Monday Morning Bible Study - Week 2
Good morning ladies!
Last week I started a new series on my website…
a Weekly Bible Study!
I’m thrilled so many of you emailed me or messaged me that you were going to follow along! I am blessed by your desire to dig into God’s Word with me, and I hope this blesses you in some way as well.
For today’s Bible Study, I want us to go through the covenants of God, and look at how that helps us understand the “story” of the Bible.
We touched on this last week, but to remind everyone, a covenant is like a contract, or promise. When we get married we are joining in covenant with our spouse. It is a promise… or contract…to be faithful. Doing business or buying a home would also fall into this category of covenant, we just call them contracts today.
There is an overarching story in the bible that is very important to grasp, and that is that God is a God of covenant. Which means: What He says He will do, He does. Not only is He THE Promise Keeper, but there is purpose in every story, every chapter and every sentence of the Bible.
So let’s take a look a the covenants we see in Scripture:
(Scripture references are for further study, along with links at the bottom)
Covenant of Redemption - This covenant is made before the world was formed, to save a people for God. Jesus Christ is the first “missionary” so to speak - who chose to submit to this covenant and take on the role of Son, so that we may be saved. God’s steadfast love for us, even before He spoke anything into existence is seen at the very beginning. (John 17:1-5 & Ehepsians 1:3-5)
Covenant of Works - When Adam and Eve were created, the covenant of works was established. There were the “terms” to be upheld by God and if they were, they would be blessed in the Garden of Eden, in perfect harmony with God. But we know that didn’t happen, and the consequences of their sin brought about the fall of man. (Genesis 3)
Covenant of Grace - This is where we see the love of God poured out on us! It is through this covenant that God reconciles us through Jesus Christ, giving us eternal life in Him. It is the overarching story of redemption that says we can be saved by grace, through faith in the works of Jesus Christ. This grace is a gift of unmerited favor and it is shown at the beginning… In the Garden of Eden, right after Adam and Eve sinned. Genesis 3:15 speaks to the future fulfillment of the covenant of works by only One who would come and fulfill it: Jesus Christ!
Noahic Covenant - We see by Genesis 6 the pervasiveness of sin has taken over. God sees the evil and resolves to judge the sin by the flood. But, God does not forget about His covenant (promise) and shows grace by fulfilling His promise to save a people. God’s unmerited grace is poured out on Noah, who is declared righteous by God, because of God’s unmerited favor. (Favor = Grace) Hebrews 11:7 shows Noah was righteous through faith in God. And by saving Noah, his family and the animals we see that God still intends to fulfill His original purpose for the world from the beginning of time, redeeming a people for Himself. His original plan of relationship is still in place, and every time we see a rainbow we should remind our hearts of God’s faithfulness and grace.
Abrahamic Covenant - Again, we see after Noah the people sinning and glorifying themselves instead of worshiping God. God calls Abram to go to a new land He will give to him and promises him a great name and nation will come from him. Gen. 15:6 shows Abram (like Noah) was righteous through faith in God. Not perfect on His own, but credited righteousness. And in this covenant ceremony God alone moves between the halves of the animals, instead of both of them doing this, signifying that He will uphold His promise alone, by taking the covenant “curse” upon Himself, which is a picture of Jesus becoming the “curse” and walking out the covenant of grace by hanging on a tree. (Galatians 3 shows this incredible correlation)
Mosaic Covenant - We see early on in Moses' life that God chose him and saved him from certain death. God gave Moses a huge task, that he didn’t want to do, but God assures Moses that He will be with him. It’s an incredible story of God saving His people, and again we see the picture of the covering of sins through shed blood. The passover is such a powerful picture of our perfect Jesus whose blood would cover our sins! (Our sins would fall on Jesus and pass over us) Then Moses, by faith, left Egypt which points to the deliverance (and setting apart) of God’s people again. God made a way, because His purposes will stand.
Davidic Covenant - Well, the people forget God’s faithfulness and blessings and fall back into sin again. God’s covenant with David starts by reminding David of all that God has done and then He tells David that his house (or lineage) would be established and his kingdom would never come to an end. David is anointed King over Israel, but he is only a type (or shadow) of the promise from the very beginning to save a people, (The covenant of Redemption) and we see that Jesus, who would come through the line of David, is the fulfillment of this covenant. (Luke 1: 30-33)
New Covenant - Each of these covenants have been building up to the “way, the truth and the life” coming through Jesus Christ, (John 14:6) and they are all fulfilled in Him! He is the promise of God to redeem His people from the very beginning. (Ephesians 1) Jesus’ body and blood are the perfect sacrifice, perfectly blemish free and a substitute and fulfillment of the law. The new covenant promise of forgiveness of sins is fulfilled in Jesus, and He pours out his Spirit on his people so that they are enabled to do God’s will (Ezek. 36:26–27) Jesus fulfills every promise of God and He ushers in the New Covenant, and He brings new life! Yes & Amen!
Isn’t it amazing to see the overarching story of God’s redemption?
From the very beginning of time, through the witness of creation and the Word of God,(Scripture) we see this incredible story is still alive and active to this day! God’s love, before time began, to redeem His people, is still being fulfilled in our lifetime. And we know that He is coming back to live with His people some day! It’s what brings us peace, confidence and joy in the midst of this life we walk.
So let us fix our eyes on Jesus friends, because everything points to Him. He is the answer, He is the story and He is our Savior. The Bible is a redeeming story of God bringing His people to Himself, and what a blessing to be a part of this story!
Here are some points we can take away from today’s study:
We don’t need to try to earn anything - It is a FREE gift of grace
We can rest in the work of Jesus Christ - Jesus paid it ALL
We can trust that what God says, He will do - He is ALWAYS faithful
We are no longer dead in our sins, but alive in Christ - His blood shed for us
We’ll talk more about these verses throughout this study, but today let us remind our hearts of the rich mercy and grace of our God, that we get to walk in, through faith in Jesus Christ!
Daily Prompts:
Read Ephesians 2:1-10
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”
After going through today’s lesson, how can you see God’s faithfulness throughout all the covenants He made?
Read 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” What does it mean when is says “the Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise?” Reflect on this verse and your thoughts about patience in your own life.
How do the covenants reveal how God works, and ties the past, present and future together?
Our calling in life is to share the story of God’s faithfulness with others. As creatives we can look to our Creator, and Creative God, first. How do you think that should influence what we do creatively?
Art Application:
Sketch or journal in your Bible (or art journal) what you took away from today’s study. What do you do creatively in your life that maybe you haven’t looked at as serving the Lord? Do you like to have people over for dinner? Are you creative in ways that may not look like “art” but are ways in which you can share your faith with others, and give God the glory? Start praying and thinking about ways you can use your creativity to help others see Jesus this week.
I hope you have a GREAT week ladies! It’s a joy to dig a little deeper with you, to write these studies… and add some creativity to it as well! I hope you enjoy them and have some time this week to study God’s Word!
Hugs to all,
Laura McCollough
Resources for further study on the Covenants of God:
Why we must understand the Covenants of God