Covenants come in all sizes and shapes, so to speak. Most times they are between two or more parties. Treaties could be described as covenants. They are formal and informal, bi-lateral and unilateral agreements. And many times they are used in a legal context, marriages, religious and theological. It is of Latin origin (con venire), meaning coming together. It (berit) is seen some 280 times in the Old Testament and possibly 33 in the New Testament. Needless to say, they are at all times serious and sacred.
Bible scholars point to at least five, if not seven biblical covenants made by God and/or with God. These are all most likely very familiar to you as you study the Scriptures, or sit under biblical teaching. In order, they are:
Edenic: Covenant of creation
Adamic: Covenant with mankind
Noahic: Covenant with Noah/the rainbow
Abrahamic: Covenant with Abraham/three blessings
Mosaic: Covenant with Moses/restoration of wisdom
Davidic: Covenant with David/eternal kingship
Renewed (New): God’s promise and restoration/sealed by the atoning blood of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit
There is a powerful covenantal promise recorded in Jeremiah, which pointed to the new covenant through the blood of Jesus Christ. God said that he was going to do something new. That which had not ever been done before. “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jer. 31. 33,34).
You, as a Believer, are a recipient of this covenant, and it is eternal. The new covenant is the promise that God makes with mankind that he will forgive sin and restore communion with those whose hearts believe in his Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the mediator of the new covenant, and his death on the cross is the basis of the promise.
There is uniqueness in all of these covenants. But the one that has intrigued me was the Abrahamic covenant with Abram. Long story short, God brought together slain animals, withtorches on either side to make a pathway for him to walk through. He put Abram to sleep, and walked alone through the sacrifices and torches. The gist of this was that if either party did not keep their part of a covenant, it would be done to them as it was done to the animals that were sacrificed. God knew that Abram could not keep his part faithfully so he walked alone and made a covenant with himself. That’s just who God is, and that’s how powerful the covenants are in our lives. And the final act of him sealing the covenant was the sending of the Holy Spirit tolead mankind to Christ, and to indwell them, pointing them to Jesus and empowering them in their/our walk.
Our Lord is a covenant keeping God. He cannot go against his word. He is not a liar. You can count on him through thick or thin. If he went so far as to seal the new covenant in his Son’sblood, what more will he not do for you and me that believe in his Son. The gospel of Jesus Christ is the very essence of the new covenant. Believer, victory is assured!