Bible Story of the Day: New Covenant
Bible Story of the Day
Scripture is the story of Jesus, from Genesis to Revelation. There are over 400 prophecies and representations of Jesus in the Old Testament alone. The Old Testament pointed forward to the coming Christ, and the New Testament points back to Jesus. The Bible is a record of redemption through Jesus Christ who conquered sin and death when He died on the cross and resurrected three days later. The New Testament was written almost 2000 years ago. Some of the Old Testament was written over 4000 years ago. The Bible Story of the Day not only shows Jesus throughout scripture but shows how scripture is relevant to our lives today. Seeing Jesus in scripture is a major step into understanding who our God is, and how He impacts and affects our lives in every moment. I pray that the Holy Spirit opens your mind to understanding the verses and how they affect your life and gives you a better understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ. I will post a link to the chapter that each passage is from, so that you can read further on your own.
New Covenant
Jeremiah 31:31-33
31 “Behold, days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.33 “But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days,” declares the Lord, “I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (NASB).
Where is Jesus and What Does This Mean to Us?
In the late 500 B.C. period, Jeremiah made a prophecy that The Lord would make a “new covenant”. The new covenant would be different from the previous covenants made between God and Adam, Abraham, or Moses. The passage goes on to say that the people under the covenants of the past were not able to uphold their end of the deal. The last verse is self-explanatory in that the Lord tells us that He will write His laws on our heart.
The covenant most people are familiar with is the Mosaic Covenant, which includes all the Laws God gave the nation of Israel to obey. There is continual debate and argument and criticism regarding obeying these same laws today. There are over 600 Laws under this covenant. It was and is impossible to obey them all. The only person that could ever obey every law was Jesus. The primary purpose behind the Laws was to show man how impossible it is to maintain salvation and righteousness on our own. Jesus stated that He did not come to abolish the Laws, but to fulfill them (Matthew 5:17). The other purpose behind the Laws was for God to show us how He desires us to behave. The sticky question that plagues many conversations is how to know which law to obey and which law no longer applies. Thank God Jesus gives us the answer.
What does this mean for us? This means that Jesus came to fulfill what we could not fulfill. He was able to rewrite the script since He was able to fulfill the Laws for us. He did this by creating a new covenant with us. He placed the Laws on our heart. We can see that this is true when people that do not believe in Jesus or God still believe murder is wrong, or cheating on a spouse is bad, or that we should not abuse animals or children. The list goes on and on. We were born with these inside us. We know what is right and wrong without ever being told. As for what laws to obey now, Jesus answers the question directly: 37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:37-40 (NIV). The essential point is that there were once 600 Laws that we had to obey, but now there are 2. All the other Laws stem from these 2 laws. The only thing God asks from you is to love. There reason we feel bad seeing a child starving or abused is because of the love for people written on our hearts. This came from Jesus. This is a blessing.
Can you imagine a world that no one cared about anyone else or anything else? Sometimes we feel we live in that world, but even non-believers have values and morals. You reading this categorize crimes and certain actions in your own way. No one likes a sex offender. Why? Because it is written in our hearts that what they do is wrong. Jesus gave us this feeling, this emotion. It is love. He loves us and wants us to love Him and each other. Today is the day you can freely accept His love and give it back. Even if you are the sex offender I just described, Jesus loves you just as much as He loves me. He just does not approve of your actions. There is no judgment in my heart for you; just the desire for you to repent and get right with God. Turn away from your old ways and make Jesus your new way, no matter what your old ways are. Give it up to the one that loves you through them. We have 2 commandments now; love God and love people. Start with God today.
