The New Covenant

by Dr. Olayinka O. Ojo

You will see divine purposes, plans, promises, principles, prophecies, and covenants going through the Bible. This month will be discussing the new covenant.

Covenant means agreement. An agreement is consent between two people to carry out something with an oath. In several instances in the Bible, people agreed to do certain things, for example, David and Jonathan. Similarly, we see God stepping into the affairs of men by entering an agreement on oath with men. By this, God assures man that nothing will change him from fulfilling these promises. There’s no consensus on the number of God’s covenants with men in the Bible. There are, however, five explicit covenants that form the backbone of the Bible: these are those God made with Noah, Abraham, Israel (Mosaic), and David and the New Covenant through Jesus.

Why does God make a covenant with a man?

– God Expresses His Mind in Covenant:
From the instance of God making a covenant with Noah, we are to understand how tough it was for God to explain to men His mind and intentions. During the days of Noah, humankind sinned so terribly that their iniquities could be spoken of as being full; consequently, God destroyed them with a flood. For a man to understand the intention of God and align with his purpose, God had to make a covenant with Noah assuring him that he would not destroy the world again with water. God enters a formal relationship with Noah and all living creatures, promising that he will never again destroy them despite humanity’s evil. Instead, he will preserve the world as he works towards fulfilling the promise of rescuing humanity and creation through the woman’s offspring. He reiterates the mandate, inviting humans to partner with him in filling and ruling his world.

– God Enlarges Man’s Faith by Covenant:
Let us review the story of God making a covenant with Abraham. God enters a redemptive partnership with Abraham, developed progressively in Genesis 12, 15, and 17. He promises Abraham a huge family that will inherit a promised piece of land in Canaan and brings universal blessing to all humanity through his family. You can remember these promises like this: 1) offspring, 2) land, and 3) universal blessing.

When God told Abraham he would have a child, he believed. However, when God told him he would give him the land and a universal blessing that his children would possess the land, it was difficult for Abraham to believe, and for God to enlarge his faith, God had to make a covenant with him.

– God Gives Covenant to Man as Surety:
Let us go further and look into the covenant which God established with David. 2 Samuel 7.4-16 and Psalm 89.19-36 speak of the same incident; except that 2 Samuel 7 does not inform us that God was establishing a covenant with David, whereas Psalm 89 clearly states that the word which Jehovah spoke to David through Nathan the prophet was a covenant. God gave His word to David and his descendants as surety. He takes pleasure in seeing men laid hold of by His word and in their requesting Him to perform accordingly. This is the very reason for giving covenant to men.

The most important of this covenant is the new covenant through the blood of Jesus. We will be speaking on these new covenants this month. God bless you, and I pray that this month’s ministration will transform your life and empower you to make the best of all that the Lord has made available for you in Jesus’ name.