God has made a covenant with us … or to be more precise, God has made a number of covenants with us—in large part because we seemed to have trouble living up to our end of the bargain. However, the fact that God has kept reaching out to us, time and time again, also provides a compelling demonstration of how much we are loved. The word “covenant” means “coming together”—which, of course, is exactly what God has desired from the very beginning. God wants to “come together” with us.

Generally speaking, throughout the Old Testament, the covenants take the form of “God-for-us.” In other words, God will be on our side—defending us against enemies, protecting us from dangers, delivering us from oppression. A perfect example is the covenant reached at Mount Sinai, with Moses presiding. “I shall be your God, and you shall be my people,” says the Lord. That is, if we continue to obey God’s commandments. If not, then the covenant is rendered null and void.

By way of contrast, the covenant reached in the Upper Room, with Jesus presiding, is of a whole different nature. Jesus raises his cup and announces to the disciples, “This is the new covenant in my blood.” Like Moses, Jesus also believed that, if we continue to obey God’s commandments, God will be for us. However, here he is saying something beyond that. He is affirming that, even if we don’t obey the commandments, God will still be on our side. That is, God’s part of the covenant will be upheld, whether we decide to keep our part or not.

In effect, with the arrival of Jesus Christ, the covenant shifts from being “God-for-us” to being “God-with-us”—meaning that, even in those times when we break the covenant, we do not render it null and void, because as Paul reminds us, nothing in heaven or on earth can ever separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord!

And finally, when the risen Christ prepares to ascend to the right hand of God, he promises the disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Greek word for “spirit” here is “pneuma,” which means “breath.” Thus, the full depth of God’s series of covenants is, at last, revealed, because God now draws as close to us as our own breath.

Put another way, as we move from Moses to Jesus to Pentecost, we move from “God-for-us” to “God-with-us” to “God-within-us.” They are different kinds of covenants, to be sure. But the intent behind them is always the same—namely, God’s eternal desire to “come together” with us!