Covenant – God of the Covenant

God of the Covenant

The first thing we see from Genesis 1-3 is that God is Creator. We constantly see in the Bible, that when something happens that is good, God is the creator or originator. We also saw by the example of Genesis 1-3, that when something happens that is bad, man is the one messing it up. Thus, our relationship with God is that of Creator to rebel; it is hostile.

But the first thing we see about God is that he reaches out to humans even in our sin. Let us look at the covenant of Abraham and see the God of the Covenant. In Genesis 15, God makes a covenant with Abraham and we see three incredible promises that reveal God’s grace. First, God’s grace will allow men to be under God’s rule again like in the Garden of Eden. Verse 1 assures Abraham, “Fear not, Abram; I am your shield.” God’s grace leaps from the page at this point when we remember humanity’s rebellion, yet God will be his people’s shield. Second, verse 5 says, “Look towards heaven and number the stars, if you are able to number them, so shall your offspring be.” God’s grace will make a people to fill the earth just like the charge in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 1:28. Finally, Genesis 15:7 says, “I am the Lord who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” God’s grace places his people back in a land to be the people underneath his authority like the Garden of Eden. Man messed up the Garden, but in his grace reaches out to restore what the Garden should have been in righteousness.

The rest of the Bible shows in history how God completes and fills out this covenant in Genesis 15 to restore the Garden of Eden throughout the entire world and make man what he should be. God completes this mission through covenant.

The Fulfillment- God of the Covenant

Jesus is the God of the Covenant. We see in Colossians 1:16 that all things were created by Jesus and everything that was created was for him. John starts his Gospel by claiming Jesus was the Word that was God from the beginning of time (1:1). Philippians 2:6 claims Jesus is God saying that he did not use his deity for his advantage when he came to earth. And Acts blatantly exclaims Jesus as God when it says that God gave up his own blood for the church (20:28).

Any reading of the Old or New Testament that does not see the fulfillment of the revelation of God to be Jesus is inadequate.