Covenants Part 2- Jesus is both a Guarantor and the Performer of the Covenant of Redemption

We have discussed in Part 1 how the Godhead made a covenant plan for the redemption of man before time began. The Father covenanted with the Son. We call this the Covenant of Redemption, a term theologians have used for a long time. Jesus, with the Father, was therefore the guarantor of the covenant. 


You might ask, ‘does God make oaths to Himself?’ Yes, he does. See Hebrews 4:3 or Psalm 110 for examples. 

A covenant is a solemn and potentially scary business. If we enter into one we may feel a sense of foreboding and fear in case we violate it. This is especially true if the other party is very powerful or very demanding. God is certainly very powerful. From much of the Bible He seems to also be very demanding (e.g. Matthew 5:20 onwards).


So all this business about covenants can make us feel burdened and not relieved or light hearted.

But we are not the guarantors of the New Covenant, the Covenant of Redemption.

A guarantor is someone who underwrites an agreement or contract. They ensure that the agreement can be relied upon; made to stick. The buck stops with them. They take the final responsibility for upholding the integrity of the agreement. Jesus took upon himself this role in the Covenant of Redemption. 


As far as redemption is concerned, Jesus had promised the payment for our sins before time itself began.

Jesus also paid the price in full personally. We are not drawn upon in terms of responsibility or performance.

The Cost of Performing the Covenant Requirements

Jesus Christ is God and man. At the incarnation he put on the form and limitations of mortal man. This is a central truth of the Incarnation. 

A man cannot create the universe. Man is a created being. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ created all things (John 1:3, Col 1:16). We can deduce that the acts of Creation involved Jesus Christ in his Deity .

The Incarnation and the Passion would involve Jesus in the weakness and vulnerability of his humanity. For this reason, it would be a more costly business for God to redeem us than it would be for him to create us. He would experience the human state with all its frailty.  The cost and effort for Jesus is is illustrated prophetically in several verses from Psalms and Isaiah. There we often see that the symbolism of God's 'hand' is used for acts of creation. For acts of salvation, the word 'arm' is more often used. Christ had to exert his will, in his humanity, sacrificially, and to the maximum, to make redemption available to us.

Jesus wrestled with the Father one final time in Gethsemane but there was no other way.

And he said, Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.   

And again he went away, and prayed, and spake the same words.    (Mark 14:36, 39 KJV)

He went through with it, having been strengthened by an angel.

Jesus Christ the Son had to pay the price, and perform the requirements, of this covenant, and he had to do so alone.

Our Contribution?

We were not even created when the covenant was ‘drawn up.’ Therefore we did not ‘sign up’ to do anything.

God had foreseen all the possible outworking and consequences of the freewill he gave us. He knew we would become unable to save ourselves. The Godhead covered the cost, first by deciding to send the Son, and then by the Son going through with the agony of Gethsemane and the Cross at Calvary. This is a measure of His love for us and His commitment to us.

We could say that God has taken responsibility for having given us freewill by providing a cure, in the Gospel, for where that freewill would likely get us. We have the responsibility to choose to take the cure when we become aware of it.

The Gospel is the proclamation of the New Covenant. The New Covenant is the completion in time of the eternal Covenant of Redemption.

The Gospel is a divine safety net for humanity which had been decided upon before creation. I will look next at how we enter in personally to the Covenant of Redemption. How do we receive of its benefits and blessings?