©Kris Gerbrandt
Chapter 31:31-34 (ESV) - “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.”
Question to consider: How does this covenant relate to Christ?
Since the dawn of creation, the LORD has had one covenantal goal— to set apart for Himself a people who are made in His image and desire to live in communion with Him and one another. “I will be Your God, and You will be my people,” is the statement of promise for each of the LORD’s covenants throughout history, and I would argue that each of them was fulfilled in Christ.
The creation covenant had a single stipulation— do not eat from the tree of knowledge. Had Adam and Eve fulfilled that covenant, sin would not have entered the world. Christ fulfilled this covenant by reversing the curse of sin, restoring a new heavens and earth in His kingdom, and being the tree of life which restores us to the Father.
The Abrahamic covenant was a promise that he would be the father of many nations and a blessing to all nations. Unlike the creation covenant which was dependent on the faithfulness of man, this covenant was given as a promise of God in which He alone passed between the animal pieces. Jesus was the promised seed of Abraham who brought the blessing to every tribe and nation.
The covenant with Moses was stipulated by the Law which the people vowed to keep in exchange for living in a land flowing with milk and honey in which the LORD would dwell with them. The only son of Israel who was able to completely fulfill the Law without transgressing it was Christ.
The LORD's covenant with David promised that he would have a son ruling the nations forever. Christ is that greater son of David, and He currently reigns from the heavenly mount Zion. His reign will never end.
The covenant described in today’s passage was inaugurated by Christ at the last supper and established on the cross. Because Christ fulfilled the Law and offered Himself as the propitiation for our sins, the LORD could declare, “For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Dear heavenly Father, thank You for this wonderful covenant in which You have made us Your people as a free gift of Your mercy for the sake of Christ. May we rejoice in it and desire to dwell with You in righteousness. It’s in Jesus’ name that we pray these things. Amen.