New Covenant: Anticipated
Notes
Transcript
Scripture Intro:
Scripture Intro:
Covenant Theology
Two Main Covenants:
Covenant of Works (Adam)
Continued blessing based on obedience
2. Covenant of Grace (Still to Adam)
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.”
Offspring - usually a plural word (meaning “many descendants”)
But it is singular.
So this verse is looking for a singular person
to bruise the head of the serpent.
We know from the rest of the Bible that person is Jesus Christ.
So you could rightly say,
that the rest of the Bible is unfolding this promises.
the One who would come
Him being bruised by Satan
Him ultimately crushing Satan’s head
Covenants with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David.
Each of these referred to as a new administration (unfolding) of the covenant...
but still the same covenant.
Today, the Promise of the New Covenant.
Scripture Reading (“Please stand…”)
“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.
For 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.”
Also, Jeremiah 33:14-26
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved, and Jerusalem will dwell securely. And this is the name by which it will be called: ‘The Lord is our righteousness.’
“For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel, and the Levitical priests shall never lack a man in my presence to offer burnt offerings, to burn grain offerings, and to make sacrifices forever.”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time,
then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers.
As the host of heaven cannot be numbered and the sands of the sea cannot be measured, so I will multiply the offspring of David my servant, and the Levitical priests who minister to me.”
The word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: “Have you not observed that these people are saying, ‘The Lord has rejected the two clans that he chose’? Thus they have despised my people so that they are no longer a nation in their sight.
Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,
then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
Pray...
Intro:
Intro:
Eugene Lang was self-made millionaire from real estate in New York City.
Mr. Lang had been asked to speak
to a class of 59 sixth-graders at 6th grade graduation.
Not to students at a college prep school,
but to students in East Harlem...
Where the dropout rate was astronomical.
Quite rare to have a student finish high school.
What could he say to inspire these students,
most of whom would drop out of school?
Scrapping his notes, he decided to speak to them from his heart.
"Stay in school," he admonished,
"and I'll help pay the college tuition for every one of you."
At that moment the lives of these students changed.
For the first time they had hope.
Said one student, "I had something to look forward to, something waiting for me.
It was a golden feeling."
Over 90 percent of that class went on to graduate from high school.
As a result,
he started a foundation investing in the educational dreams of students in impoverished areas.
Before his death in 2017,
he had given away more than $150 million in tuition grants.
The name of his foundation, “I Have a Dream” foundation.
A phrase borrowed from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
A phrase that these students believed could be true for them.
And it changed their lives.
“a dream”
“hope”
Something that is not true now...
that you desire in the future.
“promise”
Something that is not true now...
that is certain based on the one making the promise.
Eugene Lang, multi-millionaire...
“I will pay for your college tuition”
It is going to happen… b/c of his resources.
But what about a promise for God’s people?
It’s one thing to have a vague sense of hope for the future.
“Things are going to work out.”
But what does the covenant-keeping God to his people?
‘the days are coming”
“The days are coming, declares the Lord...
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel and the house of Judah.”
“The days are coming when the city will be rebuilt”
“The days are coming when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Jacob.
In those days...
I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David,
and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
“The days are coming...”
“In those days...”
Both phrases point to something is not true now,
that is promised to be happen in the future.
“Hope”
Hope is Tied to the Promise
Hope is Tied to the Promise
(Timer: 18-20 minutes left)
Both:
The promise itself
The One who makes the promise
"the days are coming"
There will be a day when the promise will become reality.
The phrase shows up 15 times in the book of Jeremiah.
5 of them in the section chapters 30-33 (Book of Consolation)
3 of them either in or within our Jer. 31 passage.
“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,
He spoke of what would come down the road.
The people are living in the middle between the promise and the fulfillment.
God says, "the days are coming"
Don't lose hope.
He gives his word of promise...
His covenant bond...
in order to have his people live in hope for the future.
App. Linda this past week,
“It seems that the entire Christian life is about waiting.”
And then to think that the promise to Abraham was given 2100 years before Christ.
They waited 400 years in slavery in Egypt
The words of Jeremiah are about 550 years before Christ.
The one who makes the promise is what makes waiting bearable.
Jer. 31...
(v. 31) “I will make a new covenant”
(v. 33) “the covenant that I will make”
“I will put my law within them”
“I will write it on their hearts”
“I will be their God”
(v. 34) “I will forgive their iniquity”
“I will remember their sin no more”
Same thing in Jeremiah 33...
God saying, “I will do it...”
What’s Not New about the New Covenant
What’s Not New about the New Covenant
(Timer: How much time left?)
Compare Jer 31 to Jer 33...
“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,
But compare that to...
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
In ch. 31, “make a new covenant”
In ch. 33, “fulfill the gracious promise I made"
God has spoken in the past.
Yet, he will do something new in the future.
But it is still the same work… the same promises.
Continuity between what has come before.
Substance of the Covenant
Interestingly, God doesn't answer by fulfilling the promise.
He promises that he will fulfill his promise.
He affirms his promise with another promise.
It also affirms the same thing that was spoken to Abraham.
And I will establish my covenant between me and you and your offspring after you throughout their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be God to you and to your offspring after you.
From v. 33, “I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”
Permanent nature of the New Covenant
Permanent nature of Davidic covenant (Jer. 33:14-26)
Permanent nature of covenant with creation - Noah (Jer. 33:25; 31:35-37)
Permanent nature of covenant with Abraham (Jer. 33:26)
“The Law”
Look at v. 32.
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.
Which covenant administration is in view?
Moses (out of Egypt)
Jeremiah “refuses to lay any fault upon the Mosaic covenant. Failure is indeed implicit in the passage, but it is not the failure of Sinai.” (Far as the Curse is Found, Michael Williams)
“They” broke the covenant.
“I” was a husband to them.
“Jeremiah affirms the place of the law in the life of the people of God. Jeremiah anticipates neither the abrogation of law nor the writing of a new law. God speaks simply of ‘my law.’ Indeed, God will write his la upon the heart.” (Michael Williams)
“David”
For behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”
But notice in 30:9, the mention of King David.
He’s been dead for about 400 years...
But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.
“the coming covenant is centered on the coming Messiah. The figure of David is inextricably linked to the coming salvation, which implies that the new covenant extends and fulfills the Davidic covenant.”
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will fulfill the promise I made to the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
A righteous Branch (he)
In those days and at that time I will cause a righteous Branch to spring up for David, and he shall execute justice and righteousness in the land.
David and the priests.
“For thus says the Lord: David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel,
This can’t be broken...
“Thus says the Lord: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time,
then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and my covenant with the Levitical priests my ministers.
Same promise to David and Abraham.
Thus says the Lord: If I have not established my covenant with day and night and the fixed order of heaven and earth,
then I will reject the offspring of Jacob and David my servant and will not choose one of his offspring to rule over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will restore their fortunes and will have mercy on them.”
What’s New about the New Covenant
What’s New about the New Covenant
(Timer: How much time left?)
The scope of the work of God in his people.
For 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.”
This should sounds pretty familiar.
I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.
And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
You shall dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
Christ in Full Clarity
Harrison Perkins:
Whereas Christ was previously communicated namelessly through ordinances signifying his work, now his name is clearly announced, displaying his life as the fulfillment of the law and his death as the once-and-for-all sacrifice for our sin. (Harrison Perkins)
This is why the reactions of the early disciples...
Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found him of whom Moses in the Law and also the prophets wrote, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you.
The One… The Prophet...
is now known in the person of Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant Administration is radically different from the Mosaic covenant.
New Administration
Jesus as he institutes the Lord’s Supper.
And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.
Something new is definitely in view,
but it is not scraping the old and starting over.
It is a new unfolding of the covenant promises that God has already made.
The Apostle Peter understands it to be one and the same as well.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
It’s not that the prophets are speaking of another WAY of salvation… Jesus.
He is the only way of salvation.
For those of Jesus’ day
and for those in the day of the prophet.
The new differs from the Mosaic as forgiveness now comes from the guarantor of our own administration rather than from the future work of our mediator foresignified in our ordinances. (Harrison Perkins)
“the new covenant administration directly displays the covenant of grace’s substance.”
It is most clearly stated in 2nd half of Jer. 31:34.
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.”
As O. Palmer Robertson wrote,
“By saying that sins would be remembered no more, Jeremiah anticipates the end of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament.” (O. Palmer Robertson)
All the covenants are pointing to Christ.
To him all the prophets bear witness that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.”
Close in Prayer
Close in Prayer
Closing Song:
Closing Song:
“He Will Hold Me Fast”
When I fear my faith will fail,
Christ will hold me fast;
I could never keep my hold...
He must hold me fast.
Benediction:
Benediction:
Now may the God of peace
himself sanctify you completely,
and may your whole spirit and soul and body
be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
He who calls you is faithful;
he will surely do it.
