Covenant Theology – God’s Promise To Man
(Written by
Kevin A. Hall 04.28.17)
One thing is clear, the Lord made covenants with man
throughout history. We can call them reminders of God’s gracious promises. The
first time I notice the word being used is during the time of Noah where God
declared “I will establish my Covenant with you, and you shall go into the ark –
you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you” … We call this the
Noahic covenant. Ketcherside states that God has chosen to relate to man on the
basis of covenants. In the case of the Nohaic covenant, we see the God – man stipulations:
God sets the conditions; He gives the terms; He signs the covenant. This approach
is repeated throughout human history in a series of other covenants -The
Abrahamic, the Mosaic, the Davidic and the New Covenant.
The Mosaic covenant is called the First covenant. It is also
called the Covenant of Law or the Mosaic Law. Deuteronomy 4:11-13 attests to
that. There is enough evidence to support the argument that the Law is not
simply the first 39 books of the Bible. One example is reference to Jeremiah 31:31
which proves that the people had already broken the First Covenant and 31:32
which states that the first covenant was made when “God took them by the hand
to bring them out of the land of Egypt.
The Law was considered faulty (Hebrews 8:7). We could not be
justified by it (Galatians 3:10). The Law itself was not weak, but man was, as
he was not able to keep it perfectly (Romans 8:1-3). The Law itself could not
give life, nor could it effect the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 10:4). Man was aware that he needed something more.
Even though “he went away from the worship services having met its
requirements, he was conscious that it could not fully meet the needs (Reese,
150). Therefore, the Lord sought a more excellent way. This was prophesied in
Jeremiah 31:31-34. The benefits of this New Covenant would include (1) The
Forgiveness of sins; (2) Direct and personal access to Almighty God; (3) Reconciliation
– God makes the promise that He will be our God as we become His people; (4)
The Ministry of the Indwelling Holy Spirit that will govern us from the inside.
This is the source of our Christian Liberty.
