 |
| Click picture for a printable handout for this section. |
We live under a better covenant - our next section will help us recognize five of its life-changing qualities. I encourage you to start by reading Hebrews 8:7-13. Before we go there, however, let’s consider a little context.
Why was the new covenant necessary? (8:7-8)
We needed the new covenant because the first one, the one based on the Law, had a fault. The old covenant consisted of three parts – God, the people, and the Law. The fault wasn’t with God. He’s perfect. The fault wasn’t even with the Law despite its length and complexity. The Law was complete. The problem came when God looked at us and found “fault with His people… because they didn’t continue in [His] covenant” (Hebrews 8:8-9). The fault with the old covenant was that we couldn’t keep it; when we don’t keep the Law, we sin. We mess up every time no matter how hard we try to live a sinless life.
The new covenant shouldn’t have been a surprise just like a priest from Melchizedek’s order shouldn’t have been a surprise. Consider a brief timeline of the Old Testament… Abraham and Melchizedek had their exchange we discussed in depth over the last several sections. Soon thereafter, God cut covenant with Abraham. Hundreds of years passed before God gave the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai. After God established all of that and while it was still fully active, God made these two significant promises. Take note of that – God made promises of a priest of Melchizedek’s order and of a new covenant several centuries after God gave the Law. The people should have been ready; they should have been watching and waiting for a better priesthood and a better covenant. God had told them it was coming.
Where did God make those promises? (8:9)
God prophesied through David that a priest would come in the order of Melchizedek in Psalm 110:4. We’ve already studied through that whole thing in previous sections so we won’t review it here.
God prophesied through Jeremiah that He would make a new covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34. In fact, this section’s Scripture passage is almost a word for word quote of that prophetic passage. The only difference is a change in an explanation of the cause and effect for the new covenant. Jeremiah described the fault as “a covenant they broke even though I had married them” (Jeremiah 31:32). The author of Hebrews described the fault a little differently although the implications are the same. He wrote, “I disregarded them because they did not continue in My covenant” (Hebrews 8:9).
What are the qualities of the new covenant? (8:10-13)
Both Scripture passages – Jeremiah and Hebrews – are consistent in their description of the new covenant. They both list five qualities which is a number symbolic of the grace inherent in the new covenant. And consistent with Hebrew poetry, the middle one stands alone as different from the other four. Let’s consider each one…
I will put My laws into their minds and write them on their hearts.
The old covenant required regulation based on the Law. God gave the Law; we had to live up to it. Of course, as noted earlier, the people failed. We still fail to this day. The new covenant was different because God now wrote His law on our hearts and minds, not on tablets of stone. We have the law within teaching us right from wrong. The Spirit dwells within each believer and guides us to the truth (John 16:13). God can transform our minds to discern His will (Romans 12:2).
I see something significant here that we may skim over and miss at first reading. God doesn’t only put His law in our minds nor does He just write it on our hearts. He does both. Why is this significant? We are made of three parts; soul or spirit, mind or heart, and body. The mind and heart refer to the part of our triune self that relates with others. They are our emotions, understanding, feelings, thoughts, etc. If mind and heart refer to the same part of each of us, then why include both? I don’t think the repetition is merely poetic imagery. I think God wants us to know His law is within our mind – guiding us as we make logical, rational thought processes. He’s with us as we try to understand and think our way through a situation. That’s not all, though. His law is also within our heart – guiding us as we feel emotional tugs in certain ways. Our emotions don’t control us; rather, His law controls our emotions. We don’t kill our ability to feel but rather, our feelings submit to the direction of His law.
I will be their God, and they will be My people
Simple words but they have become so powerful to me lately. Scripture repeats them at least 20 times throughout its pages starting with a powerful series of promises made to Moses in Exodus 6:6-7. The four cups of Passover remember that series of promises; this promise in particular is the fourth of that series. It’s the cup of which Jesus said He will not drink it again until He drinks it with all of us in His Father’s kingdom (Matthew 26:29). The final repetition is in the very last chapter in a description of eternity, “Look! God’s dwelling is with humanity, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Revelation 21:3). A promise first made 4,000 years ago, made possible by a sacrifice made 2,000 years ago, honored in celebration still today, will reach completion sometime in the future. Another example of a promise made, a time as we live in hope, and a future completion of the promise! Like I said, that’s some powerful words even if they are so simple.
Each person will not teach his fellow citizen, and each his brother, saying ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know Me, from the least to the greatest of them
Prophets aren’t part of the new covenant because the Word of God is complete and the Spirit guides us in understanding it. We no longer need prophets to bring God’s Word to us, help us understand it, or apply it to our lives. We are all capable on our own if the Spirit fills us and we submit to His leading. Isaiah, just like Jeremiah, prophesied this day would come when he wrote, “Then all your children will be taught by the Lord” (Isaiah 54:13). Jesus confirmed His ministry was that of which Isaiah prophesied when He said, “It is written in the Prophets: ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has listened to and learned from the Father comes to Me” (John 6:45).
I will be merciful to their wrongdoing
We pervert and twist the Law into some distortion of what God intended. And in the consequence for our perversion and twisting of the truth, we become like Cain who said, “My punishment is too great to bear!” (Genesis 4:13). Under the new covenant, God knows we can’t bear the weight of our punishment and so He grants us mercy for each and every sin. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9). Mercy.
I will never again remember their sins
The Law gave us a list of regulations to define sin; we could never achieve its complex requirements. Good grief, we couldn’t even obey the simple ones like “Honor your father and your mother” (Exodus 20:12). It’s too hard because, like Cain, we “do not do what is right” and “sin is crouching at the door” (Genesis 4:7). Our sinful nature desires to make us miss the mark and mess up every time. And yet, under the new covenant, God forgets all of it. “It is I who sweep away your transgressions for My own sake and remember your sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). Grace.
The new covenant for us
The law is still our definition of sin. Out of love for God who loved us and gave Himself for us, we still try to live according to His standard. But that covenant is old, aging, and about to disappear. The very meaning of the particular word used for new indicates that God meant for the new covenant to take the place of what used to be. With Jesus, a new covenant came and God declared what had been to be old.
We live under that new covenant. We live in a time when we can know Jesus, the priest of Melchizedek’s order, promised through King David. We can experience the new covenant promised through Jeremiah.
We can experience inward transformation in our heart and mind through the power of the Holy Spirit and the power of God’s Word written within us.
We can experience the hope of a coming fourth cup of the Passover when God will dwell among us; He will be our God and we will be His people for eternity.
We can experience the ability to know and understand the Word of God through the direct instruction of the Spirit within us. We can experience a relationship with Him as He calls to each of us as His own.
We can experience mercy when the punishment for our wrongdoing is more than we can bear.
We can experience grace when God forgets our sin so it no longer separates us from Him.
Are you willing to go there?
← Previous Section: Jesus: Something Better
Next Section: Our Old Covenant Purpose →
No comments:
Post a Comment