Jeremiah 31:31-34.          We live under a new way/covenant??                    18/3/18

³¹ “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant
with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah.
³² It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
³³ “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
³⁴ No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

The days are here, not coming, where we have a new way to live in God’s presence. God has made it possible for us live in his presence with a sure and certain hope and confidence. But sadly, it would seem again, as though many just do not want to be a part of it. God gives us all that we need so that we can have life in all of its fullness, and we all too readily turn our backs on it. How sad indeed!

Sure, many in the church have not been a good witness to Jesus Christ and the sure hope that we have. In fact, there have been far too many cases of people doing horrible things that have turned people away. But even that should surely not turn people away from this great hope and future that we have. Surely, we would be wanting to do what our God wants because of who he is and what he has done for us.

At the same time though, we have many who are preaching and teaching a message that is not this new covenant message but one that is very akin to the old covenant. That old covenant and the message of many today is that we have to do our part, if we want God’s approval. We have to keep our side of the bargain and live a good life. And the Old Testament is full of examples of God’s people failing to do what God wanted them to do.

Today is no different; when the focus is on us and what we have to do, there will be a never-ending list of our failures. We don’t come anywhere near good enough to be acceptable. Yet we are far too often persistently having the focus put on ourselves and what we must do. The message is far too often centred on me, myself and I, and God is simply there to help me on my way.

Now of course there is element of truth to it. But unlike the Old Testament that is not the expectation of God toward us. Nor is it to be the centre and focus of our faith either. If there is any expectation of our having to measure up by our own deeds we will never be certain of our salvation; and in the end, we will fail.

Along with that we have the message and attitude that it doesn’t really matter all that much what we think and do. Because after all God is a loving God so we will be okay. So what if we don’t go to church much or take the Bible as God’s inspired, inerrant Word, as long as we are loving and tolerant, that is all that matters.

Here however we are reminded that God already way back in Old Testament times promised that he would provide another new covenant for his people. “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God, and they will be my people.
 No longer will they teach their neighbour, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.

In other words, God himself will give us all that we need in order for us to be his people. He will do everything in order for us to have salvation and eternal life. He will give and make available to us all what we need in order to get through this life and to be with him in heaven. He gives us the law that we need in order for life to go well for us, in our relationship with God and with one another.

However, being a holy and just God, he has to deal with our failures and sin; our rebellion against him and our insisting on doing our own thing. He said death was to be the punishment of our disobedience, so he has to bring that punishment to bear. He has to be true to himself and his Word.

Again, he has written the hearts of each and every one of us, the knowledge of what is right and wrong. We know that we don’t measure up to his expectations. We are told here that his law is now written this on everyone’s hearts. Also, we know that there is a God and that he is a just God. It is as plain as the nose on your face. It is there. We know that this punishment then is what we deserve.

In many ways these people do not need you and me to tell them this. They know it. They just need us to remind them of it all. To put it under their noses so that they can smell the stench of what they and we have all done and are doing. They don’t need us to tell them that God is there; and that he is a great and awesome God: and that he will be judge of all. But again, God is using us to bring it to the forefront of their thinking.

However, that is a very challenging thought for many of them and for us also. We don’t want to hear these things. We want to ignore and push this thinking far into the background of our lives. There are also many who are actively and boldly saying there is no God. They are desperately trying deceive themselves and others that God is simply a figment of pre-historic man’s imaginations, and not relevant to their lives today. Yet God makes it quite plain, that they know. They will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. So, it is even more damnable for them.

But sadly, for so, so many today, they know but have sought to ignore and block out this knowledge of God and his law. Their pride and arrogance means that they do not want to face up to the fact that they don’t measure and they don’t want to change or do anything about their predicament. They would prefer to simply live as they please and hope in the end that somehow, they will be ‘up there somewhere’ because they have been a reasonable good person.

But again. we have no excuses because we all have sinned and fallen short of what God has said is acceptable. We all, far too often, ignore God and do not give him much thought at all. We all simply want to do our own thing and live our own lives. So, the penalty of punishment and death hangs over our heads.

But even here God does what is necessary for us. He himself comes into our world; takes our humanity and then our sin on himself and allows himself to be punished in our place. There on the cross he takes on himself what we deserve. God’s holiness and justice is served. The payment for the sin of us all is taken on himself, so that God does not punish us for our sin.

There he reminds us again and again that: I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more. As far as the east is from the west he removes the punishment for our sin from us. He does what is necessary so that every single one of us can be released from the guilt of our sin - from the least of them to the greatest.

There on the cross then we have that which turns everything upside down and gives us all that we need in order to go forward with hope and confidence. There is no need for us to perform in order be acceptable. Now however we seek to do what his law commands because we are loved and accepted.

Now all that is required is that we trust that he has done everything for us. He has not only put his knowledge of the law on our hearts and minds. He not only has put in minds that there is God out there. But now he has shown to us that he loved us and has done everything necessary for us to be a part of his family for all eternity. We are forgiven and assured of eternal life with him. His Spirit has even given us this faith and trust that is needed.

So, all of us now freely have the opportunity to be with God now and forever. In connection with him we now can be absolutely sure that life will work out for us and that eternal life is assured for us in heaven. We can know that we are loved and cared for, even in the midst of the mess of life that we human beings have made for ourselves. He is there using it all now for good, Maybe, to keep us or others looking to him and seeking his help and presence. We can have a sure and certain hope that it will all work out in the end.

However, the sad thing is that so many just do not want it. They still don’t want God and all that he has to offer. They turn their backs on him and reject all that he has made available. Yes, they want the ‘goodies’ but not the relationship with God that goes with it. They went everything to go well for them but don’t want to listen and follow our Lord. As a result, they do not receive eternal life in heaven.

Their unbelief and failure to look to and trust in Jesus Christ means that they will not receive all the goodness that God has extended to us. The one unforgivable sin is rejection and unbelief. Instead of heaven there is hell.

But for us we can rest easy with the full assurance that God has done everything necessary for us to have forgiveness of sins and life forever more. We can look to and trust that in Jesus Christ and his death on the cross God has won it all for us. So now out of praise and thankfulness for this love that he has extended to us, we will seek to live under his Lordship and seek to live according to his law – with his help.

So, to him then be all glory and honour, now and forever. AMEN.

Pastor Roger Atze

Glandore/Underdale Lutheran Parish