No matter what stage of life we are in, we often find ourselves making weighty, life-changing decisions that involve binding agreements and require much thought, counseling, and prayer. Whether we are involved in a major purchase or write a last will and testament, we are all familiar with the practice of signing a document in order to legally prove that some kind of formal agreement has been made between two parties. Our society depends on legally binding contracts; it is as though we intuitively recognize that something needs to happen that solidifies a level of commitment that is beyond mere verbal consent, often involving eyewitness verification and testimony. We also instinctively understand that when such promises are broken, there needs to be some form of retribution or consequence; whether it is a hefty fine or in some cases, even jail time!
What I just described to you forms the basis of what the definition of a covenant is. Though not a term that finds its way in most people’s everyday vocabulary in our day and age, a covenant at its most basic level is an agreement that is made between two parties. In his book Covenant and God’s Purpose for the World, Thomas Schreiner (who himself is not a dispensationalist but is nonetheless insightful on this topic), expands on that definition a bit and describes it this way: “A covenant is a chosen relationship in which two parties make binding promises to each other“. [1] The reason why we as human beings have such an innate understanding of the seriousness of legally binding “covenants” is simple: the Bible teaches us that we are made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and our Creator is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. But because of the Fall and because of our sinful nature as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, we come woefully short of living out the biblical standard of what a covenant truly means. Unlike the many aforementioned examples of contracts we interact with in our daily lives, a biblically defined covenant goes much deeper than a legal document: it is binding at the deepest possible level.
As an example, consider marriage. Marriage is God’s original institution that He created for mankind, an institution that is defined as a covenant union between one man and one woman for life. Jesus would later say, when talking about marriage, “What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate” (Matthew 19:6). This is why we say the vows that we do on our wedding day, and why contained in those vows is the phrase, “until death do us part.” Sadly, our society today, including many even within the visible church, has largely abandoned the covenantal nature of marriage and has instead adopted a worldly standard, treating marriage as a mere contract on paper that can be easily dissolved by the state. But, while we may have changed insofar as how we no longer uphold the sacredness of marriage and how we attempt to redefine marriage itself in today’s LGBT-affirming society, the biblical standard of the marriage covenant never changes because the God who instituted marriage never changes (Malachi 3:6).
While we most often tend to think of a covenant between two people strictly in marital relationships, that’s not the only kind of human relationship in the Bible where covenants are involved. A covenant can also simply be a lifelong vow of friendship between two people. One such notable example of this found in Scripture is the friendship between David and Jonathan. In 1 Samuel 18, we read about how Jonathan loved his friend David and wanted to do everything he could to protect him from his father King Saul, knowing full well that he was risking his own life by doing so. In verse 3 we read, “Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself”. Our present-day society wants to use this text to paint God as gay-affirming, but this is in no way the case and it is nothing more than a deep, binding friendship.
As important as marriage is, and as special as friendships are, such as that between David and Jonathan, these are only earthly relationships. There is another kind of covenantal relationship that is far greater, that of which marriage itself is ultimately a picture: the heavenly relationship that God has with His people. As we will see throughout this series, God has made various covenants with His people throughout redemptive history. In fact, we can go so far as to say that the whole of Scripture is written in covenantal language. As John Owen wrote concerning the covenants, “For the Doctrine hereof, or the truth herein, is the very centre wherein all the lines concerning the grace of God and our own duty do meet, wherein the whole of religion doth consist”. When God made Adam and commanded him as to what he could and could not do, He effectively made a covenant with him, and by extension all of humanity for all time (Genesis 2:16-17). God later made a covenant with Noah and all of post-Flood humanity: with Abraham and his descendants, with Moses and the people of Israel, and with David and the promised heir to his throne.
Notice how the progression of these covenants is from the broadest scope of humanity to a single person in all of history. This is not a coincidence, for it is God reminding us in His Word that history is His story, and it is moving in one direction, towards one person. 2,000 years ago, that very person came into this world. God took on human flesh and became a man: the man called Jesus of Nazareth. He is the Second Adam who did not fail to keep the covenant like the first Adam did. He is the promised Seed of Abraham through whom all the nations of the world will be blessed. He is the true Israelite who never transgressed against God’s Law. He is the promised eternal Ruler who forever sits on David’s throne and will one day consummate His universal reign when He returns in glory to usher in a world full of righteousness, peace, and justice. It is through Christ that we who are recipients of God’s saving grace can enjoy all the blessings of the new and better covenant. Next time, we will begin to look at how all of these covenants have been kept and fulfilled in the person and work of Jesus Christ, starting with the very first covenant made with our first parents in the Garden of Eden.
[1] (Schreiner, 2017)