Covenant Religion, Part 6: Introduction to the First Mass-Redemptive Covenant

The first mass-redemptive covenant is the Mosaic Covenant that was delivered to Moses on the Mount Sinai after Israel had departed Egypt. Various other covenants were created before this, but I believe the Mosaic covenant eventually became the full realization of those; it was merely a formal establishment of a covenant that was already in place.

The use of animal sacrifices was seen very early on. Hebrews 10 tells us, “For the law, having a shadow of the good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with these same sacrifices, which they offer continually year by year, make those who approach perfect….For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins.” (Heb. 10:1,4) The sacrifices of animals that we see as far back as Adam’s time were a foreshadowing of God’s perfect plan.

These sacrifices were signified by the leaves that Adam and Eve used to cover themselves originally. They provided a covering, but it was not perfect so God made for them “tunics of skin, and clothed them.” (Gen. 3:21) Now it’s interesting to consider here that God could have easily told them to make their own tunics. After all, labor was a part of the curse that was upon the human race a result of sin. But the writer of Genesis clearly points out that it was God who made the covering.

Notice the nature of this act: the leaves failed to provide a sufficient covering, so God Himself shed the blood of a living creature to produce proper clothing for Adam and Eve’s shame. Surely this pointed forward to a time when “it pleased the LORD to bruise [Jesus]…to make His soul an offering for sin.” (Isa. 53:10)

By the fourth chapter of Genesis we see the sons of Adam and Eve making sacrifices to God. At one point we see that Cain and Abel each offered different sacrifices—one offered fruit and the other offered an animal sacrifice. (Gen. 4:1-4) At this point, the symbolism takes on a new dimension. As we have seen the animal skins as a covering were the literal sufficiency of physical nakedness, and it was the vegetation that proved to be an inadequate substitute. Now, in Cain and Abel’s situation, they were working on a symbolic level. Therefore, it is the animal sacrifice that is insufficient and it’s Jesus’ sacrifice that is the spiritual efficacy; and vegetation has no place in the story. Even though we see grain offerings and the like under the Mosaic Covenant, animal sacrifices had a specific purpose for underscoring our need for a Substitute. Grain offerings were meant to display thanksgiving, while sacrifices were used when asking for forgiveness of sin. Of course then, this understanding would explain why God was displeased with Cain’s vegetable offering. (Gen. 4:5)

Cain’s failure highlights a prominent human tendency. In each covenant we will see those who try to enter the covenant by their own means. In our day, it is even common for believers to reduce the Gospel by identifying a work, or set of works, that solicit entrance into God’s covenant of favor. This modern evangelical typicality is constructed on an improper understanding of the covenant relationship.

Covenant Religion, Part 5: The Nature of Redemptive Covenants

After the fall, our fallen state becomes the backdrop of redemptive history.

God didn’t just let us alone after we sinned. The rest of the Bible from the account of the fall on presents a God who is sovereignly and inscrutably reaching out to humanity. The way He does this is through redemptive covenants.

In the next section I will lay out some more of the symbols that accompany God’s work with humanity after the fall, but for now I would like to discuss the nature of these covenants as we move forward.

The best way to organize the covenants is not to separate each one. Instead we can divide God’s redeeming work into two basic categories: promise and fulfillment. Now there are promises and fulfillment in all the covenants, but in speaking of their nature, I mean to say that the ones in the Old Testament are forward-looking and incomplete, while the New Testament gospel reflects and accomplishes the various aspects of the covenants before it.

We first see the mention of a new covenant from the prophets in the Old Testament. (Jer. 31:31-34) This covenant was unveiled and instituted with the coming of Christ. What we must understand from the beginning is that the New Covenant is not just another covenant; it is not simply an improved covenant; and it is not “Plan B.” The New Covenant is the perfection of God’s redemptive plan! God’s purpose in His covenants to His people in the Old Testament was not a let’s-try-this-and-see-if-it-works, Plan A, but was designed to set a stage for the covenant that would go into the entire world and be offered to all people.

To understand the nature of the New Covenant, think of a man who worked his whole life to accomplish something. Finally he finished it and everyone admired it. The whole Old Testament gives us the history of God’s work—all of it leading up to the presentation of “the kingdom of God.” (Mark 1:15, also called “the kingdom of heaven” in Mat. 3:2) The time between the fall (in Genesis) and Christ’s coming was a time when God was working and preparing for the induction of the New Covenant, where His Son would be glorified through the salvation of many from all nations. The purpose of the New Covenant (the kingdom of God on earth) is to glorify Jesus.

What we see plainly in the book of Genesis is that God planned to glorify Jesus through the evil that had entered the world. And His coming was the realization of that fact. However, one must ask, “If God’s purpose for fallen humanity was to be glorified through His Son in saving some, why didn’t Jesus come soon after the fall? That way we could have glorified him for 6,000 years instead of just 2,000.”

Well, the basis of the New Covenant is salvation by faith. “He who believes in the Son has everlasting life; and he who does not believe the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him.” (John 3:36) In other words, those who believe in Jesus will be saved, and those who won’t will remain in their fallen state. But God doesn’t expect us to embark on a blind faith in this perfected covenant. Belief in Jesus was designed to be reasonable. For example, that’s why Jesus performed miracles; He rose from the dead; no one could charge Him with sin (John 8:46); but most importantly, He fulfilled 4,000 years of promises! The Old Testament gives us hundreds of detailed prophecies that were fulfilled in Christ’s coming. But it was more than that: The events that were recorded in the Old Testament point indiscriminately at Christ’s life. And this is what Jesus pointed out to His disciples as soon as He rose from the dead. (Luke 24:27)

As a believer under the New Covenant, I have never seen Jesus perform any miracles, and I didn’t see Him rise from the dead. But I do see the awesome fulfillment of the Old Testament in Him. And that’s part of the reason I have no problem believing that He rose from the dead—even to the extent that I can put my whole trust in Him, and devote myself entirely to Him.

As we move forward, I believe it will be easy for you to see that the instatement of God’s covenants in the Old Testament are the revelation of the all-knowing mind of God as He prepares for the entrance of the Son. That’s what the Old Testament is about.

Covenant Religion, Part 4: The Edenic Covenant (Part 2)

I will continue to discuss the physical representations within the Edenic Covenant because it will be important to understand these types of connections when we look at the other two covenants.

Though Adam and Eve immediately died in a spiritual sense when they failed to trust God, He was merciful and allowed them to maintain physical life a little longer. However, He wasn’t done physically demonstrating the nature of their plight.

First of all, Adam and Eve immediately tried to cover up their shame of nakedness by sewing fig leaves together to make coverings. (Gen. 3:7) But when God came walking in the garden, they hid themselves. (Gen. 3:8) They had removed the leaves from their life source (the tree), and probably by the time God came looking for them, those leaves had started to wilt and fall apart. This conclusion would explain their need to hide themselves when God came walking in the garden. The wilted leaves showed them two things:

1. Though God didn’t immediately kill them for sinning, they had plucked themselves from their spiritual source of life, and they would soon return to dust. (Gen. 3:19)

2. And, any attempts that they could make to cover up their own shame would fail.

So they had committed sin, died spiritually, and God came and asked, “What is this you have done?” (Gen. 3:13) The spiritual truth represented here? “It is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgment.” (Heb. 9:27)

Adam’s sin warranted the removal of God’s presence in the human realm; from that moment on, humans became enemies of God.

Consequently, Adam and Eve were kicked out of the Garden of Eden. (Gen. 3:23) The purpose of God kicking them out of the garden was so they wouldn’t “take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever.” (Gen. 3:22) I believe that this tree of life represented God’s grace and presence. This proverbial booting was a picture of man being thrown out and left to his own devices, apart from God. The fall, as the phrase implies, had an ending that was as definite as its beginning. Adam and Eve, along with the rest of humanity, found themselves at the bottom of that fall. They had died spiritually, and introduced spiritual death to the whole of human existence.

The natural end of this is seen in Genesis 6: “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (vs. 5) This verse describes the darkness that flooded man’s heart when the light of God’s grace was removed.

So the stage is set. Humankind is now fallen from the presence and good favor of God. And so begins the history of God’s redemptive plan.

Covenant Religion, Part 3: The Edenic Covenant (Part 1)

I plan to only discuss the main three covenants that God has made with the human race. Though other, smaller covenants existed, the ones that I will study are the two “mass-redemptive” covenants and the first covenant. I will discuss the other covenants in terms of the main covenants. This is the approach that Andrew Murray used in his book The Two Covenants. This method is probably the least confusing way to approach covenant theology. Also, some covenants appear within others, and if you’re not careful, you may start to create artificial dichotomizations.
The Edenic Covenant was the first covenant that God made with humankind. It’s important to understand the implications and content of this covenant because the other two that I will discuss become necessary only when this one is broken.
In simple terms, the Edenic Covenant includes the promises that God made to humans if they fulfilled their purpose as His image-bearers. “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.’” (Gen. 1:26) God was good and He made humans good. (Ecc. 7:29) Additionally, all of God’s creation was good; in fact, it was “very good.” (Gen. 1:31) Man’s duty was to bear God’s image and to upkeep His perfect creation (as it expanded) in the good order in which it was created.
God’s first commandment in this covenant was, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (Gen. 1:28) This task would be no problem as long as humans maintained spiritual life.
However, in order to do that, they had to trust God completely. I believe that it is this trust that formed the foundation of the Edenic Covenant. This fact is seen in another commandment, namely, that Adam and his wife were allowed to eat of any tree in the Garden of Eden except for the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree that contrasted that one was the tree of life. Obviously, God was the tree of life. The real choice in the garden was between trusting God and trusting self. The choice between the two trees was whether Adam wanted to trust God to lead him into all righteousness, or whether he wanted to be responsible for choosing his own way.
In each of the covenants that I will discuss, you will see the presence of a physical law. The purpose of the physical law is not to determine our standing before God, but to demonstrate our attitude toward Him. In other words, it’s not what makes or breaks us, but what shows if we are in or out. To illustrate this, I want you to think of an indicator strip that is used to test water for the presence of chlorine. If you place the indicator strip in water and it turns a color to indicate that there is chlorine present, you understand that it’s not the strip that makes the water contain this chemical. The chlorine was already present, and the indicator strip simply made that fact evident. In much the same way, a physical law gives us an objective understanding of our position before God, as well as providing Him an objective witness. (Rom. 3:19)
Because we are physical beings, it is necessary that God communicates to us in a physical way. God could have told Adam and Eve, “The moment you fail to trust Me completely, you shall surely die.” Instead, He created a tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The only way that Adam could have failed to trust God is if he turned to trusting himself. And what would have been the first thing about himself that he could have trusted? His wisdom—his ability to choose for himself what was right and wrong. So God strategically placed this thing called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil next to the tree of life, and told Adam and Eve if that the very day they ate of it, they would die. So what happened?
Satan deceived Eve and convinced her and her husband to distrust God, and to turn instead to their own wisdom. When they failed to trust God, they sinned. Of course when that happened, there was no way that they would be able to keep from eating of the forbidden fruit. It was the natural end of their failure. God’s promise was that they would die on the day they partook of the fruit. James points out that “each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” (Jam. 1:14-15) So was it the outward sin that brought forth death for Adam and Eve, or the spiritual sin of failing to trust God?
The answer is, “both.” Physical sin was the outward work that demonstrated the nature of the spiritual evil they committed. And physical death was the result of that outward sin, which of course, was a representation of their spiritual demise resulting from their spiritual sin.
In simple terms, physical disobedience is the outworking of spiritual sin; it physically demonstrates our spiritual nature. And physical death is the consequence of physical sin; it physically demonstrates our spiritual state.
God said that the day that Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit they would “surly die.” It was almost as if God were saying, “The day you eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, know this: you have died.” Of course He must have meant that would be their physical sign to show that they were not right with Him. And this plan worked because even though they had failed to trust God before they ate the fruit, it wasn’t until after they had eaten that they knew they were naked.
As soon as they ate that forbidden fruit they knew something was wrong. They had become guilty before God. And God had set it up perfectly so that they would have a physical representation to show them that. The guilt and disobedient they had physically experienced was pointing to this: They were spiritually fallen from the grace of God; they had sinned; and “all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give an account.” (Heb. 4:13)

Covenant Religion, Part 2: Introduction to Covenant Requirements

As the Lord gives me understanding, longevity, and passion, I will seek to lay out the various ways God has reached out to mankind through covenants. But for now, it’s important to understand that the way in which God decides to offer Himself to mankind at any given time in history must be the way in which they are saved. If God says He will save in one way, and a human thinks to be saved in another fashion, there is no hope for that soul. If God says that He will not justify according to the works of the law (Gal. 2:16), and one seeks to be redeemed by the works of the law, they will not be saved. God sets the terms for His covenants because it is His salvation.
In the covenant that God made with national Israel in the Old Testament, He clearly told them that when they conquered foreign nations, they were not to seek to adapt their worship of Yahweh according to the practices of their conquered foes. God emphatically declared, “You shall not worship the LORD your God that way…” (Deut. 12:31) Those who try to reach out to God in a way that is not prescribed by Him, do so in futility because they worshiped what they do not know. (John 4: 22) When it came time for God’s covenant to be perfected in the New Testament, Jesus again laid the groundwork of an equally exclusive nature: To the Samarian woman (“the woman at the well”), Jesus stated, “You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:22-23) Jesus was telling the woman that she was worshiping in a way that was not honored by God, but the time had come for God-honoring worship to be redefined.
The whole point of the covenant requirements is that God is the One who is reaching out to us, and He makes the rules.
In the following discussion concerning the various covenants God has used, I will outline the specific requirements, but for now I just want you to realize the importance of the revealed guidelines.

Covenant Religion, Part 1: The Necessity of Covenants

How many religions will assert that their God has condescendence to enter into a covenant with them? For that matter, how many religions will even admit that they need such a thing?
The biblical understanding of redemption includes far more than “do this” and “don’t do that.” The Bible talks a lot about works, about love, about mercy, about forgiveness, about faith, and so on. However, it’s a big mistake to assume that any of those are the key to our acceptance before God. What I will seek to create in your mind is the understanding that things like justification, faith, works, redemption, sanctification, glorification, and the rest, are elements of covenants. In so saying, I hope to alleviate the conception that we should focus solely on any one of these means.
The big picture looks like this: Humans have been defiled and failed to be redeemed. And God has been loving and has not forsaken us.
But why do we need a legal pact like a covenant? Why can’t God just forgive us?
Such questions arise from a wrong perception of the spiritual world. The earth is not a classroom; it’s not a playground; and God didn’t simply place us here to see whether we would obey Him or not. We are caught right in the middle of a war between the forces of good and the forces of evil; between the powers of darkness and the powers of light; and between the realm of death and the realm of life.
The simple fact of the matter is you’re either on God’s side or you're on Satan’s side. So you see it’s not really an issue of whether your good deeds out way your bad and so on, but whether you’re fighting with God or against Him. The Pharisees of Jesus’ day were pretty good people on the outside, but Jesus told them that they were of their father, the devil—and that, not just because they did evil, but because they wanted to do evil. (John 8:44)
It's a shame that Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup. He sold his very livelihood to satisfy a craving and it brought him much sorrow. (Heb. 12:17) But what of this: Adam sold the human race to Satan for the ability to know what evil was. (I plan to discuss this more later.) Foolishness has marked our existence from the very beginning. When Adam sinned, birth itself became an enlistment into Satan’s army. David even says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me.” (Psa. 51:5) We can say from a human perspective that Adam started a tragic cycle. “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned.” (Rom. 5:12)
So it’s no wonder that we are born into a world that is quite alive but ever dying. If we were on God’s side, we could expect things to be very different, but as Thomas Boston points out: “Is man’s nature wholly corrupt? Then, no wonder that the grave opens its devouring mouth for us, as soon as the womb has cast us forth; and that the cradle is turned into a coffin, to receive the corrupt lump: for we are all, in a spiritual sense, are dead-born; yea, and filthy (Psa. 14:3), noisome, rank, and stinking as a corrupt thing, as the word imports.”
Paul tells us that if we sin, we fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23) In other words, he means that we’re not good enough to be part of God’s forces. So we need reconciliation: “For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” (Rom. 5:10)
Covenants are the way that God has extended His hand to some of His enemies. In the end, God’s going to win. But for us, it’s God’s love that determines the difference between destruction and redemption.