The Covenant

Galatians 3:5–9 ESV

5 Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law, or by hearing with faith— 6 just as Abraham “believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness”? 7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Galatians 3:5-9

Prayer

Introduction

Starting in the middle of the 1960’s, a very popular game show called “Let’s Make a Deal” began airing. In the show, people would dress in these ridiculous outfits so that they could get the opportunity to become contestants. If chosen, the person would go down and be given a prize, but they would have the opportunity to trade that prize with another, hidden prize. So on the game went until they either decided they liked the prize they had or ended up with a prize that no one really wanted – a zonk.

The reality is that as part of our culture, and probably any culture, we make deals or agreements all the time. Sometimes formal, sometimes passing and cordial. Sometimes the deals we make are more than merely passing agreements, but instead are significant covenants.

Scripture

We will be looking at various passages this morning, but we will read together. It is a fairly long passage, and I apologize for that. If you don’t feel you can stand for the duration, that is completely understandable, but if you are able, please stand for the reading of God’s Word. We do this to show appreciation to God for His Word and in recognition that these are among the most important words we can hope to hear today. says,

Genesis 17:1–14 ESV

1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old the Lord appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, 2 that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” 3 Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, 4 “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. 5 No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. 6 I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. 7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. 8 And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” 9 And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. 10 This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. 11 You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. 12 He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, 13 both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. 14 Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

“When Abram was ninety-nine years old the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty; walk before me, and be blameless, that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you greatly.” Then Abram fell on his face. And God said to him, “Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations. No longer shall your name be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of a multitude of nations. I will make you exceedingly fruitful, and I will make you into nations, and kings shall come from you. And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you. And I will give to you and to your offspring after you the land of your sojournings, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession, and I will be their God.” And God said to Abraham, “As for you, you shall keep my covenant, you and your offspring after you throughout their generations. This is my covenant, which you shall keep, between me and you and your offspring after you: Every male among you shall be circumcised. You shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskins, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and you. He who is eight days old among you shall be circumcised. Every male throughout your generations, whether born in your house or bought with your money from any foreigner who is not of your offspring, both he who is born in your house and he who is bought with your money, shall surely be circumcised. So shall my covenant be in your flesh an everlasting covenant. Any uncircumcised male who is not circumcised in the flesh of his foreskin shall be cut off from his people; he has broken my covenant.”

Thank you, you may be seated.

Sermon

Perhaps the most significant way God deals with mankind is through covenant. In our study of Genesis, we have already seen one very clear example of covenant. We call it the Noahic covenant, and we look for its sign every time It rains. That is to say, God made a covenant with creation not to destroy it again by flood. That is good news to us when storms like the one we had Friday night roll through.

We also see, in the passage we just read, talk of a covenant. Not only that, but sometimes we also talk about the Mosaic covenant and a New Covenant. And don’t forget our modern usage of the word in concepts like the marriage covenant. With all this covenantal language flying around, maybe we should step back and make sure we know what a covenant is.

At its most basic level, my children could tell you. Kids, what is a covenant? An agreement between two or more persons. That is a great starting point, but biblical covenants seem to be a bit more involved than simply an agreement. If Laura and I agree that we want to get pizza from Casey’s for dinner, that is hardly a covenant, and if we changed our minds no one would accuse us of having broken that covenant – of covenant infidelity. So, what else goes into making a covenant? One Bible dictionary defines covenant like this:

“A “covenant” is an agreement enacted between two parties in which one or both make promises under oath to perform or refrain from certain actions stipulated in advance.”[1]

Here we have that agreement language again, but this definition goes further and gets us closer to where we need to be. We can certainly see why marriage is a covenant according to that definition. Two parties, Oath, promise of faithfulness towards one another.

So, there are just a couple more things I would add to that definition to help fill it out a bit. One commentator puts it this way, and this quote will help us to transition to our next point as well:

“Biblical covenants consist of parties, promises, stipulations, and signs. In that respect the Abrahamic covenant is no different. The parties are God and Abraham along with his seed and their households. The promise is that God will bless Abraham with land and a dynasty. More specifically Abraham is promised, in that he will be the father of many nations. The stipulation is that Abraham and successive generations ought to walk before God and be blameless, and the sign of the covenant is circumcision—a seal of the promise God made to Abraham.”[2]

If you are following along on the outline, we are now on number 2. The Abrahamic Covenant. The quote I just read you really sums up the discussion quite well. Let’s run through some of that again:

The parties involved in the covenant are God on one side and Abraham and his seed on the other. We see this in which says,

Genesis 17:7 ESV

7 And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.

“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.”

By the way, at this point, Abraham still does not have a son. In fact, the next section of is where God specifically promises a natural son to Abraham through Sarah who was barren – and Abraham laughs because of their old age.

That matters because the promise of offspring ends up having a physical, immediate fulfillment in the birth of Isaac, and a deeper spiritual fulfillment as well.

And in case you didn’t notice, part of the covenantal promises which God is making to Abraham is that he will have a land and a people. Verse 8 lays that out. In fact, God is not only going to give Abraham descendants, but according to verse 5 of our passage, he will make him the father of a multitude of nations.

What must Abraham undertake in this covenant? What are his stipulations? That he and his descendants must walk before God and be blameless. The requirement is faithfulness to God. Obedience, trust.

Finally, we come to the sign of the covenant, and that is circumcision. And notice that the sign is not only for Abraham’s descendants, it is for all of those who were associated with Abraham. All his male servants, shepherds everyone who is part of Abraham’s household – whether natural or foreign.

So, the Abrahamic Covenant requires faithfulness, but comes with great promises. And this is why it all matters. The promises of the Abrahamic covenant are not random. Nor are they hidden behind door number 2, and there is no possibility of a Zonk! The promises are connected to what God is doing with His creation. God is renewing all of His creation. God is undoing the curse of the Fall. God is conquering the evil one through the promised seed, an offspring of Eve – now we see it will come through Abraham’s offspring. The land promise is a promise to fix the broken world – yes it is a promise for the land of Canaan, but in the context, it goes back to Eden and the land God prepared for Adam and Eve.

Because the Bible is made up of so many different books, in various genres and written over thousands of years by multiple people, we sometimes can get lost in the specific stories and lose sight of the overarching story. God is making everything new.

There is a straight line between Eden and the Cross. The Abrahamic covenant helps to flesh that line out. Helps us to see it – even is instrumental in the unfolding story of Jesus the promised seed who is the fulfillment of - well, everything.

Covenantal language flows throughout the Scriptures because it is through covenant that God deals with mankind and brings about His purposes. God makes an additional covenant with the people of Israel to give them the land of Canaan, but gives them a whole host of laws to keep – to help them walk blamelessly before God. The problem with covenant is that it can be broken. And Israel does break the covenant, spectacularly and eventually God removes them from the land.

All of these failures – the failure of David and Solomon. The failure of Israel. All of it points to the fact that we cannot keep the covenant. We cannot walk blamelessly before God. Because of the pervasiveness of sin, covenant infidelity is the norm. So, how can we be part of these covenantal promises? How can we take part in what God is doing? How can you and I become faithful descendants of Abraham – especially if we are not physically descended from him? How can we inherit the Promised Land where sin and shame have been defeated and all is made good and right again? How can sinful, treasonous rebels walk with the High King of Heaven and not be destroyed?

I’m going to answer those questions, but in a roundabout kind of way. Let’s look at

Jeremiah 31:31–34 ESV

31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

You see, the primary problem with the old covenant, whether that be the Abrahamic or Mosaic covenant – the problem with the covenants is infidelity, or another way to put it, the problem is the people. There were people who bore the sign of the covenant – who were physical descendants of Abraham, but because they didn’t follow the stipulations of the covenant – to walk blamelessly before God, they didn’t actually have any part in the promises. Or to put that another way, Israel was a mixed multitude. Some were believers who were trusting God to do what He said He would do and make all things right – insofar as they understood that. But others, many? Most? Were unfaithful. Unbelievers. In the Old Covenant, there were believers and unbelievers alike within the covenant community.

What tells us is that the New Covenant is not like that. Everyone who is part of the New Covenant is a believer. The law of God is written in the hearts of all who are part of this covenant. Everyone who is part of this new covenant has had their sins forgiven. No more mixed multitude.

Not to get distracted by chasing a rabbit, but this is what has always made Baptists, Baptists. We do not give the sign of the New Covenant – baptism – until a person makes a credible profession of faith. We baptize them and they enter the covenant community – the church. And so, we expect members of the church to actually be born again and walking blamelessly before God – that’s the basis for church discipline. But all that is a topic for another day.

The point is that the New Covenant is different because all who are in it are forgiven, and therefore blameless before God. But then, how do we become partakers of the New Covenant. To be clear, all the promises made in the Old Covenants are active in the New. Back to that question: How do we become children of Abraham? We read earlier from and it is worth reading it again here:

Galatians 3:7–9 ESV

7 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. 8 And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” 9 So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

“Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.”

Faith in who, or what? Remember, straight line from Eden to the Cross – Abraham and Jeremiah are on that line, but the answer is Jesus. Let’s look to again

Galatians 3:13–16 ESV

13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— 14 so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. 15 To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. 16 Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.

“Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”— so that in Christ Jesus the blessing of Abraham might come to the Gentiles, so that we might receive the promised Spirit through faith. To give a human example, brothers: even with a man-made covenant, no one annuls it or adds to it once it has been ratified. Now the promises were made to Abraham and to his offspring. It does not say, “And to offsprings,” referring to many, but referring to one, “And to your offspring,” who is Christ.”

I’m running short on time, so let me sum this up as succinctly as I can. And don’t miss this point, because it is hugely important. Jesus is the fulfillment of the covenantal promises and curses. Jesus is the promised seed. The One offspring who crushes the head of the serpent, who walks blamelessly before God, who is restoring all of creation, who is given a people – the Church. But also, Christ has exhausted the covenantal curses. Not only does Christ keep the obligations, but He bore the curses for covenantal infidelity.

This is why it matters today. There is no covenantal infidelity – sin – that you or I can commit that Christ’s death cannot cover. Christ became the curse and exhausted God’s wrath for breaking His covenant. But this is only true for those who place their faith in Christ. It is by faith that we are forgiven which is part of the New Covenant promise. It is by faith that we are considered children of Abraham – but only if we are united to Christ – in His death, burial, and resurrection. Then all the promises are ours in Christ and all our deserved curses are fully paid by Christ at the cross.

Covenants matter. Abraham matters. But only because Christ is the complete and perfect fulfillment.

Conclusion

In a moment we will transition to a time of worship through response. We believe that any time a person (whether a believer or not) hears the Word of God, they respond either in rebellion or worship. During the time of response, we will sing a song, and I hope that you will respond in worship – that you will repent of sin, that you will exult in the perfect covenant faithfulness of Christ. I will be on the front row worshipping with you. If you need to talk to someone, or need someone to pray with, I would be delighted to do that, just come on down and we’ll talk. If you have questions, I will stick around after the service and we can talk then. The front is opened as well if you’d like to pray up here. Whatever you do, I hope that it is worship and not rebellion. I have just a couple last thoughts before we transition our response time.

If you are here and you are not trusting in Christ, you should know that you will bear the guilt of your sin and disobedience to God. If you are not united to Christ through faith, you are not safe. You are still guilty before God, and will inherit nothing but the just punishment of your own wickedness. But if you will turn to Christ in faith, you will be forgiven. Adopted into the family of God with restored relationship with the Heavenly Father. The simple gospel command is to repent and believe. Please do that now.

Believers, those who are under the New Covenant. We have been forgiven much and we should live like it. No, we can’t earn the benefits of the New Covenant, because Christ has already done that for us, but we should still walk blamelessly before God. Not to earn anything, but because Christ has already earned it for us. Where we stumble, let us correct that. Let us respond in repentance and faith – just like we did at the first. And let us be thankful and praise Christ for what He has done for us. That is our reasonable act of worship.

Let’s pray.

[1] George E. Mendenhall and Gary A. Herion, “Covenant,” ed. David Noel Freedman, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 1179.

[2] Martin Salter, “The Abrahamic Covenant in Reformed Baptist Perspective,” Themelios 40, no. 1 (2015): 35–36.