God's Covenants

In the Beginning
Audio MP3

At that time ye were without Christ … strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. —Ephesians 2:12

God’s covenants are the foundation of  his plan of salvation for mankind. He has used the covenants to show his unwavering commitment to fulfill his promises by turning those promises into legal agreements. God has also used his covenants to hold others accountable to their obligations under these agreements. Some of these have been uni-lateral (one-sided) where God promised to take certain actions. Other agreements are bi-lateral (two-sided) and require certain conditions to be met to receive God’s blessings.

Through these agreements God gave our first parents an opportunity for everlasting life and promised that Abraham’s seed would be as the “stars of the heaven” and the “sand which is upon the sea shore” (Genesis 2:16,17; 22:17). God provided types and shadows of his plan of salvation in the Law Covenant and developed Christ and the church as mankind’s deliverer under the Grace Covenant (Hebrews 10:1; Galatians 3:16,29). Under the New Covenant, God will bless all the families of the earth (Hebrews 8:10-12).

This issue of The Herald focuses on the covenants God made with his human creation. Obey and Live describes the covenant of obedience God established with Adam in the garden of Eden. The Rainbow Covenant explains what led to the deluge and how God promised Noah he would never again destroy all flesh with a flood.

The Harmony of the Covenants shows how the covenants providing mankind’s salvation are related to each other. God’s promise to bless all the families of the earth through the Abrahamic Covenant is discussed in All the Nations Shall Be Blessed. This is followed by What Was the Purpose of the Law? which describes how the Law Covenant was Israel’s guide to lead them to Christ.

The Barren One Will Rejoice reveals how the promise of a spiritual seed in the Abrahamic covenant will result in the development of The Christ, head and body. I Will Make a New Covenant explains how the New Covenant  will convert all mankind into earthly sons of God.

We end with a verse-by-verse study of Jeremiah 31, a chapter wherein the prophet describes the blessings God will bring to all under the New Covenant.