Final answer:
The covenant between God and Abraham is crucial to early Christians as it laid the groundwork for their faith and promised salvation, paralleling Jesus's sacrifice.
It established a shared foundation among the Abrahamic religions, making its understanding vital to the early followers of Jesus.
Step-by-step explanation:
The permanent sign of the covenant between God and Abraham is important to the early followers of Jesus because it established the foundations of their faith and illustrated a promise from God that served as a precursor to the Christian understanding of salvation.
Early Christians saw their faith as the fulfillment of the Abrahamic promise, which is evident in the parallels drawn between the sacrifice Abraham was willing to make of his son Isaac and Jesus's own sacrifice on the cross.
This covenant is not only significant in Christianity but also foundational for Judaism and Islam, making it crucial for understanding the common heritage of these Abrahamic religions.
Through the covenant, God promised Abraham that his descendants would be numerous and they would receive a land of milk and honey.
This promise, including its signs such as circumcision and the later added Ten Commandments, became a core part of the Jewish identity and theology.
Christians trace their heritage back to this covenant and see Jesus's life, death, and resurrection as the ultimate fulfillment of God's promises to Abraham, thus giving the covenant a special importance in the early Christian tradition.