In this manner, the covenant of works that had been established by the Word of God was breached. The consequent condemnation that was poured upon mankind was enormous. Because of Adam, the ground was cursed to yield thorns and thistles, and in toil Adam was to eat of it all the days of his life (Gen 3:17–19). Adam and Eve were destined to die as a result of their sins (Rom 5:12). They received the sentence, “For you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” (Gen 3:19) and were cast out from the beautiful Garden of Eden, an actual, historical entity (Gen 3:24). After expelling Adam and Eve from the garden, God placed cherubim and a flaming sword that turned in every direction to the east of the garden to guard the way to the tree of life (Gen 3:24). God has shown that those who break the covenant simply cannot live forever.
Thus, sin caused mankind to fall. This fall caused a total separation from God that resulted in their expulsion from the garden and the stark darkness of despair in their lives (Isa 59:2). As a result of the breached covenant of works, the once noble mankind—originally created to live in eternity with God—fell and became children of wrath and beings under the curse of death who cannot escape judgment (Eph 2:3).
(2) The covenant of redemption
The covenant of redemption is the covenant that God established from before the ages to save fallen mankind. To restore a humanity expelled from Eden because they could not keep the covenant of works, God entered into a covenant with Jesus Christ, the Holy Son, and promised to accomplish the covenant through Him. In other words, the covenant of works, which Adam could not keep, was now enacted through Jesus. To do this, God the Father required two things from Jesus Christ.
First, Jesus must put on the form of humanity by coming as the seed of the woman (Gen 3:15; Gal 4:4–5; Heb 2:11–15). When mankind faced eternal destruction because of their transgression and fall, God did not simply abandon them (Isa 59:16); He made a firm promise to save them through the seed of the woman. The one who came as the seed of the woman at the fullness of time (Gal 4:4)—the only begotten Son who was in the bosom of the Father from before the beginning (John 1:14, 18) and was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the body of the virgin Mary (Matt 1:23; cf. Isa 7:14)—was indeed Jesus Christ.
By taking the form of flesh and blood, Jesus Christ achieved a hypostatic (personal) union of divinity and humanity. While He was on this earth, He was God-Man—the true God and true man.
Second, Jesus was to pay the penalty of sin on the cross, thereby satisfying the righteousness of the law (Gal 3:10–13). By bearing the transgressions of sinners and accepting their penalty on their behalf, Jesus undertook the work of atonement for their transgressions. Because the first Adam could not keep the covenant of works, Jesus Christ had to come and shed His blood on the cross, to fulfill the righteousness of the law and accomplishing the requirements of the covenant without fail (Heb 7:22; 8:6).
With the redeeming covenant that Jesus Christ has fulfilled on the cross, God the Father forgave the sins of the people who belong to Him and bestowed upon them the grace of justification (Rom 3:21–24). Therefore, the covenant of redemption is the lawful foundation for the fulfillment of the covenant of grace.
(3) The covenant of grace
While the covenant of redemption was made between God and Jesus Christ for the purpose of redeeming fallen mankind, the covenant of grace is made between God and fallen mankind. It is based upon the foundation of the covenant of redemption, in which sinners can find salvation and eternal life by believing in Jesus Christ. Considering that even faith in Christ—which is the sole requirement for salvation—is a free gift (i.e., grace) from God (Eph 2:8), we can conclude that the covenant of grace is entirely founded upon His unilateral grace. Neither our faith nor our repentance qualifies as the meritorious requirements for this covenant of grace.
In the covenant of works, men are given the task and obligation to carry out the covenant. However, because the covenant of grace is established in Christ, He is the One who guarantees to carry out the covenant. Humanity is merely a recipient under the covenant of grace through which eternal life is guaranteed in Christ. Thus, unlike the covenant of works, the covenant of grace requires no conditions, for it is laid upon the foundation of His boundless love, a gift freely bestowed through the One willed by God (John 3:15).
Indeed, the covenant of grace is the covenant of God’s sovereign love that He bestows upon His people. This covenant of grace emerges in various forms throughout the history of redemption.
4. The Gradual Expansion of Covenantal Revelations
(1) Covenants in the Old Testament
The relationship between God and mankind was severed when Adam, the forefather of humanity, disobeyed the Word of God (Gen 2:17) and ate of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. To restore this broken relationship, God elected Israel as His chosen people and made a covenant with them. Since then, God has been progressing toward the completion of the history of salvation by gradually fulfilling that covenant. Therefore, many covenants that appear in the Old Testament are the gradual expansion of revelations for the salvation of sinful mankind.
The very first revelation regarding the covenant is the “seed of the woman” promised in Genesis 3:15. This was the first covenant that vividly conveyed God’s will to save fallen mankind. All covenants, which are to be revealed gradually and vividly as the history of redemption progresses, stem from this covenant. God’s covenants were gradually developed into different forms in each time period throughout the history of the Old Testament. Such varying forms include the covenant with Noah (Gen 9), the covenant with Abraham (Gen 15; 17), the covenant with Moses (Exod 19; 24), the covenant with David (2 Sam 7; 1 Kgs 8:25; Ps 132:11), the new covenant through Jeremiah (Jer 31:31–34), and the everlasting covenant with Ezekiel (Ezek 16:60–63).
(2) The covenant with Abraham
God established a covenant with Abraham on seven occasions:
• First, God called Abraham and made His first promise in Genesis 12:1–3.
• Second, God promised the land of Canaan for the first time in Genesis 12:7.
• Third, God once again gave a promise concerning the land of Canaan and Abraham’s descendants in Genesis 13:15–18.
• Fourth, God reconfirmed His promise concerning the land of Canaan and Abraham’s descendants through the covenant of the torch in Genesis 15.
• Fifth, God established the covenant of circumcision in Genesis 17:9–14.
• Sixth, God once again promised the birth of Isaac in Genesis 18:10.
• Seventh, after Abraham offered up Isaac as a sacrifice, God gave His final confirmation of all the covenants He had made with Abraham thus far in Genesis 22:15–18.
The covenants that God made with Abraham became the focal point of the history of redemption that has progressed since then. Throughout the course of history, when the Israelites were rescued from their bondage in Egypt, when they conquered the land of Canaan, and at the establishment of the powerful dominion of David, the people of God cried out for God’s mercy by relying on the “covenant” which God had promised Abraham (Exod 32:13; Deut 9:27; 1 Kgs 18:36; 1 Chr 29:18). In return, God remembered the “covenant” with Abraham and helped them (Exod 2:24; 6:5; Lev 26:42, 45; Deut 9:5; 1 Chr 16:15–18; 2 Kgs 13:23; Luke 1:72–73).
Psalm 105:7–10 He is the LORD our God; His judgments are in all the earth. 8He has remembered His covenant forever, the word which He commanded to a thousand generations, 9the covenant which He made with Abraham, and His oath to Isaac. 10Then He confirmed it to Jacob for a statute, to Israel as an everlasting covenant.
(3) The redemptive and historical meaning of the covenant of the torch
Of the numerous covenants in the Old Testament and the seven covenants established with Abraham, the covenant that