Covenant Fulfillment Term Paper
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Covenant Fulfillment
Covenant Fulfillment
Winfield Scott Warren
BIB-107
Robert Scott
July 9, 2022
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Covenant Fulfillment
Throughout time God has had a plan in place since the day He said, “Let there be light
(Genesis 3:3)”. He knew that giving us free will and human nature was a definite recipe for
disaster for His creation, mankind. God set this in place Himself by design. The Bible tells us
throughout its pages that God wants us to turn to and depend on Him for every single one of our
needs. One key scripture, Matthew 11:28-30 says,
“Come to Me, all of you who are weary and
burdened, and I will give you rest.
All of you, take up My yoke and learn from Me,
because I am
gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for yourselves.
For My yoke is easy and My
burden is light (HCSB, 2010).” God has encouraged humans to lean on Him as our Father
throughout time. We [are] His children. In the coming paragraphs, beginning with the Abrahamic
Covenant and ending with the New Covenant, each of the covenants God set into place are
connected from beginning to end from the day God delivered them all the way to the death of
Jesus on the cross.
Abrahamic Covenant
“Just as Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness, then
understand that those who have faith are Abraham’s sons. Now the Scripture saw in advance that
God would justify the Gentiles by faith and told the good news ahead of time to Abraham,
saying, All the nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed with
Abraham, who had faith (Galatians 3:6-9) (HCSB, 2010).” God promised Abraham the following
seven parts of this covenant:
Abraham was promised a great nation through him.
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Covenant Fulfillment
Personal blessing upon Abraham
That Abraham’s name shall be great.
Abraham will be a blessing to others.
Those that bless Abraham will be blessed
Ones that curse Abraham will be cursed.
Through Abraham, all nations will be blessed.
The main structure of the Abrahamic Covenant were the promises that Israel received,
Abraham’s personal promises, the blessing or cursing depending on how others treated Abraham,
and the fulfillment through Christ, which was Abraham’s seed. Matthew 1:2-16 and Luke 3:23-
38 clearly show how Jesus fulfilled the Abrahamic covenant. How is this important to
Christians? How Jesus and Abraham are connected through their genealogy. Abraham was
promised that his “seed” would be a blessing for all mankind. While the list is quite long in both
Matthew and Luke, it clearly shows their connection. This was ultimately filled through the New
Covenant when Jesus died upon the cross.
Fulfillment of the Mosaic/Sinai Covenant
The Mosaic/Sinai Covenant (MSC) was God’s promise to the Israelites when he brought
them out of Egypt to escape slavery. However, God knew they had some work to do before they
received this great blessing of their Promised Land. God establishes the Ten Commandments and
gives them life rules to live by. Unfortunately, this did not work out very well for the Israelites.
They had spent so much time in slavery, that they did not acclimate easily to this form of living.
They were not used to freedom after being in constant bondage. Knowing this God led them
through the wilderness for 40 years. By the keeping of God’s commandments, this made the
Hebrew people special, and they became God’s chosen people. This made the people of Israel
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Covenant Fulfillment
and Holy nation under God. The Hebrew people were also given a day of rest and told to keep
this day Holy. These are the core parts of the MSC. God knew the Israelites would fail miserably
when it came to the Ten Commandments. Therefore, God knew all along that He would come
here in the form of His Son Jesus and live a perfect life without sin. This made Jesus a perfect
sacrifice for all our sins, and this fulfilled the MSC. Romans 10:8-13 says,
“On the contrary, what does it say? The message is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.
This is the message of faith that we proclaim: If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,”
and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. One believes
with the heart, resulting in righteousness, and one confesses with the mouth, resulting in
salvation. Now the Scripture says, everyone who believes on Him will not be put to shame, for
there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call
on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved (HCSB,2010).” We are to
proclaim Jesus as our Lord and Savior and we are forgiven of our sins.
Davidic Covenant
In 2 Samuel 7 we find another covenant, which is similar to the Abrahamic and Noahic
meaning that it is an unconditional covenant, the Davidic Covenant. This covenant was between
God and King David. In 2 Samuel 7:10-16 the bible tells us of this great covenant, “I will
establish a place for My people Israel and plant them, so that they may live there and not be
disturbed again. Evildoers will not afflict them as they have done ever since the day, I ordered
judges to be over My people Israel. I will give you rest from all your enemies. “‘The Lord
declares to you: The Lord Himself will make a house for you. When your time comes and you
rest with your fathers, I will raise up after you your descendant, who will come from your body,
and I will establish his kingdom. He will build a house for My name, and I will establish the
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Covenant Fulfillment
throne of his kingdom forever. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me. When he
does wrong, I will discipline him with a human rod and with blows from others. But My faithful
love will never leave him as I removed it from Saul; I removed him from your way. Your house
and kingdom will endure before Me forever, and your throne will be established forever’ (HCSB,
2010).” God promises David that his throne will forever be protected by God. This is what
makes this covenant to be fulfilled when Jesus dies on the cross. He secured the throne as
David’s offspring at the right hand of God.
New Covenant
The New Covenant is the pinnacle of the previously listed covenants. It completely
fulfills every single one of them. The New Covenant removed us from under the previous law.
God came to Earth in the form of the Son. Jesus was a direct descendant of both Abraham and
David. Translated from the Greek word “diathēkē”, the New Testament essentially means “a
contract or testament (Burger, 2019).” In Jeremiah 31:31-33, God’s New Testament was foretold,
““Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration— “when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the
covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land
of Egypt—a covenant they broke even though I had married them”—the Lord’s declaration.
“Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s
declaration. “I will put My teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be My people (HCSB, 2010).” One of the greatest gifts from the New Covenant is
none other than God’s Grace. We are no longer under the Mosaic Law; God’s Grace replaced this
when Jesus died on the cross for all our sins.
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Covenant Fulfillment
From day one it is obvious that God always had a plan for his people. This does not just
apply to the Jewish people. This also applies to Gentiles as well. Paul teaches us in Romans 1:16
NIV translation tells us, “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that
brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.” This is truly the
good news for all Christians who believe. God knew throughout each of the Covenants
throughout the Bible that He had a greater plan for us all, and the covenants clearly show us that
His plan was nothing short of perfect.
REFERENCES
Burger, H. (2019). The Story of God’s Covenants: A Biblical-Theological Investigation with
Systematic Consequences. Calvin Theological Journal, 54(2), 267–299.Permalink
Davis, A. R. (2020). A Biblical View of Covenants Old and New. Theological Studies, 81(3),
631–648. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1177/0040563920952891
Elwell, W. A., & Yarbrough, R. W. (2013). Encountering the New Testament: A historical and
theological survey (3rd ed.). Baker Academic.
Evans, T., & Holman, C. B. b. (2019). The Tony Evans Bible commentary: Advancing God's
Kingdom agenda. Nashville, Tennessee: Holman Bible Publishers.
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HCSB study Bible, Holman Christian Standard Bible: God's word for life. (2010). Nashville,
Tenn: Holman Bible Publishers.
Wright, J. W. (2009). Kinship by covenant: a canonical approach to the fulfillment of God’s
saving promises. Choice: Current Reviews for Academic Libraries, 47(3), 515.
https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.5860/CHOICE.47-1359