Did God make one covenant with the world, or two covenants, one with the Children of Israel and a separate covenant with the rest of the world? Did God make one covenant a covenant of grace and one covenant a covenant of works? In order to answer those questions we must go back and follow the covenant(s) and the giving of the covenant(s).
The best place to begin is the beginning, Genesis and the first giving of the covenant, or the giving of the first covenant. In Genesis, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God stepped in and gave His first covenant promise, the promise of a Savior, a Messiah who would take care of the sin of Adam and Eve. To Adam and Eve God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Notice that at this point in history there is only Adam and Eve, there is not a Jew and a Gentile. This covenant, this promise is being made by God to all people of all places of all times.
Moving on in history, following the flood and the tower of Babel, we get to the point where the Lord moves to reiterate His covenant and to narrow the family line through whom the covenant will be fulfilled. Out of all the people of the world God chose Abram, whose name He later changed to Abraham. “1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3). Notice again, this is not a new covenant, but this is a narrowing of the line of the fulfillment of the covenant as the Lord says that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
To Abraham’s son Isaac God promised, “3bI will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:3b-5). Notice again that this was not a new covenant, but was a reiteration of the narrowing of the covenant that through the Seed of Isaac, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
Next, to Jacob, Isaac’s son, God promised, “13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:13-14). Notice again that this was not a new covenant, but was a reiteration of the narrowing of the covenant that through the Seed of Jacob, “shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
When we move into the New Testament, we hear John the Baptist say to the Pharisees, “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” (Matt. 3:9; cf. Luke 3:8). This is not a covenant of DNA, but a covenant of faith and grace.
Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees, said, “39They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did” (John 8:39-40). This is not a covenant of works, but a covenant of faith and grace, the same as the original covenant given in the Garden of Eden.
And finally, Paul, speaking to us Christians says, “6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom. 9:6-8). And he goes on to say, “7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:7-8). We are not children of Abraham by DNA, by genetics, by birth, but by faith. Paul echos God’s Word in Genesis, to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is on covenant that God makes with all nations and that is the covenant of grace, beginning with Adam and Eve, being fulfilled in Jesus, and being ours by God’s grace, through the faith which He gives to us.
The best place to begin is the beginning, Genesis and the first giving of the covenant, or the giving of the first covenant. In Genesis, immediately after Adam and Eve sinned, God stepped in and gave His first covenant promise, the promise of a Savior, a Messiah who would take care of the sin of Adam and Eve. To Adam and Eve God said, “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel” (Gen. 3:15). Notice that at this point in history there is only Adam and Eve, there is not a Jew and a Gentile. This covenant, this promise is being made by God to all people of all places of all times.
Moving on in history, following the flood and the tower of Babel, we get to the point where the Lord moves to reiterate His covenant and to narrow the family line through whom the covenant will be fulfilled. Out of all the people of the world God chose Abram, whose name He later changed to Abraham. “1Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you. 2And I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. 3I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Gen. 12:1-3). Notice again, this is not a new covenant, but this is a narrowing of the line of the fulfillment of the covenant as the Lord says that “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
To Abraham’s son Isaac God promised, “3bI will be with you and will bless you, for to you and to your offspring I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath that I swore to Abraham your father. 4I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, 5because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge, my commandments, my statutes, and my laws” (Gen. 26:3b-5). Notice again that this was not a new covenant, but was a reiteration of the narrowing of the covenant that through the Seed of Isaac, “all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.”
Next, to Jacob, Isaac’s son, God promised, “13And behold, the Lord stood above it and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac. The land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring. 14Your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south, and in you and your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 28:13-14). Notice again that this was not a new covenant, but was a reiteration of the narrowing of the covenant that through the Seed of Jacob, “shall all the families of the earth be blessed.”
When we move into the New Testament, we hear John the Baptist say to the Pharisees, “And do not presume to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father,’ for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham” (Matt. 3:9; cf. Luke 3:8). This is not a covenant of DNA, but a covenant of faith and grace.
Jesus, speaking to the Pharisees, said, “39They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did” (John 8:39-40). This is not a covenant of works, but a covenant of faith and grace, the same as the original covenant given in the Garden of Eden.
And finally, Paul, speaking to us Christians says, “6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel, 7and not all are children of Abraham because they are his offspring, but “Through Isaac shall your offspring be named.” 8This means that it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring” (Rom. 9:6-8). And he goes on to say, “7Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed” (Gal. 3:7-8). We are not children of Abraham by DNA, by genetics, by birth, but by faith. Paul echos God’s Word in Genesis, to Adam and Eve, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. There is on covenant that God makes with all nations and that is the covenant of grace, beginning with Adam and Eve, being fulfilled in Jesus, and being ours by God’s grace, through the faith which He gives to us.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.