God’s Covenants
Making promises is a regular feature of our lives. Some of these promises are in their own way, small: I’ll mow the lawn right after the baseball game; I’ll pick up a gallon of milk on my way home. We make many of these promises each day. But we also make big promises. Such as paying back a mortgage loan or signing an important contract. Religiously speaking, a big promise is called a covenant. A covenant is an agreement between two parties. There are several well-known covenants in the Bible between God and the people of Israel. Let’s explore those covenants.
The Noahic Covenant Gen 9:11-13
11 With these words I make my covenant with you: I promise that never again will all living beings be destroyed by a flood; never again will a flood destroy the earth. 12 As a sign of this everlasting covenant which I am making with you and with all human beings, 13 I am putting my bow in the clouds. It will be the sign of my covenant with the world.
God saw Noah as the only righteous man on earth, so He made a plan to flood the world and save Noah and his family and two of every animal. After the flood receded, Noah stepped out of the ark onto land. God gave Noah a promise that He would never flood the earth again so after a rain, God said there would always be a visible sign in the sky of a rainbow. We witness that covenant today. The earth’s order and seasons are still preserved, and rainbows still remind us of God’s faithfulness to His word.
The Abrahamic Covenant Gen 12:1-2
1 The Lord said to Abram (later called Abraham), “Leave your native land, your relatives, and your father’s home and go to a country that I am going to show you. 2 I will give you many descendants, and they will become a great nation. I will bless you and make your name famous so that you will be a blessing.”
When God called Abraham, he moved out in faith from Ur to Haran and finally to Canaan. God then established a covenant with him telling him he would be father of a great nation. God said this nation would be blessed and other nations would be blessed through Abraham’s descendants which would be as many as the stars in the sky. (Gen 15:5) The nation that would come from Abraham was to follow God and influence those with whom it came in contact. This also has been the goal of us as Christians. Through Abraham’s family tree, Jesus was born to save humanity.
The Davidic Covenant 2 Sam 7:25-26
25 And now, Lord God, fulfill for all time the promise you made about me and my descendants, and do what you said you would. 26 Your fame will be great and people will forever say, “The Lord Almighty is God over Israel.” And you will preserve my dynasty for all time.
God promised David that He promised to carry on David’s line of descendants forever. That promise was fulfilled through the birth of the Messiah who was Jesus Christ our Lord. Jesus will reign for eternity now in his spiritual kingdom and in heaven and later on earth. (Luke 1:30-33, Rev:21)
The New Covenant 1 Cor 11:23-25
23 that the Lord Jesus said on the night he was betrayed, took a piece or bread, 24 gave thanks to God, broke it and said, “ This is my body which is for you. Do this in memory of me.” 25 In the same way, after supper, he took the cup and said, “This cup is God’s new covenant, sealed with my blood. Whenever you drink it, do so in memory of me.”
This brings us to the New Covenant. In the Old Covenant people could only approach God through the priests and the sacrificial system of burnt offerings. Jesus’ death on the cross brought to us a New Covenant. Now people can personally approach God and communicate with him. When we take communion, it shows that we are remembering Christ’s death for us and renewing our commitment to serve him.
Summary
One description of Christians is that we are “a covenant people.” Not only are we a part of God’s covenants with people throughout the scriptures, we are part of a “baptismal covenant.” We take vows to oppose evil and be faithful to God through Jesus. The vows we take at baptism are among the largest promises we make. In many respects, the world of the first century was similar to our world today. Jesus was born into a world raging with violence, discord, poverty and oppression. The destruction forces of evil were present in Jesus’ society. Into the world came the promise of salvation and abundant life. It is by faith that we today claim this promise and cling to it tightly in life’s challenging moments.