The Promise Was a Person
A covenant not written on stone but held in the hands of the One who is the Light.
📚 Devotional Credit:
Day by Day by Grace by Bob Hoekstra
📸 Photo Credit:
Unsplash
Today’s reflection from Bob Hoekstra brings us into the holy dialogue between the Father and His Son—the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Isaiah 42:6 offers a beautiful glimpse into the eternal promises shared within the Godhead before time began. The Father calls His Son in righteousness, promises to uphold Him, and then declares something staggering: “I will give You as a covenant to the people.”
God didn’t merely rewrite terms. He didn’t replace stone tablets with a longer list or more accessible demands. Instead, He gave a Person. Jesus Christ is the covenant. Every promise of grace, every word of righteousness, every peace we long for—it’s not abstract. It’s relational. It’s found in Him.
The old covenant pointed to laws we could never keep. But the new covenant is bound to One who fulfilled every righteous requirement and now lives within us. He is our righteousness. He is our peace. He is our covenant. This changes how we approach God—not through rule-keeping or obligation, but through communion with the very One who embodies every promise.
And here’s the heart-stirring reality: that same Servant Messiah, upheld by the Father and obedient even unto death, now indwells us. The One given for us has now been given to us—to live His covenant life through us.
📓 Journal Entry – Voice of the Holy Spirit Through Scripture
My beloved, you are not navigating an agreement—you are living in union with Me, the living covenant. I was given not to upgrade the law but to fulfill it within you. I was not sent merely to rescue you but to indwell you, that every promise of God might be yours in Me.
The Father called Me in righteousness, and I walked in full dependence upon Him. That same dependence is now yours—not as something you must muster, but as something I express through you. I walked as a Servant, upheld by the Father’s hand, and now I walk in you by My Spirit, expressing the same humility and obedience.
Righteousness is not a target you chase—it is who I am in you. Peace is not the absence of trouble—it is My very presence in the middle of it. Every grace, every truth, every promise is not merely spoken to you—it is embodied in Me, alive in you.
Do not strive to maintain covenant terms. Rest in Me, the Covenant Himself. Let My life flow freely, for the Father’s plan has always been this: not that you would keep something for Him, but that I would keep you for Him. And so I do.
Scripture References:
Isaiah 42:6; Philippians 2:7–8; John 1:14; Jeremiah 23:5–6; Ephesians 2:13–14; Romans 8:3–4; Galatians 2:20; Hebrews 8:6–13; Colossians 1:27; John 15:4–5; 2 Corinthians 1:20
🔍 Real-Life Analogy
Imagine your phone’s GPS constantly rerouting every time you make a wrong turn. You don’t see the satellite—it’s invisible—but it recalculates, reassures, and guides you right where you need to go. It doesn’t hand you a paper map and say, “Try again.” It lives with you in the journey.
This is Christ in you. He is not offering you directions from afar—He is the Way. The covenant isn’t something you’re trying to live up to. It’s Someone you’re learning to yield to. So in that moment when you're tempted to retreat into old patterns of striving or guilt, whisper with a trusting heart, Lord, I yield to You. Live Your covenant life through me right now. Whether it’s in a difficult conversation, a hard decision, or a quiet moment of fear—He is enough.
🙏 Prayer of Confidence
Father, thank You that Your covenant with me is not a contract to keep but a Person to trust. You gave me Jesus not only to rescue me, but to be my righteousness, my peace, my everything. I don’t need to chase after what You’ve already given. In Him, all the promises are yes and amen. I rest in the fullness of Christ in me today—and I rejoice that Your promises are not up to me to maintain, but up to You to fulfill through Him. I trust You completely.