Covenant Eternal
(Excerpted from my up and coming new book The Covenant: Simple yet Profound)
Get a copy here: THE COVENANT: Simple yet Profound: McKinlay, Neil Cullan: 9798849660288: Amazon.com: Books
The word
“distinguished” in the last line of the above quote must always be borne in
mind when discussing the Trinity. It is very important that we only distinguish
the persons but never separate them. Each person in the Godhead owns personal
or private property, by which we mean that we are able to see that each person has
attributes belonging only to Himself. The Father has the attribute of
Fatherhood. Fatherhood does not belong to the Son, but Sonship does. Sonship
does not belong to the Father or the Holy Spirit. The Spirit has neither
Fatherhood nor Sonship. Therefore, the Spirit also has a distinctive attribute. Thus, the Father is not the Son
or the Spirit. The Son is not the Father or the Spirit. And the Spirit is not
the Father or the Son. However, though there are distinctions, the three Persons
are always one God.
If we
focus on the Father, we will begin to see the Son and the Spirit. Likewise, if
we know more about the Son, we will understand the Persons of the Father and
the Spirit better. And, of course, the more we know the Person of the Spirit,
the more we begin to know the Father and the Son. How so? It is because the
three Persons are one God, as revealed in Scripture. Who is the Father the
Father of? The Son. Who is the Son the Son of? The Father. Who is the Spirit
the Spirit of? The Father and the Son. The Spirit reveals the Son who reveals
the Father (John 14:9; 15:26).
There is
a Celtic-knot that symbolizes this three and oneness of God. It is called the triquetra,
from a Latin word meaning three-cornered. (See book cover picture above.) The symbol is triangular, with three
loops, which, if you trace each one, appear to have no beginning and no end. Though
each loop is distinct from the others, the three interconnect and
interpenetrate each of the others. This is the same with the eternal covenant.
If you were
to look at the covenant of redemption, as it is revealed in Scripture, long
enough, the covenants of works and grace begin to appear. If you study the
covenant of works, the covenants of redemption and grace will begin to appear.[1]
And, of course, if you look at the covenant of grace long enough, the covenants
of redemption and works will begin to appear. This is because the three distinct
covenants are one eternal covenant. It is all trinitarian! Later, we shall see
more of this when we consider the threefold division of Old Testament law; viz,
moral law, legal law (judicial, civil), and ceremonial law.
Already the
astute reader will have noticed that, just as there is an order of sequence in
listing the persons of Trinity, i.e., the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
so there is a covenantal order, i.e., redemption, works, and grace. Shouldn’t
it be grace, works, and then redemption? Or perhaps works, grace, and
redemption? The point being that it doesn’t matter where you begin, like the
Celtic-knot, each interconnects and interpenetrates the others. And, as within
the Godhead, each reflects certain aspects of the others. However, though, like
the Godhead, the covenant is one, the sequence is, covenant of redemption,
covenant of works, then covenant of grace, in that order. This is because each
covenant reflects each person in the Godhead. In the covenant of redemption,
the Father gives the Son His eternal moral law to keep as the covenant of works
on behalf of Himself and those He represents, and the Spirit applies the
benefits of the Son’s covenant-keeping to those who are represented. Again, it
is all trinitarian.
Yes, it
is impossible for finite human beings to comprehend the eternality of the triune
God. And, because His triuneness has to do with His eternality, we also, on
account of our finitude, have trouble comprehending God’s triuneness.
Thankfully
the eternal triune God has condescended to reveal Himself to us by way of His
eternal covenant as per the “Book of His Covenant”. As the triune God says to
Abraham, the father of all who believe, “I will establish My covenant between
Me and you and your descendants after you in their generations, for an
everlasting covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you” (Gen.
17:7). Note the word “establish”. God had already “cut” His covenant with
Abraham (Gen. 15).
It should
be kept in mind that in the beginning everything was embryonic and therefore
was in need of being delivered, and then developed to maturity, i.e., perfected.
Says Abraham Kuyper,
Man was not created in the fullness of his power, but in the beginning of his potential, carrying in him the prophecy of what would yet develop in all of its fullness from this foundation. And consequently in the covenant of works man was promised something greater – a richer and more potent life, provided he remained faithful to God’s demand. And thus it is especially from this promise that it also follows that man initially at his creation was less than what he would be, and therefore in a certain way he stood in weakness before God. He was indeed holy, but still had not yet attained to the perseverance of the saints. He was holy and just, but in a way that he could still fall. He was on the way, but on that way he was still at its beginning, and the end of the road was yet far away.[2]
God had
written His eternal covenant law (albeit in pre-fall positive terms), on the
heart of humanity when He created Adam (and, in time, each one of us in Adam)
in His own image (Rom. 2:14-15). Thus God, while giving His blessing, mandated
Adam, our pre-fall representative (with his wife Eve and their posterity), to
“Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the
fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that
moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28).
Tied or
bonded to the triune God by His eternal covenant, pre-fall humanity (in Adam)
had losable eternal life (but had unlosable existence). Adam could maintain his
present life and secure unlosable eternal life (with all its blessings) upon
condition of perfect obedience to God in all his endeavours. However, by eating
the forbidden fruit, Adam broke his covenant-probation with God, while at the
same time forming a covenant with the serpent, i.e., Satan, against the
eternally triune God.
Yes, Adam
(and humanity in him) broke covenant with God. However, being eternally triune,
God cannot deny or break covenant with Himself. Therefore, God graciously and
immediately after the fall began to reveal His eternal covenant as it applies
to fallen humanity. Thus, the covenant of grace or gospel covenant in which the
eternal triune God says to the serpent (humanity’s new covenant partner), “And
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her
Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel” (Gen. 3:15).
Jesus
Christ, Son of God/Son of Man, is the promised Seed of the woman (Gen. 3:15).
Thus from eternity past, as witnessed by the eternal Spirit, the eternal Father
has given a conditional promise to His eternal Son (as the federal or covenant head
of all who are in Him), that if He, as the new Adam, were to keep the covenant
of life or works perfectly, if He were to keep the eternal covenant as it
applied to pre-fall Adam, then the Father would give to the man Christ Jesus
the eternal life blessings that were promised to the pre-fall Adam as humanity’s
representative. The man Christ Jesus perfectly kept the covenant of works, and
He shares His reward with all believers. “Blessed be the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the
heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1:3).
The
eternal life promised by the Father to pre-fall Adam (and the Son of Man in
eternity past and in time as the last Adam) is summed up in the eternally triune
God’s gracious gift of the Holy Spirit. For, Jesus said to His Church at the
time of His ascension, “Wait for the Promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4).
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