Covenant, Old and New
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
— that is to say, the ancient union of God with man, and the new union of God with man. The Old Covenant consisted in this, that God promised mankind His divine Savior (the first announcement of the Gospel, of the seed of the woman, given to our first parents in paradise) and, through gradual revelations, prophecies, and foreshadowings, prepared them to receive Him. The New Covenant, meanwhile, consisted in this, that God actually bestowed upon mankind His divine Savior, His Only-begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The expressions “New Testament,” “the blood of the New Testament,” “Mediator of the New Testament,” have the highest, most profound, and unalterable significance for the religious life of mankind. Now there is no more condemnation for those who in Christ live not after the flesh but after the spirit (Rom. 8:1); now all things that pertain unto life and godliness have been granted to us (2 Pet. 1:3); now we have life in Christ (Rom. 8:15, 32 [as given]).