The New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31-34
“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.”
New Covenant Summarized
I will make a
new covenant
I will put my
law within them
I will write it
on their hearts
I will forgive
their iniquity
I will remember
their sin no more
I will be their
God
They shall
be my people
They shall all know me
God does ALL the work ("I will") and we just need to believe.
HEBREWS 8
6 But in
fact, the ministry Jesus received is superior to theirs. Just as the covenant
of which he is mediator is superior to the old one ... since the New Covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if
there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant,
no reason would have been sought for another covenant.
8 But God
found fault with the people and said:
.
. . Hebrews 8:8-12 = Jeremiah
31:31-34 (see above)
. . .
13 By
calling this covenant “new,” he has made the
first one obsolete;
and what is
obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
Hebrews 9:15
Therefore Jesus is the mediator of a New Covenant, so that those who are called
may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a
death has occurred that
redeems them from the transgressions committed under
the first covenant.
Christians believe that the New Covenant was instituted at the Last Supper
1 Corinthians 11:25
In the same
way, he also took the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is
the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often
as you drink it,
in
remembrance of me.”
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore,
if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.
The old has
passed away; behold, the new has come.
TO KNOW GOD
If we really knew God, then
all we would want to do is glorify Him as Jesus does and as the angels do. We were created to glorify God. Glorifying God
means to acknowledge His greatness and give Him honor by praising and worshipping
Him, primarily because He, and He alone, deserves to be praised, honored and
worshipped. God’s glory is the essence of His nature, and we give glory to Him
by recognizing His essence, by being obedient to Him, by loving Him, by
trusting Him, by realizing that without Him we are nothing, by always wanting
to be in His presence because we enjoy being there, by realizing that it is NOT
about us but that it is ALL about Him and how we can serve Him.
God’s glory far
exceeds our limited understanding.