The Covenants of God

The Covenants of God
Part 1—an Overview of The Covenants
Eph 2:11-20


Introductory Thoughts

v God has instituted several covenants with man, and understanding them is important for understanding how we relate to God.

§ Are we still under the ten commandments as a rule of life?

§ Why is it that eating catfish is now acceptable to us (it was outlawed in the Law of Moses), but adultery, homosexuality and murder, also outlawed under Moses, are still wrong?

§ Why was it legal to have more than one wife under the Law of Moses, but it is not legal to have more than one wife in the New Covenant?

§ Is tithing only for the Old Covenant, or is it also a New Covenant rule?

§ When Christ gave the Sermon on the Mount, was He merely explaining Moses, or was He acting as the New Lawgiver for the New Covenant?

§ Is there an objective standard of morality in the New Covenant?

§ If so, is that objective standard of morality easier under the New Covenant or more difficult?

§ How are we to live? What guidelines do we have as to how we are to live?

§ How do we know what Old Testament scriptures we may apply today, and which ones no longer apply?

· These and more are all important questions for Christians to be able to answer, and the Bible has the answers to them.

· However, there has been much in the way of theological smoke surrounding the covenants, most of it raised by two rival systems for understanding God’s relationship to man. I follow neither of those systems, and will not waste much time explaining them to you.

· What we will look at is the Biblical teaching on God’s covenants with man and what they mean.

1. An Overview of the text, and how it leads us into this study.

a. The Context of the text:

(1) Eph 1—the plan of God
(2) Eph 2:1-10—the way of salvation

b. We will not be able to fully exposit this text tonight, only to introduce it—why? Because we must understand the covenants in order to fully explain this passage.

c. At one time, we Gentiles were virtually cut off from salvation—Eph 2:11 "Wherefore remember, that ye being in time past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcision by that which is called the Circumcision in the flesh made by hands; 12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:

(1) Many in Israel were “without Christ” as pertains to individual salvation.

(2) But the Gentiles were without even God’s Word, which told of Christ to come.

(3) With a very few exceptions, and those being people who were associated with, or living close to, Israel, our Gentile ancestors were: “…aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world:…”

d. The Person and Work of Christ has broken the barriers down—“…13 But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.

(1) First, salvation has become more readily available to all—the Mosaic code, and Jewish nationalism no longer stand in the way.

(2) Second, many Gentiles have personally “become nigh,” through salvation.

(3) Christ has not only died for the sins of man, He has broken down all barriers and fulfilled the Old Covenant.

14 For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; 15 Having abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; 16 And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby: 17 And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. 18 For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father…”

e. We are now united into one people of God, the church, a new foundation built on Christ and the New Covenant prophets and apostles—19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;"

(1) But, what does this mean?

(2) What were the covenants of promise?

(3) What was the Law that was in our way?

(4) In what way have we become one with Israel and how have we become the people of God?

(5) What of national and ethnic Israel—where do they fit in?

f. The key to all of this is the concept of the covenants.

(1) God has dealt with man in diverse ways, but for most of human history, the way He has dealt with us has been by covenant.

(2) We must examine the concept of a covenant, and we must define how God has dealt with man by way of various covenants.

2. What is A Covenant?

a. The Words

(1) Hebrew—“covenant” is beriyth, (“a cut”) and to make a covenant is karath beriyth, (“to cut a cut”)—Gen 15:18

3772. karath, kaw-rath'; a prim. root; to cut (off, down or asunder); by impl. to destroy or consume; spec. to covenant (i.e. make an alliance or bargain, orig. by cutting flesh and passing between the pieces):--be chewed, be con- [feder-] ate, covenant, cut (down, off), destroy, fail, feller, be freed, hew (down), make a league ([covenant]), X lose, perish, X utterly, X want.[1]

1285. beriyth, ber-eeth'; from H1262 (in the sense of cutting [like H1254]); a compact (because made by passing between pieces of flesh):--confederacy, [con-]feder[-ate], covenant, league.[2]

(2) Greek

1242. diatheke, dee-ath-ay'-kay; from G1303; prop. a disposition, i.e. (spec.) a contract (espec. a devisory will):--covenant, testament.[3]

b. Covenant: What it is NOT

(1) Not a deal that is in any way two-sided.

(2) Not a “contract” in the common sense of the word

(3) Though there is somewhat of a sense of a “will” or “testament,” and though those words come close to defining covenant, “will,” or “testament” as understood in human terms are also inadequate in and of itself.

** A covenant is NOT a different way of salvation. There has only and always been one way of salvation: by grace through faith in God’s Redeemer—either in the Redeemer to come, or in the Redeemer who has come.

c. The Biblical Usage of the words for “covenant” defines the word for us.

(1) A Covenant is something conceived and established by God Himself.

Gen 6:18 "But with thee will I establish my covenant;…”

Gen 9:9 "And I, behold, I establish my covenant with you, and with your seed after you;"

Gen 9:11 "And I will establish my covenant with you;…”

Gen 9:15 "And I will remember my covenant,…”

Gen 17:2 "And I will make my covenant between me and thee…”

Gen 17:4 "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee,…”

Gen 17:7 "And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee."

(2) The scope of a covenant is defined by God—it may be universal, or it may be personal and limited, such as the covenant with Eleazar.

(a) (Genesis chapters 6-9) the second of God’s two covenants with Noah included every living being, not just people, and the second Noahic Covenant also concerned the continued cycle of life on the planet Earth.

(b) The priestly Covenant with Eleazar in Num. 25 included only Eleazar’s family and the priesthood.


(3) A Covenant may be conditional (a works covenant) or unconditional (a Grace covenant)—there are both kinds of covenants in the Bible.

(a) Example of a conditional covenant—the Old Covenant

Deu 28:15 "But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:"

(b) Unconditional: The Second Noahic Covenant and the New Covenant.


(4) A Covenant is monergistic, one-sided, dictatorial—God is the ruler and judge of every covenant He makes with man, there is no synergy between God and man.

(5) The times for a covenant are established by God. Some covenants are everlasting, and some have a beginning and an ending. God sets the time of the covenant’s beginning, and God sets the time of duration and ending.

(a) For instance, the Old Covenant began at Mount Sinai and ended the moment that Christ died and the veil was torn in two.

(b) The New Covenant began in time the moment that Christ died, and will never end. And, in a sense, because the New Covenant is, by Divine Providence, the end toward which all history has moved, the New Covenant had no beginning.

Heb 13:20 "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant…"

(6) Covenants always involve blood and cutting.

(7) Covenants have rules and regulations of administration and enforcement.

(a) The Mosaic Law

Heb 9:1 "Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary."

(b) The New Covenant Laws, found in the New Testament, primarily in the Sermon on the Mount and the Epistles.

** Heb 8:1-6

d. Does a covenant have to be specifically named a covenant in order to be a covenant?

(1) Yes.

(2) Reason: God made great pains to call certain things “covenants,” and He purposely avoided calling other things “covenants.”

(3) Had God wanted us to refer to these things as “covenants,” He would have named them as such.

e. What is a Covenant?

“…A covenant is an unchangeable, divinely-imposed, legal agreement between God and man that stipulates the conditions of their relationship…” [4]

“…Although this definition includes the word ‘agreement’ in order to show that there are two parties, God and man, who must enter into the provisions of the relationship, the phrase “divinely imposed” is also included to show that man can never negotiate with God or change the terms of the covenant: he can only accept them or reject them…[the Bible]…did not use the ordinary Greek word for contracts or agreements in which both parties were equal (syntheke), but rather chose a less common word, diatheke, which emphasized that the provisions of the covenant were laid down by one of the parties only. ( In fact, the word diatheke was often used to refer to a “testament” or “will” that a person would leave to assign the distribution of his or her goods after death). [5]

3. The Non-Covenants: Things that others have sometimes called “covenants.”

a. The Purpose of God—called by some, “the covenant of redemption.” 1 Pet 1:18-20


b. The Rules Given to Adam—called by some, the Edenic Covenant, or the Covenant of Works.

c. Readings: Gen 1:26-31, Gen 2:7-17

d. The Threat that contained a Promise—called by some, the Adamic Covenant, by others The Covenant of Grace. Reading: Gen 3:15-22—God says it is not a covenant—He never calls it one.


4. The Covenants: Things God Calls “Covenant.”


a. The Noahic Covenants—one before the flood and one after. Reading: Gen 6:4-5, Gen 9


b. The Abrahamic Covenant—Readings: Gen 12:1-3, Gen 15, Gen 17:1-3


c. The Mosaic Covenant—Readings: Ex 19

f. The Covenant with Eleazer—the priestly covenant—Num 25:11-13
g. The Covenant in Moab—the misunderstood covenant—Readings: Deut 29-30
h. The Davidic Covenant—Readings: 2 Sam 7:8-16, 2 Sam 23:5-6, Ps 89:34, Jer 33:20-21
i. The New Covenant—Readings: Jer 31:31-3


Applications

1. God deals with man by way of Covenants.

2. If you want to know how to live for God in this day, you need to know which covenant you are under, and how to live in that Covenant.

3. If you are His today, you live under the New Covenant, and it is this covenant that you should use to guide your life.

4. If you are lost today, Christ offers you the New Covenant in His blood, which is the only way of salvation there has ever been, and which is the only way to live forever.

[1] Strongs Hebrew-Greek Dictionary, Parson’s Quickverse@ for Windows, 1992-97, Parson’s Technology.
[2] Ibid.
[3] Ibid.
[4] Wayne Grudem, Systematic Theology, An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 1994, page 515.
[5] Ibid.