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The New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31 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:
Jeremiah 31:32 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:
Jeremiah 31:33 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.
The new covenant that God promised through Jeremiah involves three things.
1. God's law becomes internal.
In the end, it didn't work for God to give people His law written on tablets of stone, because their hearts were still of stone. The law remained external to them, never fully internalized as basic principle's for living. Even when they did obey, they were like people obeying the speed limit just to avoid getting a speeding ticket, not people who instinctively drive at the limit because they know it is the safest thing to do. God says "I'm going to change that. I'll put my law inside them. I will write it with my own finger on their hearts.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
2. We have direct knowledge of God
Here is what the Lord said to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 31:33 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.
Jeremiah 31:34 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.
The Hebrew word for "know" here is the same word used in "Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived." It means an intimate personal knowledge that is only possible when two persons are commited to one another. With God, to know Him is to love Him and be obedient to His commands and statures as they are not burdensome as they are written upon our heart internally. If we truly know God then we will do His will as it is in heaven, so be here on earth. To know God it comes through knowing the Bible (God's written word), through Spiritual experience and through faith. To know Him is to obey Him.
3. We are forgiven
In the new covenant God said, "I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." God does not forget His promises or His lost sheep, or His laws. The only thing God forgets is our sins. In the new covenant you can be forgiven and the relationship can be restored. First we receive forgiveness of sins. Then we experience direct knowledge of God. Then His Spirit changes us internally as He writes His laws upon our heart.
I don't suppose Jeremiah had any idea that his vision of the new covenant would one day refer to a crucified Messiah. But, when Jesus died on the cross He sealed the new covenant by His blood between God and you, offering you forgiveness, direct knowledge of God, and a new nature that is to obey God. This new covenant is for all who will come to Him with a humbled heart and God will forgive them.
The New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31 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:
Jeremiah 31:32 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:
Jeremiah 31:33 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.
The new covenant that God promised through Jeremiah involves three things.
1. God's law becomes internal.
In the end, it didn't work for God to give people His law written on tablets of stone, because their hearts were still of stone. The law remained external to them, never fully internalized as basic principle's for living. Even when they did obey, they were like people obeying the speed limit just to avoid getting a speeding ticket, not people who instinctively drive at the limit because they know it is the safest thing to do. God says "I'm going to change that. I'll put my law inside them. I will write it with my own finger on their hearts.
Eze 36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
Eze 36:27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them.
2. We have direct knowledge of God
Here is what the Lord said to Jeremiah:
Jeremiah 31:33 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.
Jeremiah 31:34 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.
The Hebrew word for "know" here is the same word used in "Adam knew Eve his wife and she conceived." It means an intimate personal knowledge that is only possible when two persons are commited to one another. With God, to know Him is to love Him and be obedient to His commands and statures as they are not burdensome as they are written upon our heart internally. If we truly know God then we will do His will as it is in heaven, so be here on earth. To know God it comes through knowing the Bible (God's written word), through Spiritual experience and through faith. To know Him is to obey Him.
3. We are forgiven
In the new covenant God said, "I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." God does not forget His promises or His lost sheep, or His laws. The only thing God forgets is our sins. In the new covenant you can be forgiven and the relationship can be restored. First we receive forgiveness of sins. Then we experience direct knowledge of God. Then His Spirit changes us internally as He writes His laws upon our heart.
I don't suppose Jeremiah had any idea that his vision of the new covenant would one day refer to a crucified Messiah. But, when Jesus died on the cross He sealed the new covenant by His blood between God and you, offering you forgiveness, direct knowledge of God, and a new nature that is to obey God. This new covenant is for all who will come to Him with a humbled heart and God will forgive them.