The Atonement—Outgrowth of God’s Covenants

Jesus’ atonement for this world’s transgressions occurred as a direct fulfillment of God’s covenants with his people Israel. Although foreordained from before the foundation of the earth, how it was executed was within God’s covenant relationship with his people Israel. Beginning with the Abrahamic Covenant made with Israel’s ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, then the Sinai Covenant with Israel as a nation, and then the Davidic Covenant with King David and his heirs, Jesus’ great atonement incorporated different features pertaining to these covenants. But all waited until Israel was exiled and scattered among the nations so that an entire humanity could participate in Israel’s blessings. Those blessings included deliverance from death itself according to the terms of God’s covenants. Even before Jesus came, Israel’s and humanity’s blessings occurred in lieu of his atonement for humanity’s transgressions.