What is God's Covenant: Understanding His Powerful Promise to Us
God’s covenant with us is transformational and impacts every part of our lives.
Around ten, I remember sitting on the floor, deep in thought, realizing that life was not quite right.
I couldn’t articulate what life should be like, what was healthy or unhealthy, but I felt that our family was spiraling into a dark place.
My parents loved Jesus. They were filled with zeal after the charismatic renewal in the Catholic Church led them to an evangelical community during the revival of the ‘70s.
I’m guessing they were hopeful that this spiritual awakening might fill the void they both felt in their individual lives—a topic that, I suspect, they never openly discussed or addressed.
Although I was baptized as an infant, I accepted the invitation to receive Jesus into my heart as my personal Savior at nine years old.
Yet, there was a gap—a disconnect in our family.
Today, experts refer to this disconnect as spiritual bypassing: using spiritual practices to avoid dealing with unresolved emotional issues, like praying away the complex realities and claiming authority over them without confronting the issues or inviting Jesus into those struggles.
I felt that disconnect acutely sitting on the floor that day.
As I sat there, perhaps combing a Barbie doll’s hair, I pondered who I would become as I grew up.
Would I still believe in God? I sensed an impending shift ahead that I couldn’t quite name or control.
Would the uncertain future transform me into someone unrecognizable?
While I wasn’t praying directly, in my quiet contemplation, God granted me comfort I would cling to throughout the stormy months ahead: He reassured me with these words, “Just always remember, God does not lie.”
Although I knew God’s character, I would not know those words from scripture until much later.
Over the next year, our family faced chaos, and everything I knew was turned upside down.
Before long, I was riding in the passenger seat of a U-Haul truck next to my little sister, with a family friend driving.
My mom and two other sisters followed behind in the Ford Mercury. Two more sisters had already arrived by plane, and we were all heading 2,000 miles away to Wyoming, leaving everything we knew behind. The question lingered: Who would I become?
The unfamiliar can be frightening, and discouragement is a powerful tool the enemy uses to make us believe that God has forgotten us and cannot be trusted.
God’s Covenant with His People
The Hebrew people deeply understood this feeling; their ancestors had a history of slavery and captivity.
However, they were invited into a new land—a covenant promise granted not through their merits but through the faith that embraced God’s covenants.
This new experience was entirely different from everything they had known, turning their worlds upside down.
The crucial question was: Would they believe in God’s covenant or doubt them?
In Hebrews 6:9, the author reassures the newly saved individuals after giving a severe warning against becoming apathetic in their faith.
The author emphasizes that this warning does not apply to them because they are destined for the better things that their salvation brings.
“Even though we speak like this, dear friends, we are convinced of better things in your case—the things that have to do with salvation.”
Hebrews 6:9
In other words, the Hebrew people were not outright rejecting God, but were discouraged, doubtful, and at risk of drifting into indifference — forfeiting the abundance available to them by faith.
Yet, knowing their sincere hearts, shown through their previous actions, the author is confident that God will keep them in their faith as they persevere.
The author encourages the people to live in God’s abundance by following Abraham’s example.
We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who, through faith and patience, inherit what has been promised.
When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, saying,
“I will surely bless you and give you many descendants. And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.”
Hebrews 6:12-15
Why does the author tell them to follow Abraham’s example rather than that of Moses or even Jesus?
What are God’s Covenants
The Bible can be understood through a framework comprising five significant covenants that illustrate the evolving relationship between God and humanity as revealed throughout Scripture.
The Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant are particularly noteworthy for their similarities.
The Abrahamic Covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant and the New Covenant are classified as unilateral covenants, one-sided agreements in which only one party is bound to maintain them.
These covenants are based on grace and depend solely on God’s initiative.
In the Abrahamic Covenant, God promised Abraham that he would be the father of many nations and that his descendants would inherit the land of Canaan.
This promise was unconditionally given; it relies entirely on God’s character and commitment.
He makes a solemn oath, indicating that the outcome is entirely in His hands. He ensures that He will fulfill His promise regardless of human actions.
Genesis 22:16 describes this oath as being made with Himself (and while Abraham was asleep), making it a unilateral covenant, where only He is bound to keep it.
The Mosaic Covenant
In contrast, the Mosaic Covenant is bilateral or conditional.
This covenant was established between God and the nation of Israel after their exodus from Egypt and extended through Christ’s earthly life.
The agreements in this covenant are contingent upon the Israelites’ obedience: if they obey God’s laws, they will receive His blessings.
However, failure to follow would result in curses and penalties, emphasizing the need for human accountability in this relationship.
Abraham’s offspring, the Israelites, temporarily forfeited their inheritance because they did not continue in the faith and obedience of Abraham. Exodus 19:8
The New Covenant
The New Covenant, beginning upon Christ’s death and resurrection, was made between God and Jesus, meaning He keeps the covenant for us.
This is an incredible promise to cling to! When we accept Jesus as our personal Savior, He does not back down on His promise to keep us in the faith.
He upholds His end of the bargain because the covenant between God and Himself is not dependent on us.
The question is, will we thrive in God’s abundance or maintain a scarcity, law-based mindset?
The author of Hebrews offers three distinct reasons we can confidently live into God’s promise of an abundant life:
- God does not forget us (v. 10).
- God does not lie (v. 18).
- Jesus is the forerunner of our faith (v. 20).
God’s Covenant With Us
Can you think of a time you had to wait for God to answer a prayer?
Maybe it was a long-awaited pregnancy, meeting your spouse, or healing from a diagnosis or traumatic experience.
Perhaps you are still waiting for God to answer.
In my twenties, I lived with a scarcity mindset. I kept God on the back burner, trying to map out a pain-free life while cultivating the dreams I envisioned.
This approach led me to battle an eating disorder. I often cried out to God, wondering where He was and why He didn’t take away the suffering I never asked for yet couldn’t escape.
It took me seven long years to heal from an unhealthy mindset and old wounds.
However, I believe God brought me through this for two reasons:
1) I invited Jesus into my pain and allowed Him to be a part of my healing journey, and
2) I was finally ready to trust that God had something immeasurably more for me and completely surrendered my choices to Him.
God does not forget about us. He shapes and molds us through our trials.
While He does not permanently remove our afflictions, He refines and strengthens us through them.
He remains faithful in keeping His promises.
God’s Covenant of Love
Have you ever wondered how you would respond if you were taunted like Eve in the Garden of Eden?
Better yet, consider times when you have been taunted by the enemy, like Eve.
The temptation to doubt God’s word or to second-guess His love and intentions traces back to the garden of Eden in Genesis 3:1-5.
In verse 5, the serpent tells Eve, “For God knows that when you eat of it (the fruit) your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
Up to this point, Adam and Eve only experienced God’s goodness. God did not intend for them, or us, to experience evil, hardships, and trials.
However, by believing the lie that something better awaited them, rather than trusting God, they opened themselves and us up to sin, resulting in spiritual death.
The idea of morality appeals to our fallen world because we are the ones who determine right from wrong and good from evil, leading us away from the truth of who God is.
It’s no wonder I questioned who I would be when I grew up at ten.
Yet, I’m here to testify that God kept me in the promise of His covenant of love, in which He can’t lie.
Jesus Fulfilled God’s Covenant
Because of God’s promises and Christ’s work on the cross, we can confidently run to God, holding to the hope that the Hebrew author describes in God’s unchangeable promises fulfilled in Christ!
This should offer us great confidence and hope, ushering us into God’s presence past the curtain that separates us, with Christ going before us and inviting us in!
Starting a new life in Wyoming wasn’t easy, but looking back, I see how God held, kept, and pursued me throughout my faith journey.
I see how I have grown in my faith, trusting that who I am is secure in Christ.
Isn’t it comforting to know that we don’t have to wonder who we will be one day or if God will remember us down the road?
We can trust God’s covenant promise to keep us and then hold on for the wild ride He takes us on. God loves to show off His abundant blessings to those who trust and obey Him.
He is a loving and relational God. He has proven it through His reliable grace-based covenant with Abraham and us for today and eternity!
I don’t know about you, but I plan to confidently lean into God’s covenant today and live as though I am saved, redeemed, and delivered.
Whatever you are facing right now, friend, you can persevere because God keeps you in the promise of His covenant and is not about to let you go.
Author
Theresa Miller
Theresa is the author of “Unexpected Blessings: 40 Days of Discovering God’s Best” and the Bible study “The Posture of Victory: Finding True Peace amidst Our Everyday Battles,” which will be released in July 2025. She co-founded Dandelions, Potholes, & Wrinkles and The Sisters on Purpose Podcast.
