SCRIPTURE: Jeremiah 31:23-40
OBSERVATION:
Apparently Jeremiah was sleeping when these visions and prophecies came to him in a dream (v.26).
The people were living a nightmare (temple destroyed, nation in ruins, living as slaves/captives), so this dream was pleasant, it promised restoration and hope!
“The days are coming” is a promise to those who are suffering, God encourages us not to give up, even when things look terrible. Keep looking up!
The new covenant is not based on what we do (ie obeying commands) but on what God does (forgiveness, changed hearts, law written within, not imposed from without).
The old covenant (given through Moses) was a temporary arrangement until Jesus came (Galatians 3:15-25). While it is based on eternal principles, it is packaged in time-bound laws and rituals. When Christ came, it became obsolete (Hebrews 8:7-13).
The Holy Spirit in us is the key to the new covenant, He changes, teaches and strengthens us from within.
We know God because He speaks to our hearts directly (not indirectly through a temple, through a priest, like the old covenant).
The promise of hope is cloaked in old covenant language (the temple, the nation, the people restored), but in Christ those old covenant symbols are expanded to include all people, all nations, the whole creation, everyone as the temple of God (God living in them, 1 Corinthians 3:16).
APPLICATION:
Do I experience this new relationship with God through Jesus, with the Holy Spirit in me, as a life of blessing, power, life-change?
Am I still living as if I were under te old covenant, following rules rather than living in relationship with the Lord?
Do I act as if my acceptance with God depends on how I live, rather than on His free love and forgiveness – saved by grace!!!
I am living in the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s pleasant dream, do I really appreciate the value of this?
PRAYER:
Lord, You live in me, You speak directly to me, I have the advantage of the Holy Spirit working in my heart, graciously, in a life-changing way. Help me to allow You to work in me, and to experience this as the good news that it is! I am in the new covenant, I belong to You, free from condemnation. Amen.
This passage speaks on the new covenant the people have in Christ Jesus. Through Jesus Christ and the gift of His Spirit, His Word will be written upon the hearts of the people and all those who believe will be saved.
Thank You Lord that I am grafted into the true vine. Thank You for the gift of salvation in Jesus Christ. Help me each day anew to live for You. Make me a channel of Your peace. That’s the song on my heart this morning.
Make me a channel of your peace.
Where there is hatred let me bring your love.
Where there is injury, your pardon, Lord
And where there’s doubt, true faith in you.
Make me a channel of your peace
It is in pardoning that we are pardoned
In giving to all men that we receive
And in dying that we’re born to eternal life.