Good morning. I would like to turn our thoughts towards two important Biblical words/ideas. The words are covenant and testament. Please consider with me the idea of a covenant today and tomorrow we will take a look at the word testament and consider how the two words/ideas relate to each other.
A covenant is a relationship between two partners who make binding promises to each other and work together to reach a common goal. They’re often accompanied by oaths, signs, and ceremonies. Covenants define obligations and commitments, but they are different from a contract because they are relational and personal. There are five covenants in the Old Testament between God and people: The Noahic Covenant from Genesis 9:11. The Abrahamic Covenant from Genesis 12:1-3. The Mosaic Covenant from Exodus 19-24. The Davidic covenant found in 2 Samuel 7. The new covenant was established in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Let’s consider the text of this new covenant: “The days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the house of Judah— it will not be like the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”
In this new covenant God makes distinct promises:
- He would give them the ability and the desire to follow Him. He would change their hearts and give them a zeal for obedience.
- He will be their God, and they will be His people.
- He will forgive the sins of His people and remove those sins from His memory.
These promises find their complete fulfillment in Jesus Christ. We read of that truth in Hebrews chapters 8,9, & 10. In Hebrews 8:7-13 we have the exact quote from the passage above, Jeremiah 31:31-34. The 13th verse of the Hebrews passage is this: By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
In the fulfillment of His new covenant through Jesus, God has fulfilled all of His previous promises. The Law of Moses is “outdated” and “obsolete” in the light of our new relationship with God established through the blood of Jesus.
When we say “yes” to salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ we are saying yes to a covenantal agreement between ourselves and God. Thank you Jesus!
Have a great day.
Vern