For thousands of years Christianity has led people to believe in a power greater than themselves. The bible provides Christians with instruction, encouragement, and wisdom regarding their everyday lives. The Bible is separated into two sections the old and new testaments. Within these sections Christians discover the covenants between God and his people and Jesus and his believers. The covenants are referred to as the “old” and “new” covenants. These covenants instruct Christians of their obligations to God, and God’s obligations to his people. The “old” and “new” covenants share similarities regarding obligations, but the “new” covenant brought forth new commandments and instructions for prayer, trust, and salvation.
The “old” covenant symbolizes the relationship between God and his people established through Abraham. Abraham was the first of the great Hebrew patriarchs. The covenant established through Abraham proclaimed the Hebrews as the people of God and that Jehovah would be their God. Abraham was an obedient man of God, and because of his obedience a significant relationship was established. In Genesis, God tells Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. Without hesitation Abraham agrees and takes his son to the mountain of God’s choosing. Minutes before he slays his only son the angel of the Lord halts him. The angel of the Lord states, “I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obe...
... middle of paper ...
...s and understand their salvation lies in the doing the will of God. Christians viewed Jesus as their shepherd guiding his sheep along the way to an everlasting life.
In the final analysis of the “old” and “new” covenant the obligations of the people were to glorify God for his grace and mercy, and to obey his will to continue his blessings of good favor. The “old” covenant was established through Abraham and the people of Israel, but after the death and resurrection of Jesus everyone was able to enjoy the fruits of God. Jesus brought forth the “new” covenant and began teaching his followers the righteous way of Christian living through new commandments and instructions on prayer, trust, and salvation. The “old” and “new” covenant established a profound connection with God and his people providing Christians with a promise of fruitful blessings and everlasting life.
Gentry, Peter J., and Stephen J. Wellum. Kingdom through Covenant: A Biblical Theological Understanding of the Covenants. Crossway, 2012. Google Scholar: Subject relevance
The initial contradiction between the new and old testaments lies in the goal set forth by Jesus and the goals established by leaders of the Jewish community. Because of the different interpretations held by Jesus and the rabbis, conflict necessarily arose and Jesus was criticized for changing the law. The Tractate Avot, which is also known as The Ethics of the Fathers, represents the commonly held beliefs of respected Jewish rabbis, describing how they envisioned the transmission of the Torah from Moses. These men believe the reward in following God’s word lies intrinsically in its virtue, whereas Jesus presents a case for external motivation. Antigonus of Sobo said, “Be not like servants who serve their master because of the expected reward, but be like those who serve a master without expecting a reward....” (Tractate Avot I.3). Here, Antigonus calls for abidance of the law, rejecting the notion of an extrinsic reward as cause for belief. Jesus on the other hand, declares that people “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven…” (Matthew 5:12). Jesus’ notion of ...
...nant of land, people and a blessing to all families. By this time in the Bible all three of these promises have been demonstrated. And the love of God for his people is finding to be everlasting, an idea that will be then carried into the New Testament.
For Israel’s existence as the covenant people of God sacrifice was necessary as the existence of sin and impurity threatened their relationship with God (Rooker 2000:49). The process and act of sacrifice was prescribed by God as a means purging impurity caused by sin. This would result in forgiveness and the restoration of the relationship between God and the sinner (Arnold & Beyer 1999:124).
As one studies the Bible, he will quickly recognize a direct correlation of the Old Testament and New Testament. Although the books contained therein were written with a division of hundreds of years between them, there is a beautiful connection between them. One cannot deny the relationship between the Old Testament and New Testament, and it is impossible for him to comprehend fully the teachings of either Testament without a proper understanding of the other. Each aspect of the Old Testament must be viewed in light of the teachings of the New Testament, and the New Testament must be studied with the teachings of the Old Testament in mind. Likewise, the various covenants that are contained within the Scriptures must be studied simultaneously. The material of the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and the New Covenant must be learned in relation to each other in order for one to gain a proper appreciation for the basis and fulfillment of each. “The covenants contained in the Scriptures are of primary importance to the interpreter of the Word and to the student of Eschatology. God’s eschatological program is determined and prescribed by these covenants and one’s eschatological system is determined and limited by the interpretation of them.” Not only did the covenants affect the events of the New Testament, but they also affect much of what takes place today. “In its essence, this New Covenant is the fulfillment of two Old Testament covenants, that with Abraham and that with David. In the Abrahamic Covenant lay the breadth, the blessing for all peoples (Genesis 12:3); in the Davidic Covenant was the height, the royal throne of Messiah (I Chronicles 17:11-14).” The three covenants are linked, and on...
To speak of the Hebrew Scripture is to speak of story, a story stretching from the very beginning of time to only a few centuries before the beginning of the Common Era. It is to speak of richness of content, of purpose and of reality and to engross oneself in an overarching narrative that, depending on your personal convictions, continues to the present day. Within this richness is found a wide variety of different events and experience, told through a series of genre ranging from foundational myth to apocalypse, law giving to poetry, genealogy to wisdom and many more. Within this diversity however, three broad sections can be discerned that speak to a shared purpose and content, these are the sections of Law, Prophecy and Writings. It is the purpose of this talk then to examine each of these sections, identifying their commonality and differences and exploring why they exists as discernable sections. To achieve this, we will be led through a brief survey of each section, delving into the content and purpose of each with reference to the others. In addition to this we will also explore the three genres of foundational myth, type scene and wisdom that are found in these sections, discussing their features and how they have been used in specific circumstances as a part of the greater biblical narrative.
For example, the allowance of eating animals has enabled us to eat the meat that we hunt from animals. Today, we can still see in some religions that eating specific types of meat or meat in general, is prohibited, and if God had not made the covenant with Noah, we may not be eating any meat to this day. God’s main promise of never sending down a flood to wipe all of humanity away has also stayed true. Another part was the penalty that God had established in the covenant. Although it says that those who take life from others must also have their own lives taken, we see that today those who murder do not face this punishment, and that we have decided that this part of the covenant does not apply to us
Every Christians today knows the story of Jesus birth. The story of how Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem for a censes declared by the Roman Empire. While not being able to find an inn to stay in and Mary getting ready to give birth, they stow away in the cave where the animals were kept. While there Mary gave birth to a son and called him Jesus. While Jesus was in a manger a heavenly host of angles came down and also Shepard’s from the field came and rejoiced the savior was born. This is where the typical nativity scene comes from. Unless you have a Doctorate and teach a History of the New testament class and go into fine detail about the story, then story this is what people hear. Well this is for History of the New Testament so the fine details are what we are looking for. Most people do not realize that the story they tell every Christmas is actually a combination of two stories. The birth story is told in the Gospels of Luke and the Gospels of Mathew but each tell a very different version of what actually happened and that is what leads to people questioning the accuracy of the bible today.
He is a God of loyalty and like a parent, He wants what is best for His children even if it requires discipline. The cycle of God as a redeemer is so evident throughout all of Israel’s history. Even after severing their relationship with God during the fall of Israel to Babylon, God still shows love for His people and offers them yet another chance to return to Him. All they had to do was repent and change their ways and God would bring them back from exile. This is the same as what God would do for each and every one of us today. No matter what we have done or how much we have rejected God, He still offers us another chance. However, through a new covenant of Jesus Christ we are no longer come under judgment when we sin but Jesus removes all trace of our sin when we ask for
In the days of Christ’s life on this earth, believers did not have access to the Bible in its entirety as we know and are familiar with today. Believers in this ancient time period only had access to the Old Testament. However, through their access to the Old Testament, believers were provided a foundation for New Testament times. This foundation provided New Testament believers with the Lord’s established principles of right and wrong they were expected to follow. In addition, the Old Testament is overflowing with accounts of people whose lives exemplified the future life of Christ on this earth. These pictures allowed the Israelite nation to begin to have an understanding of why Christ needed to come as their Messiah and the work He needed to do on earth. Finally, there are common themes that are interwoven throughout the entire Old Testament. Three of these themes: transgression, redemption, and consummation point to the purpose of Christ’s atoning death on the cross. These themes portray God’s work both in the lives of Old Testament believers, but they also foreshadow God’s desire and plan for believers in New Testament times and beyond.
An everlasting covenant is a promise from God that is characterized as eternal. Charles Spurgeon describes the significance of a covenant as, “the only ladder, which reaches from earth to heaven.” Covenants have historically connected to many passages all throughout the Old Testament; however, eternal covenant is mentioned in the New Testament as well (NIV, Hebrews 13:20). The reason eternal covenant is only mentioned once in the New Testament is because the Blood of the Lamb is the only needed element, as the work of the cross covers all sins for all people. An example of an Old Testament covenant is the Noahic Covenant , which is still significant today, is God’s promise to never flood the earth again (NIV, Genesi...
Surveying the Old Testament reveals the theme of God’s faithfulness to his people. In light of this understanding, the restoration of the Israelites prophesized in the Old Testament is essentially the fulfillment of every covenant with God. This perspective relates to the work of Christ and encourages any follower of God to trust in his faithfulness.
It is important to know the history of one’s past. Just where did we come from and why. By comparing and contrasting the Abrahamic and Mosaic Covenants, we can see a part of our history. These two covenants mark a grand time in the history of Christians. Both covenants can teach us a lesson in becoming a better Christian and to knowing God better if we pay attention to what God wants us to learn. The Abrahamic Covenant lays the foundation for how the Christian nation was formed. The Mosaic Covenant follows in later years as a reminder of what was promised in the Abrahamic Covenant to the Christian nation. Both covenants are important in understanding the Old and New Testaments as they give us the historical background of the Bible as well as set the stage for the coming of Christ.
"The New Testament uses terms for various events and processes such as election, predestination, conversion, repentance, faith, justification, regeneration and sanctification. It describes gifts such as forgiveness of sins, reconciliation, union with Christ, peace with God, inner renewal, being filled with the Holy Spirit, enduement with power and glorification Nowhere does provide a neat, precise, orderly description of all these facets of whole salvation and how they take place or in what order they happened" . Olson, Roger E. "Salvation." The Mosaic of Christian Belief: Twenty Centuries of Unity and Diversity. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2002.
There are five aspects of covenant. For the purposes of this paper I am going to be referring to primarily the new covenant that is offered us through Jesus. The first aspect is the parties involved. There are two parties: God and the elect. Unlike the old covenant, the elect goes beyond the Jews. It also includes the gentile, or non-Jew in all the nations. This is one aspect of covenant that has helped shape my worldview. I have spoken to people who believe that God only selects a few privileged people to be saved, and condemns the rest to eternal punishment in hell. I now wholeheartedly believe this to be completely false, and even a heresy. In John 3:16 God uses the phrase “panta ta ethne” which means “all the nations.” There are other places in scripture, for example, when Paul says in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes…” He clearly says ‘everyone who believes’ not leaving anyone out. There are places in scripture, such as Ephesians 1:11 that talk about things which are predestined for believers. This verse is commonly taken out of context by those who believe in predestination. He has indeed planned out things He wants those in covenant relationship to accomplish for His kingdom once we accept Jesus and make Him Lord of our life. He does not, however, make the choice beforehand to save some, and damn some to hell! God created us in His image, therefore we have also been given the gift of free will to choose to love Him or love the world. This is the depraved condition of mankind in our fallen state.