The moment of the cross is not only the moment of penal substation.The cross is (among many things) also the moment of covenant fulfillment and creation. Through Jesus’ death God both fulfills his covenant promises to Abraham and even begins a new covenant with new stipulations.
The model of salvation through covenant was established back in the opening sections of the Old Testament, then came to a climax with Israel in the desert through Moses. We find the concept of covenant featured in Noah’s story, Abraham’s story, David’s story, and finally Jesus’ story. Covenant is the very feature around which the Christian canon is oriented (hence “Testament”).
How is it then that in modern dialogue about salvation, we hardly ever hear about “covenant”? We hear often about substitutionary atonement, the appeasement of the wrath of God, etc., but we rarely hear about the covenant and the role that it plays within the greater narrative of God’s World Renewal Plan.
God’s plan from the beginning was salvation through covenant. Salvation is also for a people, through a people by means of the covenant. This means that in the Messiah’s shed blood on the cross, we find the faithfulness of God to Israel and to the world. God made a promise to Abraham back in Genesis 15 and in that promise it was detailed that through his family blessing would come to the entire created order. The whole thing that ran amuck in Genesis 3 would be resolved through the family of Abraham. That’s what the rest of the story is all about. That is what Jesus is all about: God keeping his promise to Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham and Jesus in the cross fulfills that covenant.
This means that salvation is all about the faithfulness of God—God keeping his promises. This is something that’s getting harder to find this days. Faithfulness, commitment, and promise keeping just doesn’t fit well in this media-charged culture. It’s urgent that members of the covenant community rediscover the role and function of covenant and how it effects us today.
