The Abrahamic Covenant and its Connection to New Testament Believers

Introduction

We often view the Old Testament and the New Testament as being disconnected in some ways. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The entire Bible is one unified story about God creating and then intervening in His creation in order to redeem it. In this post we are going to connect a prominent story in the Old Testament to the Main story of the New Testament. The Abrahamic Covenant plays a pivotal role in both the founding of the nation of Israel along with the Mosaic Law and the founding of the New Covenant through Jesus Christ. 

The 2 Promises to Abraham

The Abrahamic covenant, often called “The Covenant of Promise”, encompasses the promises that we find in Genesis that are made to Abraham by God. This is actually two promises that are closely linked together. They could be classified as a physical promise and a spiritual promise. The first is the promise that God will make Abraham into a great nation and the second is that all the people on earth will be blessed through Abraham (Gen. 12:1-3). These promises were repeated in a couple of places, including chapters thirteen and fifteen. 

An Unconditional Covenant

In Genesis chapter fifteen we see God make a covenant with Abram (Abraham). This covenant, unlike the Mosaic Covenant, was an unconditional covenant in the form of a Royal Grant Treaty. This was a covenant form common to the Ancient Near East of which Abraham was a part of. It was common for God to use language, forms, and ideas that the people were familiar with so they would fully understand what was expected. In the Royal Grant Treaty tradition, the obligation for carrying out the rules of the treaty/covenant fell to the one in charge or the “grantor”. In this case God was the “grantor” and Abraham was the “grantee”. We believe this is why Abraham was put to sleep during the covenant ritual. He had no part in instituting or carrying out the ritual because he had no authority or obligation to carry out the stipulations of the covenant. The authority and responsibility for the covenant lay completely with God. He was the one who was going to bring about the results.

The Physical Promise

The physical promise (Gen. 12:1-2) addresses the giving of the land and a physical nation, Israel, brought through Abraham’s physical offspring with Sarah, Isaac. From context, it is likely that the restating of the promise in thirteen and the institution ceremony in fifteen refer to the physical promise that leads to the nation of Israel. Here God sets in motion the promise that will ultimately be realized through the lineage of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Jacob and his sons end up in Egypt and the people of Israel grow in numbers there. As God revealed to Abraham (Gen. 15:13-16), the people of Israel were enslaved in Egypt for 400 years and eventually left during the Exodus. After forty years in the wilderness, the Israelites entered the promised land and realized the physical promise of God to Abraham. 

The Spiritual Promise

The spiritual promise (Gen. 12:3)  lead to the New Covenant of believers ushered in by the physical descendent who is Christ Jesus our Lord. This promise results in individuals becoming spiritual offspring of Abraham through entry into the New Covenant by faith rather than through birth or linked to a national border (Rom 4). The fulfillment of God’s spiritual promise to Abraham began at Jesus’ death and resurrection. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law covenant (Matt. 5:17) by both keeping the Law without sin, something no one else can accomplish, and by becoming the perfect sacrifice that fulfilled the perfect justice of God regarding human sin [see The Roman Road to Salvation – Posted 8/20/23]. Because Jesus paid our debt, all who believe and accept Him can be set free from our sin and reconciled to God. We become the spiritual descendants of Abraham through his offspring, Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:1-17). 

We Should Respond to God like Abraham Did

The human response to God should be a faith-based response of total submission and faithfulness. Abraham’s faith was a saving faith. We should believe God like Abraham believed God. In Gen. 15:4-6, God explained to Abram (Abraham) that, despite his advanced years, he would have offspring as numerous as the stars. Then it says, “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness.” Abraham was not made righteous by works or sacrifices and he had no righteousness of his own. Abraham was not perfect and, in his weakness, fell short at times just like we do. He had righteousness credited to him the same way we do, through faith. 

Significance of the Abrahamic Covenant to Us Today

The Abrahamic covenant is significant to us today because the result of both promises led to the creation of the New Covenant believer. The fulfillment of the physical promise led to the creation of the nation of Israel. It is in this context and through this lineage that our savior, Jesus Christ, was born, lived, and died for the sake of the world, both Jew and Gentile. It is the atoning work of Christ [What is the Gospel] that is the fulfillment of the second promise to Abraham which ushers in the New Covenant (Jer. 31:31, Luke 22:20, Heb. 8:13) of spiritual believers . The Apostle Paul proclaims that Abraham is not only the father of all those of the Mosaic Law Covenant of Israel, but also those of The New Covenant through faith in Jesus Christ (Rom. 4:16-17). 

Blessings