Jesus is the Fulfillment of the New Covenant

Background of Jeremiah 31

The prophet has been given the message of imminent judgment through the Babylonians. The people have repeatedly rebelled against the goodness of God and despised His commandments. God gave them chance after chance, but their hearts were hardened and they refused to repent.

God had previously entered into covenant with His people (Genesis 15; Exodus 19) and the terms included blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience. God had been gracious to His people, but the time for judgment was at hand. God was preparing the Babylonians to destroy the nation. Many of the people were decreed for destruction and death while others faced 70 years of Exile.

It is in this setting of Divine judgment in which the prophet speaks hope through God’s promise of the New Covenant. In the eye of the storm the people are told of God’s gracious provision for the other side. The New Covenant brought hope and encouragement in a time of great darkness.

God promised that He would cut a New Covenant with His people (Jer. 31:31); Jesus fulfilled that promise (Luke 22:19-20)

God declared the New Covenant would be different from the Mosaic Covenant (Jeremiah 31:32)

Explanation: God delivered His people from the captivity of Egypt. The LORD acted through Moses, but He was the One who broke the chains of bondage and led them out of Egypt to Sinai. It was at Mt. Sinai where God entered into covenant with His people:

Exodus 19:3–6 “while Moses went up to God. The Lord called to him out of the mountain, saying, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob, and tell the people of Israel: ‘You yourselves have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;”

God initiated the Covenant and set the terms: obedience would bring blessing (v. 6). Moses told the people all that God had said (v. 7) and the people ratified the covenant (v. 8)

King James Version Chapter 19

And all the people answered together, and said, All that the LORD hath spoken we will do

The people were unable to keep the terms of the Mosaic Covenant. This is the reality that God addresses through Jeremiah in v. 32 of today’s text: “They broke My Covenant!)

Argument: The OT people of God were not able to keep the Law. In the NT, Paul makes the same argument when he declares, “For as many as are of the works of the Law are under the curse: for it is written, cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the Law to do them.” (Gal. 3:10)

Application: No human person has every been able to keep the Law according to God’s requirements. We all have fallen short (Rom. 3:23). The purpose of the Law was to reveal our need for Another who could fulfill the Law perfectly on our behalf (Gal 3:24)

The New Covenant is Relational in that God works directly in the lives of His people through Christ (Jeremiah 31:33-34)

Explanation: The Mosaic covenant was mediated through the Law. The terms were “do this and live.” The people could not achieve the standard, so the priests served as intermediaries between the people and God through the sacrificial system. No Israelite was able to approach God on his or her own - they had to go through the priesthood. The priesthood had its own limitations and even the High Priest could only enter into the Holy Place one time a year.

In the New Covenant, God promised that He would directly (no human intermediary) put His law into His people. God declared He would “write it (His Law) in their hearts.” The result would be a personal relationship with God Himself! (v. 33b). This was a reality beyond what the average Israelite could even imagine.

God also told them that He personally (again - no outside mediator) would forgive their iniquity and He would also forget they had even sinned against Him!

Application: That promise of the New Covenant was literally fulfilled in Christ! God Himself entered into His creation through the 2nd person of the Trinity and made a way for sinful humanity to be reconciled to a Holy God.

The writer of the Book of Hebrews addresses the terms of the New Covenant being fulfilled in the person and sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross.

Read the text of Hebrews 10:11-18

We do not have the background of being involved in the continual cycles of the sacrificial system. We do not appreciate what it meant for them to no longer have to witness the repeated slaughter of their animals

The New Covenant is Eternal (Jeremiah 31:35-36)

Explanation: The inhabitants of Judah were facing imminent death and destruction. Those who retained their lives still lost all their possessions and were forced into a life of Exile. Their future on the immediate horizon was bleak!

More to say on this, but want to go ahead and write down the conclusion

What is the purpose of us being in Christ and participants in the New Covenant? The writer of the Book of Hebrews supplies an answer:

Hebrews 10:19–25 (KJV 1900)

19Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,

20By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh;

21And having an high priest over the house of God;

22Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.

23Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)

24And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:

25Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.