Faithful Steward Ministries and FSM Women's Outreach

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After I read the devotional below this morning I thought it would be a good reminder to all of both the sacrifice Christ made to become a human and the promise that God initiated with that covenant birth. What I found while doing research for the quote above and other references was that some profess from the pulpit or lectern that we too make covenants with God. Biblically I do not think that is possible. Read the following from A.W. Pink on Covenants:

The everlasting covenant or covenant of grace is that mutual agree­ment into which the Father entered with His Son before the founda­tion of the world respecting the salvation of His elect, Christ being appointed the mediator, He willingly consenting to be their head and representative. That there is a divine covenant to which Christ stands related, and that the great work which He performed here on earth was the discharge of His covenant office, is very plain from many Scriptures, first of all, from the covenant titles which He bears. In Isaiah 42:6 we hear the Father saying to the Son: “I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold throe hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles.” As a covenantee in it, Christ is thus “given” unto His people, as the pledge of all its blessings (cf. Rom. 8:32). He is the representative of His people in it. He is, in His n person and work, the sum and substance of it. He has fulfilled all its terms, and now dispenses its rewards.

I am sure you all saw it, the very active role man played in making promises (covenants) with God. Of course, no God is the Promise Keeper, not man. If man could have kept a promise we would still be in the Garden. Praise God, thank Him daily that His Word, His Promise, His Covenant, is a guarantee that nothing or no one can break.

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DEFINITION

COVENANT, n. [L, to come; a coming together; a meeting or agreement of minds.]

1. A mutual consent or agreement of two or more persons, to do or to forbear some act or thing; a contract; stipulation. A covenant is created by deed in writing, sealed and executed; or it may be implied in the contract.
2. A writing containing the terms of agreement or contract between parties; or the clause of agreement in a deed containing the covenant.
3. In theology, the covenant of works, is that implied in the commands, prohibitions, and promises of God; the promise of God to man, that mans perfect obedience should entitle him to happiness. This do, and live; that do, and die.
   The covenant of redemption, is the mutual agreement between the Father and Son, respecting the redemption of sinners by Christ.
   The covenant of grace, is that by which God engages to bestow salvation on man, upon the condition that man shall believe in Christ and yield obedience to the terms of the gospel.
4. In church affairs, a solemn agreement between the members of a church, that they will walk together according to the precepts of the gospel, in brotherly affection.
   COVENANT, v.i. To enter into a formal agreement; to stipulate; to bind ones self by contract. A covenants with B to convey to him a certain estate. When the terms are expressed ti has for before the thing or price.

They covenanted with him for thirty pieces of silver. Matthew 26.
COVENANT, v.t. To grant or promise by covenant.

1828 Webster Dictionary – https://1828.mshaffer.com/#:~:text=https%3A//1828.mshaffer.com

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Covenant. A mutually binding relationship between two or more parties. A covenantal relationship goes beyond a mere contractual relationship by its formation of genuine bonds between the parties. In theology, covenant refers to God’s gracious acts in establishing real relations with his human creatures. Theologians in the Reformed tradition have given special emphasis to the notions of covenant and covenant people in attempting to understand the biblical narrative.

C. Stephen Evans, Pocket Dictionary of Apologetics & Philosophy of Religion (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2002), 29.

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Covenants are relationships God establishes with people on the basis of His promises.

The covenants are a series of treaties or agreements that God has made with his people at different stages in their history. Typically, they contain promises that will be fulfilled if the people remain faithful to him; but even if they do not, they will never be completely abrogated. Israel turned away from God many times, not least by rejecting salvation in Christ, but they were never abandoned by God. Christians are also children of the covenants and heirs through hope of the promises that they contain. Some covenant promises remain to be fulfilled in the future, including the reign of eternal peace and the conversion of the full number of the children of Israel to Christ (Rom 11).

How many covenants there are has been a matter of debate. From earliest times there was general agreement that the coming of Christ ushered in a new coventantal era—the word “testament” is the same as “covenant” in both Hebrew and Greek. But the Old Testament was fulfilled in Christ, not abolished, and its true meaning has to be interpreted in that light. Theologians have therefore said that there is only one covenant people covering both Testaments, but that it is worked out or administered in different ways The old covenant is said to be an administration of law while the new (or renewed) covenant is an administration of grace. But this distinction, though helpful, can be simplistic; both administrations contain law and grace, though there is a difference of degree, since the new covenant reveals with the coming of Christ a greater degree and clarity of grace than does the old (John 1:17).

Some theologians have drawn a contrast between this new covenant, a covenant based in and fulfilled by God’s grace, with a covenant of creation (or covenant of works) originally given to Adam and Eve, based in the created order and fulfilled by faithfulness. This covenant was broken by Adam and is only ultimately fulfilled by Christ, the promised seed of Adam and Eve (Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4–5).

Within the new covenant or covenant of grace, there are different stages of development. Abraham was given a covenant rooted in justification by faith and sealed by the sign of circumcision. Later, this covenant was renewed with God’s people under Moses, who also gave them the law to govern their life as God’s people and to show them their need of Christ (Gal 3:15–29). There was a further renewal of the covenant in the time of David, when he was promised not only a kingdom but also heirs who would rule over it forever (2 Sam 7).

Jesus Christ came from the family of David, and theologians teach that all the covenants and their administrations have found their fulfilment in him. Jesus is not only the prophet of a new order but also the Word—he came to speak about himself and how all God’s promises find their fulfillment in him. He is not only the priest of the Mosaic law but also the sacrificial victim whom the priest offers up for the sins of the world. Finally, Christ is the king, the Son of David, and his people are united to him in his body, which is his kingdom. The limitations of the old administration under Moses have been overcome, and what was formerly manifested only in time and space is now fulfilled in heaven as a reminder of God’s faithfulness and trustworthiness as our Lord and Savior.

KEY VERSES – Ge 9:8–17; Ge 12:1–7; Ex 3:7–15; Jos 1:1–18; 2 Sa 7:2–16; 1 Ch 17:11–14; Is 59:20–21; Je 31:31–34; Je 32:38–40; Lk 1:50–55; Ro 11:11–36; 2 Co 3:1–18; Heb 8:1–13

Recommended Resources

Covenant: The History of a Biblical Idea (Hillers).
Introducing Covenant Theology (Horton).
The Covenant of Grace (Murray).
God’s Covenant, God’s Plan (Walton).

Gerald Bray, “Covenants,” in Lexham Survey of Theology, ed. Mark Ward et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018).

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DEVOTION

This covenant is divine in its origin. “HE hath made with me an everlasting covenant.” Oh, that great word HE! Stop, my soul. God, the everlasting Father, has positively made a covenant with thee; yes, that God who spake the world into existence by a word; he, stooping from his majesty, takes hold of thy hand and makes a covenant with thee. Is it not a deed, the stupendous condescension of which might ravish our hearts for ever if we could really understand it? “HE hath made with me a covenant.” A king has not made a covenant with me—that were somewhat; but the Prince of the kings of the earth, Shaddai, the Lord All-sufficient, the Jehovah of ages, the everlasting Elohim, “He hath made with me an everlasting covenant.” But notice, it is particular in its application. “Yet hath he made with ME an everlasting covenant.” Here lies the sweetness of it to each believer. It is nought for me that he made peace for the world; I want to know whether he made peace for me! It is little that he hath made a covenant, I want to know whether he has made a covenant with me. Blessed is the assurance that he hath made a covenant with me! If God the Holy Ghost gives me assurance of this, then his salvation is mine, his heart is mine, he himself is mine—he is my God.

This covenant is everlasting in its duration. An everlasting covenant means a covenant which had no beginning, and which shall never, never end. How sweet amidst all the uncertainties of life, to know that “the foundation of the Lord standeth sure,” and to have God’s own promise, “My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.” Like dying David, I will sing of this, even though my house be not so with God as my heart desireth.

C. H. Spurgeon, Morning and Evening: Daily Readings (London: Passmore & Alabaster, 1896).