The Covenant for All Generations
LUKE 1:72-75
God’s Administration and the Covenant
When we observe God’s administration, the force that propels God’s Administration is the Covenant. It is the link that connects God’s work of salvation in each era. What is a covenant? It is a promise or agreement that God made especially with us (mankind) because of His love for us (Lev 26:9). The Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, is the Word of the living God, which reveals His total sovereignty and enfolds the great history of redemption in which He saves fallen mankind. The covenants that God made with His people became the lamp, shining upon each era (2 Chr 21:7; Ps 119:105). Today, the lamp of God has shined upon us through the Word of Redemptive History.
The fulfiller of all covenants, Jesus Christ
All the promises of God starting with the lamp of God’s covenant to save fallen mankind continued to burn and shine through each time period, being renewed through each generation. Finally when the fullness of the time came, Jesus Christ came to this world as the fulfillment of all the covenants that God made. In reality, Jesus Christ came at the apex of history just as the Bible had promised (Gal 4:4).
The Covenants of God throughout history
The first revelation of the covenant we see in the Bible is the “promise of the woman’s seed” (Gen 3:15). This is referred to as the protogospel. This was a promise God made to Adam and Eve who had fallen and His promise to save mankind from their sins. Secondly, there is the “Noahic Covenant” or “Covenant of the Bow” (Gen 6:18). Here, God commanded Noah to build an ark and said that He would establish a covenant with Noah to secure the path through which the seed of the woman could come. This was the very first occurrence of the word “covenant” in the Bible. Thirdly, there is the “Abrahamic Covenant” in which God chose Abraham and established a covenant with him with a plan to bless all nations and people of the world through him (Gen 12:1-3, 7; 13:15-18). God established seven covenants with Abraham with the 4th being the “Covenant of the Torch” that promised descendants and the land of Canaan. The fourth covenant is the “Sinaitic Covenant” in which God gave the Ten Commandments to His chosen people, the Israelites, after camping in the Wilderness of Sinai for about 11 months (Exod 19:5; 24:7). Fifthly, God established “The New Covenant” (Jer 31:31-34; 51:50-53). This was the covenant that God gave to the prophet Jeremiah before Jerusalem was destroyed in 586 BC. The purpose of the New Covenant was to keep God’s people from losing the hope of salvation when taken captive to Babylon. The center and the executor of this new covenant is Jesus Christ (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25; Heb 9:15; 12:24). Therefore, the fulfiller of all the covenants (Jesus Christ), the “Seed of the Woman” came to save mankind (Gal 3:16). This teaches us that Jesus Christ, the fulfiller of all the covenants, is the mystery of God hidden from past ages and generations and who was revealed to His saints (Col 1:26-27; 2:2).
God’s Covenant is unchangeable
The covenant given to man by God is never forgotten through generations and is a promise that is never changed or broken. It’s unilateral (one-sided) and unchangeable (Psa 89:34; Heb 6:17). Zacharias, filled with the Holy Spirit, proclaimed three truths regarding God’s covenants. First, God’s covenant is the “salvation” that saves us (Luke 1:71). Secondly, God’s covenant is “holy” (Luke 1:72). And finally, God’s covenant is the “oath He swore” (Luke 1:73). Since there is no one greater than Himself, God made covenants to Himself, therefore God’s promise is made to Himself (Gen 22:16; Jer 44:26).
An oath with a guarantee
All of God’s covenants are guaranteed and comes with an oath. God’s guarantee for His oath is the Mediator, Jesus Christ. Swearing, if not kept, will mean curse upon the person who made it, so it also suggests the death of our mediator Jesus Christ. Thus, Jesus the mediator for sinners has become a priest by swearing (Heb 7:20-21). Secondly, God’s oath is an oath made from love. God is sincere for He keeps all His words once they are said (Isa 55:11). All of God’s words, in their nature, do not need to be sworn in order to prove it true. But even so, God made an oath by swearing in order to show His great love toward man. And finally, the covenant of God is an oath sworn in truth. God’s oath is carried out in truth and it is made based on “truthfulness” (Deu 7:9) and “faithfulness” (Rom 3:3).
Conclusion: The promises made in the world are distorted and deteriorate, but God’s covenant is the covenant of all generations which never changes but is always fulfilled. To those who make covenants by trusting man or his abilities, God will judge them greatly (Isa 28:18). Therefore, we must be believers not relying on man with no power to help, but believing only in God.
