The Covenant: A Bond in Blood - Chapter 1, Covenants: God's Way With His People

O. Palmer Robertson's Covenants: God's Way With His People* is concise yet very informative concerning God's covenants as revealed in the Bible.  I am going to mention a few points made in Chapter One.

In ancient times people cut animals to make a covenant.  Concerning God's covenants Robertson reminds us, "Many times over God and people were bound together by the blood of the covenant" (pg 8).  Jesus points to the significance of His blood by saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Lk 22:20).

God has given certain signs with His covenants throughout history.

• Rainbow - Sign of the promise to Noah (Gen 9:12-17)
• Circumcision - Abrahamic Covenant (Gen 17: 9-14)
• Sabbath - Everlasting sign between Himself and Israel (Exo 31:13)
• The anointing of David as king (Ps 89:20-29)
• Baptism and Lord's Supper - Signs of the new covenant

Robertson makes a good point concerning the value of the signs.

"What's the worth of a sign?  Nothing, nothing at all-unless the person giving the sign stands ready to back up its significance...If you want certainty about what will or will not transpire in the world today, consider the signs of God's covenants.  They stand as clear indicators of God's commitments to men and women.  He has bound himself- and his people are bound to him-in a life-and-death oath by the signs of the covenant" (pg 10).

The sovereign God alone determines the terms of His covenants.  Robertson summarizes God's covenants this way,

"A covenant may be defined as a bond in blood sovereignty administered. Life and death are at stake in the divine covenants.  God has bound himself to humans and them to himself. Life in your soul, blessing in your family, prosperity in your work and the course of the world-all these matters hinge on the provisions of God's covenants.  Your personal peace (in the Hebrew sense of "total blessedness") will derive only from your walking and believing in the ways of his covenants" (pg 11).

Posts in this series
The Covenant: A Bond in Blood - Chapter 1, Covenant's: God's Way With His People

Covenantal Blessings - Chapter 2, Covenants: God's Way With His People

Putting Up the Bond - Chapter 3, Covenants: God's Way With His People 
Preservation for Salvation - Chapter 4, Covenants: God's Way With His People
"I Promise Unto Death" - Chapter 5, Covenants: God's Way With His People
A Seal For the Promise - Chapter 6, Covenants: God's Way With His People
Hope for Your House - Chapter 7, Covenants: God's Way With His People
Precepts and Problems - Chapter 8, Covenants: God's Way With His People

*Robertson, O. Palmer. Covenants: God's Way With His People.  Suwanee, GA: Great Commission Publications, 1987. Print.