The Covenants of God
In this doctrinal statement, we cover the first three covenants and the ninth or covenant in Jesus’ blood, the redemption or New Covenant. We share these revelations from the Holy Spirit, who leads us into all truth (John 16:13). Not every point or concept can be backed up by a specific verse; however, God’s revelation to us never contradicts the spirit, intent, and concepts of His written Word. We thank God that we can embrace this revelation knowledge and the covenants they expound. We have added a limited number of verses you can study as you prove all things and hold fast to the truth. Such verification, however, is your responsibility. These covenants are given in the order that God gave them, 1, 2, 3, and 9.
Understanding the Covenant Concept
A covenant is more than agreement, a contract, a writ of undertaking, a bond, a promise, or a vow.
It is translated from the Hebrew word
berith (Strong’s number 1285) which means to cut cleanly in two so that as the conditions are declared, one walks through the blood and around each section of the sacrificed animal, creating a sideways eight or an infinity sign.
This creates a blood vow with each loop through it. This action creates a confederacy, a marriage of families, a league of responsibilities, and an eternal blood covenant that cannot be broken except by the death of the one who broke the covenant or in some cases the death of all the families involved. If one member of a covenant fails to keep his responsibilities up, he must die.
We should also note that the adding of additional covenants does not end the power, authority, or the responsibility of the previous covenants. It can only add to or change a conditional term and spell out new responsibilities. And it can add new families to the agreement with the covenant.
In the Second or New Testament, the ninth or New Covenant was sealed in the body and blood of Jesus through the communion service. It manifests all prior covenants between God and man. It is to be a covenant reminder of our responsibilities in a daily refresher or reminder that we have a supreme covenant in Jesus.
Yet many have not recognized their responsibilities to which they committed every time they take the communion service. Some even think that this communion reminder is only to be taken once a year at Passover.
As Satan gets you to forget to have communion and to review your responsibilities, he gets you bored with seeking more of Jesus. This authorizes Satan to steal from you, destroy opportunities, lie to you, and most of all kill you for breaking a covenant. “The wages of sin,” that missing of the mark, is death (Rom. 6:23), but without Jesus, you have no claim to His blood and His life.
It is important to take regular communion with wine or juice and unleavened bread, symbolizing that Jesus was without sin, pictured by leaven in the Bible. When we bless the bread and wine to be the body and blood of Jesus, it becomes that body and blood in a real spiritual sense. If we have never taken His body and blood, we should do so, since Jesus’ words in John 6 are strong and unambiguous: “Truly, truly, I say to you [strong emphasis here], unless you eat the flesh of the Son of God and drink His blood, you have
no life in yourselves” (John 6:53).
Jesus lost many disciples because of this strong statement (John 6:60). Some today stumble over the blood of Jesus, and many neglect communion. We pray that you will receive this knowledge as a blessing of life rather than a stumbling block.
The Dominion Covenant
Jesus made this covenant, along with the second and third, within one hour of each other, at the beginning of the first Sabbath. Jesus promised us in this blood covenant that if we, mankind, would be harvesters, Jesus would be the Planter, Sustainer, and Giver of increase. This covenant was made with the blessed bread and wine to be the very body of their Creator, Jesus, who was making this covenant with them. Following are the promises of this covenant (Gen. 1:26-27):
- The power of speaking God’s Word, and demanding and commanding God to fulfill that Word (Ps. 104:20; Mark 11:22-24).
- The power of dominion over the Earth and over all animal life.
- Blessings to multiply, increase, and sow for maximum increase.
- Power to release or bind and send demons to the pit (Mark 3:14-15, 27; 16:17; Luke 10:18-19).
- Power and right to rest in the Sabbath covenant, tying the second covenant to the first (Heb. 4:9-11; Isa. 58:13-14).
- Power to change facts by stating the truth of God’s Word.
- Power to demand of God the right to live according to the covenant. They could not sin as they lived under the covenant. They were made perfect and had the right to maintain that perfection (2 Cor. 5:17, 21; Acts 19:26; Micah 7:19; 1 John 4:17).
This comment on Freedom Blog by one of our inspired commenters sums up the concept of the dominion covenant:
Men do not have a dominion right over women, nor do women have a dominion right over any man. Men have a covenant right to love, honor, protect, cherish, and comfort the woman that they have chosen to mate. Women have a covenant right to love, honor, care fore, advise, uplift, and comfort their husbands. Men and women have dominion right to rule over the Earth and all life forms within its field of influence. God never gave anyone the right to enslave another, only the right to help another prosper and develop a sense of worth.
The Sabbath Covenant
The Sabbath covenant gave man the authority to rest in Jesus. They would always have communion with God. They could call for peace to be restored immediately in any disturbing situation. Also, healing was man’s right, a covenant right (Luke 13:16. Man would never have to sweat, worry, fear, or seek revenge for anything.
When man sinned, the gateway to heaven was closed, so only a door (dalet is the Hebrew word for door and for the number four, as in the fourth or Sabbath commandment) remained open for intimacy with God. Man would have an open door and a gateway to the throne of God whenever he wanted it. This is colossal! We can go body and soul to our Father’s throne for an intimate conference. All knowledge, wisdom, understanding, and discernment are assured us to make any decision we need to make (knowledge which Adam did not use). Sonship and maturity to use God’s power is tied up in the Sabbath day, a training day for sons of God (Ex. 31:13).
Marriage Covenant
Jesus married Adam and Eve. It was a three-way covenant. Mankind was marrying into the God Family as well as to each other as man and wife. The timing and the purpose of this covenant, established at the start of the first Sabbath, have eluded the world. The marriage partners were to rest in Jesus and each other. Rather than striving, they could come to Jesus on the Sabbath to have His wisdom to solve all marriage problems.
Man and wife were to become one, just as the God Family is One (Mal. 2:14-15; Mat. 19:4-6). In this union of oneness, the rights of the first two covenants could be released. If marriage were to be done any other way than to have Jesus in the marriage covenant, the first two covenants would be invalid.
Some of the rights of this covenant include having mutual love and respect, including a love and respect for God. Jesus was always to be part of the marriage. Family increase is another right: you would increase your family by recognizing your children and their progeny as yours. We can adopt any of our grandchildren or nieces or nephews should the need arise because of the death of their parents. Jesus came to allow us to be adopted into the Family of God. We are part of our Father’s increase.
Perfect protection over us and our children is another right. We can claim freedom from accidental death. Endless days of growing strength, joy, and sharing would be a guarantee, and Jesus wanted to part of that blessing, sharing it with us.
Companionship and communion is another right. Decisions are to be jointly made between husband, wife, and Jesus. Expression of purpose and keeping that purpose is another right. The family would always have a goal, a commission to accomplish. Keeping secrets would be a part of the covenant. Problems of a personal nature are expressed to Jesus, not others.
A three-way helper to perfection would exist, Jesus, your mate, and your goal. A three-way completion and development clause exists: you would receive rewards for your efforts. God’s Word is full of rewards. A partnership of support and security exists in this covenant. Mates help each other, and Jesus carries the weight of our problems. A partnership of teaching and personal growth would allow Jesus to teach us the right way to go and give us the grace to follow that way. Agreement and support also exist. More than one come in agreement to get you to your goal.
The Ninth or Redemption Covenant in Jesus’ Blood
This ninth covenant (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26) ripped the veil separating us from the Father. Jesus paid with His blood for our sins. This redemption would bring an empowerment for us to change and would even bring change to the whole universe. Yet covenants always have conditions. Here they are:
Accepting Jesus as Savior and Redeemer is the first condition.
Second, we must accept Jesus as the Word and as the Firstborn.
Third is the need for repentance, a willingness to change to be like Jesus.
Fourth, baptism causes us to be dead to Satan and his ways and fully alive in Jesus as a son of the Father of Lights (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Mat. 28:19-20).
Fifth, we must declare we are a speaker and a living representative of the Word of God. Jesus is the Word, the Spokesman of the Godhead. He gave that authority to us. We can speak His Words and change Satan’s plans and deceptions to line up with the Word (Rom. 10:8-10) . We are speaking spirits like God (Gen. 2:7; Mat. 28:18-20).
Sixth, we must declare we will not be moved by fear, but by faith in God’s Word (1 John 4:18).
Seventh, we must declare that we are now walking in forgiveness.
Eighth, we must declare we are a vessel of love and healing. We can lay hands on a sick animal, a broken-down car, or a broken leg and see the healing, by Jesus’ strength, not ours (Mark 16:18). Our covenant demand is for the healing.
Ninth, we must declare we are at rest in Jesus and in His Sabbath day (Heb. 4:9-11; Ex. 20:8).
Tenth, we must declare that our flesh is no longer our provider, but that we are harvesters of the Kingdom of God, trusting in Jesus to provide (Phil. 4:19).
Eleventh, we are no longer “I’s” but “we’s.” We must include the Godhead in our declarations, using the royal “we” (John 17:22-26; Gal. 2:20).
Twelfth, we must declare that all our sins, failures, weaknesses, and bad habits belong to Jesus (1 Pet. 5:7; Ps. 55:22; Mat. 11:28-30). Our love, joy, and peace also belong to Jesus.
A number of key items can be claimed of God in exercising the power of this ninth covenant. We can claim rest, so our soul and body can be at one with our spirit man in Jesus. Jesus will provide all our needs.
We can do everything according to the revealed names of God (Acts 4:12; Ps. 118:10-12). We can call on those names for help and expect God to carry out who He is. We can be teachers of what is right. We can uphold God’s Word in all things.
We can demand rather than beg, going boldly into His throne room, thanking Him we already have what we asked (Heb. 4:16). God is our Rewarder as we seek Him (Heb. 11:6). We have a right to a future and a hope (Jer. 29:11). He gives everyone uniqueness. He gives us our personal name. He will be a constant Guide and Comforter. He anoints us all with empowerment to fulfill our commission. He will defeat the hold of sin and death over us (1 Cor. 55-57).
Once we confess our sin, we turn it over to Jesus, and He gives us the power to overcome. He gives knowledge, wisdom, and discernment to make decisions and to understand who our Father is. We have a right to keep and restore dominion over the Earth, wherever the soles of our feet step. Jesus promises to make us righteous and perfect.
We have the right to be healers and life givers. If any member of our family dies through a time of weakness, we have the right to raise them from the dead (Heb. 11:35).
We can call on Jesus to be our Avenger, demanding justice. We have the right to call on Jesus to be the Judge and Justice for us.
We can demand to see our relatives and ancestry resurrected, since Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. His death ensures our life.
His blood seals the covenant. We give testimony by our words and the results sealed in Jesus’ blood to everything authorized in the will of our Father. We see His will expressed in this covenant. We have the right to remind God of these covenants because of the blood of Jesus (Neh. 1:5-11).
The whole Bible reveals the covenants. Every name given to Jesus is given to us. The healing power of Jesus’ stripes is ours as we make demands on the covenants in faith in His name.