From Genesis To Revelation

At my church we're going through a book called Sacred Bond in our adult Sunday school class. It's a brief introduction to covenant theology, and a very helpful resource thus for. It is a very accessible book for the person who is new to covenant theology, or the uninitiated layperson. Concepts are simple and well explained, and it is quite pleasant to read. I read a lot of theology for fun, but I find myself really enjoying getting back to the basics. This was very true when we went through the chapter on the Covenant of Grace.


What is the Covenant of Grace? In basic terms, the Covenant of Grace is the covenant between God and man where God promises salvation to sinners through faith in Christ, the one who earned salvation by his perfect obedience, death, and resurrection. This promise of God is stated in a variety of ways, but we see it echoed throughout all of redemptive history, from Genesis to Revelation, in a similar form: I will be your God and you will be my people. In order for this promise to be fulfilled, however, peace must be made between God and man. Lets take a look at how this promise unfolds in redemptive history.

“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.” - Genesis 17.7

We have all heard about Abraham, the father of the faithful. It is significant that the promise really starts to take shape here. Abraham was a descendant of Seth, one in the line of the promised seed of the woman, and it was in the purpose of God to preserve this line. Called out of a life of paganism, God claimed Abraham for himself. Abraham was truly the friend of God, but he was still a sinful man, as were his offspring after him. He, nor his promised offspring Isaac, were not to be the seed of promise who would crush the serpent and restore fellowship between God and man.

“I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” - Exodus 6.7

The initial prosperity of Abraham came to a climax in the prosperity of his offspring in Egypt under Joseph. God providentially preserved the line of promise through famine, but the seed of the serpent saw fit to once again to crush the seed of promise by making Israel slaves in Egypt and went so far as to have all of the sons born to the people of God put to death. But God, who is faithful to his word, preserved Moses from death, and used him to bring his people out of oppression. The Champion of God had still not come, for Moses and the congregation of Israel were still great sinners.

“I will make my dwelling among you, and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you and will be your God, and you shall be my people." - Leviticus 26.11-12

The giving of the law at Sinai is a very crucial part of redemptive history. God had called his people out of paganism and out of bondage, but at Sinai he became intimately acquainted with this people. Though they were still filled with all types of sin, God remembered his covenant with Abraham, and he remained faithful. He gave his law to the people on tablets of stone, and he promised to dwell among them in the tabernacle. This was the beginning of what would become the nation of Israel, and though great men would be raised up in the nation, there was still no Champion of God who would ultimately deliver them. The judges would fail, and the kings would fail. But God would remain faithful to his promise.

“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.” - Jeremiah 31.33

The wickedness of God's people continued to grow to the point that they were essentially pagan. They had turned from their God and they had killed the prophets of God. Ammi (my people) had become Lo-Ammi (not my people), and they were to be spit out of the land and assimilated into the pagans they had become. The age of the prophets was grim and dark and it looked as though God had given up, but it was not so. The terms of Sinai had been broken, but God, full of grace and mercy, remembered his promise to Abraham and foretold of a better covenant. The law would not be written on tablets of stone anymore. The law would be written on his people's hearts. They would love the law and desire to obey it. More than that, he would cause them to obey it by putting his Spirit inside of them.

“What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, ‘I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.’” - 2 Corinthians 6.16

God, who is faithful and true, fulfilled his promise to Abraham and the message of the prophets by calling all men to himself in the God-man Jesus Christ! The Champion of God who would crush the serpent had finally arrived! By his perfect obedience he merited eternal life, by his death on the cross he took the punishment for sin, and by his resurrection from the dead he conquered death and removed our curse. He became the life-giving Spirit who indwells those who are called out of darkness, those who believe: the Church. They are born of God and have the law written on their hearts. They have become the temple of God through union with Christ. The Lord is their God and they are the Israel of God, the offspring of Abraham. But the age of the Church is still not the end of the story. The Church will continue to grow as the reconstituted Israel of God with all the birth pains that brings. Those who were Lo-Ammi are now called Ammi!

“And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.'” - Revelation 21.2-3

Finally the people who have been called out of darkness and into the light we be made whole. After the return of the bridegroom, this union between God and man will be consummated and the Israel of God will dwell in the holy city, the Jerusalem of God, in marriage to their Lord Jesus Christ. This city will cover the entire earth and there will be no more suffering, no more sin, no more death. There will be glory. Israel, the people of God and children of Abraham, will be forever in the presence of their God.

There is one who was faithful, who obeyed God and earned eternal life: the God-man Jesus Christ. At the end of days, the Church will consummate its marriage with this man and they will be together forever. The Scriptures have one main message. God promises to save his people and to be their God. God is faithful to his promise, from Genesis to Revelation.