This morning at church we sang the song Ever Be. Part of worship is leading people in reverent thought and attitude. The lyrics made me think. Particularly the verse that goes:

Your love is devoted

Like a ring of solid gold

Like a vow that’s been tested

Like a covenant of old

Your love is enduring

Through the winter rain

And beyond the horizon

With mercy for today

while there is a lot of symbolism in this imagery, the phrase like a covenant of old makes me wonder why the phrase of old is included.

Why is this not redundant information?Is it for the poetic effect of nostalgia? Or is it because the audience listening to the song needs to remember that there were covenants in an era not like the current era? This seems to indicate that covenants do not exist in and among the common populace of the current era.

If what we know about God is through analogy, and biblical texts, as divine inspiration are God’s way of communicating to us through things and experiences known to us in our culture then who is Jesus to a culture that has only a nostalgic connection to covenants? Particularly the theological view that Jesus is the fulfillment of a covenantal promise? Who is Jesus now?