The Big Story of the Bible, Part 1 - The Prequel: God’s Eternal Covenant
September 1, 2022 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
I heard recently a speaker compare reading the Lord of the Rings with reading the Bible. He said that no one randomly opens The Two Towers and starts reading profitably without understanding the overarching storyline and the particulars of the context of the portion he is reading. He contends the same is with reading the Bible. The apostle Paul says that the Bible is profitable and equips the person of God for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17), but familiarity with the Big Story of the Bible is essential for maximizing the profitableness of Bible reading. How familiar are you with the overarching story of the Bible? Let’s dive into the Big Story of the Bible over the next few weeks.
It all starts in the beginning…. well, it actually starts before the beginning. Most people are familiar with the opening words of the Bible, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1). We find in the Bible, however, that God was active even before creating the heavens and the earth. This, of course, assumes a chronological order of events in the storyline. God is not subject to such chronology since he is eternal and outside of time. We will have to save such mind-splitting theology for another Touchpoint series. While God is not subject to chronological order, he does work out his plan of redemption in a logical order, which we as creatures experience in the chronology of world history.
In his closing benediction, the writer of Hebrews speaks about “the eternal covenant” (Heb. 13:20). A covenant is an agreement between two parties. Since humans are not eternal, humans cannot be party to an eternal covenant. Also, since creation has a beginning point, this eternal covenant must pre-date creation. Since God is the only being who pre-dates creation, this eternal covenant must be an agreement among the persons of the Trinity.
This leads us to Jesus’ high priestly prayer in John 17, where he speaks about completely certain obligations of some agreement with the Father. Consider verse 4 and 5, “I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me in your own presence with the glory that I had with you before the world existed.” The Son had a job to do in human flesh on earth. The Father made promises to the Son that were fulfilled once the job was accomplished.
The apostle Paul gives further details about this agreement between the Father and the Son. He says in 2 Timothy 1:9, “[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began.” Our salvation, or redemption, is caused not by anything we have done, but by God’s “purpose and grace.” The last clause of the verse, however, draws our attention to the “eternal covenant.” God gives us the grace of redemption “in Christ before the ages began,” which is another way to speak about before creation. In the agreement between God the Father and God the Son, the Father promises to redeem a people, conforming them to the image of the Son (Rom. 8:29), to the praise of his glorious grace (Eph. 1:6). A redeemed people glorifies the Son (the prayer of Jesus in John 17:5).
We are familiar with this redemption. The word “redemption” speaks about a purchase, or even a buying back. So a price must be paid. Paul says that the redemption price is only the blood of Jesus (Eph. 1:7). Therefore, we can understand that the main part of the work Jesus accomplished in his earthly ministry is offering himself on the cross as the redemption price.
The “eternal covenant” of Hebrews 13 is often called the Covenant of Redemption. The Father and the Son make an agreement and plan before the creation of the world to redeem a people who will glorify the Son for all eternity. This helps us as we read our Bibles to understand that we are reading the outworking of God’s plan of redemption. Everything that happens is part of that big story of redemption. Everything we read in the Bible ties into that overarching story. We should read our Bibles looking for those clues that tie it all together.
