| The Christian Life | October 1944 |
God’s Covenants
THE Scriptural use of the term covenant, as descriptive of the relationship between God and His creatures, conveys the idea of being in harmony with Him. Thus, when one enters into covenant relationship with God it means that he agrees to do God’s will, and God has agreed to accept him and bless him because of this mutual understanding. The Scriptures also use the term covenant with reference to God’s solemn promise to do certain things for His creatures. For example, God promised Noah that He never again would destroy all flesh with a flood. This was an unconditional promise or agreement on God’s part to do something that was in His plan to do irrespective of Noah’s acquiescence in the Lord’s arrangements.
To a large extent the term covenant, as used by God, is pictorial in that it conveys to our minds a state of at-one-ment with the Creator in contrast to a condition of alienation from Him. It does not mean that an individual, in entering into covenant relationship with God, signs a literal document or agreement, but rather that in his heart he gives assent to the divine will and determines faithfully to obey that will.
There are five special covenants referred to in the Bible related to God’s plan. The first of these describes the relationship which existed between Adam and the Creator. The prophet speaks of this, saying, “But they [the Israelites] like Adam, have transgressed the covenant.” (Hosea 6:7 marginal translation) Adam was in covenant relationship with God as soon as he was created. God’s law was written in his heart, and he was able to keep that law because he was perfect. Man’s part in this covenant was to obey his Creator. This was the least he could do to show his appreciation for his existence and for the manifold blessings of life bestowed upon him. God’s part was to continue man’s life indefinitely, provided man continued to obey His law.
But Adam broke that original covenant, and brought upon himself the penalty of death. God was not bound to continue Adam’s life after he had violated the covenant to which he was a party. Under this covenant it was necessary for Adam to pay for his wrongdoing, and the only means of paying was by the surrender of his life. Thus, by his breaking of the covenant, Adam lost his friendly relationship with the Creator, and also lost life.
The second covenant mentioned in the Scriptures is that recorded in Genesis 9:8-13. It is the covenant which God established with Noah, assuring him that never again would all flesh be destroyed by a flood of waters. God sealed this covenant with the rainbow. It was a one-sided covenant in the sense that it represented only that which God promised to do. The promise was made to Noah without asking him to obligate himself in any way in connection therewith.
The third covenant is the great oath-bound covenant made with Abraham and his seed by which God agreed to bless all mankind through that seed. The apostle, speaking of this, says that because God “could swear by no greater, He sware by Himself”—thus sealing this covenant by His oath. (Heb. 6:13) This divine promise to Abraham was two-fold: (1) Abraham’s seed was to inherit the land of promise, and (2) “in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.” (Gen. 13:14-17; 17:8; 22:18) In Genesis 15:18, this oath-bound promise to Abraham is specifically called a covenant, and in Galatians 3:17, the Apostle Paul also calls it a covenant.
Later, another covenant is brought to our attention in the Scriptures. This is the law covenant, entered into between God and the house of Israel at Mount Sinai. This covenant promised life to Israel in return for obedience to its terms. However, as we read in Hosea 6:7, the Israelites, like Adam, broke the covenant. Because the Israelites did not faithfully keep their part of the covenant they failed to receive the blessing of life which God promised as His part of the agreement. While they did not obtain life in this covenant, nevertheless they were furnished many valuable lessons. The apostle tells us that the law was a schoolmaster or pedagogue (child leader, Greek) to “bring us unto Christ.”—Gal. 3:19,24
True, while not many Israelites during the Jewish age learned the lesson of the law—that is, they did not, because of their failure to keep the law, learn their need of Christ as a Redeemer—yet God is not through dealing with them, and when the proper time comes for their eyes to be opened, the lessons of the law will be of inestimable value to them. Meanwhile we, who can look back upon Israel’s failure, already have learned the lesson that only through the Redeemer is it possible for any member of the fallen race to come back into harmony with the Creator and live.
The final great covenant mentioned in the Scriptures is described in Jeremiah 31:31-34 as the “new covenant.” The prophet explains the reason for its name, saying that it is a new covenant because it takes the place of the original law covenant. This covenant, the Scriptures show, is to be made with those who previously had participated in the covenant inaugurated at Mount Sinai. The principal facts concerning the new covenant are that it is made with the “house of Israel and with the house of Judah;” and that the law of the covenant is written in the inward parts and in the hearts of the people.
The prophet also shows that when this covenant is instituted its effects will be so universal that all shall know the Lord “from the least … unto the greatest.” This covenant will be so far-reaching and all-inclusive that it will no longer be necessary for teachers to instruct the people in the law of God, and sins of Israel and mankind will no longer he remembered by the Lord.
The Scriptures clearly show that under the operation of the new covenant, the law of God will be imbedded in the hearts of and control the lives of the people. Hence it will mean the re-establishment of that original covenant relationship which existed between God and father Adam. It will include Adam and the entire race that lost life because of his disobedience, for Jesus died “the just for the unjust [Adam and his posterity].” See R.V. I Peter 3:18
The Abrahamic Covenant
Examining more carefully God’s covenant with Abraham, we notice that it contains not only the promise of blessing, but also provides for the development of the seed through which the blessings are to be dispensed. In chapters 3 and 4 of Paul’s epistle to the Galatians we are furnished with considerable information concerning the larger meaning of this covenant. In chapter 3, verse 16, the apostle identifies Jesus as the seed of promise, and in the 27th and 29th verses explains that the followers of Jesus who become members of His body, or church, by being baptized into death with Him, are also to be considered as a part of the promised seed.
In the 4th chapter, the apostle discusses the experiences of Abraham in connection with the birth of Isaac and Ishmael, referring to them as an allegory. The Israelites, Paul reminds us, were the natural descendants of Abraham, and as such were pictured by Ishmael, the son of Abraham’s bondmaid. Ishmael’s mother was a bondmaid. This finds its comparison in the law covenant which brought bondage to the natural descendants of the patriarch.
The apostle further explains that in this allegory, Sarah, Abraham’s legitimate wife who gave birth to Isaac, represents the covenant arrangements by which the real seed of promise is brought forth. Then the apostle adds, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” (Galatians 4:28) It is significant, we believe, that Isaac the typical seed of promise, representing, according to Paul’s inspired explanation, Jesus and His church, was offered in sacrifice. While God did not permit the patriarch actually to slay his son, nevertheless the sacrifice was made in sufficient fullness to warrant our looking upon it as prefiguring the sacrifice of Jesus, and the church as the antitypical Isaac class.—Heb. 11:17-19
God’s covenant in which He promised to bless all the families of the earth calls for the offering of sacrifice. No blessing should be considered sufficiently far-reaching to fulfill this wondrous promise to Abraham except the blessing of everlasting life, yet those whom He promised to bless were under condemnation to death. This clearly implies that the seed of promise, through which the blessings were to reach mankind, would of necessity be a provision for the cancellation of the death penalty which prevents mankind from enjoying everlasting life.
In father Abraham’s offering of his son Isaac as a sacrifice, we have a beautiful illustration of the fact that in order for the Heavenly Father to fulfill His promise to bless mankind through the seed of Abraham He would offer up His own Son in sacrifice. Isaac’s willing acquiescence in his father’s obedience to God exemplifies the fact that Jesus would, Himself, gladly co-operate with His Father by voluntarily laying down His life that those whom He came into the world to bless might live.
As already noted, the Apostle Paul includes the church as a part of the antitypical Isaac or seed of promise, saying, “Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.” (Gal. 4:28) The offering up of Isaac as a sacrifice, therefore, not only foreshadowed the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, the Head of the church, but also prefigured the sacrifice of the body members of The Christ. The offering of sacrifice is one of the necessary qualifications to become a part of the spiritual seed of Abraham. In Psalm 50:5, the Lord says, “Gather My saints together unto Me, those that have made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” From this it is plain that we, as the followers of Jesus, enter into the covenant under which the seed of promise is developed by virtue of joining in the sacrifice necessary for all the seed class as foreshadowed in Isaac.
The Blessing of the People
God’s promise to Abraham included more than merely the development of the Isaac class. The purpose in producing the seed of promise is the blessing of all the families of the earth through that seed. In the further use of the thought of a covenant, the Scriptures point out that the blessing of mankind, as promised by God to father Abraham, is to come through what is styled the new covenant.—Jer. 31:31-34
While the promise of the new covenant is made specifically to the “house of Israel and the house of Judah,” nevertheless in Ezekiel 16:60-62 the Lord explains that its blessings are to extend to the Gentiles, who will come into the covenant together with the natural descendants of Abraham, thus fulfilling completely God’s promise to bless all the nations.
When Paul wrote his epistle to the Hebrews in an effort to strengthen their faith and revive their zeal, he quoted the new covenant promise of the Old Testament, explaining that their hopes as centered in it were to be realized and made possible through the redemptive work of Christ. He shows, furthermore, that the church in this Gospel age is very closely associated with the new covenant. On account of this, some have mistakenly supposed that the church shares in the new covenant blessings, that its members are developed under its terms. However, a more careful study of the Scriptures which associates the church with the new covenant shows that this is not the correct viewpoint.
We have another example in the Scriptures of the church being associated with a phase of God’s plan, namely, with the Kingdom of God. Hebrews 12:28 reads: “Wherefore we receiving a Kingdom which cannot he moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.” Any who misunderstand God’s plan to the point of believing that the Kingdom of Christ was established at Pentecost naturally would use this text to prove such an erroneous viewpoint. However, we know that the actual establishment of the Kingdom for the blessing of the people is still future, yet the apostle says that we have been given a Kingdom. This means simply that we have been given the opportunity of becoming kings in that Kingdom, and that in accepting the invitation to suffer with Christ we are already looked upon as a part of that Kingdom in its preparatory stages.
It is in exactly the same manner that the apostle associates Christians with the prophecies relating to the new covenant. One of the obvious proofs that the Kingdom of Christ was not established at the beginning of the Gospel age is the fact that the many promises of Kingdom blessings have not been realized by the people. The same is true concerning the new covenant. It is to be established with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, with its blessings extending to all nations. It calls for the reconciliation of all the willing of mankind to God, so complete and universal that, according to the prophet, no one will need to say to his neighbor, “Know the Lord,” for all shall know Him “from the least unto the greatest.” (Jeremiah 31:34) Surely this is not true as yet, which means that the new covenant has not yet been established.
Just as the Scriptures show that the relationship of Christians to the Kingdom of Christ is that of joint-heirs with Him as kings, so our relationship to the new covenant is as ministers of reconciliation, co-mediators with Jesus, the Great Mediator of the new covenant. The church, then, as the seed of Abraham, is not brought forth under the terms of the new covenant, but is developed upon the basis of sacrifice to be ministers or servants of that covenant. From this standpoint, and this standpoint alone, perfect harmony is found in all the prophetic teachings relative to the new covenant.
Glorified With Him
Now notice where the apostle puts the church in this picture. Hebrews 2:10; 3:1; 6:19 and 10:19 show the church to be in line for a position in the antitypical Most Holy with Jesus, sharing His glory, made one with Him in all things—His brethren who are thus exalted to glory by the way of suffering and death. These are they who will “appear with Him” in the Kingdom to bless the people. (Heb. 9:27,28; Col. 3:2-4; Rom. 8:18-22; Matt. 25:31; Rev. 2:26,27; 3:21; 5:10; 20:4,6) There can be no question concerning the meaning of the combined testimony of these Scriptures; namely, that the church is to occupy a position with Jesus in administering the future blessing of the world. Also, shown in Hebrews 9:28, the blessings of life under the new covenant will not come to the world until He “shall appear the second time,” and that will be when the church appears with Him as His joint-heir and bride.
Hebrews 8:6 is another enlightening statement—“But now hath He [Christ] obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also He is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.” Notice that Jesus’ ministry of the new covenant is that of Mediator. Couple with this the statement of II Corinthians 3:6 where the same apostle tells us that we also are made “able ministers of the new covenant,” and we have the proper setting of the church in the entire picture; namely, that the church with Jesus, are the executors, the ministers or servants of the new covenant, established for the express purpose of blessing the people who will come under that covenant arrangement.
In the language of the Scriptures the new covenant is spoken of as being made, but with whom? The answer is with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. (Jer. 31:31,32; Heb. 8:8,9) The preparatory work for establishing this covenant began with the sacrificial ministry of Jesus. As students of the Word we need always to guard against the human tendency of circumscribing God’s works by attempting to bring them within the scope of our own limited viewpoint. The making of the old law covenant at Sinai required, in all, but a few days, but the making of the new covenant which takes its place requires, first, nearly two thousand years of this Gospel age during which the sacrificial arrangements of the covenant are carried out, and then, the thousand years of Christ’s reign during which the terms of the covenant are made known to the house of Israel and all nations, and upon the basis of that knowledge the peoples of earth are brought into at-one-ment with their God.
The apostle’s lesson in II Corinthians 3, where he tells us that we have been made able ministers, or servants, of the new covenant, indicates a two-fold ministry. First, there is the sacrificial phase of that ministry. As ministers of reconciliation with Jesus, we share in the sacrificial work of this preparatory age. Then there is the “glory” phase of the ministry, which Paul indicates was pre-figured by the glory of Moses’ countenance when he came down from Sinai bearing the tables of the law. This glory, Paul shows, is as yet something for which the church merely hopes. It is not now a reality. The work of the ministry while the church is still in the flesh is one of sacrifice and suffering. The ministry of the new covenant in glory will follow the completion of the church when we are glorified together with Christ.
One of the strongest Scriptural proofs that the church as the “seed” of promise is not brought forth under the terms of the new covenant, is the fact that its members are specifically designated as “ministers” of that covenant. When two parties enter into a covenant or contract with each other, and employ an attorney to assist in negotiating the terms of the covenant, it is clearly understood that the attorney is not a party to the contract—he is the servant who helps to negotiate it. So all the members of the church are ministers of the new covenant, and therefore cannot possibly be in that covenant, or parties thereto.
Paul’s lesson of the typical and antitypical covenants as set forth in II Corinthians 3:3-12 refers to the tables of stone upon which the law of the old covenant was written and he explains that the church’s ministry of the new covenant is similar to the service rendered by those tables of stone. In verse 3 he compares those tables with the fleshly tables of our hearts on which the law of the new covenant is written. A moment’s reflection on the fact that the law of the typical covenant was written on those typical tables before the covenant itself was established with the people should be sufficient to convince us that the antitypical (or new) covenant cannot be inaugurated until the antitypical tables of stone are prepared and appear with Christ in glory—as was represented by Moses coming down from the mount bearing the typical tables of stone.
Thus we see that the work of this Gospel age is the writing of God’s Jaw in the hearts of those who, in glory with Jesus, are to serve as able ministers of the new covenant. This does not mean that the church is developed under that covenant, but rather, is now being prepared to administer its laws to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah, and through them to the whole world. An attorney who aids in making a contract or covenant between two or more persons must first acquaint himself thoroughly with the terms of the contract to be executed, so the church must do likewise in order to be properly qualified. for her future work of reconciliation.
This preparatory work of the Gospel age is beautifully foreshadowed in the type. Moses took the two tables of stone up into the mount, and we read that “the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.”—Exodus 34:5-7
This proclamation of God’s glory has reflected in it all the elements of God’s character as they are revealed to the church through the divine plan of the ages. As this proclamation was made to Moses, the law of God was written on the typical tables of stone. How clearly this foreshadows the work and purpose of God during this Gospel age. Throughout the entire age the truth of God’s plan has been proclaimed. Those who have heard it and responded in full consecration, yielding themselves to its hallowed influence, have had the righteousness of God, His law, written in their hearts. Thus they have been prepared to be the epistles of Christ to enlighten and bless the world under the new covenant, even as the tables of stone were the epistles of Moses which bore the message of the law to Israel under the typical covenant.
The great economy of God is seen in the fact that the proclaiming of the truth, under the influence of which the epistles of Christ are written, is done by the church. Faithfulness in this calls for sacrifice, the laying down of life itself—for the brethren. Thus it is that the sacrificial phase of our ministry of the new covenant is utilized for the preparation of that covenant. First of all, however, the sacrifice of Christ, the shed blood of that sacrifice, was necessary to make our sacrifice acceptable. Hence, His blood is said to be the blood of the new covenant—it makes acceptable the sacrifice of those who will share with Christ in the administration of the new covenant, and later it will cleanse away the sins of those who receive restitution life under its terms.
For This Cause
A further confirmatory explanation of the twofold manner in which Christ’s blood is the blood of the new covenant is set forth in Hebrews 9:13-15. The 13th and 14th verses show that the blood is for the purifying of our flesh in order that our service of God—which is a sacrificial service of the new covenant—might be acceptable. In verse 15 he adds, “And for this cause” that is, cleansing from sin, “He is the Mediator of the new testament, that by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions that were under the first testament, they which are called might receive the promise of eternal inheritance.”
The lesson here is plain. Not only does the blood of Christ purge the church, but for this cause, namely the purging of sins, Jesus will mediate the new covenant in order that those who transgressed the law of the old covenant may also be purged of their sins. In this way those who were called under that covenant will receive the fulfillment of the promise of eternal inheritance.
That this 15th verse is not describing blessings of the true church under the new covenant is obvious for the reason that the followers of the Master are not those who transgressed under the old covenant. The expression, “those which are called,” is a reference to the Jewish nation. These were a called people, called to receive an eternal inheritance. In Romans 11:26-29, Paul discusses this same subject showing not only that the call of natural Israel is to be made good but that this will be accomplished through the new covenant, under which, as God promised, the sins of Israel will be taken away.
That sanctification of the church by the blood of the new covenant has to do with preparing its servants, and does not mean that Christians are under that covenant is clearly shown in Hebrews 9:9. Referring to the high priest entering into the Most Holy every year, the apostle says, “Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make them that did the service perfect as pertaining to the conscience.” Ah, yes, that was one great weakness of the law covenant; namely, that the sacrifices then offered could not make its servants perfect. Having imperfect servants, the covenant could not produce the desired results on behalf of those who were served.
But how different it will be with the new covenant! Its servants are all to be perfect. Jesus, the great High Priest and Mediator, was already perfect; and through the merit of His perfect sacrifice, the church, His “brethren,” who are made one with Him—associates in the priesthood and in the mediatorship—are made perfect. And this is the part of the new covenant work that is now in progress, and has been in progress since the beginning of the age; namely, the preparation, the perfecting of its future servants—the “ministers of reconciliation.”—II Corinthians 5:18
Because the mediatorship of the new covenant will be in the hands of Jesus and His church, made perfect through His blood, the final and complete establishment of that covenant with the people will mean that all mankind has been restored to perfect harmony and oneness with the Creator. The terms of the covenant will be inscribed, as it were, in the very hearts of the people. They will be restored in mental, moral and physical perfection to the image of God, in which Adam was originally created.
The human race then will be in a position of covenant relationship with God similar to that enjoyed by father Adam before he sinned. God’s plan to bring about this work of restitution will have been completed. The blessings of human restitution promised under the new covenant will have been dispensed by Jesus and His church, brought forth under the Sarah feature of the Abrahamic covenant upon the basis of their joint-sacrifice even unto death.
What a glorious prospect is thus held out to the followers of Jesus now! We still have the opportunity of proving our worthiness of being a part of the antitypical Isaac class. Let us remember that we prove our worthiness of this exalted position in the divine program of reconciling a lost and sin-sick world upon the basis of our willingness to lay down our lives in sacrifice.