"A covenant is a solemn bond, sovereignly administered with attendant blessings and curses."
—Doug Wilson, in Federal Husband

God made a covenant with Adam in the Garden of Eden, with Adam acting as the representative for all mankind. When Adam sinned, thus violating the covenant, he and Eve were driven from paradise. Since then, God has continued to interact with His people through covenants. These aren't a disconnected series of covenants, cobbled together as God changed His mind about how to deal with men; instead, they're different aspects of a single organic covenant unfolding throughout history.

In contrast to dispensationalism, covenant theology views redemptive history as coherent and complete, and recognizes the covenants made with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David and the Church as facets of a single continuing covenant. Each successive administration builds on and elaborates the one(s) before it, revealing in stages God's saving grace which culminates in Christ. The covenant is like an opening rose; it's the same flower, we simply see more and more of it as it unfolds.

Covenantal thinking is especially relational in nature, easily applied to the family, workplace and all other aspects of human society. Many of our books on Biblical Relationships and Christian Living deal with living and interacting covenantally with others.