The Everlasting Covenant I

The Old Covenant

The old covenant is a social contract between God and Abraham, which the Lord God dictated and commanded to Abraham and all his descendants, generations after generations.

Fundamentally, it was for Abraham and God's people to walk before God faithfully and blamelessly. The Ten Commandments embody the principles by which the people can achieve what God has commanded. It was an everlasting covenant.

However, God's people were mostly in apostasy, going their own way and worshiping other gods, even idols. This turning away led to their rejection by God as shown by the destruction of Jerusalem and death of all except the so-called remnant - the remaining faithful.

Genesis 17: 1-16 NIV

When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.”

Abram fell face down, and God said to him, “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 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. The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God.”

Then God said to Abraham, “As for you, you must keep my covenant, you and your descendants after you for the generations to come. This is my covenant with you and your descendants after you, the covenant you are to keep: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You are to undergo circumcision, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and you. For the generations to come every male among you who is eight days old must be circumcised, including those born in your household or bought with money from a foreigner—those who are not your offspring. Whether born in your household or bought with your money, they must be circumcised. My covenant in your flesh is to be an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male, who has not been circumcised in the flesh, will be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

God also said to Abraham, “As for Sarai your wife, you are no longer to call her Sarai; her name will be Sarah. I will bless her and will surely give you a son by her. I will bless her so that she will be the mother of nations; kings of peoples will come from her.”

The New Covenant

The new covenant has the same terms, i.e., walk with God faithfully and blamelessly, as the old covenant. It's new in the sense that God has fulfilled his promise to send the promised offspring in the person of Jesus, the Christ. Now, all humankind, has no reason to disbelieve God for through Jesus Christ, God came down in the flesh - visible and observable - to live faithfully and blamelessly on earth.

On top of that, Jesus sacrificed himself - with his blood as ransom for all those who believe. And his resurrection and ascension to heaven make certain the trustworthiness of the promised redemption of God's people. Sitting as High Priest, he qualifies and makes perfect all that are truly faithful. And he sends the Spirit to tabernacle in them to teach and seal all truth in them. Thus sealed their salvation is assured.

Hebrews 8:7-12 NIV

For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said:

“The days are coming, declares the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel
and with the people of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant
I made with their ancestors
when I took them by the hand
to lead them out of Egypt,
because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,
and I turned away from them,
declares the Lord.
This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel
after that time, declares the Lord.
I will put my laws in their minds
and write them on their hearts.
I will be their God,
and they will be my people.
No longer will they teach their neighbor,
or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest.
For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

Epilogue

 What was wrong with the old covenant that it should be replaced with a new one? 

It was not the terms of the contract that was wrong but that the people broke it. The latter cannot keep the commands, decrees and laws of the covenant. Unbelief did them in.

To correct this undesirable and condemnation-worthy situation, God made a new covenant with Israel, which acquired a new meaning - the Gentiles were accepted into the fold that once was the sole privilege of the Israelites. This ushered in Christianity as we know it today supplanting the failed and rejected Israel - the church of the wilderness.

To be continued in The Everlasting Covenant II