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I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant
between me and you and your descendants after you
for the generations to come,
to be your God and the God
of your descendants after you
(Genesis 17:7).
Background music attribution: The O’Neill Brothers Group, The Holly & The Ivy from Joyous Christmas Carols on Piano
From that first sin in Eden’s garden, it spread like a raging wildfire.
But God extended promise to mankind through a series of subsequent covenants.
Each covenant God made built upon each other. It began with Adam, then Noah, Abraham, through Moses at Sinai, to King David, and a culmination with the New Covenant through Christ Jesus.
The covenant of circumcision with Abraham was in the flesh (Genesis 17:9-14). However, the covenant of the Christ is of the heart (Romans 2:29).
The promises varied, as well—with the first for a serpent-crushing Seed, to an eternal King, to salvation. The promise of a new covenant included forgiveness and regeneration and was guaranteed by God’s unbreakable oath (Hebrews 6:13-14).
All of them pointed to the Coming One of God.
Most covenants were accompanied with signs. The sign of the Noahic covenant was the rainbow. Circumcision was a sign of the Abrahamic covenant. The Mosaic covenant came with the Law and the sacrificial system—to serve as a guardian until the Messiah came (Galatians 3:24). The Davidic covenant established an everlasting kingdom. And the sign of the new covenant is baptism (Colossians 2:11-12), along with the memorial observance of the Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23-25).
Both Zechariah (Luke 1:72-73) and Peter (Acts 3:25-26) testified that Jesus was confirmation that God had indeed kept His covenants. As did Paul (2 Corinthians 3:5-7). And we further learn from the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews that Jesus is the Mediator of the New Covenant, a covenant far superior to its predecessors (Hebrews 9:15; 8:6).
God promised to redeem mankind; ultimately, so He would be our God and we, His people (Jeremiah 31:33).
Our Covenantal God is a relational God.
Flowing from a desire to maintain a relationship with all of His creation, God prepared an eternal covenant—now available to all who enter into His Son, Immanuel, God with us. It’s a covenant that will outlast time.
God’s covenants—prepared from the foundations before time—reveal the character and the heart of God. They are beautiful . . . complex . . . and everlasting. And they prepare our faith with unwavering hope in a God who is faithful to all His promises.