The Scriptures express the nature of divine covenants as

a necessary part of intelligently comprehending Gods

redemptive work in human history. Divine covenants
contain a clear and lasting significance as to their
importance in the manner in which God redeems men. A
covenant is a bond in blood sovereignly administered by
God. It is a bond that binds people together. It is a bond
of life and death in blood demonstrating the ultimacy of the
act of covenanting. It is a bond that is sovereignly
administered by God that disregards human bartering or
contracting that regularly characterizes the manner in
which fallen men attempt to merit salvation.
Covenants are not continually mentioned by the word
covenant in Scripture. For instance, there is no mention
of the word covenant before Genesis 6:18, but there is
ample Scriptural and theological evidence for a covenant
based on the analogy of faith during those chapters in
various circumstances, both with Adam and with the New
Covenant echoed in Genesis 3:15. Covenantal
relationships are clearly present though covenantal terms
may be absent. For instance, creation is covenantal, as
Jeremiah 33:20-26 asserts, but in the creation narrative
there is no mention of covenant. Hosea 6:7 also
demonstrates that Adam was in covenant with God though
the passages concerning his creation and placement in
the Garden of Eden does not mention covenant as a
term. Thus, covenantal concepts do not have to utilize
covenantal terms in order to convey those covenantal
realities.
As Scripture demonstrates a series of covenantal
relationships through redemptive history, the student
comes to understand that the covenants made with Noah,
Abraham, Moses, David and the New Covenant remain in
perfect unity both in structure and theme. There is a
structural unity that is perceived in these covenants as
previous covenant administrations are built upon by later
covenants, rather than replacing them. Covenantal

inaugurations demonstrate this, such as with the case of

Abraham and his covenant extending to Gods purposes
with Israel in their covenantal expressions. The
genealogical realities in covenantal succession with
Abraham , Moses and David demonstrate not that they
are different covenants, but that they are successive of
one divine covenant. Even in the fulfillment of the New
covenant in Christ, past covenants are referred to in order
to demonstrate the continuity, not discontinuity, of those
divine employments. One must also consider the thematic
unity of the covenants in recognition to the manner in
which God relates to his people. God does not have a
plan a in covenant one and a plan b in covenant
two. Rather, the New Covenant is the fulfillment of the
one covenant demonstrated in its progressive stages
through redemptive history. God will be a God to His
people, and this will never change. Saving these people
(the elect) through Jesus Christ is the single unifying
theme that transcends all the covenant expressions.
Though there is unity in the covenants, duplication of the
same material over and over again by divine revelation is
not given. Each covenant builds and progresses in their
respective applications. That does not mean the former
covenants are annulled, rather, it means that the
continuity is established in their respective administrations
of divine revelation. There is a parallel between the
Covenant of Redemption (pre-creation) that the Trinity
engages in, and the post creation Covenant of Grace that
demonstrates salvation to men in time. There is also the
distinction in comparing time related covenant expressions
such as with the Covenant of Works and a Covenant of
Grace. The Covenant of Works is applied to man before
the fall, in his probation period to uphold the Law covenant
of God. The Covenant of Grace is used to describe the
relationship of God to fallen individuals in order to redeem
His elect and to punish the wicked who reject the
covenant stipulations. There are also concepts

designating a difference between the Old Covenant and

the New Covenant. This shows the diversity between the
time before Christ came and the time subsequent to His
coming. In seeing their diversity based on divine
revelation, the following order may be helpful: Adam the
covenant of commencement; Noah the covenant of
preservation; Abraham the covenant of promise; Moses
the covenant of law; David the covenant of the
kingdom; and Christ the covenant of consummation.
The original covenant between God and man may be
termed the Covenant of Creation. This focuses on the
relationship between man and God as his Creator. It is
seen explicitly in the pattern of the Sabbath and the
blessed day that Adam was to enjoy as a result of the
Sabbath instituted by God in working six days and resting
one day (a divine pattern for all men for all time). This
Sabbath rest is subsequently seen through the remainder
of redemptive history, culminating in the work of Christ
resting in His resurrection in the completion of His work
given to Him of the Father and mimicking the pattern set
down by God in creation. Marriage is also seen in this
Creation Covenant as a mark of the further redemptive
mystery of Christ and His church. Adam failed in keeping
the Covenant at this time in his period of probation, failing
to uphold the focal point of the Covenant obedience to
Gods law. As a result of his transgression, Christ must
penetrate time to redeem men that He may restore them
back into fellowship with their God; this time not only as
Creator, but also as Savior.
In a more focal aspect to the Covenant of Creation, God
sets up Adam in a probation period in the garden called
the covenant of commencement, or Covenant of Works.
When Adam breaks this covenant, God pronounces a
curse on Satan (Gen. 3:14-15), the man and the woman. It
should be noted that Gods redemptive purposes in
salvation are directed to the serpent demonstrating His
supremacy that the power of darkness shall not overthrow

the power of God to save fallen men. Two genealogical

seeds shall spring forth from this junction: the seed of the
woman, by which God will save men, and the seed of the
serpent, those left in darkness and under the dominion of
the serpent. The woman is cursed in bringing these
children in to the world, though god will redeem them. She
is also cursed to desire, or have dominion, over her
husband, but her husband must not allow this, and rather,
rule over her. The man is cursed in that he was created to
rule the earth, but now, the dust of the earth shall rule him
in his sweat and toil upon it.
With Adam and Eve the two lines or seeds are seen, and
in the next covenant with Noah, the unfolding of these
lines is demonstrated. Four passages explicate the nature
of the covenant with Noah Genesis 6:17-22, 8:20-22,
9:1-7 and 9:8-17. In this covenant, God binds together His
purpose for creation and redemption. Though God is
going to redeem and preserve creation, the peculiarity of
grace is also seen with Noah in that he and his family
alone are saved, and the rest of the earth perishes. God
saves Noah in a covenantal relationship that is founded on
the family. Here, the family is preserved and will become
the redemptive focus of Gods plan through successive
ages, and into the age of consummation. Though God
does press home the focal point of family, He also
engages all of creation which benefits from the covenant
God makes with Noah; this is seen in the repetition of the
expression all flesh. This covenant that God cuts with
Noah is exceedingly gracious as emphasized by the
rainbow (the warrior bow of God) that does not point down
to man but up to God. Here, it is as if God is saying that if
He breaks covenant with Noah, and with creation, He will
reap the consequences of His own malediction. In these
passages, though, both Gods gracious character in
saving people by covenant families, and His wrath poured
out by the flood upon the wickedness of the seed of the
serpent, are clearly present.

With Abraham, God makes a covenant of promise. Here

God dictates the terms of His gracious covenant in
families, and through the promised seed. God passes
through the pieces of the animals that Abraham arranges
in his deep sleep and vision, in order to cut the covenant
and swear by Himself. By the immutability of His promise
this continuation of the Covenant of Grace will be upheld.
God binds Himself to the creature in a blood-oath that
ratifies the divine promises as sure. Not only is this a
critical point in the heralding of redemptive history in many
aspects, but the future New Covenant rests on the reality
of the Abrahamic promises as referred to by both
Jeremiah (chapter 31-34) and Hebrews (9:15-20). The
death of the testator, who is Christ, activates the
provisions of Gods will in His promises. Jesus Christ
fulfills the Abrahamic promise and sets in real time the
fulfilled covenant testated by His death.
Circumcision is the seal of the Abrahamic promise given
to Abraham and his offspring as seal in their flesh of the
covenant of God. Circumcision symbolized regeneration
(or the need for cleansing and its process) and it
symbolized inclusion in the covenant community of God.
Circumcising the foreskin of the male organ did this. The
propagation of the seeds of men demonstrates the
particular interest God has in placing such a sign on the
procreative organ of the male. It is not simply a national
badge of covenant inclusion, but a symbol of regeneration
needed in all those for whom it is administered. It has no
real positive value unless it is joined to the true
righteousness that is represents and is fulfilled in the
death of Christ. Those who are regenerated in Christ are
seen as spiritually circumcised. This is the circumcision
not made with hands, and since it is a partner to
cleansing, the proper role of baptisms symbolic union with
Christ is seen as the fulfillment of circumcision in the New
Testament.
The Mosaic Covenant is the demonstration of the

resurgence of the Law given to Adam in the Covenant of

Works. It takes on the role of the suzerain Hittite treaty
forms. It serves as a single mode of administering the
Covenant of Redemption as Law. It is an external
summation of Gods will and Gods Law. It is the undergirding covenant stipulations that demonstrate true
obedience for any who wish to receive eternal life. Fallen
men cannot keep this law and need a Mediator, which is
the purpose of its resurgence in the Mosaic economy it
points us to Christ. It is the scaffolding that will be
ultimately fulfilled when the Savior dies, and substantiates
the reality of the Law Covenant. The Christian, then, is not
freed from the Mosaic Law since it is a reflection of the
character of God. Rather, the Christian is lead back to the
Law by the hand of Christ and helped by the power of the
Spirit to keep it. The hand of God in accordance with his
Law chastens Christians who continue to live in unchaste
ways. Even when they reach heaven, the Law, based on
their rewards, will judge them according to their works. In
any case, the Covenant of Law is consummated in Jesus
Christ and is upheld by Him in the fulfillment of His work
on behalf of the elect.
There is need to pause here to determine whether the
Bible speaks of dispensations, as in Dispensational
theology, or in Covenants, as attributed to Covenant
Theology. Dispensationalism has desired to overthrow the
covenant structure in recent years and thus the question is
important. Dispensationalism, as outlined by men like
Charles Ryrie, see Adams covenant as a dispensation of
innocencey under a simple test. They reinterpret the
Covenant with Adam after the fall as the dispensation of
conscience and do away altogether with the Covenant of
Redemption (which is clearly removed as a concept in the
Scofield Bible). Next is the dispensation of human
government, not the Covenant with Noah. The
dispensation of promise is then seen with Abraham, and
moves into its twofold aspect to Gods dealing with men:

one an earthly travail with the Jews, and one a heavenly

promise ultimately to those who trust in Christ. The
dispensation of Law then follows, setting up the Jewish
nation distinct form the church. The covenant of the
Kingdom with David is lacking in dispensational theology,
and they rather mix this concept into the Mosaic institution
through the entire history of Israel. In the New Covenant
there is the dispensation of Grace, which the Jews reject,
and the church is then established aside from the Jewish
nation. Lastly comes the dispensation of the fullness of
time in which the millennial kingdom will be set up with
Christ as the head for one thousand years. Dispensational
theology, though, represents an arbitrary imposition on the
biblical order and creates a human design that is not
structured in the Scriptural history of Gods redemptive
work.
With David, the Covenant of the Kingdom reaches it
culmination as far as it can in Old Testament history (2
Samuel 7; 1Kings 2:1-14; 1 Kings 8-9. To this point we
find God imposing a type of rest on the people of God in
waiting for the Messiah to come to consummate the
covenant of Grace. There are two pivotal promises given
in this covenant. One is given to David and the other is
given in respect to Jerusalem. Davids lineage will sit
enthroned on behalf of Israel. Secondly, the central aspect
of worship and rule find their fulfillment in Jerusalem, the
city of God. It s conditional nature on obedience is seen
through the entire history of the Kings, but is founded
upon the faithfulness of God to uphold the Davidic line
something they could not do without His help.
In Christ Jesus the covenant of Grace is fulfilled, or
consummated. Christ represents not only the deliverance
of Israel, but also the judgment of the coming King to bring
forth the righteous rule of God on His people who have
been wayward. Both themes of judgment and grace are
wrapped up in the consummation of the coming Messiah
who brings the Holy Spirit in a baptism of fire. In the

coming King the eschatological dimension of the

Abrahamic covenant and the prophecies of the Old
Testament come to light. The everlasting nature of those
prophecies and covenants are seen in their present
realties in the death and resurrection of the Messiah who
expiates the sin of His people and propitiates the wrath of
God on behalf of them for eternal salvation. The covenant
of Jeremiah 31 especially demonstrates this
eschatological continuity into fulfillment, its expectation of
consummation upon the return of the Christ, and the end
of the fallen dimension of sin. In the new kingdom all will
know the Lord, from the least to the greatest. The form of
the Old Covenant passes away but the promises of the
covenant are fulfilled in Christ. Types, shadows and
ceremonies have no use in the fulfilled covenant. The
promises to the covenant community are fulfilled and their
future community of bliss is established. The actual
oneness of the redeemed sinner with God is the final
expectation in the New Covenant that is consummated
and ratified in Jesus Christ.