God's Plan of Salvation
The Covenants - Part 1
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For a little while, it was very good |
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In the beginning, God...
Right from the very beginning, we humans have chosen to poison the earth, and to die rather than obey God. |
Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.
Gen 1.31a Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it Gen 1.28 (God said...) "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.'' Gen 2.17 |
And then it became very bad |
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Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin,
and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned Rom
5.12 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Rom 8.22 |
Following Adam's refusal to believe and obey God, sin and death entered
the human race. And now all creation groans with a terminal illness. Even until today our philosophy has not changed. We still choose death rather than God. |
God's plan to restore the good |
The plans of the LORD stand firm forever, |
From the beginning, God formed a plan to redeem us from sin and death.
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The meaning of "covenant" |
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As shown in the verses alongside, the words translated as "covenant" are berith (OT Hebrew) and diatheke (NT Greek). Both words carry essentially the same meaning; namely...
In the Biblical covenants, God is the person who makes the covenants. People and nations are the "party of the second part." |
(God said to Noah...)
"But I will establish My covenant (berith) with
you; and you shall go into the ark you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you." Gen 6.18 (Jesus said...) "For this is My blood of the new covenant (diatheke), which is shed for many for the remission of sins." Mt 26.28 |
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Two part essay |
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To have a fuller understanding of God's Plan of Salvation, you need to understand God's covenants. Giving you that understanding is the goal of this two-part essay. What you are now reading is Part 1. A link to Part 2 is at the end of this page. |
There are seven KEY covenants made by God with people and nations. |
Part 1 of this essay discusses four of the key covenants Noahic Covenant - In this covenant, God promised to forbear from destruction of the earth and its creatures. In view of the exceeding sinful nature of the human race, this was a major concession on God's part. Abrahamic Covenant - The Abrahamic Covenant is foundational to God's Plan of Salvation. In this covenant, God established the basis whereby He would raise up a special people (the Jews) through whom He would...
Mosaic Covenant - A main reason why God established the Mosaic Covenant (the Law) was to teach humankind that people cannot and will not attain righteousness under their own power, but that God must CONFER righteousness upon them. Palestinian Covenant - Since God knew Israel would fail to attain righteousness under the Mosaic Covenant, God provided the Palestinian Covenant as the basis for redeeming and regathering Israel to their land after their failures lead to ultimate repentance. |
Part 2 of this essay will cover the remaining three key covenants Davidic Covenant - The Davidic Covenant provides for Lord Jesus to establish an eternal kingdom of the redeemed. For the redeemed of Israel it will be an earthly kingdom. For the Church it will be a heavenly kingdom. But Lord Jesus will be King of all. New Covenant with Israel - The New Covenant (in effect) fleshes out the provisions of the Palestinian Covenant.
Covenant with the Church - God's Covenant with the Church provides for Lord Jesus to voluntarily suffer and die for the sins of humankind. Because of the substitutionary atoning death of Jesus, whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life. NOTE: The atoning death of Jesus Christ is the foundational Rock, not only for the covenant with the Church, but ALSO for the covenant with Israel. In the final analysis, the only substantial difference between these two covenants is that one of them saves Israel, whereas the other saves "whosoever believes." |
Bible references Beneficiaries of the Covenant |
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God's promises - In the Noahic Covenant, God promised that...
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And God said: "This is the sign of the covenant which I make
between Me and you (Noah), and every living
creature that is with you, for perpetual generations Gen 9.12 (God said...) "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, and cold and heat, and winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.'' Gen 8.22 (God said...) "Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.'' Gen 9.11 |
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Requirements Sign |
Bible references Big picture |
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(God said...)
"And I will make thy (Abraham's) seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall
thy seed also be numbered. Gen 13.16 And He (God) brought him (Abraham) forth abroad, and said, Look now toward heaven, and tell (count) the stars, if thou be able to number them: and he said unto him, So shall thy seed be. Gen 15.5 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. Gal 3.29 (God said...) "... in you (Abraham) all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'' Gen 12.3c |
Beneficiaries of the Covenant - The Covenant's beneficiaries fall into three main groups as follows...
God's promises - God's promises under the Abrahamic Covenant fall into three main categories:
Each of these three categories is discussed below. |
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In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram (Abraham), saying, "Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates" Gen 15.18 |
Part 1 of God's Promises - the Land. God promised to give Abraham a vast amount of land, the boundaries of which are specified in Genesis 15.18.
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(God said to Abraham...) "And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing" Gen 12.2 |
Part 2 of God's Promises - the Kingdom. God promised to make Abraham a great nation.
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(God said ...)
"... in you (Abraham)
all the families of the earth shall be blessed.'' Gen 12.3c (Jesus said...) "...salvation is of the Jews." John 4.22b What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they (the Jews) have been entrusted with the very words of God. Rom 3.1-2 Theirs (Israel's) is the adoption as sons; theirs the divine glory, the covenants... and from them (the Jews) is traced the human ancestry of Christ, who is God over all, forever praised! Amen. Rom 9.4-5 |
Part 3 of God's Promises - the Blessing. God promised that, in Abraham's seed, all nations of the earth will be blessed. This blessing was fulfilled from the standpoint that Abraham's earthly seed (Israel) was used by God as...
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(God said to Abraham...)
"In your seed
all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.'' Gen 22.18 Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He (God) does not say, "And to seeds,'' as of many, but as of one, "And to your Seed,'' who is Christ. Gal 3.16 |
The beneficiary of the Abrahamic blessing is the Church -- all believers
on Abraham's Seed who is Christ. Since this blessing is available to "whosoever believeth in Jesus" (John 3.16), ALL nations of the earth are blessed by the opportunity to receive Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. |
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Requirements Signs |
Bible references Beneficiaries |
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God's promises - In the Covenant with Israel that God gave through Moses, God promised that He would...
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(God said...)
"Now therefore, if you (the nation Israel) will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure
to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Exod 19.5-6a The Lord will cause your (Israel's) enemies who rise against you to be defeated before your face; they shall come out against you one way and flee before you seven ways. The Lord will command the blessing on you in your storehouses and in all to which you set your hand, and He will bless you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. Deu 28.7-8 |
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Requirements |
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God's warning - God warned Israel that, if they failed to obey God's Laws, they would suffer defeat and enslavement at the hands of their enemies. | But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the Lord your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses (as enumerated in Deu 28.16-69) will come upon you and overtake you Deu 28.15 | |
Signs |
Bible references Beneficiaries |
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Now it shall come to pass, when all these things come upon you (Israel), the blessing
and the curse which I have set before you... that the Lord your God will bring you back from captivity, and have
compassion on you, and gather you again from all the nations where the Lord your God has scattered you. Deu 30.1a, 30.3 And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Deu 30.6 |
God's Promises - The Palestinian Covenant presupposes that Israel will fail to keep the Mosaic Covenant. In the event of such failure, God will (in His own good time)...
NOTE: The implications of Israel's being "circumcised in the heart" (Deu 30.6) are fully equivalent to a Christian's being "born again" (John 3.3-7)! |
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Requirements The Palestinian Covenant affirms the Abrahamic Covenant The Palestinian Covenant is "Unconditional" from the standpoint that God has foreordained that Israel WILL eventually repent as a nation and turn, finally and ultimately, unto God. At that time, God will bring to pass all the promises of His covenants with Israel. |
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The Strange Nature of the Palestinian Covenant God gave Israel the Palestinian Covenant as (in
effect) a "back-up plan" In God's omniscience, God KNEW that Israel would
fail to keep the Laws of the Mosaic Covenant One might ask, "Since God knew Israel would
fail, |
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Then all the people (of Israel) answered together and said, "All that the Lord has spoken (in the Mosaic Covenant) we will do.'' So Moses brought back the words of the people to the Lord. Exod 19.8 | The answer to the preceding question is this - God knew Israel would
fail, but Israel did NOT know that Israel would fail. In fact, Israel was totally confident of their ability to attain complete righteousness by their OWN power. Accordingly, God gave Israel the opportunity to succeed or fail under their own steam. In so doing, God's goal was to display to Israel, and to the entire human race, the fact that people cannot and will not love and obey God unless God helps them. |
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Wherefore the law (as given in the Mosaic Covenant) was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. Gal 3.24 | In essence, the Law of God, as set forth in the Mosaic Covenant, was
a SCHOOLMASTER to teach us (Israel, you, me, and everybody) a vital lesson. The Law's lesson is that we simply CANNOT climb up to God's heaven on the ladder of our own righteousness -- for that ladder is, at best, but a few miserable millimeters in height. |
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Summary A primary reason that many people shun the Gospel is that all the work of salvation is done by God. Human pride detests and rejects the fact we cannot - simply CANNOT! -- earn our way to heaven by works of our own sinful flesh. Before I was saved, there was a hymn that my Mother (a Christian) often sang. How I hated that hymn then. And oh, how much I love and rejoice in it now. The hymn? Jesus Paid it All! |
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