Most of us own a family album. It might be an old one with curled black-and-white photos of grandparents and cousins in stiff Sunday clothes. Or it might be a digital folder on the computer, filled with holiday snaps, selfies, and school plays. Either way, when we look through an album, we remember who we are. We see where we came from. We recognise that we belong to a story bigger than ourselves.
The Bible is our family album of faith. At first glance, it may seem complicated: thousands of years of history, dozens of books, strange names, and unfamiliar places. But if we look carefully, we find that it all holds together. From beginning to end, it tells one story — God drawing a family to Himself, and inviting us into it.
The key to that story is the word covenant. We might think of it as a kind of promise, and in a sense it is, but it is much deeper. A contract is an exchange of goods or services: I give you something, you give me something back. A covenant is an exchange of persons: I give you myself, and you give me yourself. In other words, a covenant is about family.
Marriage is a covenant: husband and wife give themselves to each other. Adoption is a covenant: a child is received into a new family. Baptism is a covenant: we are brought into the family of God.
So when the Bible speaks of God making a covenant, He is not setting up a deal. He is binding Himself to His people in love. He is saying: “I will be your God, and you will be My people.” Every covenant comes with signs, oaths, and obligations, but at its heart is this family bond. That is why covenant is the thread that runs through the entire Bible, from Adam to Christ.
John Bergsma, a Catholic theologian, has shown how the whole of Scripture can be read through this covenant lens. In his book Bible Basics for Catholics, he takes us step by step through the great covenants: with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, and finally the New Covenant in Jesus. Each covenant widens the circle of God’s family. With Adam, the covenant is with a couple. With Noah, it becomes a household. With Abraham, it grows into a tribe. With Moses, it becomes a nation. With David, it takes shape as a kingdom. And with Jesus, it embraces the whole world.
This pattern is not an accident. It is how God has chosen to reveal Himself: gradually, patiently, leading His people deeper into relationship. And it is how we come to understand our own identity. We are not just individuals trying to be “spiritual.” We are members of a family, part of a story that began long before we were born, and that will reach its fulfilment in Christ.
Let us walk through this story together.
Adam: A Covenant with a Couple
The story begins in a garden. God creates the heavens and the earth, and everything in it is good. Light, seas, land, plants, animals — all good. But then something new happens. God makes a creature in His own image and likeness: man and woman, Adam and Eve. They are not just part of the scenery, not just another animal. They are made for relationship with God.
In Genesis, God blesses Adam and Eve and gives them a mission: “Be fruitful and multiply, fill the earth and subdue it.” This is the language of covenant. God is binding Himself to them as Father, and entrusting them with the care of His creation. The garden itself is like a sanctuary, a first temple. Adam is called to “till and keep” it — the very words later used for the priests of Israel in their temple service. In other words, Adam is not only gardener but priest.
The covenant sign here is the Sabbath. God rests on the seventh day, and humanity is invited to share in that rest: to live not as slaves but as children, enjoying creation as gift.
Of course, the story quickly turns. Adam and Eve mistrust God’s goodness, listen to the serpent, and eat the fruit. They grasp at what was already offered. Sin seeps into the story. But even here, the covenant is not destroyed. God promises a saviour, a descendant of the woman who will crush the serpent’s head. Already, the family story is wounded, but it is not abandoned. God will not stop being Father.
Noah: A Covenant with a Household
As generations pass, sin spreads like a stain. Violence fills the earth. God is grieved at what humanity has become. And so comes the flood — not as an act of cruel destruction, but as a kind of cosmic washing, a baptism of the world.
Yet even in judgement, God remembers mercy. He calls Noah, a just man, and instructs him to build an ark. The ark becomes a vessel of salvation, carrying Noah, his wife, his sons, and their wives — eight souls in all. This is now a covenant not just with a couple, but with a household.
When the waters recede, Noah steps out onto dry land. He builds an altar and offers sacrifice. And God makes a covenant: never again will He destroy the earth by flood. The rainbow becomes the sign of this covenant, a bow hung up in the sky, as though God were laying down His weapon of war.
This covenant with Noah renews creation. It is like a fresh start. Yet the story of sin is not over. Noah plants a vineyard, drinks too much, and shame follows. The story advances, not because the characters are flawless, but because God refuses to stop loving them.
Abraham: A Covenant with a Tribe
Centuries later, God chooses a man called Abram. He lives in Ur, far from the land of Israel. He is not chosen because of wealth, power, or virtue. God simply calls him: “Go from your country and your father’s house to the land I will show you.”
To this wandering man, God makes three great promises: land, descendants, and blessing. These are not vague hopes, but covenant promises. Abram’s family will become a tribe. Through him, all the families of the earth will be blessed.
The sign of this covenant is circumcision, a mark in the very flesh of Abraham’s descendants that they belong to God.
Abraham’s journey is not smooth. He struggles with trust. He and Sarah are childless, and both laugh when God says they will have a son. Yet in time, Isaac is born, the child of promise.
The most dramatic moment comes when God tests Abraham, asking him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham obeys, though his heart must have broken. At the last moment, God stays his hand, providing a ram in Isaac’s place. The covenant is sealed in faith. Abraham trusts that God will provide, and the promise of countless descendants is confirmed.
Here, the family story expands again. From a household, it becomes a tribe. God’s plan is unfolding step by step.
Moses: A Covenant with a Nation
The descendants of Abraham grow numerous. They settle in Egypt, and for a time they prosper. But soon they are enslaved under Pharaoh, groaning under oppression. God hears their cries. He raises up Moses, and through him leads the people out of Egypt with mighty signs and wonders.
At Sinai, God makes a covenant with them as a nation. He gives them the Ten Commandments, the Law, and detailed instructions for worship. The people are set apart as His own, a holy nation. “I will be your God, and you will be My people.”
The sign of this covenant is the Passover — the lamb sacrificed, its blood marking the doors, so that death passes over God’s people. Every year, Israel is to remember that they were saved by the blood of the lamb.
God also instructs them to build a tabernacle, a dwelling for His presence. The ark of the covenant, the tent of meeting, the priesthood — all these are given so that Israel may worship rightly, living as God’s firstborn son among the nations.
But again, sin intrudes. Even as Moses is receiving the tablets of the Law, the people are making a golden calf. They want a god they can see and control. Yet God does not abandon them. Through sacrifice, priesthood, and mercy, He keeps the covenant alive.
Here, the family of God is now a nation. The circle is wider than ever before.
David: A Covenant with a Kingdom
Generations pass, and Israel enters the promised land. Judges and prophets rise and fall. Eventually the people long for a king, and after Saul comes David, chosen as one whose heart was set on God.
With David, God makes a new covenant. He promises that David’s throne will endure forever, that one of his descendants will sit on it eternally. This is astonishing: an everlasting dynasty. The sign of this covenant is the temple that David’s son Solomon will build, a house for the name of the Lord.
Jerusalem becomes the centre, the ark is placed in the temple, and the worship of Israel takes on new splendour. Here, the covenant family is now a kingdom.
Yet the kingdom falters. David sins grievously with Bathsheba. Solomon falls into idolatry. The kingdom splits, then crumbles. Exile follows. Still, the promise remains: a son of David will reign forever. The prophets begin to speak of a Messiah, an anointed one who will restore God’s people and bring peace. The story points forward.
Jesus: The Covenant with the Whole World
At the appointed time, Jesus is born. He is the son of Mary, but also the Son of God. He is the descendant of David, but also greater than David. In Him, all the covenants come to fulfilment.
Jesus gathers twelve apostles, like twelve tribes of a new Israel. He teaches with authority, heals the sick, and forgives sins. At the Last Supper, He takes bread and wine and says: “This is my body, given for you. This is my blood of the new covenant, poured out for many.” On the cross, He offers Himself as the true Passover Lamb, whose blood takes away the sin of the world.
The sign of this covenant is the Eucharist. Every Mass makes present the new covenant in His blood. Baptism incorporates us into this covenant family. The sacraments are the lived reality of this everlasting covenant.
Here, the circle is complete. From Adam to Noah to Abraham to Moses to David, the family has grown wider and wider. Now, in Jesus, it embraces the whole world. The Church is catholic — universal — because the covenant is for all nations.
Living the Covenant Today
What does this mean for us? It means we are not outsiders looking in on an old story. We are characters in the story. The covenants are not just ancient history; they are the pattern of our lives.
When we gather for Mass, we are not performing a ritual for its own sake. We are entering into the new covenant in Christ’s blood. When we open the Scriptures, we are turning the pages of our family album. When we baptise a child, we are welcoming them into the covenant family of God.
This is why the Bible is not simply a book of rules or a collection of stories. It isn’t a rulebook or a scrapbook; but the living record of the covenants that bind us to God. And this why we cannot understand who we are without it.
John Bergsma likes to say that the whole Bible can be summed up in this simple truth: God wants His family back. That is the heart of it. God made us for Himself. Sin scattered us. But through the covenants, culminating in Jesus, He has gathered us home.
So when you next pick up the Bible, don’t think of it as a textbook or a puzzle. Think of it as your album. Look at the faces and names. Trace the thread of covenant love. And remember: you belong to this story. It is the story of God’s family, and it is your story too.
Postscript: if you've enjoyed this article it's maybe worth checking out John Bergsma's book 'Bible Basics for Catholics'. He goes into these covenantal aspects in much greater depth. It's very readable and actually quite funny. (John Bergsma, Bible Basics for Catholics: A New Picture of Salvation History. Notre Dame, IN: Ave Maria Press, 2012.)