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Sermon Notes of Rev.Dr.I.J.W.Oakley (12-12-1999 Guisborough Evangelical Church)
The Covenant is one of the key themes running throughout
the Bible. A covenant is a contract, agreement or bargain. A marriage is a
covenant. An international treaty is a covenant. A solemn agreement is made, and
promises given and accepted.
In the Bible some covenants were
between man and man (e.g. between Jacob and his father-in-law Laban, and between
David and Jonathan), and some were between tribes and nations (e.g. between
Joshua and the Gibeonites). Promises were made, terms were stated, and the
covenant was sealed with gifts, handshake or kiss, or a shared meal. It was a
two-sided arrangement between equal partners who were both human.
Then there were the covenants
between man and God. God made a covenant with Noah not to punish the earth again
with a flood, and the token of that covenant was the rainbow. He made a covenant
with Abraham to give him a son and heir and numerous descendants. He made a
covenant with the nation of Israel at Sinai, which He renewed at the Plains of
Moab. God made a covenant with David to establish his throne and kingdom, i.e.
that the Messiah would descend from him. These covenants were between God and
man, i.e. not equal partners. The initiative was always with God. He imposed
conditions. He made promises to His people in love. His people had to respond
with obedience and loyalty. In essence, God’s covenants said, “I promise to
be your God. You are to be my people.” If they were obedient and loyal, He
would bless them with victory and prosperity.
Our present concern is the covenant between God and Israel, after delivering them from Egypt, and giving them His law. Later it was replaced by a new and better and eternal covenant, on the Cross. This is the key to the two parts of the Bible. The Old Testament is the Scriptures of the Old Covenant. The New Testament is the Scriptures of the New Covenant. The Old Testament is the preliminary, the New Testament the fulfilment. The Old is the root, the New is the fruit.
So far in the story of the Israelites – Israel had
been chosen, redeemed from Egypt through the blood of the lamb, received the Ten
Commandments and the Book of the Covenant – God’s requirement for the
behaviour of redeemed people. Now God and His people enter a formal agreement
and pact.
Moses built an altar to God at the foot of the mountain,
with twelve pillars of stone representing the twelve tribes. Burnt and peace
offerings were made on the altar, and part of the blood was sprinkled on the
altar, and part was put in bowls. The Book of the Covenant was read to all the
people, and people promised to obey all that the Lord had said. They
responded, "We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey." (Exodus
24:7). To seal the covenant, Moses sprinkled some of the blood on the people.
God had earlier promised that if they were obedient to His voice and covenant,
they would be His special treasure, and would enjoy His love, blessing, help,
security and prosperity (Exodus 19:5). This covenant was in the same category as
the one made with Abraham. Both were covenants of grace, because He had already
saved and redeemed the people. But obedience was necessary to enjoy the blessing
of the covenant.
At Sinai, formal promises were made. God promised to be
their God. They promised to be people of God and to obey Him. The covenant was
ratified by blood sprinkling and the sacrificial meal. The Lord and His people
had entered into a covenant. They were married. God was the husband; the people
were the wife. Their promises and vows were renewed at great festivals, e.g.
Passover. This covenant was the foundation of Israel’s special relationship as
God’s chosen people.
But the underlying tragedy of the Old Testament is that God kept His side of the marriage vows, and Israel constantly broke hers. They committed spiritual adultery with the false gods of the nations. The constant theme of the prophets was that Israel needed to return to the Lord, and keep their promises and vows. They said there would be mercy if the people returned. While they refused to return to the Lord, they were chastised by invasions, fire, famine and sword. In the end, Israel (the northern kingdom) went into exile in Assyria in 729BC, and Judah (the southern kingdom) in Babylon in 596BC. This is the bird’s eye view of the Old Testament.
The prophets of the Old Testament did not always condemn
the people. Jeremiah in particular foresaw a better and more hopeful day. "The
time is coming," declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with
the house of Israel and with the house of Judah (Jeremiah 31:31). One day
there would be a new covenant, different from the old one made with their
forefathers as they left Egypt. God had been so good, like a husband to them,
but they had broken the covenant repeatedly and defiantly. In the New Covenant
He would give them new life, new relationship, new experience and new assurance.
Firstly, I will put my law in their minds and write
it on their hearts (Jeremiah 31:33). Previously the law was written on two
tablets of stone, out there, outside of them. One day, God would write the law
within – it would be part of the mind, will, heart and affections. It would
come into the heart of their personality. Then they would obey the law out of
choice, not out of compulsion.
This takes us to our “new birth”. Under the New
Covenant we are new creatures, partaking in the divine nature. Our attitude to
God, His law and His will is changed. We want to please God and do His will. We
are not perfect. We still have trouble with the old nature, but now when we
fail, there is concern, sorrow and repentance. This new birth is a complete
mystery to the world. They think that Christianity is about rules and
regulations, which men have got to keep, though no one really wants to. But this
is not the case where there has been new birth, because now the law is within,
part of us, and we love to obey.
Under the promised New Covenant, I will be their God,
and they will be my people (Jeremiah 31:3). There is a parallel here with
the marriage relationship. What is the husband’s is the wife’s, and vice
versa. God would belong to His people in a way that He did not belong to others.
His resources, strength, guidance, power and grace would be theirs if they went
His way. We are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus. He cares better than
the best of fathers. “When we are all for Jesus, He is all for us, and all in
all to us.” (F.R.Havergal)
They will all know me, from the least of them to the
greatest (Jeremiah 31:34). No longer would it just be the privilege of
priests or religious experts to know God. Under the New Covenant, anyone and
everyone would be able to have a personal, individual inward knowledge of the
Lord. He would not just be an idea or a theory or a figure in a book, but a
living reality, their dearest friend.
For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember
their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:34). This is the foundation blessing from
which all else flows. The grace and mercy of God removes the barrier of sin that
new birth may take place; we can belong to God and know Him. This is the work of
God alone. He remembers sin no more. As far as the east is from the west, so
far has he removed our transgressions from us (Psalm 103:12). You will
again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our
iniquities into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:19). Therefore, there is
now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). The
promise is for a full and final end of sin, possible because it has been borne
by another.
So here is the New Covenant foretold by Jeremiah - the law written on our hearts, a personal knowledge of God, He is our God, real effective forgiveness of sins, and complete assurance of acceptance. In other words, a different life, a new relationship, a transforming experience and firm assurance.
When we look into the New Testament, the promise of
Jeremiah is fulfilled. 1 Corinthians 11:23-25 is the first account of the
Lord’s Supper. The bread represents the body of Jesus, and the wine, the blood
of Jesus. This cup is the new covenant in my blood. When Jesus died, His
blood was shed. Hence the New Covenant or agreement or settlement or
relationship between men and God. The blessings of forgiveness, personal
knowledge of God, personal relationship with Him, and new birth were now
possible. How often do we think of the blessings of the New Covenant when we
drink the wine?
The Lord’s Supper sets forth the fact of the covenant
in a very clear and visible way. We have not only the bare word of God, but
things to see and touch and taste to strengthen our faith and remind us of
God’s commitment. The Lord’s Supper reminds us of what God has done under
the New Covenant, and shows our part in the Covenant is to pledge loyalty to
Him.
The book of Hebrews places great emphasis on the
fulfilment of Old Testament in Jesus Christ. The word “covenant” comes 33
times in the New Testament – and over half of these are in Hebrews.
Jeremiah’s words (quoted in Hebrews 8:7-13) were fulfilled 600 years later.
The fullness of time had arrived. There is a triumphant proclamation – the New
Covenant is here. The Son of God has come. Perfect atonement was made and the
work was finished on the Cross. We do not need priests anymore, or animal
sacrifices, or the Old Covenant. He is our Great High Priest, and His sacrifice
was once for all.
The New Covenant is everlasting. Jesus has become the
guarantee of a better covenant (Hebrews 7:22). The word “guarantee” is
the same word as someone who guarantees the overdraft of another at the bank,
guaranteeing that the money will be paid back. Also the same word as someone who
pays bail for a prisoner – guaranteeing that he will appear at trial. So
Jesus, as Son of God, as the One who died, speaks for us at God’s right hand,
guarantees that we shall enjoy all we were promised in the Covenant. And Jesus
is also the mediator of the new covenant (Hebrews 12:24). He stands between God
and man, and the covenant comes through Him and His death for us.
Here is God’s final word to man. There is no better arrangement and no improved arrangement planned for the future. It was created by the Son of God – God’s last word to us, worshipped by all angels, called God, and His throne is forever, and He is now at the Father’s right hand. His own blood, and not the blood of an animal, has ratified and established this covenant. There can be no more secure or higher guarantee.
This is what it means to belong to Christ. The covenant
means security, assurance, certainty, promises and guarantees.
“His
oath, his covenant and blood
Support
me in the whelming flood.
When
all around my soul gives way
He
then is all my hope and stay.”
Do you have that security? Do you know God? Do you belong to Him? Have your sins been forgiven? What have you got to equal this when all gives way, when faced with death, judgement and eternity?
