As a leader, probably things you like dealing with the least are contracts.  While in the military, I always had a contracting officer to handle those tasks. In my other adventures, well, I just had to work my way through them, many times with an attorney.  Never much fun. But there is one contract that I just love; the GREATEST CONTRACT of all times; a contract in which we can all take part.

In the ancient middle east, there was a tradition for consummating a contract.  The contracting parties would cut animals in half and arrange the halves in parallel rows, so the blood of the animals would flow between those pieces.  Then parties of the contract would walk through the blood pooled between the animal pieces.  Where the two parties were equals or partners so to speak, they would each hold hands and walk through the blood together signifying that whoever might break the contract would pay with his blood.  If one person was the dominant party, like a great king promising security and life, and the other party was lesser making a payment for services, then the subservient party would walk alone through the blood signifying that if he didn’t uphold his end of the bargain he would pay with his blood.

There is a similar contract, called a covenant, in the 15^th Chapter of Genesis. Leading up to the contract, the Lord (the greater party) had spoken to Abram (later to be called Abraham) and said, “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all the people on earth will be blessed through you.” (Gen. 12: 2-3) Then again, in Genesis 15 the Lord spoke to Abram and promised to provide offspring that equaled the number of stars in the sky and he would possess the land He had promised.  Then Abram believed. So, the conditions of this contract would be that the Lord would provide the land (Canaan), the seed (people), and the blessing, and Abram would believe.

Then the Lord instructed Abram to cut a three-year-old goat and ram in half and along with a dove and young pigeon arrange the carcasses opposite each other, so the blood would run between them.  Later that night, Abram saw the Lord, a “smoking fire pot and blazing torch” pass between the pieces of the animals signifying that if He the Lord (the greater party) broke the covenant, then He would pay with His blood.  But what if Abram, the lesser party broke the contract?  Who would pay; maybe the Lord?

What was unusual (among other things) with this contract was that the greater party, not the subservient one, walked between the animals.  By tradition, since Abram would be supported by “the King,” Abram should have walked through the blood of the sacrifices, not the Lord.  Nevertheless, there was the contract; God, would provide the land, the seed, and the blessing, and Abram was to believe, which would entail loving and obeying God.

How has this contract worked out?  In the Old Testament clearly, most of His people did not believe nor did they obey.  Today, many do not believe or obey.  Still, the Lord provided the land, the seed, and the blessing.  But, we have broken the contract, and as He promised nearly 4,000 years ago during that night with Abram, He paid through His blood, the blood of His One and Only Son, crucified on the cross some 2000 years later.  But as God always does, He did one better. After three days, He raised Him from the dead thus guaranteeing eternal life to all who would BELIEVE.

So, we can be part of this great contract by believing.  “That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and BELIEVE in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rm. 10:9) Now we can become part of the promise and Abraham’s family by believing; He has offered the opportunity to have eternal life through His Son, Jesus Christ to all who would believe.

This Sunday we can celebrate the greatest contract ever written, the covenant with Abraham replaced by the payment for the new covenant and we can rejoice in the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Happy Easter, He is Risen!

i. Sunset image link.