God made his original covenant to save “all the peoples on the Earth” with Abraham in Genesis 12:1-3. Then, after a few intermediate versions, the atoning sacrifice of Jesus of Nazareth replaced the Old Covenants with a New Covenant. Because the old covenants were replaced, many Christians also believe the Old Testament was rendered obsolete on Easter Sunday. Beyond citing the creation story or the Ten Commandments once in a while, we seem to have disconnected the Old Testament from the New. But doing so strips the overarching story of the relationship between God and man of much of its meaning. The history we see in the Bible has always been leading somewhere. It’s all one story. And that story is richer and more complete when you understand the unmistakable connection between Abraham and Easter.
Abraham’s Promise
Nowhere is that more apparent than in the life and mission of Abraham and the covenants God made with him. They foreshadowed everything that would happen thousands of years later. In the story of Abraham, we see all there is to understand about The Plan God put in place from the very beginning. It was a plan to save all humanity. And it’s spelled out right there in Genesis 12:3: “… all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”
All the peoples.
Israel — A Chosen Nation
The nation of Israel was a chosen group of people. But why they were chosen is what’s important. Israel was “chosen” only insofar as from that nation, and from the House of David within it, the Messiah for all people would emerge. Israel was never meant to be the only nation God would save. It was simply the nation through which He would make a way to save Israel and everyone else.
God chose to do that through a covenant relationship in a way unlike anyone had ever imagined. It was a covenant of law and love that was both conditional and unconditional. If that sounds weird, it is. It’s “weird” because the God who fashioned it is like no other God. And the way He offered to save mankind was unlike what any other god could offer. He demonstrated it to Abraham in Genesis 15. That’s when God showed Abraham the meaning of Easter.*
Old Covenants
In covenant agreements between kings and their people in those days, it was customary for the great King to demand an animal offering from his minions. The animals were killed, cut up, and then laid in pieces on the ground. The subject, promising to be loyal, would “sign” the covenant by walking between the animal pieces. This was their way of swearing an oath. And the oath said, “If I do not live up to this agreement, may I be cut up in pieces like these animals.”
The King promised to protect his minions if they would abide by the terms of their agreement with him. But the king’s benevolence was conditional on their adherence to the agreement.
Yes, the whole arrangement is bizarre to us. I’m not defending the practice, just relaying what it was.
And then came Abraham.
Abraham’s Covenant
At first, the ceremony commemorating his covenant with God in Genesis 15 looked the same as they always had. Abraham was instructed to prepare a heifer, a goat, a ram, a dove, and a pigeon. He did as he was told. He spread the pieces on the ground and awaited further instructions. But no instructions ever came. Instead, Abraham was overwhelmed with the “thick and dreadful darkness” of judgment. He fell into a deep sleep. And when he awoke, the most astonishing turn of events up to that point in human history occurred right before his eyes.
God appeared as a pillar of smoke and fire just like the one that would later lead the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. As Abraham watched, the pillar of fire and smoke moved between the animal pieces. The method of guaranteeing an agreement was the same as it had always been. But the roles were reversed. In this case, the King — the God who created the universe — passed between the pieces of the animals. He was making a promise to bless his minion, Abraham. But it didn’t end there.
In a startling twist on tradition, Abraham was never asked to walk through the pieces himself. He never took the oath of loyalty that had always been required of the King’s subjects.
And Now For Something Completely Different
The God of Abraham was turning the world upside down. He was promising that if the covenant was broken, he would take the curse that was required for restitution — on Himself. He was making a pledge to honor the covenant relationship for both parties. As Timothy Keller puts it, God was promising, “Not only will I be torn to pieces if I don’t fulfill the covenant, but I will be torn to pieces if you don’t fulfill the covenant.”
And we didn’t. And He was.
The New Covenant
The Gospels record that there were three hours of judgment that smothered the world in darkness while Jesus hung on the cross. It was the same kind of darkness Abraham experienced when God made His original covenant with Abraham. If you’re familiar with the story, this all makes sense. Jesus, the promised Messiah (“Anointed One”) was doing exactly what God had promised to Abraham in Genesis 15. He suffered because humanity had broken the covenant. But humanity didn’t suffer at all.
The immortal King submitted himself to the same kind of physical mortality his minions had brought on themselves. The Judge stepped down from the bench to take the criminal’s sentence. A New Covenant — one that had been promised in Jeremiah 31 — was put in place. But we can’t take the New Covenant in isolation from the older ones. The overarching story of salvation is one story. And the whole story leads to Easter.
When you look backward in history, the connection is clear as day.
Easter – Finishing the Story
The foreshadowing of Genesis 15 makes sense of the story of Easter. It is the story of an infinite gap between an infinitely perfect God and His rebellious minions. It’s a gap that could only be filled by the infinite sacrifice of the King himself. It is the story of the unconditional love of a God who abides by the conditions of a covenant He didn’t break. It’s the story of a God who delivered on His promise by suffering to honor the covenant for both parties.
If someone were to ask whether our covenant relationship with God is an unconditional or conditional covenant the answer is, “Yes.”
It is both.
Easter is the culmination of The Grand Story of the relationship between God and man. It brings it all to an unanticipated, majestic conclusion. God fulfills all the terms of both sides of a covenant agreement by suffering the punishment we deserve. And three days later He verifies that He is God … and that we are not by overcoming the death He didn’t deserve.
The King walked through pieces with Abraham. He did it in anticipation of our being at peace with Him on Calvary. For all those who have rebelled against the King, this is very, very Good News. It is the central fact of the Christian faith. It is what makes Christianity unique among all the world religions. And it is the reason we have any hope at all.
Note
- For a fuller treatment of this idea, listen to Timothy Keller’s podcast, “A Covenant Relationship,” of October 9, 2013. That excellent sermon brought this together for me unlike anything I had ever heard before.