This is the prophesy of Jeremiah.
Jeremiah foresaw the day when God would institute a New Covenant that was not dependent upon either the Abrahamic Covenant or the Mosaic Covenant of the Law. This New Covenant would be written on and live in the hearts of those who know God.
That this New Covenant has come in the person of Jesus Christ is evidenced in the New Testament.
It is important to note that there is a distinction between the Old Covenant and the Old Testament; between the New Covenant and the New Testament.
The Testaments are the record of the two Covenants. The Covenants themselves are the actual agreements God made with His creation. The Old Testament testifies to the Old Covenant (and predicts the New). The New Testament testifies to the New Covenant.
As previously noted in this blog, there are many references to the New Covenant in the New Testament. The most powerful and the longest is in Hebrews (which I believe to be Paul's commentary to the Hebrew people on the book of Romans). It begins in chapter 6 as the history and "ground-work" is laid. It explodes in chapter 8 and is culminated in chapter 10, after which comes the great "faith" chapter.
Hebrews 8:1-7:
1Now the main point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, 2 and who serves in the sanctuary, the true tabernacle set up by the Lord, not by a mere human being.
3 Every high priest is appointed to offer both gifts and sacrifices, and so it was necessary for this one also to have something to offer. 4 If he were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. 5 They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: “See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.”[a] 6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.
7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.
The high priest mentioned in verse 1 is, of course, Jesus Christ (Messiah).
Under the Old Covenant, priests collected and offered gifts and sacrifices to God, usually a "perfect lamb" or other four footed animal, if the donor could afford it, or perhaps a dove, which was less expensive.
The requirement was that the offerings be "perfect," which none of them were. But they were brought to the priest who would either accept or reject them. If he accepted them, they were considered perfect by the proclamation of the priest.
These were the same sorts of sacrifices that were being sold at the Temple when Jesus overturned the tables and proclaimed the space where they had been "...a den of thieves." The problem was, the priests were over charging for the offerings and were pocketing a great profit for themselves.
As we see in verse 4, the new high priest, Jesus, is no longer here. Because of the resurrection, He now sits on the throne in Heaven. In verse 5 we see that earthly priests are only "...a shadow," or wispy representation of the real High Priest.
In verse 6 we read: "...the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises."
That is one of the strongest statements that could possible be made about Jesus the New Covenant. It is SUPERIOR to the Old Covenant.
The Old Covenant depended upon rules, regulations and the Law. The New Covenant depends on, and only on Jesus. His Law is written on the hearts of those who come to know God through Him.
Hebrews 9:1 & 9:11-12
1 Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. 11 But when Christ came as high priest of the good things that are now already here,[a] he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not made with human hands, that is to say, is not a part of this creation. 12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining[b] eternal redemption.
This is exciting! No longer do we need to make sacrifices to God! The perfect sacrifice has already been made. As Paul's letters to Romans and to the Galatians tell us, we are freed by that perfect sacrifice from the law of sin and death!
There is a grave problem in our churches today. Under the guise of being "Bible believing," churches, they have tried to live with one foot in the New Covenant and one foot in the Old. That is both unfortunate and impossible to carry out.
The result of this charade is that Christians are not allowed to be truely free in Christ. They are still bound by the precepts and practices of the Old Covenant. They believe Christ's admonition that they "obey His commands" requires them to follow most (but certainly not all, due to "cultural considerations") of the Old Covenant rules.
Now, as Paul is quick to point out in both Romans and Galatians, we are not to use our freedom in Christ to justify sin. We are to realize that because we are free in Christ, we will no longer want to do those "things of the flesh" because we have God's Law of Love written in our hearts.
John tells us in I John 2:1 & 2 that if we DO sin, we have an "advocate," a lawyer, as it were, representing us to the Father and confirming our innocence through His perfect blood sacrifice.
What a joy it is to realize that we have this wonderful High Priest, who has given us a New Covenant by which we can now live in the asurance of our salvation apart from the Law!
That's "shoutin' ground!"
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