God's New Covenant

Read Jer 31:31-34

Jeremiah 31:31–34 KJV 1900

31 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, That I will make a new covenant With the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, And write it in their hearts; And will be their God, And they shall be my people. 34 And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: For they shall all know me, From the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: For I will forgive their iniquity, And I will remember their sin no more.

Jeremiah the weeping prophet - had much to weep over. He is at the time of this writing shut up in the court of the guard because he had prophesied that Nebuchadrezzar would take Jerusalem and Zedekiah king of Judah would be taken to Babylon.

As you can imagine Zedekiah king of Judah wasn’t too happy about that.

So he shut him up in the court of the prison - a dungeon under the treasury of the Kings Palace.

It is only fitting that the weeping prophet from Anathoth, who spoke of death and destruction for more than forty years, would be the one entrusted with the glorious new covenant message

A message whose words were surely in Jesus’ mind at the Last Supper (cf. Lk 22:20A message whose words were surely in Jesus’ mind at the Last Supper (cf. Lk 22:20 ),

A covenant repeated in Hebrews 8:8 —13; 9: 15—22; 10: 16—17 ,

and the covenant whose theme ultimately became the primary name given to the Greek Scriptures as a whole. we call it the New Testament - but it’s really a revelation of the New Covenant

“ it cannot be denied that the entire NT is permeated with the understanding of the new realities of the new covenant God has made with his people.”

There are three important details in this text that I see God is trying to show us -

Promise of a new covenant (Jer 31:31)

We have a God who does some “new things” in our lives.

Gives us new song (Ps. 40:3)

A New name (Isa. 62:2)

A New Covenant (Jer. 31:31)

A New Spirit (Ezek. 11:19)

A New heart (Ezek. 36:26)

In Christ we are a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17)

A new birth (1 Peter 1:3)

A new self (Eph. 4:23-24)

He will create new heavens and a new earth (Isa. 65:17)

He will ultimately make all things new (Rev. 21:5)

We are not to live in the past, but rather see ourselves as a new creation , created by God with a new heart and a new spirit. (pg. 50)

Here we are given the promise of a “new covenant” a covenant was a treaty of sorts technically a covenant is “an agreement between two parties that specifies requirements for at least one party, and includes blessing and curses for obedience or failure.”

In the Ancient Near East a covenant was often a treaty between parties of unequal power in which the stronger placed obligations on the weaker party.

Another type was between parties of equal bargaining power with mutual obligations

But one of the most interesting type was the “grant” it was between parties of unequal power in which the stronger obligated himself for the benefit of the weaker party at times without reciprocal demands we see this with Noah (Gen 9:8-17) Abraham (Gen 12:1-3) and with David (2 Sam 7:11-16).

God chose covenants to communicate the relationship that would exist between Him and the nation of Israel or the party that the covenant was made.

It is in this dungeon, dark, gloomy dungeon, that light breaks through on Jeremiah and God reveals to him - things won’t always be this way - a broken contract - a broken covenant, that lay shattered in millions of tiny pieces with remnants of duct tape, super glue, and other human attempts and endeavors to fix and repair

God gives the glorious promise that the broken would be replaced with a new covenant

This promise is a radical change in God’s economy or his dealings with humanity!!!

The phrase “new covenant” is not found anywhere else in the Old Testament

The New Covenant is Eschatological in Character

It is a promise that will happen at a later time

“But it lies at the heart of the redemptive purposes of God. It is not a divine afterthought.” (C. Paul Gray, Beacon Bible Commentary)

The New Covenant is a new Methodological Course of Action

A new methodology than the old covenant will involve three things - We will talk at greater length of these in a few moments but I want to mention them now:

A different kind of motivation - “I will put my law…in their hearts” (Jer 31:33)

Immediate knowledge of God - “They shall all know me” (Jer 31:34)

Individual pardon for sins - “I will forgive their iniquity” (Jer 31:34)

The New Covenant is an Internal Spiritual Dimension

We see a New Relationship

A New level of morality

Can I just remind you when God promises something he is abundantly able to perform it. Not only able but HE WILL DO IT!!!

Present Problem of Past Covenant (Jer 31:32)

Jer 31:32 “32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers In the day that I took them by the hand To bring them out of the land of Egypt; Which my covenant they brake, Although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord:”

When we see the presentation of a future promise - we have to ask there must be a problem with the present promise -

The Mosaic covenant (Exod 1:7) God formalized an agreement, or treaty, or covenant with the people of Israel. It had specific expected and required behaviors but also made provisions for infractions of those regulations. It had no provision however, for failure to respond to God’s grace with loyalty to the Lord of the covenant.

This disloyalty could be seen in idolatry, blasphemy, adultery or immoral acts, injustice, breaking the Sabbath, and if individually convicted of these charges one was punished with death or removal from the covenant community. If the nation as a whole was disloyal there was the discipline of the covenant curses. It was this type of disloyalty that generations of Israel had displayed time after time throughout their history.

“While there would always be individuals who would put God’s laws on their hearts, the people as a whole never would”

Again it wasn’t that the covenant was bad - but that it had been breached and broken time and time again -

The religious history of Israel was littered with covenant renewals indicating a breech of that covenant.

There were renewals under Moses (Ex 34 - right after the first had been ratified, Deuteronomy)

Joshua (Josh 23-24)

Samuel (1 Sam 12) after the desire for a king

Hezekiah (2 Chr 29-31)

King Josiah in the greatest of all covenant renewals after God’s Word was found (2 Chr 34:3-7) - This probably looked like the dawn of a new spiritual day for God’s people - but their hearts had not been changed, and as soon as Josiah dies they go right back to their old ways.

The present problem with the past covenant was not that the covenant was bad - it was that the covenant was broken -

God charges the nation of Israel with breech of contract- “My covenant they brake” or they broke the covenant - and the context here infers they broke it over and over and over again.

It was the sinful nature of the people that cause the failure of the Mosaic covenant.

The only answer would be a new covenant that was internalized.

Products of New Covenant (Jer 31:33-34)

The first thing we notice about the new covenant is a picture of pursuing God who refuses to leave his people alone to follow their own self-destructive paths.

He is a God of new things as we said earlier - but he is also a God of new beginnings.

He is a God of His word - but he is also a God who responds - Israel proved incapable of relating to God so God related to us - he compsenated for their lack - He is a God who comes down to us - but not only that HE IN THAT PROCESS LIFTS US UP TOWARD HIM -

Ephesians 2:5–7 KJV 1900

5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus: 7 That in the ages to come he might shew the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus.

The products of the new covenant come in the form of five “I Wills” from God - the initiator of this covenant who is providing

The first thing we say is a change in mediation -

No longer was it the tables of stone that you had to go track down and you better follow or else - but God's guiding directions would be written on the fleshly tables of the heart.

There would be a renewed mind

There would be a new heart

It would be a regeneration or a new birth

Written on one’s heart - the law isn’t so much a matter of immediate knowledge - but rather transformed attitudes and behaviors.

It’s know knowing the rules - its a relationship with the RULER!

Before God’s law can be written on our hearts, and our relationship be established, there has to be a removal of the old sins so he promises

I WILL FORGIVE THEIR INIQUITY - I WILL REMEMBER THEIR SIN NO MORE!!!

Forgiveness by itself is a dangerous doctrine:

The Quotable Oswald Chambers Forgiveness

If I am forgiven without being altered, forgiveness is not only damaging to me, but a sign of unmitigated weakness in God. Unless it is possible for God’s forgiveness to establish an order of holiness and rectitude, forgiveness is a mean and abominable thing.

Baffled to Fight Better, 59 R

Forgiveness brings about new birth and new affections - Jeremiah promises that God will give a new heart to know him

Before we enter this covenant we love the things we are not supposed to love

We love the world and the things of the world

We pursue the desires of the world the flesh and the devil

The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

But our new heart comes with new affections and a love for God because he first loved us

God makes the root of all this grace to be the free pardon, and the remission of their sins - I WILL FORGIVE

The Quotable Oswald Chambers Forgiveness

Think what God’s forgiveness means: it means that He forgets away every sin. Forgetting in the Divine mind is an attribute; in the human mind it is a defect; consequently God never illustrates His Divine forgetfulness by human pictures, but by pictures taken from His own creation—“As far as east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12); “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions …” (Isaiah 44:22).

God’s Workmanship, 415 R

This morning if you are trying to live under the law - do everything just right so that your good will be greater than your bad

Not doing really bad things hoping that will be enough to let you escape hell

You are missing the point

It is not our living that gets us anything it is HIS GIVING

Don’t live by the stony, hard, unlivable way

God’s covenant is not a covenant of conformity - but of conferring

We can’t make ourselves be what He wants us to be - but He confers to us grace, conversion, regeneration

Let Him change you from the inside out

I praise God for this great covenant - I hope you are a partaker of it this morning