covenants

From Daniel McManigal in Encountering Christ in the Covenants: An Introduction to Covenant Theology:

[F]rom the Westminster Confession of Faith, chapter 7.1:

The distance between God and the creature is so great that although reasonable creatures do owe obedience unto Him as their Creator, yet they could never have any fruition of Him as their blessedness and reward but by some voluntary condescension on God’s part, which He has been pleased to express by way of covenant.

Moving from comma to comma, let’s try to crystallize the main points. The first sentence teaches very plainly that there is a distinction between the Creator and the creature. The Creator stands over the creature as the Sovereign. The second sentence tells us that we will always owe loyal obedience to the Creator. In the third place there is a both blessedness and reward and that blessedness will never be ours unless God comes and bestows it through this relationship described as covenant. As a general rule, covenants between God and man are top down. God makes them man receives them (Jeremiah 34 is a notable exception). If mankind is to have any enjoyment of God, God must come and tell his creature how we are to live before him in this relationship and so be blessed by him. God always deals with his creatures through covenant.