Why is death such an important part of covenant?
Discussion question for June 24, 2011.
We discussed the difference between contracts and covenants, and how a covenant is based on God’s character. Why is death such an important part of His covenants? Why are sacrifices necessary? How does God’s character of life play into this balance? How do you deal with the death issue?
Here’s my summary of our discussion.
The first covenant was made by God for man, as evidenced by creation: I will by your God, and you will be My people. The condition of that covenant was obedience. The covenant was broken by Adam and Eve when they rebelled against God and disobeyed Him. God had given life, and the condition of breaking the covenant was the end of that gift. In other words, the penalty of disobedience was death.
God made another covenant with them saying that He would provide a remedy through their offspring, and again He would be their God and they would be His people. This new covenant could not supersede the first covenant while it was still in force.
A covenant is broken upon death: “‘Til death do us part.” When a death has occurred, the covenant is automatically broken. The problem comes when mankind needs to accept a new covenant while still living, but can’t be free from the first covenant without dying. The accuser of the brethren (devil) acts as a prosecuting attorney, holding humans accountable to the death penalty because of breaking the first covenant.
The death that ended the first covenant was God. He died first, not historically but legally, so the covenant was broken. Jesus was fully God and fully man when He died. This opened the way for a new covenant to be established.
We are able to accept the new covenant through faith while we are still alive. We prove our faith and love by obedience. God ratifies our past through forgiveness. We die under the old covenant, and live again under the new one.