“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.”
Jeremiah 31:31-34
This was a promise to God’s chosen people, Israel. He promised to bring them back from their exile and restore them. But this promise extends beyond just Israel, because it was a continuation of God’s promise to Abraham to bless all the nations of the earth through Abraham’s offspring. These promises were a foreshadow of what has come to all nations through Jesus.
We, too, like Israel were disobedient and looking for God-substitutes in our lives. Israel chose to worship and serve the false gods of the surrounding nations rather than the one true God. Like Israel, we have turned to our own broken cisterns rather than the fountain of living waters. We look for our satisfaction in relationships, wealth, talent, and so many other things, everything…anything, except the one who is worthy. We deliberately turn away from God and His ways to find some other source to fill our empty lives.
God did not leave His people in this state. He promised a new covenant, a covenant totally unlike the covenant that He made with them when He lead them out of Egypt. That covenant came with smoke on Mount Sinai, with trembling, fear, and condemnation. But, the new covenant promised new hearts, hearts that know God and follow His ways. The new covenant promised forgiveness. Even while we were dead in our sin, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to pay the penalty for our sin so that we might be forgiven and made new. Because of Jesus, all nations of the earth have been blessed as God promised. One day the dwelling place of God will be with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be His people, and God himself will be with them as their God. One day all things will be made new, and those who put their only hope of salvation in Jesus will be filled with the fountain of living waters.
If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation!
References: Genesis 12:2-3, Jeremiah 2:13, Hebrews 12:18-24, Revelation 21:3-8, Galatians 3:7-14
Studio Update
Merry late Christmas, and happy new year! December went by like a whirlwind, and how is it already 2024? It’s hard to believe 2023 is done. But, here’s what I started up in December…you’ll have to hold me accountable on the Christmas fabric there, though. The chances of it sitting untouched until next Christmas are very high now that January is here. Mountains, olive branches, amaryllis…just plugging away at all the projects.
Thanks for stopping by!
Blair