.
The plan of salvation was revealed progressively. Between the first
promise of a Saviour and His appearance there was built up a larger
and fuller picture. Prophet after prophet contributed broad views and
details regarding the life and work of the coming Messiah. The earthly
experience of the Saviour and the New Testament writings add
immeasurably to an understanding of the plan.
On the day Adam and
Eve sinned they heard the plan announced that the "seed of the woman" would
ultimately destroy the power of their tempter.
Genesis 3:15. This is often
called the "protevangelium," the "first good news," or "first gospel."
Christians have always understood it as a prediction of the coming Saviour.
This was the first announcement of what came to be known as "the everlasting
covenant."
The Genesis 4 story of the sacrifices of
Cain and of Abel indicates that God had already given specific instruction
regarding blood sacrifice, doubtless to Adam and Eve when the first animals
were slain. Thus there was kept before our first parents and the descendants
the constant reminder that sin leads to death, and also that there is a
Saviour who would take their place if they were willing to accept Him as
their substitute.
The firmness with
which the sacrificial offerings were established as part of worship is
illustrated by Noah's first act after he left the ark.
Genesis 8:20. (Note
the kind of animals Noah used for his sacrifice.)
Genesis 8:21, 22. A little
later this decision and promise were communicated to Noah (Genesis 9:8-17)
as God's covenant with Noah and his descendants.
What was involved in the covenant with
Noah? What promises were made by God? Were there conditions calling for
response on the part of man? What time limits were placed on the covenant?
These and many other
questions must be answered in order to have a clear understanding of the uses of
the word.
The
significance of God's promise to Abraham "In thee shall all families of the
earth be blessed," is apparent only in the light of later revelation.
Several times during Abraham's life the promise was repeated and an
additional explanation was given. Later Old Testament writers refer to God's
covenant with Abraham, and New Testament passages give us still more
understanding of its meaning.
The
covenant went through several developing steps.
The first major recorded step in the
revelation of God's plan beyond its announcement in
Genesis 3:15 was the
divine covenant with Abraham. It revealed the family line through which the
promised seed would come, and that God's power would preserve the seed. The
blessings of the covenant would not be enjoyed or maintained unless certain
conditions were met on the part of its beneficiaries. But the conditions
were actually not conditions for establishing the covenant. They were to be
the responses of love, faith, and obedience. Thus covenant keeping was
maintaining an established relationship rather than a condition on which the
covenant was established.
This viewpoint has a definite bearing on
the meaning of breaking the covenant. Covenant breaking is unfaithfulness to
an established relationship. When the covenant is broken, what is broken is
not the condition of bestowal but the condition of fulfillment.
Genesis 3:15 was the first announcement of
the good news or the gospel of Jesus Christ; the revelation to Abraham was
also a presentation of the gospel. It included righteousness by faith and
blessings to those who by faith are the children of Abraham. See
Galatians
3:6-9. It was another phase in the progressive revelation of the everlasting
gospel, the only way a man can be saved. This covenant was an arrangement
whereby men could be brought into harmony with God's will and enabled to
obey Him. It was made with Abraham and his descendants not for their benefit
alone, but in order that they might be agents to spread the story of
salvation to all nations. It was not a covenant different from God's
everlasting plan to save men, but a statement of that plan suited to God's
purposes for the Hebrew nation who would be Abraham's descendants.
Though there was a ceremony by which the
surety of the covenant was pledged, it was not until the blood of Christ was
shed that the Abrahamic covenant was ratified and completed provision for
man's salvation was made.
Hebrews 9:15. The ultimate fulfillment of the
promises to Abraham is the inheritance of the world by those who are
righteous through faith in Christ.
Romans 4:11-13. The Abrahamic covenant
later became known as the "new covenant" because the blood that ratified it
was shed later than the blood of animals shed at Mount Sinai to ratify the
"Old covenant," and because in Christ's first advent there was anew
revelation of the working of God's plan. For practical purposes it may be
considered synonymous with the plan of salvation.
|
|