THE KEY TO THE BIBLE, STUDENT - 5th
SESSION
GET
ACQUAINTED – Other half relate the story of your
conversion or tell about your family/church background.
What insights did you bring to share?
THE COVENANTS
·
A
covenant describes a relationship in
terms of obligations, consequences, and guarantees (promises), much the same as
a contract. Its provisions were divinely
imposed and were therefore nonnegotiable and unchangeable. Human covenants were very common in Old
Testament times and therefore were an easily understood concept through which
God revealed His plans. The connection
between Christ and the covenants is seen in both the Old and New Testaments. Isaiah, speaking of the coming Messiah says
in Isa.49:8, "I will preserve thee, and give thee for a covenant of the
people." In Malachi 3:1, God says, "and the Lord whom you seek will
suddenly come to His temple [quoted in Mt.11:10],
and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold He is
coming…" In Zechariah's
prophecy concerning the Messiah (Lk.1:72-73),
His coming is "to show the mercy
promised to our fathers; and to remember His holy covenant; the oath that He
swore to our father Abraham".
Christ is at the heart of all the covenants because redemption is the unifying theme.
The Covenants are progressive in what they reveal. The promises become clearer as details are
added. Each covenant has a historical
context.
·
Read
the following covenants, answer the questions, and find the clues: Adam - Gen.2:16-17 (treated as a covenant);
Noah - Gen. 9:8-17; Abraham - Gen.12:2-3; Moses (
CHRIST IN THE
COVENANTS
·
Description of the Seed: The Offspring that would be the Messiah-Savior
·
Identity of the Seed: Covenant with Adam [The word covenant is not used,
but the elements are there.]
Gen.2:16-17
Who are the
two parties?
What are
the conditions or duties?
What is the
guarantee or consequence?
History: After the Fall, God pronounced a
curse on Satan, and immediately we see the grace of God entering to defeat
Satan and save men. He's going to
"reverse the curse.
Gen.3:15
Who are the
two opposing groups?
What is the
significance of the seed being "of a woman"?
What is the
significance of her offspring being "he"?
Clue #1
________________________
History: Mankind's degeneration into sin was
so great, and God so grieved, that He issued His just sentence of death on the
world (Gen 6:6), "I will blot out man whom I've
created". It looks like Satan
is winning. But God had a promise to
keep: The seed of the woman was going to crush Satan. So in His grace, God singled out Noah to
continue the human race.
A. Covenant with Noah Gen.9:8-10 - With whom did God make this
covenant?
Gen.9:11 -
What was the promise?
Gen.9:25-27
- What indicates that the prophecy of God's original intention to reverse the
curse would be fulfilled through Shem?
Clue #2
________________________
History: Humanity multiplied and once again,
so did its open and united rebellion against God. Gen.11:4
says they were going to "make a name for themselves" by building a
city and a tower - declaring their own power and sovereignty and glory. Every time Satan thinks he's gotten the upper
hand, God steps in. He broke up their
project by confusing their language, scattering them over the earth. Immediately after the account of this
dispersion in Gen.11, we have the
genealogy of Shem, showing that God has not lost track of him and his
descendents - the line through whom salvation would come. So enters his offspring, Abram. Though mankind’s defiance was great, God had
vowed never again to destroy “every living creature” (Gen.8:21-22). So He made
another new beginning by calling a man out - to live unto Him in the
world. “The line of disaster and of the
‘curse,’ from Adam, through Cain, through the Food to Babel, begins to be
reversed when God calls Abraham and says, ‘in
you shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’” The New Testament and the People of God
by N.T. Wright
A. Covenant with Abraham Gen.12:2-3, 7; 17:4-8 - What are the
promises?
Who are the
three "referents" of the seed?
Jn.8:31-33
Gal.3:16
Gal.3:29
Clue #3
________________________
Clue #4 Gen.17:19 ________________________
Clue #5 Gen.26:3-4 ________________________
Clue #6 Gen.49:10 ________________________
History: It would be almost 1000 years before the promise of a
kingly line came to pass in King David.
After David's reign in
B. Covenant with David 2 Sam.7:12-13 - How would God build a
house for David?
Heb.3:5-6; I
Pt.2:5 - Who/what is the house?
Clue #7
________________________
·
The Work of the Seed
Covenant with
C.
New Covenant
History: The New Covenant was promised in
the prophecies of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel during;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:6.0pt;
margin-left:0in'>Look at the following verses and describe what they
encompass - 1 Cor.8:6; Col.1:15-20;
Eph.1:17-23; Rev.1:8 ["beginning and end" can also be translated
"originator and culminator"].