Scripture Reading: Hebrews 7:17-28.
Memory Verse: “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” —Hebrews 8:6
Introduction:
A covenant is a contract or binding agreement between two parties. The Old Testament, contained in the first 39 books of the Bible, is the sum total of all the covenants God made with man from Adam until Christ appeared on the scene. Each of God’s covenants contained three parts: The promise of God; the sacrifice involved with the promise; the sign or seal of that promise.
The New Covenant, detailed in the last 27 books of the Bible, fulfills and supersedes all God’s previous agreements with man. Jesus Christ was the seed of the woman of the Adamic Covenant, the deliverer from judgment of the Noahic Covenant, the promised Seed of the Abrahamic Covenant, and the eternal Kingly Son of the Davidic Covenant. The New Covenant was not to be one with the Law engraved on tablets of stone as had been the Mosaic Covenant, but one in which God would put His righteousness into our very hearts by His Spirit.
The time spoken of in this promise came as Jesus Christ hung upon the Cross. In that moment a legal transaction between heaven and earth was in process. God made a new covenant with man. When we, by faith, receive for ourselves what Christ has accomplished on the Cross for us, a miracle takes place in our lives—we are born of the Spirit of God. The gift of the Holy Spirit indwelling our hearts is God’s seal of the New Covenant He has made with us.
Lesson Questions:
Each of God’s covenants contained 3 parts: The promise of God; the sacrifice involved with the promise; the sign or seal of that promise. Identify each part:
| 1. | Adamic | ___________ Genesis 3:15 |
__________ Genesis 4:4 |
___________ Genesis 3:21 |
| 2. | Noahic | ____________ Genesis 9:8-17 |
_____________ Genesis 8:20-22 |
_____________ Genesis 9:12-16 |
| 3. | Abrahamic | ____________ Genesis 12:1-3 |
_____________ Genesis 22:1-18 |
_____________ Genesis 17:1-14 |
| 4. | Mosaic | ___________ Exodus 6:1-8 |
______________ Hebrews 9:19-22 |
_____________ Exodus 20:8-11 |
| 5. | Davidic | ______________ 2 Samuel 20:8-11 |
______________ 2 Samuel 6:17-19 |
_______________ Jeremiah 33:17-26 |
- Explain what was wrong with the Old Covenant. Hebrews 8:7, 13; Galatians 3:23-26; Romans 7:1-6.
- Describe the promise God made of the New Covenant? Jeremiah 31:31-34.
- What was the sacrifice of the New Covenant? Hebrews 9:24-26.
- What was the seal of the New Covenant? Ephesians 1:13-14.
- What is our reminder of the New Covenant God made? 1 Corinthians 11:23-26.