The Everlasting Covenants
About four hundred years after the flood when idolatry was rife again on the earth, God in his infinite wisdom selected a certain family and set them apart from the rest of mankind. The head of this family was Abraham son of Terah who lived in Ur of the Chaldes beyond the Euphrates.
He appeared to Abraham in his native land and told him to leave it and his kindred and travel to a distant place to which he would direct him, declaring at the same time his covenant with Abraham in these words “Go from your country and your fathers house to the land that I will show you, And I will make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’’
By faith, Abraham was taken into God’s covenant and with it all the consequent blessings it conveyed because he believed in the saving power and goodness of God. These covenant blessings and privileges were promised to all his offspring the Israelites who became particularly related to God. And after them, all believing Gentiles were to be included as part of Abraham’s family. For two hundred and fifty years, Abraham his son Isaac and grandson Jacob sojourned in the land of Canaan under special protection from heaven until infinite wisdom (because of a great famine) sought fit to send the family into Egypt. Notwithstanding the cruel oppression under which they eventually fell, they multiplied into a surprising number. About three million souls.
At length God delivered them from the servitude of Egyptian bondage by a mighty display of his power and then formed them into a Kingdom. He taught them the way of truth, led them through the wilderness under Moses for forty years and then at last brought them to the promised land.
He appeared to Abraham in his native land and told him to leave it and his kindred and travel to a distant place to which he would direct him, declaring at the same time his covenant with Abraham in these words “Go from your country and your fathers house to the land that I will show you, And I will make you a great nation, and bless you and make your name great, and by you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’’
By faith, Abraham was taken into God’s covenant and with it all the consequent blessings it conveyed because he believed in the saving power and goodness of God. These covenant blessings and privileges were promised to all his offspring the Israelites who became particularly related to God. And after them, all believing Gentiles were to be included as part of Abraham’s family. For two hundred and fifty years, Abraham his son Isaac and grandson Jacob sojourned in the land of Canaan under special protection from heaven until infinite wisdom (because of a great famine) sought fit to send the family into Egypt. Notwithstanding the cruel oppression under which they eventually fell, they multiplied into a surprising number. About three million souls.
At length God delivered them from the servitude of Egyptian bondage by a mighty display of his power and then formed them into a Kingdom. He taught them the way of truth, led them through the wilderness under Moses for forty years and then at last brought them to the promised land.
God did not choose the Israelites because they were better than other people, and would always obey his laws. He knew the contrary. He selected them out of respect to the piety and virtue of their ancestors. They were chosen to display to the heathen nations the power and goodness of God. They were to be a beacon, a light set upon a hill to show to the nations the providence and loving kindness of the Creator.
Situated on the borders of Asia Europe and Africa, they were conveniently placed for such a purpose. If they remained faithful, they would be a witness and a blessing to other nations. On the other hand, if they were not faithful, then their calamities and dispersions would serve the same purpose by spreading the knowledge of the true God in places where he was not known. This is what happened as history tells us.
The Jews or direct descendants of Abraham can be found in nearly every country on earth. Of all the nations that have come and gone through history, the Jews have survived as a distinct people. The state of Israel is a reality today. As God in his infinite wisdom was pleased to prefer Israel before any other nation and to single them out for the purpose of revelation and for preserving his truth, so God is said to have chosen them and they were represented as his chosen or elect people. (I Kings 3:8). The first step God took in executing his purpose of election was to rescue his people from their wretched state of bondage and slavery in Egypt. In this way he is said to have ‘called’ them. (Isaiah chapter I2 : 8-9). In this special calling God sustains the character of ‘father’. Israel were his children, his sons and daughters (Deut. 32:6). And so the Israelites were the house or family of God. The whole nation was taken into special relationship with the creator more than any people on earth. The Lord Jehovah was God, King, Father, shepherd and Saviour to them all without exception. It is on account of this special regard for Israel that they were honoured with the title ‘beloved,’ in the Divine scheme.
As representatives of the true God, the Jews were required to exercise benevolence and kindness to strangers, and permit them to dwell comfortably and peacefully amongst them. “and you are to love the stranger as yourself,” they were told. Sadly the Jewish Nation as a whole became elevated and aloof from the rest of the world and generally looked upon Gentiles with contempt. They the Jews only were God’s elect outside of which to them no person could be accepted by God.
At the time of the birth of Jesus this was the situation, and because of their self righteous attitude the Jews were ripe for rejection and dispersion. They failed to recognise and acknowledge Jesus as the long awaited or promised Messiah. He came to his own (the Jewish Nation) but they would not receive him. They stubbornly rejected the Lord of Glory, even when he performed many mighty miracles before their eyes. “They hated me without a cause,” Jesus said that Sodom and Gomorrah would fair better than Israel in the day of Judgement. It was prophesied in the Scriptures that God would become incarnate (human) to declare the truth and live a life of perfect obedience even unto death.
He was the ‘lamb’ slain from the foundation of the world. As the atoning sacrifice for sin, he confirmed the former Covenant made with Abraham. The Jews expecting a coming King, overlooked a suffering Messiah. They looked for political deliverance (from the Roman yoke) not a spiritual redemption. Instead of an earthly Canaan, Jesus by his death and resurrection from the dead established the hope in his followers of a better world to come.
This is the Gospel. It is the Jewish scheme enlarged and perfected. By the stoning of Stephen, the Jews terminated the seventy weeks (490 years) allotted to them in which time they were to repent and return to God. (Daniel 9:24). By this murderous act they sealed their fate. The Gospel of the Kingdom would be taken from them and offered to the Gentiles. Some did believe and in the New Testament letters of the Apostle Paul we are told that both Jews and Gentiles are now become one body in Christ. This is the great`MYSTERY` not understood in previous time. The wonder is that by the means of the Gospel of Christ both believing Gentiles and Jews now have a part in Gods blessings. (Ephesians 3:5). And so it can be said regarding Abraham, that he is father of both Jews and Gentiles. (Galatians 3:6) Speaking of both Jew and Gentile believers, Paul says they are not foreigners but fellow citizens together in Christ.
From all that has been said let all Christians rejoice in the goodness of God who has called them to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints of light (Romans 8:33).
It is truly incredible and almost beyond human understanding that the whole scheme of the gospel of Christ, the shedding of his blood as a ransom and atonement for sin was formed in the councils of God before the call of Abraham and even before the world was made (Acts 15:18) (Eph 1:4) (2nd Timothy 1:9) (1 Peter 1:20)
All the afore mentioned privileges and blessings were promised and confirmed by God to Abraham under the sanction of an oath, (Gen 15:5). So the gospel of grace was established upon the covenant promises and oath of God and ratified by the shed blood of Christ.
Notice the form of oath that God used as recorded in the scriptures, (Gen 15;9-17). And the Lord commanded Abraham to take a heifer a she goat, a ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. And he took these and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against the other, but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down the scriptures say, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham and lo a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and burning lamp passed between the parts of the sacrifice confirming the covenant with the most solemn form of oath known to the human mind.
Authorities say that he who employed this form of oath to give confirmation to an agreement, passed between the divided carcasses saying as he did so “if I keep not this agreement, then let my life be as these creatures between whose divided parts I pass”. This is indeed a very solemn oath. Not only is the importance and greatness of Gods covenant shown by this ’oath’ but by it Abraham was given the assurance that Gods promise would stand true. After this God was able to say to Abraham “By myself I have sworn” because he could swear by no other. Because of this Paul was able to write to the Jewish Christians.
Among men it is customary to swear by something greater than themselves and a statement if it be confirmed by an oath, that was the end of all quibbling. So God, wishing to show beyond doubt that his word was unchangeable confirmed it with an oath, that by two utterly immutable things the word of God and the oath of God who cannot lie believers might grasp the hope set before them. (Heb 6:11). By this covenant, Abraham was to be the spiritual father of all them that believe. Not only was he to be blest through Christ the promised seed, but all those also which be of faith. By ‘oath’ God bound himself to perform through the seed of Abraham (Christ) a mighty deliverance of his people from bondage.
Under the covenant of grace, believers become recipients of forgiveness, reconciliation, justification and adoption into the family of God. In Colossians of the New Testament it is clearly shown that the basis of this forgiveness and its accompanying blessings of righteousness and peace is in the blood of the atonement. For we have redemption Paul says through his blood even the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:14).
In the earthly sanctuary, the Priest took the blood of the sacrifice and with it made atonement for the sinner, thus bringing forgiveness. But now Christ the great high Priest of the New Covenant with his own blood makes atonement for his people. For without the shedding of blood the Scriptures say there is no remission of sins.
In Paul’s teachings, forgiveness precedes justification the great blessing of the New Covenant. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren, that through this man Christ is preached to you forgiveness of sin and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
In order to be able to bring about the believers salvation, Jesus did come under the law himself for a time, The Scriptures testify to this for it says that he (Christ) was made of a woman, made under the law that he might redeem those who were under it. By voluntarily submitting himself in this manner to a `broken law` Jesus undertook to fulfill all its demands on the sinners behalf. This he accomplished not only by a righteous life but also by suffering death.
God’s way of dealing with sin is by representation and imputation. To impute means to credit or make belong to another. Under the Old covenant or original constitution, Adam’s sin was imputed to all his physical descendants. Under the New Covenant or dispensation, of grace, the righteousness of Christ’s life is imputed to all his spiritual offspring.
The New Covenant experience however cannot really be expressed in black and white because it is a spiritual bond. Paul puts it this way. The written Law engraved on stone condemned the transgressor to death without mercy. How much more wonderful is that ministry of the spirit which under the New Covenant is able to bring pardon, acquittal and justification.
In the eighth chapter of the book of Romans, Paul writes about this deliverance of the believer from the old legal Covenant. There is now no condemnation to them that are `In Christ` because the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed believers from the Law of sin and death.
These are the two Covenants that portray a just and righteous God before the universe.
Situated on the borders of Asia Europe and Africa, they were conveniently placed for such a purpose. If they remained faithful, they would be a witness and a blessing to other nations. On the other hand, if they were not faithful, then their calamities and dispersions would serve the same purpose by spreading the knowledge of the true God in places where he was not known. This is what happened as history tells us.
The Jews or direct descendants of Abraham can be found in nearly every country on earth. Of all the nations that have come and gone through history, the Jews have survived as a distinct people. The state of Israel is a reality today. As God in his infinite wisdom was pleased to prefer Israel before any other nation and to single them out for the purpose of revelation and for preserving his truth, so God is said to have chosen them and they were represented as his chosen or elect people. (I Kings 3:8). The first step God took in executing his purpose of election was to rescue his people from their wretched state of bondage and slavery in Egypt. In this way he is said to have ‘called’ them. (Isaiah chapter I2 : 8-9). In this special calling God sustains the character of ‘father’. Israel were his children, his sons and daughters (Deut. 32:6). And so the Israelites were the house or family of God. The whole nation was taken into special relationship with the creator more than any people on earth. The Lord Jehovah was God, King, Father, shepherd and Saviour to them all without exception. It is on account of this special regard for Israel that they were honoured with the title ‘beloved,’ in the Divine scheme.
As representatives of the true God, the Jews were required to exercise benevolence and kindness to strangers, and permit them to dwell comfortably and peacefully amongst them. “and you are to love the stranger as yourself,” they were told. Sadly the Jewish Nation as a whole became elevated and aloof from the rest of the world and generally looked upon Gentiles with contempt. They the Jews only were God’s elect outside of which to them no person could be accepted by God.
At the time of the birth of Jesus this was the situation, and because of their self righteous attitude the Jews were ripe for rejection and dispersion. They failed to recognise and acknowledge Jesus as the long awaited or promised Messiah. He came to his own (the Jewish Nation) but they would not receive him. They stubbornly rejected the Lord of Glory, even when he performed many mighty miracles before their eyes. “They hated me without a cause,” Jesus said that Sodom and Gomorrah would fair better than Israel in the day of Judgement. It was prophesied in the Scriptures that God would become incarnate (human) to declare the truth and live a life of perfect obedience even unto death.
He was the ‘lamb’ slain from the foundation of the world. As the atoning sacrifice for sin, he confirmed the former Covenant made with Abraham. The Jews expecting a coming King, overlooked a suffering Messiah. They looked for political deliverance (from the Roman yoke) not a spiritual redemption. Instead of an earthly Canaan, Jesus by his death and resurrection from the dead established the hope in his followers of a better world to come.
This is the Gospel. It is the Jewish scheme enlarged and perfected. By the stoning of Stephen, the Jews terminated the seventy weeks (490 years) allotted to them in which time they were to repent and return to God. (Daniel 9:24). By this murderous act they sealed their fate. The Gospel of the Kingdom would be taken from them and offered to the Gentiles. Some did believe and in the New Testament letters of the Apostle Paul we are told that both Jews and Gentiles are now become one body in Christ. This is the great`MYSTERY` not understood in previous time. The wonder is that by the means of the Gospel of Christ both believing Gentiles and Jews now have a part in Gods blessings. (Ephesians 3:5). And so it can be said regarding Abraham, that he is father of both Jews and Gentiles. (Galatians 3:6) Speaking of both Jew and Gentile believers, Paul says they are not foreigners but fellow citizens together in Christ.
From all that has been said let all Christians rejoice in the goodness of God who has called them to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints of light (Romans 8:33).
It is truly incredible and almost beyond human understanding that the whole scheme of the gospel of Christ, the shedding of his blood as a ransom and atonement for sin was formed in the councils of God before the call of Abraham and even before the world was made (Acts 15:18) (Eph 1:4) (2nd Timothy 1:9) (1 Peter 1:20)
All the afore mentioned privileges and blessings were promised and confirmed by God to Abraham under the sanction of an oath, (Gen 15:5). So the gospel of grace was established upon the covenant promises and oath of God and ratified by the shed blood of Christ.
Notice the form of oath that God used as recorded in the scriptures, (Gen 15;9-17). And the Lord commanded Abraham to take a heifer a she goat, a ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. And he took these and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against the other, but the birds divided he not. And when the fowls came down upon the carcasses Abraham drove them away. And when the sun was going down the scriptures say, a deep sleep fell upon Abraham and lo a horror of great darkness fell upon him. And it came to pass when the sun went down and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace and burning lamp passed between the parts of the sacrifice confirming the covenant with the most solemn form of oath known to the human mind.
Authorities say that he who employed this form of oath to give confirmation to an agreement, passed between the divided carcasses saying as he did so “if I keep not this agreement, then let my life be as these creatures between whose divided parts I pass”. This is indeed a very solemn oath. Not only is the importance and greatness of Gods covenant shown by this ’oath’ but by it Abraham was given the assurance that Gods promise would stand true. After this God was able to say to Abraham “By myself I have sworn” because he could swear by no other. Because of this Paul was able to write to the Jewish Christians.
Among men it is customary to swear by something greater than themselves and a statement if it be confirmed by an oath, that was the end of all quibbling. So God, wishing to show beyond doubt that his word was unchangeable confirmed it with an oath, that by two utterly immutable things the word of God and the oath of God who cannot lie believers might grasp the hope set before them. (Heb 6:11). By this covenant, Abraham was to be the spiritual father of all them that believe. Not only was he to be blest through Christ the promised seed, but all those also which be of faith. By ‘oath’ God bound himself to perform through the seed of Abraham (Christ) a mighty deliverance of his people from bondage.
Under the covenant of grace, believers become recipients of forgiveness, reconciliation, justification and adoption into the family of God. In Colossians of the New Testament it is clearly shown that the basis of this forgiveness and its accompanying blessings of righteousness and peace is in the blood of the atonement. For we have redemption Paul says through his blood even the forgiveness of sins. (Colossians 1:14).
In the earthly sanctuary, the Priest took the blood of the sacrifice and with it made atonement for the sinner, thus bringing forgiveness. But now Christ the great high Priest of the New Covenant with his own blood makes atonement for his people. For without the shedding of blood the Scriptures say there is no remission of sins.
In Paul’s teachings, forgiveness precedes justification the great blessing of the New Covenant. Be it known unto you therefore men and brethren, that through this man Christ is preached to you forgiveness of sin and by him all that believe are justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the Law of Moses.
In order to be able to bring about the believers salvation, Jesus did come under the law himself for a time, The Scriptures testify to this for it says that he (Christ) was made of a woman, made under the law that he might redeem those who were under it. By voluntarily submitting himself in this manner to a `broken law` Jesus undertook to fulfill all its demands on the sinners behalf. This he accomplished not only by a righteous life but also by suffering death.
God’s way of dealing with sin is by representation and imputation. To impute means to credit or make belong to another. Under the Old covenant or original constitution, Adam’s sin was imputed to all his physical descendants. Under the New Covenant or dispensation, of grace, the righteousness of Christ’s life is imputed to all his spiritual offspring.
The New Covenant experience however cannot really be expressed in black and white because it is a spiritual bond. Paul puts it this way. The written Law engraved on stone condemned the transgressor to death without mercy. How much more wonderful is that ministry of the spirit which under the New Covenant is able to bring pardon, acquittal and justification.
In the eighth chapter of the book of Romans, Paul writes about this deliverance of the believer from the old legal Covenant. There is now no condemnation to them that are `In Christ` because the Law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has freed believers from the Law of sin and death.
These are the two Covenants that portray a just and righteous God before the universe.