The Promise of a New Covenant

 Jeremiah 31:31-34--A Meditation

 

“The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel…This is the covenant I will make…I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people…For I will forgive their wickedness and I will remember their sins no more.”

The people of Israel broke the covenant given through Moses; the covenant established through the Law. The repeated cycle of sin, repentance, and daily sacrifices was clear evidence of the inability of the Law to change hearts and minds. In Isaiah, God said the people worshipped with their lips, but their hearts were far from him.  A new and better covenant was needed.

This new covenant is for all humankind: Grace and faith gifted to our hearts and minds through the sinless life, death, and resurrection of Christ. No more need for repeated sacrifices for transgressions. Sin was dealt with once for all eternity, nailed to the cross. Christ the Law Keeper became sin to free us from the law of sin and death, establishing righteousness in our hearts and minds by grace through faith.

As we draw ever closer to the Holy Week, we will find hope by meditating on the promise made and kept thousands of years ago. From Jeremiah to Jesus, from the cross to resurrection, we have full assurance of salvation and life everlasting. Let our hearts ever be humble before the cross.

 Oh Lord, how amazing is your covenant with us. Where we failed you succeeded. Help us to approach your throne of grace where we have full acceptance through the mediation of Christ. We give thanks to you for remembering our sins no more because you nailed them to the cross and left them there. With awed and grateful hearts, we pray. Amen.