“Behold,
the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new
covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like
the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took
them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant
that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. But
this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after
those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I
will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they
shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor
and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord, for they shall all
know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord.
For I will forgive their iniquity and I will remember their sin no
more.’” –Jeremiah 31-31-34 (ESV).
The
new covenant with God’s people will be written in the hearts of the
people the prophet Jeremiah declared (Jeremiah 31:33). God had
really intended that relationship all along, since His first covenant
with Abraham. But His called-out people time and again had forfeited
the intended relationship with God. They had spurned the knowledge
of God and made mockery of His forgiveness. They had kept outward
observances of the law, as circumcision for the males and sacrifices
offered for sins. Even observances of festivals and seasons had
failed to remind the people of their true allegiance to God. Their
hearts continued in rebellion.
Deep
questions troubled Jeremiah and other spiritual leaders. Was there
any hope for a called-out people? Could there be any assurance that
a covenant really could hold the people close to God and assure that
their fellowship with Him would be permanent? “The
days are coming declares the Lord when I will make a new covenant…”
Jeremiah
foresaw the Messiah’s coming into the world and His sacrificial
death as the “New Covenant.” When Jesus instituted the Lord’s
supper, He told His disciples, “For
this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for
forgiveness of sins” (Matthew
26:28).
The
new covenant carried with it permanence and complete sufficiency.
“Once and for all” the Messiah’s sin offering would be the
complete atonement required by God. Many times in the Old Testament
are recorded instances of renewal of the covenant between God and His
people. Moses renewed it before the nation entered the Promised
Land. Joshua, before his death, (see Joshua 23-24) led the people in
acknowledging and reaffirming the sacred covenant. Others led in
reminding the people of God’s covenant and renewing it. Some
outstanding covenant-renewers were Samuel, and Kings Hezekiah and
Josiah. But the new covenant predicted by Jeremiah and fulfilled in
Jesus Christ is not just a renewal of the old. The emphasis of the
new covenant is personal—it will be written on tablets of the
believer’s heart. Anyone who places his faith in the Lord Jesus
Christ and His atoning work of salvation is a recipient of the new
covenant. God revealed to Jeremiah that in time anyone could come to
the fullness of His truth and write that truth on his heart. Through
Jesus the requirements of the New Covenant were accomplished.
Through the wooing of the Holy Spirit the New Covenant is made known
to all who will accept and believe in the regeneration Jesus offers.
Prayer.
Lord, it is astounding to see the revelation of Your covenant to all
generations and all people. Thank you that today believers can stand
secure in the covenant You provided. Amen.
Ethelene
Dyer Jones 12.07.2014
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