A Better Covenant

A Better Covenant

Lent 2013

 

Hebrews 8:6-13

But the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, and it is founded on better promises.

^7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. ^8 But God found fault with the people and said:

“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.

^9 It will not be like the covenant

I made with their forefathers

when I took them by the hand

to lead them out of Egypt,

because they did not remain faithful to my covenant,

and I turned away from them,

declares the Lord.

^10 This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel

after that time, declares the Lord.

I will put my laws in their minds

and write them on their hearts.

I will be their God,

and they will be my people.

^11 No longer will a man teach his neighbor,

or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’

because they will all know me,

from the least of them to the greatest.

^12 For I will forgive their wickedness

and will remember their sins no more.”^c

^13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

 

 

Big contracts ratifying some of life’s biggest moments require a signature and a meal.  After all, you cannot buy a house without signing the mortgage papers and having an open house complete with an array of appetizers to share.  A wedding isn’t complete until the marriage certificate is signed and a big banquet is held.  Even in God’s way of doing things, big moments require a signature and a meal.

It was only three months after the LORD rescued the Israelites out of Egypt.  They were encamped near the foot of Mt. Sinai, all 2 million of them.  It was there that God made a covenant with them, promising to be their God if they were careful to obey everything he had commanded them.  If they would do that, certain blessings would follow.  “Do this, and live,” God said.

Here’s what happened.  The day God made this covenant with his people Moses got up early to build an altar on the foot of Mt. Sinai.  One by one, he wrestled large stones in place until he had 12 of them situated into an altar on which he could sacrifice many offerings.  He had some young Israelite men offer burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, sacrificing young bulls to the LORD.  After all, this was a momentous occasion.  Moses took half of the blood and put it in bowls to be used shortly, and the other half he sprinkled on the altar.  Then he took the Book of the covenant and read it to the people.  They responded, “We will do everything the LORD has said; we will obey” (Exodus 24:4-7).

Like all contracts it needed to be signed.  This was such an important contract that it needed to be signed in blood.  So, “Moses…took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, ‘This is the blood of the covenant that the LORD has made with you in accordance with all these words” (Ex. 24:8).

Like all big events a meal followed.  When this covenant was made official, it was such an important event that God had a fellowship meal with 74 of the nation’s most important leaders.  It was a day in history to remember. “Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel.  Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.  But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank” (Ex. 24:9-11).

This covenant was a good covenant from a perfect God.  Because God wanted to bless every aspect of his people’s lives, the covenant covered almost every aspect of their lives.  It included dietary and hygienic regulations to keep them healthy.  It included familial and civic regulations to keep them together and safe.  It included ceremonial and spiritual regulations to keep them spiritually nourished and focused on the promised Savior.  It included moral laws that have been a benefit to society for millennia, protecting families, lives, marriages, possessions, reputations and hearts.

But it was two sided.  God could keep his end of the deal, but not God’s people.  It’s not that there were too many laws for them to remember to keep.  He could have just given them one, “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind,” (Matthew 22:7) and it still would have been too difficult.  In fact, before Moses even came down the mountain they failed.  They were a sinful people and couldn’t remain faithful.  This first covenant was inadequate and incomplete, because only one side could keep the terms.  It was only meant to be preparatory.  It reveals sin, but cannot remove it.  It demands perfection, but cannot give the power for it.

Boy is that ever true.  It doesn’t take me long in comparing myself to the part of the covenant that Jesus reissued in the New Testament to find myself falling way short of perfection.  I get selfishly mad when things don’t go exactly my way.  As if I’m God.  I’m not sure how long God would let me wear his name on a jersey knowing how impatient I become trying to teach his name to children and adults alike.  Sunday morning worship?  A privileged opportunity to share God’s love?  It’s a lot harder when I’m tired.  When was the last time I called my mom or dad just to say hello?  Always considerate, respectful, harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, humble?  Always?  Hardly.  It’s probably a good thing there isn’t a way to plug a flash drive into my brain in order to examine its contents on a MacBook.  If I could get away with cheating on my taxes, would I consider it?  Do people around me have a better reputation because of me, or a poorer reputation?  It’s always greener on the other side of the fence.  In fact, the neighbor with the snowmobiles and Harley doesn’t deserve them as much as I do, I’d take care of them a lot better, I should have them.  So much for my end of the deal; how about yours?  It sure does show me my sin, but the guilt remains.  It demands perfection.  But, seeing the demands makes me not even want to try.  You’re right, when we break a contract, we deserve the consequences.  But trying not to think of the fire of hell doesn’t cool the heat.  Have you ever wished you could get out of a bad contract and sign a better one? 

“If there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another.  But God found fault with the people.”  Boy, is that an understatement!  Which makes it all the more surprising hearing what comes next: “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.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant and I turned away from them, declares the Lord.”  A new and different covenant?  Certainly it must contain some pretty demanding terms.  We deserve nothing less!

“This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time, declares the Lord.  I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.  For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”   That’s not what we might expect.  Instead of punishing the people who broke the covenant, God enacted a better one sided covenant with better promises mediated by a better Savior.

This covenant promises faith in God, a part in the family of God, familiarity with God, and forgiveness from God.  No fine print here.

The whole point of God’s first covenant was to prepare his people for the Savior by showing them their sin and pointing them ahead to someone who would fulfill the covenant.  Take a look at the new terms.  Now, God writes that message right on our hearts, giving us a faith that trusts the good news of the Savior.  By faith we will know what God wants and love what God wants because we’ve seen and believe what God has done for us.  We’ve been set free from the old covenant, set free from our sins and have the desire and ability to obey out of love.

How can we know for sure?  Because God has made us a part of his family.  He put his name on our hearts.  He calls us his own.  He is our God, we are his people, and nothing can separate us from his love.  Nothing can break that blood-bought bond.  He wants us to be so sure of this that over and over he says, “This is what I want; this is the way it will be.  The Lord declares.”  We no longer are on the outside looking in, we’re on the inside enjoying all the benefits of being a part of God’s family.

Like liberty, security, and eternity.  Like the benefit all believers have of intimately knowing their Savior.  From the least of them to the greatest, we have intimate knowledge of who God is and what he has done for us.  Just like Abraham, to whom God told his secrets.  Just like Moses, with whom God spoke face to face.  Just like Mary, whose tears he dried on Easter.  Just like John, to whom he gave some fantastic and glorious revelations.  Intimately, personally, we know God as our better Savior, our friend in Jesus who carries all our sins and grief’s away.

He carries our sins so far away, that he can no longer see nor remember anything we’ve done to break the first covenant.  He forgives it all.  He doesn’t just overlook our sin.  He removes it all as far as the east is from the west!

How can we know for sure?  How can we know God is serious when he says my sins are forgiven?  Because this covenant was signed in blood, just like the first.  Except, it wasn’t the blood of goats or rams or bulls.  The Lamb of God signed this covenant with his blood and consecrated it with a very special fellowship meal.  God himself invites us to the table when he said, “Take and eat; this is my body.’  Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it saying, ‘Drink from it, all of you.  This is my blood of the new covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:26-28).

Wow.  Just like on Mt. Sinai, only better, much better.  You can just taste how much better it is.  No resentful anger towards a just God; only the sweet promise of faith to those who were baptized by water and word.  No shame of standing outside of his grace; only the sweet promise of belonging to him in his family.  No unsettling questions of his love for you; only a promised familiarity with your Savior, so intimate you know him as My Savior.  No bitter taste of left over guilt; only the sweet taste of promised forgiveness based on the sure promises of a God who is always faithful and never breaks his better covenant.  Amen.

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^c Jer. 31:31-34