From Noah to the New Creation: How Covenant Shapes the Story of God’s People
According to the Bible, the word covenant is one of the most important building blocks in biblical theology. The traditional division of the Christian Bible into Old Testament and New Testament already points to this, since testament is simply another way of saying covenant. From Genesis to Revelation, covenant language appears at key turning points: God’s relationship with Noah after the flood (Genesis 8–9), with Abraham and his seed (Genesis 12; 15; 17; 22), with Israel at Sinai (Exodus 19–24), with the priesthood (Numbers 25; Malachi 2), with David and his dynasty (2 Samuel 7; Psalm 89), and finally in promises of a new covenant that will reach the ends of the earth (Jeremiah 31; Ezekiel 36–37; Isaiah 55).
In biblical theology, covenant is not just a technical term; it is a way the Bible describes God’s commitment to create, preserve, judge, and save a people for himself. The Christian view of covenant sees these divine covenants as distinct but coordinated stages in one overarching purpose: that God will be the God of his people and dwell with them forever in a renewed creation (Jeremiah 31:33; Revelation 21:3). When Christians ask, “What does the Bible say about covenant?”, the answer runs from Noah’s preservation of the world to the new creation where righteousness dwells (2 Peter 3:13).
What does covenant mean in the Bible?
The main Old Testament word for covenant, berith, appears hundreds of times and describes a solemn, binding commitment, often guaranteed by an oath and sometimes marked by a visible sign. In the Bible this term can describe:
Divine–human commitments (e.g., God’s covenant with Noah in Genesis 9; Abraham in Genesis 15 and 17; Israel in Exodus 24).
Human–human agreements, including political treaties and friendships (Genesis 21:22–24; 1 Samuel 18:3).
Marriage, as a covenant of faithfulness (Malachi 2:14; Ezekiel 16:8).
The New Testament word diatheke picks up this Old Testament covenant background and applies it directly to the Gospel. Jesus speaks of “the new covenant in my blood” at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25), echoing both the covenant at Sinai (Exodus 24:8) and Jeremiah’s promise of a future covenant of forgiveness (Jeremiah 31:31–34). According to the Bible, covenant is thus both a legal and relational category: God binds himself to promises and obligations, and he binds a people to himself in loyalty, obedience, and trust.
In biblical theology, covenant is not simply a flat “system” where every moment in the Bible is the same. Rather, the covenants unfold and build on each other, clarifying God’s purpose and narrowing the line through which blessing will finally come to all nations (Genesis 12:3; Galatians 3:8, 16).
From Noah to Abraham: covenant and the preservation of creation
The first explicitly named covenant in the Bible is the covenant with Noah (Genesis 6:18; 9:8–17). After the flood, God promises never again to destroy all life with a flood and ties this promise to the stability of day and night and the seasons (Genesis 8:21–22; 9:11). The rainbow serves as the covenant sign, a visible reminder that history will not be cut short by another global judgment of this kind (Genesis 9:13–17).
This Noahic covenant shows that:
God preserves a stable world in which his redemptive plan can unfold.
The covenant is universal, embracing “every living creature” (Genesis 9:10) and the whole earth.
Human life is precious; the prohibition of murder and the affirmation that humans are made in God’s image (Genesis 9:5–6) underscore the value of the image-bearers through whom God’s covenant purposes will move forward.
The Christian view of covenant recognizes that without this preserving covenant with Noah, there would be no stage on which the later saving covenants could play out. When we ask what the Bible says about covenant in relation to creation, the Noahic covenant answers: God will keep the world going until his redemptive purpose is complete, culminating in the promised new heavens and new earth (Romans 8:19–25; 2 Peter 3:13).
The Abrahamic covenants then narrow the universal horizon to one man and his descendants. God calls Abram, promises to make him into a great nation, to give his offspring the land, and to bless all the families of the earth through him (Genesis 12:1–3). These promises are solemnly guaranteed in at least two covenant moments:
In Genesis 15, God guarantees land and nationhood, passing alone between the pieces of sacrificed animals, indicating a unilateral divine commitment (Genesis 15:9–21).
In Genesis 17 and confirmed in Genesis 22, God stresses “everlasting” relationship, kings from Abraham’s line, and blessing to the nations through his seed (Genesis 17:4–8; 22:16–18).
According to the Bible, covenant with Abraham is the backbone of later Gospel language. Paul explicitly says that the Gospel announces the fulfilment of the promise that all nations would be blessed in Abraham (Galatians 3:8), and that those who belong to Christ are Abraham’s seed and heirs according to the promise (Galatians 3:29).
From Sinai to David: covenant and the people of God
The Mosaic covenant at Sinai does not replace the Abrahamic covenant; it organizes Abraham’s descendants into a priestly kingdom (Exodus 19:4–6). God has already brought them out of Egypt because he remembered his covenant with Abraham (Exodus 2:24; 6:4–8). At Sinai he gives them Torah so that they may live as his holy nation in the land he swore to their fathers.
Key features of the Mosaic covenant include:
Bilateral obligations: “If you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession” (Exodus 19:5).
A covenant sign: sabbath observance marks Israel out as belonging to Yahweh (Exodus 31:13–17).
A sacrificial system and priesthood, under a priestly covenant, to maintain communion between a holy God and a sinful people (Leviticus; Numbers 25:10–13; Malachi 2:4–8).
In biblical theology, this covenant shows both the holiness of God and the ethical calling of the people of God. Like Abraham, Israel is to “walk before” God and be blameless (Genesis 17:1; Leviticus 19:2). Yet Israel’s repeated breaking of the covenant leads to exile and raises the question of how the promises to Abraham and David can be fulfilled.
The Davidic covenant further focuses the storyline. In 2 Samuel 7 God promises David a house, a throne, and a kingdom that will endure forever (2 Samuel 7:12–16). This covenant ties the hope of Israel and the nations to a royal descendant of David who will embody perfect obedience and rule in righteousness (Psalm 72; Isaiah 9:6–7; 11:1–10). According to the Bible, covenant now has a royal center: the future of God’s people is bound up with the future of a coming king from David’s line.
The new covenant and the new creation in Christ
Because Israel broke the Mosaic covenant, the prophets speak of a new covenant that will not be like the one made when God brought them out of Egypt (Jeremiah 31:31–32). This new covenant includes several crucial promises:
God will write his law on the heart (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27).
All will know the Lord in an intimate way (Jeremiah 31:34).
God will forgive their iniquity and remember their sin no more (Jeremiah 31:34).
God will gather his people, cleanse them, give them a new heart and Spirit, and place them in a renewed land under a Davidic shepherd-king (Ezekiel 36:24–28; 37:24–28).
Isaiah expands the horizon to the nations and to new creation. The servant of the Lord is given as a covenant for the people and a light for the nations (Isaiah 42:6; 49:6). The everlasting covenant is linked to the sure mercies promised to David (Isaiah 55:3), and the story ends with new heavens and a new earth (Isaiah 65:17; 66:22).
According to the New Testament, Jesus inaugurates this new covenant through his death and resurrection. At the Last Supper he identifies the cup as “the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20; 1 Corinthians 11:25), echoing both Exodus 24 and Jeremiah 31. He is presented as:
The seed of Abraham through whom blessing comes to the nations (Matthew 1:1; Galatians 3:16).
The obedient son who fulfils the Torah and embodies true Israel (Matthew 2:15; 5:17–20; Hosea 11:1).
The Son of David whose kingdom will have no end (Luke 1:32–33; Acts 2:30–36).
In Acts and Paul, the church is described as the true heirs of the covenant promises, composed of Jews and Gentiles united to Christ by faith (Acts 3:25–26; Ephesians 2:11–22). Romans 9–11 insists that God’s word has not failed: the promise to Abraham that he would be the father of many nations is fulfilled as people from every nation come into the one people of God through the Gospel (Romans 4:16–18). Hebrews draws on Jeremiah 31 to show that the new covenant is better, with a better mediator and better promises, yet continuous with the earlier covenants it fulfils (Hebrews 8:6–13; 9:15; 13:20).
From Noah to the new creation, covenant in the Bible tells a single story: God preserves the world, calls a family, forms a nation, raises a king, and establishes an everlasting new covenant in Christ. The Christian view of covenant sees the Gospel as the climactic expression of this story. In Christ, the seed of Abraham and son of David, God’s people already share in the blessings of the new covenant—forgiveness, new hearts, and the gift of the Spirit—while they await the full inheritance of the renewed earth promised to Abraham (Romans 4:13; 8:17–25). The covenants lead us to Jesus and through Jesus to the new creation.
Bible verses related to covenant and new creation
“I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood” (Genesis 9:11).
“I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing… in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 12:2–3).
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, ‘To your offspring I give this land’” (Genesis 15:18).
“And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you… to be God to you and to your offspring after you” (Genesis 17:7).
“Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples” (Exodus 19:5).
“I will raise up your offspring after you… and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (2 Samuel 7:12–14).
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31).
“I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you… and you shall be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:26–28).
“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood” (Luke 22:20).
“Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance” (Hebrews 9:15).
