I, the LORD, have called You in righteousness, And will hold Your hand; I will keep You and give You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the Gentiles, 7 To open blind eyes, To bring out prisoners from the prison, Those who sit in darkness from the prison house. Isaiah 42:6–7 (NKJV)
Covenant theology holds that throughout history God has related to mankind via covenants, which are solemn promises, beginning in the Garden of Eden after Adam’s sin. There God promised to a non-Israelite to send a Messiah who would crush Satan.
And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; He shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” Genesis 3:15 (NASB95)
Obviously, one could not in any way fathom at this point that this promise might be restrictive or narrow in scope. From that time forward, the Bible looks forward to that promise coming true, which it turns out came via a person called Jesus of Nazareth.
Everything in the Bible points to Jesus. If we are to understand the New Covenant, we must grasp this key point.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. John 5:39–40 (NASB95)
The second major covenant that pointed to Christ was given to Abraham. God promised Abraham that one of his descendants would be a blessing to the entire earth.
“In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.” Genesis 22:18 (NASB95)
This promise, like the one God gave in the garden, was worldwide in scope.
Although the Jews later had great difficulty accepting this, Paul said that the New Covenant unwrapped a great mystery that God’s plan through Abraham’s descendant, Jesus, would produce a blessing that would go far beyond Israel to include the nations.
For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles— 2 if indeed you have heard of the stewardship of God’s grace which was given to me for you; 3 that by revelation there was made known to me the mystery, as I wrote before in brief. 4 By referring to this, when you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ, 5 which in other generations was not made known to the sons of men, as it has now been revealed to His holy apostles and prophets in the Spirit; 6 to be specific, that the Gentiles are fellow heirs and fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel, Ephesians 3:1–6 (NASB95)
The great covenant was made between God and King David. The Lord promised that one of David’s descendants would rule God’s kingdom forever.
When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. 13 “He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 2 Samuel 7:12–13 (NASB95)
We now see through the lens of hindsight that Jesus perfectly fulfilled these promises, as the first apostles taught.
“And so, because he [David] was a prophet and knew that GOD HAD SWORN TO HIM WITH AN OATH TO SEAT one OF HIS DESCENDANTS ON HIS THRONE, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that HE WAS NEITHER ABANDONED TO HADES, NOR DID His flesh SUFFER DECAY. 32 “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. 33 “Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. 34 “For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: ‘THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, 35 UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET.” ’ 36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.” Acts 2:30–36 (NASB95)
Once again, this promise was not limited to Israel, for Jesus would establish his own kingdom, one that will never end over all the heavens and earth.
And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18–20 (NASB95)
Jesus, the eternal Logos become flesh, in the beginning created the heavens and earth, the seen and unseen realms (John 1:3). Eventually, as promised, he came in the flesh as a baby born through a miraculous conception (John 1:14). He came to earth to redeem mankind by paying the debt incurred by our sin. He imparted his right standing with God to us, reconciled us to his Father, set us free from all that enslaves us, and sent his Holy Spirit to indwell all who put their faith and allegiance in him. He took back the authority Adam gave to Satan, restoring God’s rule on the earth. Eventually he will come a second time in glory to raise the dead, judge all who ever lived, and rule over a new heaven and earth.
Paul wrote that God’s purpose was to sum up all things in Christ.
...with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth... Ephesians 1:10 (NASB95)
This means the glorification of the Son of God is the goal of everything God the Father has done, is doing, and will do.
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:18 (NASB95)
In the New Covenant Christ fulfilled all the previous covenants.
The Edenic, Abrahamic, and Davidic covenants were fulfilled beyond expectation. I will cover that in more detail later. The Mosaic law covenant was also fulfilled and subsequently abolished because it no longer served any purpose for those who belong to Christ.
For Christ has already accomplished the purpose for which the law was given. As a result, all who believe in him are made right with God. Romans 10:4 (NLT)
Our Lord released us from its death dealing tyranny of condemnation and judgment. By doing this, Jesus united Jew and Gentile. There no longer exists any wall or barrier between us.
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. 14 For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, 15 by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace, 16 and might reconcile them both in one body to God through the cross, by it having put to death the enmity. 17 AND HE CAME AND PREACHED PEACE TO YOU WHO WERE FAR AWAY, AND PEACE TO THOSE WHO WERE NEAR; 18 for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. Ephesians 2:13–18 (NASB95)
Much to the surprise of the early Jewish Christians, the New Covenant equally includes both Jews and Gentiles. The Body of Christ, which Paul calls “one new man,” is made up of all people who confess allegiance to Jesus the Lord. There is no distinction any longer between Jew and Gentile, male and female, free and slave, rich and poor, young and old, etc. We are all one in Christ.
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s descendants, heirs according to promise. Galatians 3:28–29 (NASB95)
The above passage by itself destroys dispensationalism.
Everything in the Bible and God’s historical interactions with people points to Jesus. God’s plan culminates in our Lord, who will have first place in all things.
He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. Colossians 1:18 (NASB95)
