Covenant Theology
"God deserves our fellowship and longs to have a covenant relationship with us".A Covenant is an agreement or relationship between two people or between God and man. It includes a promise, a condition, a penalty and a provision. It also involves obligations and benefits for performance. In general there are three types of Covenant: A Covenant imposed upon one party by a superior partyWhen God wants to govern, relate to or establish a relationship with human beings he does it through a Covenant.When the Bible uses the word "Covenant" to describe the relationship between God and man, it indicates a gracious responsibility that God has entered into for our benefit and God will bless those who will receive the promises due to their faith and who commit themselves to the obligations which this task involves.In this assignment I will concentrate on Gods Covenant with man, in particular I will be looking at Gods Covenant with Adam, Noah, Abraham and Israel and emphasise why Covenants are an important theme for Biblical studies and Christianity as a whole.
God wiped out humanity with the flood to try to recreate a more obedient and loving people and made a promise never to destroy mankind again. With the help of God Moses persuaded the Pharaoh to let his people go, however soon after the Pharaoh changed his mind and pursued the Israelites, trapping them against the sea. Jesus is the one who, as predicted in the Garden of Eden came to crush Satan's power over humanity. The laws were designed to cover every aspect of their life together as a community so that they could serve God and enjoy his blessings; they were given to Moses by God on the top of Mount Sinai, this took forty days and forty nights. Their actions allowed sin to enter into the world and separated mankind from God, they now knew the difference between right and wrong and God would no longer allow them to eat from the tree that lets them live forever. Many of the stories in the Bible relate to covenants in some way or another, this is an important reason why we should be taught covenant theology in Biblical Studies. God's Covenant with IsraelAs God predicted the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt, however God called upon Moses, a common man raised as an Egyptian prince to lead his people to freedom. God would work wonders, treasure Israel among all peoples, drive out the Canaanite peoples and he would not spurn Israel but instead would always be with them. God did not turn his back on humanity, after the flood he made a covenant with Noah that humanity will never again be destroyed. After sin entered the world, all of the covenants were made by a gracious and a loving God. The second theology is 'dispensational', which shows that in salvations history God has worked in many different ways with mankind. We are unsure how many of each animal went into the Ark; most people would say there were two however there are two versions of Noah's ark. Israel's Covenant was based upon the death of sacrifices and the sprinkling of blood like the others. If we look at covenants and interpret their messages throughout the Bible we can see God's mercy, faithfulness and love. In return Israel must:1) Worship no other god2) Keep the Sabbath forever3) Not worship false Idols4) Not commit murder5) Respect one's parents6) Not steal7) Not give false Testimony8) Not Covet9) Not use the Lords name in Vain10) Not commit AdulteryNow these are the commandments, the statutes, and the judgments, which the LORD your God commanded to teach you, that ye might do them in the land whither ye go to possess it: That thou mightest fear the LORD thy God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command thee, thou, and thy son, and thy son's son, all the days of thy life; and that thy days may be prolonged [Deut.
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Acceptance Essays
