What’s the Big Deal with Covenants?
November 14, 2024 | by: Dale Thiele | 0 Comments
Posted in: Pastoral Encouragement
If you have spent some time attending a Reformed church, like Oak Hills, or have taken time to read theology from a Reformed background, like R.C. Sproul, you have most likely heard people speak about covenant theology. In some conversations, covenant theology may even sound like some special key for unlocking the meaning of Scripture. J.I. Packer has argued that covenant theology is a way of reading the whole Bible. Is this emphasis on covenant theology created by man to promote a certain theological reading of the Bible or does it spring from the Scriptures themselves?
I believe the evaluation must begin with what the Bible teaches about God’s relationship with humans. In Isaiah 55:8-9 God says, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” This speaks about an incredible gulf between the Creator and the creature. How can a creature ever, on his own accord, bridge that gulf in understanding his Creator? Paul uses this point as an avenue for worship when he extols, “Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” (Rom. 11:33-34).
The gulf between Creator and creature does not even begin to take into consideration the chasm created by sin. David states in Psalm 5:4, “For you are not a God who delights in wickedness; evil may not dwell with you.” John uses the metaphors of light and darkness to make the same point, “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 Jn. 1:5). God is “holy, holy, holy” and “all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment.” Who are we to ever presume to have a blessed relationship with our holy Creator? There are ontological and moral barriers between us and God. And we, as sinful creatures, can do nothing about it.
The concept of covenant springs out of the very nature of God as the only means to overcome those ontological and moral barriers. The doctrine of the Trinity reveals that God is relational. As one example, we see the relational nature of God in the Trinity at the baptism of Jesus. The Father says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:17). God is fundamentally gracious. He reveals to Moses his glory by declaring, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (Ex. 34:6). God’s graciousness is immediately seen in the Garden of Eden when he speaks to Adam and provides a covering for their shame. It is only by God’s grace that we know anything about him. And God’s word never changes or fails. We read in Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind.” And God declares in Isaiah 55:11, “so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose.” When God makes a promise, it is as good as true.
These three character qualities of God are the foundation for covenant: God is relational; God is gracious; God is true to his word. It is with this background that we begin to understand the significance of the covenants God makes with man. It starts with Adam (Hos. 6:7), then Noah (Gen. 6:18), then Abraham (Gen. 17:4), then Moses (Ex. 19:5-6), then David (2 Sam. 7), and finally the New Covenant fulfilled in Christ (Jer. 31:31-34; Luke 22:20). This is a rough sketch of covenant throughout Scripture as the concept permeates all of God’s dealings with people.
Covenant theology is not some framework imposed onto Scripture. Covenant theology is trying to articulate what we find in Scripture about God’s relationship with humans. Covenant springs from the character of God in order to overcome the ontological and moral barriers that exist between Creator and creature. Fundamental to who God is, covenant is how God operates in relationship with us. If we want to know God and understand our relationship with God, we must understand covenant.
