God’s Covenant with Abraham and Christ
Galatians 3:16-19 “Now to Abraham and his Seed were the promises made. He does not say, "And to seeds," as of many, but as of one, "and to your seed," who is Christ. (17) And this I say, that the law, which was four hundred and thirty years later, cannot annul the covenant that was confirmed before by God in Christ, that it should make the promise of no effect. (18) For if the inheritance is of the law, it is no longer of promise; but God gave it to Abraham by promise. (19) What purpose then does the law serve? It was added because of transgressions, till the Seed should come to whom the promise was made; and it was appointed through angels by the hand of a mediator.”
When God called Abraham as the father of the Hebrew nation, He also did something else. God entered into a covenant with him. Before that time, God had only made one previous covenant with men. That was the covenant that God had made with mankind after the flood, during the time of Noah. In fact God made that covenant not only with man, but also with the whole of creation. For God said that He would never again destroy the earth by flood (Genesis 9:9-11). God placed His rainbow in the clouds as a sign of His covenant, and that covenant still stands in place today. Nevertheless, as the above quoted passage of scripture declares, when God made His second covenant with man, He made it with Abraham.
Romans 4:13 “For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.”
As the above quoted passages of scripture reveal to us, when God made His second covenant with man, He not only made it with Abraham, but He also made that covenant with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Because God made this covenant with His Son, this covenant is an eternal covenant. In other words, it can never be broken, added to, or annulled. Notice that this covenant was not made with the Hebrew nation, for the promises were not made to Abraham’s seeds, they were made to his Seed, which is Christ. And so God only made this covenant with Abraham and with Jesus Christ. As we saw earlier, one of the promises made to Abraham in this covenant, was that those who believed would become sons of God (Galatians 4:7). And as sons of God, they would become heirs of the world. This covenant is the eternal covenant that God has made with all His sons, in Christ Jesus. Only those in Christ can partake of this covenant. This covenant has nothing to do with being circumcised in the flesh, but has everything to do with being circumcised in the heart (Philippians 3:3). Those who partake of this covenant receive the righteousness of God, they receive eternal life, they are made sons of God, and they become heirs of God.
Michael E.B. Maher
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