The underlying theme of the entire Bible is that God is a God of love and mercy, but more than that, He is a God of covenant. The God that the Christians of the world worship is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Now, as a believer in Christ, I may not be a direct descendant of Abraham, but I can live in and enjoy the love and kindness and blessings offered unto him because of his covenant with God.

 

Galatians 3:11, 13-14 (KJV)

 

Jesus Christ, the sacrifice I accepted at my conversion, was cursed for all mankind so that we could inherit the blessings promised unto Abraham. To understand what this means and all of its implications, we must go back to the first covenant and discuss how it all began. In Genesis, God - the Creator of heaven and earth - established a covenant with Abram, son of Terah.

 

While there are many details about Abram's life that are very important, the specific act of the blood covenant is the foundation for information we are looking for. The blood covenant between God and man begins in Genesis and is not completed until Christ died upon the cross.

 

There are three separate times that God creates a covenant with Abram. In the first one, which is not a blood covenant, God said, "I will make you a great nation. You will be blessed and you will be a blessing. I, the Lord God, will bless those that bless you. Also, I will curse those that curse you. Because of you, all the families of the earth will be blessed." The next time God talks with Abram about their covenant, He initiates the blood covenant by requiring the shed blood of several animals. In that sacrifice ceremony, God once again blesses Abram and tells him of things to come. In Genesis 17, God sets up a covenant with Abram for a third time. This time, however, the stakes are a little higher. In the third covenant, God requires the circumcision of Abram and his male children. God reminds Abram, now Abraham, that his lineage shall be great. His descendants would be blessed and exceedingly fruitful; they would inhabit a land called Canaan.

 

With a blood covenant now in place and the Word of God on the line, there is a new set of rules between God and His people. Covenant partners share all things. "My friends shall be your friends. My enemies shall be your enemies." God could not withhold things from Abraham and Abraham could not withhold things from His God. That is the reason Abraham had to go through the test of Genesis 22.

 

When God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, his son of promise, He was not playing a cruel joke as a Cosmic Cop. God had a plan to rescue His people, but this plan had prerequisites and requirements. In the simplest of terms, God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to test his commitment level. If Abraham withheld his son from his covenant partner, then God would have to withhold His Son from Abraham and his descendants. At the time that Abraham decided to offer his son as a sacrifice to his God, God set a plan in motion to offer His Son to redeem His people.

 

Blood covenant is the basis for our relationship with God. God's interaction and covenant with Abraham is the only reason we can receive so much through the blood of Christ. See, we are partakers in the covenant because we have accepted Christ Jesus as our Lord and Savior. We have received the circumcision of the heart and released the curse of the Law through the blood of Jesus. (Romans 2:29) Remember, Jesus did not come to do away with what God established with Abraham; He came to complete it. Even after all this time, we can walk in the blessings of God's covenant with Abraham because of the blood of Christ.