents. What are the rules? I obey them. What do I get if I obey? It will go well with me. What is the future? I will live long in the land.

13 · The sermon's theological climax: children's obedience to parents is fundamentally an act of worship unto God, not compliance training

Now, let's talk about some of the finer details of all of this as it relates particularly to children. The first thing that we've got to see time and time again, that this belief in a God who is all powerful and fully present is essential to right thinking and right acting. You see, everything in this text depends on a child believing that God is fully present and fully powerful. I want you to really think about this for a minute. This is extremely unique, Unique to Christianity. Obedience to children or children obeying their parents is seen as an act of worship that the child is responsible to undertake because the child believes in God. So we tend to think of obedience to us as the point. But obedience to us is not the point any more than my obedience to my boss is the point point. It's unto the Lord. And the text explicitly says that. It says, children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. When Paul says, this is right, he's using the language. For instance, in Romans 12:1, where he says, this is your proper act of worship. He's telling children, obey your parents because that's what you should do as worshipers of God. Without that, without God being all powerful and present, there is no reason to obey.

14 · Applies the transcendence principle to parenting strategy: alternative parenting philosophies produce 'eye-pleasers'—children who obey when watched but misbehave when unsupervised

Now, there are other parenting plans out there, unfortunately, and there are other ways to get your children to do what you want them to do. And one of the best ones is to do what they want to do, but say it was your idea. No, that's a terrible one. But people really like that one. There are all these alternative ways to parent. But think of, like, how that plays out. Here's the idea. Children who have no sense of God's presence and power will, in the short term, obey their parents. And they may do so out of some affection for their parents, or they may do so out of some fear for their parents, or they may do so out of simple pragmatism. But if they do not see the Lord as seeing them, knowing them, evaluating their behavior, rewarding and disciplining them appropriately all the way into eternity, then eventually you'll have children who do what Paul warns the slaves not to do. And that is be what Paul calls eye slaves. It's the apthos doulos. It's a compound word. What is apthos doulos? It means eye pleaser, eye servant, acting the way you're supposed to when the eyes are on you. And if you don't have the transcendence of God, you've only got human eyes. And so a lot of children growing up in Christian homes who do not know God and have not been taught to know God are eye pleasers who quickly grow in their capacity to deceive and say what they need to say, to deal in the moment with light and momentary, like the surface conflicts. And this really is, if you think about it, the problem, not just with parenting, with just people, eye pleasing. I'm going to behave as long as the person who has the power to do something about my disobedience is present. But as soon as that's gone, I will begin to misbehave. And this is why it's so important for parents to help kids to see as quickly as possible that the answer to who's in charge here isn't me, it's God. There's this period of time early on in a child's life where they are somewhat confused about whether or not you might be God. And they're like, you know, it's a possibility for them. They're not quite sure. They think maybe you're omniscient and they think maybe you're, you're all powerful. And they're like, it's possible that my dad's God. I mean, and during that period of time, the obedience, disobedience thing is kind of held in sway also for another reason that I'll get to in a moment. But over time, they realize, okay, you don't see everything, you're not aware, but initially they realize that you're not God. But they also lack intelligence, freedom and sophistication to exploit that information, right? Like, there's this period of time where your kids realize you're not God, but they're not smart enough to do anything really good with it. And they often wind up like turning themselves in accidentally even, right? So that's a sweet period of time because they're kind of. Their dumbness is counteracting their insight into the fact that you're not God, right? So there's a sweet little moment. But see, over time they get to be more sophisticated and intelligent in their deceptions and their disobedience, right? And here's what we're talking about. Parents, we're talking about diligently tempting as much as it lies within our power to help them grow in their sophistication and knowledge of God at the same pace, or hopefully a greater pace than they're growing in their intelligence. Sophistication of sin. The goal of Christian parenting, if you could summarize in one thing, is help these people believe that God is all powerful and fully interested in all things. That's the goal. If you can get the transcendence and immanence piece right in parenting, you've really gone quite far in the effort.

15 · Steps outside the parenting application to address the entire congregation—the eye-pleasing problem is universal, not just parental

Now just, just pause and zoom back out. Not just talk about parenting, let's talk about all of us. Are you struggling with deception? Are you struggling with being an eye pleasing worker of righteousness? Like, as long as the eyes are on you, you're okay. But when they're not, you're not. This isn't Just a kiddo problem. Right? This is. This is. This is the thing all of us struggle with. Are you. If you were honest, just. Just with yourself, are you a bit of a Pharisee right now? Right. Like, outwardly, things are tight, cleaned up. Basically, you know how to behave when the eyes are on you, eyes are off of you. There's some real inconsistencies, and it's like, why is that? What's going on? It's the T. It's the T in the covenant structure. It's the first question, who's in charge here? You just are having trouble for all potential sorts of reasons. And this is why you want to have conversations with Christian friends who can help you. But if that's your problem, I can tell you for sure where to go to start to fix it. And that is to begin to seek the fear of the Lord. Believe in the holiness of the Lord in a way that you have probably just let slip over time. Over time, our faith grows cold. Our faith grows weak. Our love grows cold. And the God that we once believed in, that was all powerful and all present, begins to slip. Sin deceives, and we stop remembering that he cares and it matters to him.

16 · Returns to the parenting application after the pastoral aside

Okay, so back to parenting.

17 · Addresses the hierarchy element in Ephesians 6 with extended personal illustration (his wife's failed 'fear my wrath' moment) that both humanizes the struggle and reinforces the point: both parents are in the hierarchy, but enforcement dynamics differ

I want you to see just a few things about the hierarchy, and that's the last thing we'll look at in this particular text. In Ephesians 6, Paul gives children clarity about who's in charge here. God, who do I report to? Parents. And the first thing I want you to notice is parents, as in plural. One of the great crisis of the oswald home, probably 10 years ago or more. More than 10 years ago, was when my kids weren't listening to my wife like they ought to. She just didn't spank as hard. And so I remember I would have these before I would go into work. I would have these because she's going to be there homeschooling them all day. And I would have these, like, pep talks with her. Be like, you have got this. Like, you are a powerful woman. You don't let these kids ignore you. You'd make them listen to you and so on. And, like, it's like, you know, it's like cheering her up and getting her hyped up for the game that day. And one day, you know, we've been really working on this, and all three kids were being terrible early in the morning, and she called a meeting with the kids. She's like, come, come here. She gets all three of them there, and she just is like, now listen you people need to fear my wrath. And she lost them. She lost them right then all opportunities for fear were cast. They all laughed, unfortunately. But the text says really clearly, children, obey your parents. And then it says in verse two, honor your father and your mother. Children obey your parents. Honor your father and your mother. So there's a few things to think about related to covenantal parenting. And the first one is sometimes mothers get the short end of the stick on the front end. Like my wife and I know some of you ladies have been dealing with this as well. It's like you're not the, you don't bring the boom in the same way. It's like, well, dads, we help with this because it's hard enough to be a mom, let alone a mom that isn't being listened to properly and respected and so on and so forth. So it's a huge thing that our moms are honored and obeyed. Text says that very clearly. Over time, the script can flip, especially with older children. And moms can sometimes become the favorite, in part for some of the same reasons they weren't listened to initially. Sometimes adult children can edge out, especially dad, mostly for sinful reasons. And so I would just tell you, dads, verse four says, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up with the discipline of the Lord. I would say very clearly that the formula for the formula for raising covenantal kids is a two parent household. And many men who would say that vehemently, two parent household, two parent household, two parent household, are basically checked out of their young adult children's lives. It's like you have a voice and it's a necessary voice, and the buck stops with you. As it says in verse four.

18 · Identifies the four universal responsibilities God gives covenant mediators: give them my word, be patient, don't be permissive, die to yourself

It also seems to be important to stipulate that just because your child gets angry doesn't mean you provoke them to anger. That's not what this text is saying. Okay, so let's look at this last piece because what, what Paul's doing here is something that you'll see God do a lot with covenants. He tells the people, I'm in charge, here's who you listen to. And then he'll tell that person, that mediator, that person in the hierarchy, he'll tell that person, here's some things you have to do. God has high expectations for his mediators, the mediators of his covenant. And so he says to the fathers here in verse four, dads, don't provoke your children to anger, but raise them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And what Paul's doing here is he's touching on classic requirements for the mediator. And they're basically throughout all scripture. When God appoints a mediator for the covenant, he gives them four basic rules. Number one, give them my word. Number two, be patient with them. Number three, do not be permissive. And number four, die to yourself. Every single time God brings a man in to mediate a covenant, he tells him to do those four things. Bring him my word, be patient, don't be permissive and die to yourself. So for instance, when Paul in Ephesians 20 is reviewing his work amongst the Ephesians, he says in two categories, I was patient with you, humble, I did work on my own, I didn't covet your silver or gold. And then he says, and I also didn't wimp out. I did not cease night and day to admonish you with tears. So these four ideas die to yourself. Don't be too permissive, be super patient and give them your word. This is the rules. If you are mediating a covenant, moms and dads, that's what you're doing. Give them the word, be patient, don't be permissive and die to yourself.

19 · Traces the 'die to yourself' requirement through the canon's covenant mediators: Adam (sleep, rib removal), Noah (reputational death, ark as coffin), Abraham (leaving home, offering Isaac), Moses (40-year cycles of death-resurrection), David (submission to Saul), and a rapid-fire list of additional mediators

Every mediator of a covenant you can go through the scriptures has to die to themselves a lot. It's first typified when Adam falls into a great sleep and gives up a part of himself. Noah is initiated into building the ark, which is a huge reputational hit. He looks like an idiot, he's dying to himself reputationally. And then he enters the ark prefigured or typed as a covenant or as a as a coffin or as a grave of some sort. Abraham was initiated into his covenant by leaving his father's household and then allowing even his son Isaac to potentially be sacrificed. Moses, whole life is a death resurrection cycle broken up in 40 year increments, more or less. David had to die to himself and being honorable towards Saul, as Saul was pursuing him. And every mediator of truth in the scriptures and is called to die to himself. Jacob, Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel, John the Baptist.

20 · Final charge to parents synthesizing the entire sermon: know the five questions, teach the five questions, but most importantly—die to yourself

So mom and dad, in order to be faithful covenant mediators, it's definitely knowing the answers to these five questions and teaching the answers to those five questions. But most importantly, to be a faithful covenant mediator, you have to die to yourself and trust the Lord and give them your word, give them God's word and be patient and don't be overly permissive. You need to die to yourself over and over again.

21 · Climactic biblical-theological move: Jesus as ultimate covenant mediator models the pattern

Jesus says in Acts 7 or John 17, right before he's arrested. He prays for the people. And one of the things he says over and over again to God, I gave them your word. He says it multiple times. I did it. I gave them your word. Mediators, moms and dads, give them your word.

22 · Closing prayer thanking God for covenantal clarity, acknowledging the sermon's complexity, and requesting faith to believe and obey

Let me pray. Lord God, I thank you that we have time on Sunday to work through pieces of information. I'm so thankful that next week get to come back and make even more application to these truths we find in your word. I thank you, God, that you are a God of covenant, that you lead, initiate, engage with us in ways that are plain and clear, that you let us know the answers to these five crucial questions so that we can flourish, prosper in you. God, I pray that you would give us faith as we consider just the complexities, the glories of your covenant. God, give us faith to say, we, our amazing, glorious God, Lord, we praise you and pray this word would do the work in our hearts that you have ordained for it to do. In Jesus name we pray. Amen.

23 · Communion liturgy connecting the Lord's Supper to the sermon's theme of death-to-self

Well, listen, as I read probably the main communion text that we use anyway in 1 Corinthians 11, listen to the covenant categories that come through Paul speaking. He says, I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus, on the night when he was betrayed, took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body, which is for you. Do this in remembrance of me. In the same way also he took the cup and after supper, saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. One of the most crucial pieces of observing communion, Paul says it, here is, what you're doing is you're proclaiming, my God died. Think about that, how Paul chose to make that explicit in his commands regarding communion. He says, my God, my Savior died. You proclaim the Lord's death when you come. So what's the point of that? Why is he saying that? Why is it important that we proclaim the Lord's death? Well, because it tells us how we should live. It tells us that we should follow his example. And not only that we should follow his example, but that our ability to follow him has been paid for by his death and resurrection. So come and partake of the communion of the Lord's table.