The Final Covenant Between God and Man: The New Covenant

“For the Lord your God is a merciful God. He will not leave you or destroy you or forget the covenant [italics added] with your fathers that He swore to them” (Deuteronomy 4:31 English Standard Version). When one thinks of the word covenant, perhaps one thinks of a contract, or a marriage covenant, or just a promise made between two parties. During the biblical times, a covenant [diathēkē in Greek] is when two parties mutually agree to do certain things (Arnold & Beyer, 2015; Carpenter & Comfort, 2000; Elwell & Beitzel, 1988). A biblical covenant can also mean a sacred kinship bond between two parties which is secured by an oath or ritual (Barry et al., 2016). Covenants can be conditional or unconditional (Brand et al., 2003), but are always given by God to His people to improve the relationship humanity has with God. Describing a covenant in the simplest way would simply be a partnership between God and His crowning creation, humanity (“The Bible Project,” 2015). This essay will focus on the love story that God has with humanity by making covenants throughout biblical history culminating in the New Covenant ushered in by Christ during the New Testament period. As one reads the Gospels, Acts, Pauline Epistles, general epistles and the book of Revelation; Jesus is the central theme of the one who has fulfilled all the Old Testament covenants and promises and has ushered in the final covenant.

The New Covenant in the gospels

There are no other books in all of scripture that communicate the relationship and fulfillment between the Old and New Covenants like the Gospels. God has been writing the history of salvation or Heilsgeschichte ever since the fall of mankind (Fensham, 1971). This salvation plan has been made possible through stepping stones back to God’s original design called covenants. In the Gospels Jesus Christ ushers in this New Covenant by His life and His blood. Jesus during the last supper before His crucifixion said, “This cup that is poured out for you is the New Covenant in my blood (Luke 22:20; Mark 14:24; Matthew 26:28). If one examines covenant rituals during the Old Testament times, one should remember that a covenant usually consisted of a meal and a sacrifice (Fensham, 1971). One does not have to look very hard to find parallels regarding Christ’s institution of this New Covenant by comparing it with Exodus 24. After God lays down the ten commandments and law for Israel, the Sinai Covenant is made. Scripture says, “And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Exodus 24:8). It is during this covenantal ceremony that it is initiated by blood but also a meal was eaten to celebrate this covenant (Exodus 24:11). Jesus now is sitting with the disciples at the last supper [meal] during the Passover and initiates a New Covenant which would be with His own blood shed at the cross (Fensham, 1971). This type of perfect synergy can only be accomplished by God through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Within the Gospels another beautiful piece of Heilsgeschichte through covenants is the fulfillment that Christ brings through this New Covenant. This covenant was spoken of by the prophets of the Old and they scattered hints for one to see how they have been fulfilled in Christ (Borg, 2014; Ezekiel 37:26-27; Fredrickson, 2010; Isaiah 42:6; 49:8; 54:10; 55:1-5; 59:21; 61:1-9; Jeremiah 31:31-34; Malachi 3:1). One of the greatest fulfillments of this New Covenant proclaimed was by Christ Himself; Jesus said that the prophecy of Isaiah 61 has been fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:21). John the Baptist even questioned the arrival of the Kingdom and the New Covenant when he sent out the disciples to ask Jesus if He was the one the prophets spoke of. Jesus’s response was that He was the fulfillment; the blind sees, the lame walk, the diseased are cured, the deaf hear, and the dead are raised (Luke 7:18-27; Matthew 11:4-6). Even after the resurrection of Jesus, He had to enlighten the defeated disciples by how He fulfilled all that was written of Him in the Old Testament (Luke 24:25-27). The most profound fulfillment though in Christ in relation to the Old Covenants is He was the fulfillment of all of the Law (Matthew 5:17). The law demanded perfection and the only one who has been born without the curse of Adam and has lived a perfect life is Jesus. He is the only one that is qualified to be a substitute for atonement (Elwell & Yarbrough, 2013). It is in Christ alone that all the demands of the law were fulfilled which is the only reason why Jesus was able to usher in this New Covenant by His blood.

The New Covenant in the book of Acts

After Jesus is resurrected and ascends to Heaven, the church begins to explode. This account is seen throughout the book of Acts. During the Church age within the book of Acts the New Covenant seems to be confusing to new believers. They lived in a unique time where God initiated a new covenant and some new believers were muddled as to which covenant to follow. Two covenants that come up in the book of Acts are the Abrahamic Covenant and the Mosaic Covenant. Many debates, arguments, and questions arose in the church about whether one needs to follow the law to be saved or if one needs to be circumcised to be saved (Acts 15:5). The disciples explain that the New Covenant is the operative covenant now since Christ has fulfilled the Old Covenants. Peter gives an example of this fulfillment in Acts chapter three where Peter describes Christ is fulfillment of the Messiah, a prophet who would be greater than Moses, and also the one whom all nations would be blessed by:

And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled [italics added]. Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people… You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed’ (Acts 3:17-25).

Another area in the book of Acts in which Christ fulfills what the prophets spoke of is how salvation has now been extended to the Gentiles through this New Covenant. Isaiah spoke of this New Covenant and said that the Messiah would not only extend His salvation to the tribe of Jacob but He would also be a light to the gentiles (Isaiah 49:6). Numerous occasions are recorded in the book of Acts where the disciples are able to bring this Heilsgeschichte to every tongue nation and tribe (Acts 10:34-48; Acts 8:26-40; Acts 13:44-48). The book of Acts demonstrates powerfully that Christ has fulfilled the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant, and also demonstrates how Christ is the long-awaited Messiah bringing in Salvation not just the Jews, but also to the Gentiles.

The New Covenant in the Pauline Epistles

Transitioning from the genre of Gospels through the historical records of Acts, one now gets greater detail through the Pauline epistles on how Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament covenants. Paul labors throughout his ministry proclaiming how the covenants of the old are not invalidated but rather have been built upon each other culminating in this New Covenant (Galatians 3; Romans 4). Paul also shows fulfillment Christ brought to the Mosaic Covenant by Jesus being a curse for all and also by Christ’s blood, the salvation plan has been extended to all people (Galatians 3:13-28). The covenant with Moses was a conditional covenant where the people of Israel had to obey the law; otherwise they would be cut off. The curse of the law was laid upon Jesus who took upon Himself to be the substitute for the curse of the law and absorbed the wrath of God. Now through Jesus’s blood, He was able to bring in the New Covenant for all people (1 Corinthians 11:25; Fensham, 1971). Furthermore, Paul labors in his message to show that the covenants of old and the covenants of the new have always been based upon faith. Salvation has been and will always be offered by God by grace through faith. Jesus is now the bridge between God and man by this New Covenant which is proclaimed to all men.

The New Covenant in the general epistles

In the general epistles no other book focuses on the New Covenant more than the book of Hebrews. It is in this book, mostly chapter eight and nine where one finds that the covenantal mediator is the great High Priest; Jesus Christ (Hebrews 9:15; 12:24). Hebrews 8:8-12 contains the largest Old Testament quotation in the New Testament which sets the scene for how Christ is the fulfillment of all of the Old Testament covenants (Vandergriff, 2017). In the book of Hebrews, one continues to see the relationship of sacrificial love by God in sending His son to shed His blood to activate the New Covenant and be a once for all time sacrifice that completely takes away people’s sins (Hebrews 9:11-14). God is a God of relationships and the book of Hebrews make it clear that mankind’s relationship has been restored in Christ (Hebrews 9:15).

In addition, the general epistles do a good job in comparing the Old Covenant and the limitations that they have. The Old Testament covenants were unable to make a one-time sacrifice for all time like the New Covenant did, they were unable to take away man’s sins but were only able cover them, and they were unable to have a true High Priest (Hebrews 9:1-10; Vandergriff, 2017). With the New Covenant that Christ has ushered in, He was able to bring a better covenant in which He is the one who mediates it, offering up a one time for all time sacrifice that takes away believer’s sins (Hebrews 8:6). Christ is the Antitype of the Old Testament shadowed covenants which makes the Old Covenants obsolete and fulfills the promise of the prophet Jeremiah (Hebrews 8:13; Vandergriff, 2017; Youngblood, Bruce & Harrison, 1995).

The New Covenant in the book of Revelation

Finally, in reviewing all of the books in the New Testament, one finds themselves at the last book in the New Testament; the book of Revelation. Long before the world began, God sovereignly declared that His son would be a lamb that would be slain (Revelation 13:8). This Lamb was no other than Jesus Christ (Genesis 22:8). In the very first book of the Bible, the Protoevangelion, which the first Gospel message of salvation is declared to mankind (Diffey, 2015). This Gospel message was ordained before the foundation of the world and will one day culminate is the second coming of Jesus Christ. He will make all things right again and usher in the last and final phase of the New Covenant which is a new heaven and a new Earth (Revelation 21-22). Only in this book does one find the ultimate fulfillment of the New Covenant which will only be accomplished by Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5).

Conclusion

Every single covenant described above is how Christ fulfilled the stepping stones for humanity to walk on to restore the original relationship that man once had with God. In the Noahic covenant, despite the separation and wickedness of men, God by His grace shows us a way of salvation. Salvation can only be obtained through the one true ark, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only one who can save people from an eternal judgment by His accomplishment on the cross. In the Abrahamic covenant, God gives humanity a stepping stone of faith. God shows humanity that He is faithful to His promises to save and by giving people faith, they will be able to overcome the next stepping stone which is the law. The Mosaic covenant is the law and the step that humanity needed to realize that they would never be good enough. God demands holiness and required perfection. Only Jesus would be able to fulfill all the requirements of the law to satisfy the demands of God to bring humanity back into a relationship with Him. Even with King David, he wants to build God a temple for God to dwell in but rather God further gives another step to restore humanities relationship with Him by promising the Messiah and an everlasting Kingdom. God does not want to dwell with us, He wants to dwell in us. Jesus Christ is clearly seen throughout all of the New Testament as the fulfillment of all of these Old Testament promises and one should see that true rest is only found in Jesus Christ.

References

Arnold, B. T., & Beyer, B. E. (2015). Encountering the Old Testament: A Christian survey (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.

Barry, J. D., Bomar, D., Brown, D. R., Klippenstein, R., Mangum, D., Sinclair Wolcott, C., … Widder, W. (Eds.). (2016). In the Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.

Borg, M. (2014). The New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Puritan Reformed Journal, 6(2), 16-34. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=97766900&site=eds-live&scope=site

Carpenter, E. E., & Comfort, P. W. (2000). In Holman treasury of key Bible words: 200 Greek and 200 Hebrew words defined and explained. Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

Diffey, D. (2015). Wisdom in the beginning. In A. DiVincenzo (Ed.), The beginning of wisdom: An introduction to Christian thought and life. Available from http://lc.gcumedia.com/cwv101/the-beginning-of-wisdom-an-introduction-to-christian-thought-and-life/v2.1/#/chapter/3

Elwell, W. A., & Beitzel, B. J. (1988). In Baker encyclopedia of the Bible. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House.

Elwell, W. A., & Yarbrough, R. W. (2013). Encountering the New Testament: A historical and theological survey (3rd ed.). Grand Rapids: MI. Baker Academic.

Fensham, F. C. (1971). The covenant as giving expression to the relationship between Old and New Testament. Tyndale Bulletin, 2282-94.

Fredrickson, D. (2010). Which are the New Covenant passages in the Old Testament? Part two. Journal of Ministry & Theology, 14(2), 79-104.

[The Bible Project]. (2015). Covenants [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ferLIsvlmI

Vandergriff, K. A. (2017). Διαθήκη καινή: New Covenant as Jewish apocalypticism in hebrews 8. Catholic Biblical Quarterly, 79(1), 97-110. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=rlh&AN=120615702&site=eds-live&scope=site

Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., & Harrison, R. K., Thomas Nelson Publishers (Eds.). (1995). In Nelson’s new illustrated Bible dictionary. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, Inc.