This morning I am reflecting on the promise of the New Covenant, established by Christ. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews is quoting the Prophet Jeremiah when he writes the following verses - Hebrews 8:10-12 NIV:
[10] "This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [11] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. [12] For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. ”
We are clearly in the time of the New Covenant, for it was established by Jesus' death, resurrection and ascension. The promise of the New Covenant is that minds and hearts will be transformed, and relationship with God will be experienced, and forgiveness will have been established. We live in these days! We see lives transformed through the power of God present to save. We see people entering into relationship with God, knowing Him and being known. We see the blood of Christ liberally poured over our lives, forgiving us of our sins and cleansing us of our iniquity.
As we view our world, it is clear that we are not yet experiencing the fullness of this covenant as prophesied by Jeremiah 2600 years ago and again by the author of the Letter to the Hebrews some 2000 years ago. We see lives transformed, but not all. We see people walking in relationship with God, but not all. That means there is a greater fulfillment of this promise yet to be seen! Today there are an estimated 2.2 Billion Christians on the earth, and that number is rapidly increasing in places like Africa and South America, not to mention China.
The author of this letter was writing specifically to the Hebrews, and thus some of the language he uses is very similar to the old covenant of the Law, and he speaks of Israel. We know at the time this was written that the church fully understood that the promise of salvation and relationship with God had been extended to the gentile nations, and in that we are all included.
When the author writes about the law being written on their hearts and put in their minds, and a knowing of God, I believe he is pointing directly back to the words of Jesus as recorded by John. We see Jesus speak about His commands, the in-dwelling of God and relationship with Him in John 14:15-17,23-26 NIV:
[15] “If you love me, keep my commands. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--- [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."
[23] "Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. [24] Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. [25] “All this I have spoken while still with you. [26] But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
Thus, we have Jesus' promise of relationship, of in-dwelling our very bodies, of reminding us of His words, of His love for us. This is the fruit of the New Covenant and what we can experience in our life! While not all have experienced this reality yet, we see the number increasing year by year and day by day.
I am encouraged this morning because I believe God is faithful to fulfill His promises, and that means that we will see greater transformations of lives, greater increase in salvations and most importantly more and more people coming to relationship with God, The Father, The Son and the Holy Spirit. We can lay hold of this promise! We can expect the Lord to further transform our minds and hearts so that we fully know His will.
Amen and amen!
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