Check Your Direction
Jeremiah 30:1?33:26
These chapters may be the most important in this book. They are called by some the Book of Consolation. The political future of Judah looked pretty bad, but based on Jeremiah 30:33, the spiritual future was bright. (“For behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “that I will bring back from captivity My people Israel and Judah,” says the Lord, “And I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to their fathers, and they shall possess it.”) Why was it bright? God was going to do something new! The great physician has a cure for the basic problem of sin. Sometimes it’s active rebellion, sometimes passive indifference, but still sin. This time it was not a band aid, but a miracle. A journey back to God! It would be called a new covenant.
God’s intention was to restore Israel and Judah. He would use individuals to do it. Also, individuals would be responsible for their own sins. We suffer because of the sin of our fathers, but we are not held responsible for them.
Man will not be responsible for this covenant, but God will. The new covenant does not promise sinlessness, but forgiveness. The relationship with God will be restored not based on what man would do, but on what God will do.
What makes the new covenant better? 1) The old covenant success was dependent upon Israel’s ability to keep it. The old covenant revealed Israel’s inability to do that. The new covenant will be guaranteed by God, not Israel. 2) The new covenant is based on grace. The old covenant forgave the sin of Israel. The new forgave Israel for breaking the first one. 3) The new covenant would be written on the heart, not on tablets of stone. The new covenant made it clear that the heart had to be dealt with, not just rearranging rituals or habits. Israel would follow and obey God because of a transformation of the heart, not simply to “keep God off their back.” 4) This time it is an individual encounter with God that’s important. This experience is not through a proxy, priest, or vicar, but just an individual with the God of the universe. 5) When someone embraces this covenant, it secures their relationship with God. The old covenant was broken over and over. This one is secured by God.
The person who has a personal relationship with Jesus Christ will endure forever. To not be would mean God would have to break the covenant.
Think about it: 1) Nothing is too hard for God. 2) The invitation to call on the Lord is still open. 3) Let us not limit God’s abilities, initiatives, or works. 4) The future of God’s people is secure because they are in the hands of a God of grace. The passionate pursuit of a prodigal people is to win us back, not get us back – and is motivated by God’s grace, not our goodness!
Barker– Lessons by Ron Barker, evangelism and prayer strategist for the evangelization and missions team of the South Carolina Baptist Convention. Barker also taught evangelism at Southwestern Seminary.