The Covenants between God and man.
Throughout history, God has had a “you do this, I’ll respond with this,” relationship with man, and that
is solidified through covenants. By
definition, “A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely imposed legal agreement
between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship.”
Both parties are
active, but because it is divinely imposed, man cannot negotiate or change the
terms of the agreement. Covenants never
change, but they may be superseded or replaced by another covenant.
At the heart of all
covenants is this one, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Even Adam and Eve can
be said to live in the first covenant relationship, “you obey and I will bless
you in the garden.”
Other covenants
usually have an outward sign attached to them, such as circumcision, baptism,
the Lord’s supper. God was not forced to
make a covenant, and indeed he made no such covenant with the animals he
created, but shows his love for his people when he enters into covenant
with them.
The covenant with Adam
is still in force with us today, in the sense that perfect obedience leads to
life, and “the wages of sin is death.”
Another covenant is
called the covenant of Redemption.
In this covenant, the trinity agrees that the son will become man, be
our representative, pay our penalty for our sin.
Many scriptures point
to how the Father prepares a chosen people for the son, sends the son as a
representative, prepares a body, accepts him, gives his all authority, etc.
The son agrees to
become man, and become obedient, even to death on a cross, and the Holy Spirit
agrees to do the will of the Father and empower Christ to carry out his
ministry on earth.
The next covenant is
the covenant of Grace. God and man have an agreement, and in this case
Christ acts as mediator to fulfill the conditions of the covenant. The condition for man is faith in the
redeemer. The promise of blessing in the
covenant was a promise of eternal life with God. In the Old Testament, this was shown by the
sign of continuing to observe festivals and ceremonial laws, and is now shown
through participation in the Lord’s supper.
This covenant of grace
was in place from the time of Abraham.
Galatians 3:8 says,” The scripture preached the gospel beforehand to
Abraham…”
The “old covenant,”
which is spoken of in the New Testament, points to the Mosaic law, which was a
restraint and custodian pointing people to Christ.
So Old Testament
people looked in faith to the promised Messiah as a step in their
redemption. The sacrificial lambs in the
Mosaic covenant did not actually take away sins, but foreshadowed the bearing
of sin by Christ.
What a joy to be part
of the new covenant (and the other covenants) of God!
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