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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
This is the word that came to
Jeremiah from the Lord:
“Listen to the terms of this
covenant and tell them to the people of Judah and to those who live in
Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says:
‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this covenant—the terms I
commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt, out of the iron-smelting
furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey Me and do everything I command you, and you will be my
people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the oath I swore to your
ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the land you
possess today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all
these words in the towns of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to
the terms of this covenant and follow them. From the time I brought your ancestors
up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” But
they did not listen or pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness
of their evil hearts. So I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had
commanded them to follow but that they did not keep.’”
Jeremiah 11:1-8
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
Here is an absolute truth we can all hold onto:
God always keeps His promises. Always.
Throughout the history of creation, if God said He would do
something, He did it. He did it then, He does it today, and He will always do
it.
He never goes back on His word.
Take the Old and New Testaments as primary examples.
Did you know that the word “testament” could also be
translated as “covenant”? And did you also know that a covenant is essentially
a promise made between two parties?
It’s true and it makes sense when you think about it
because the two main divisions of our Bibles can be reduced to two major
covenants or promises that God made with His people through major
proclamations.
What was the Old Testament or old covenant proclamation?
We find it in the opening verses of Jeremiah 11. Look at
these words shared between God and His appointed prophet:
This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord:
“Listen to the terms of this covenant and tell them to the people of
Judah and to those who live in Jerusalem. Tell them that this is what the Lord,
the God of Israel, says: ‘Cursed is the one who does not obey the terms of this
covenant—the terms I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of Egypt,
out of the iron-smelting furnace.’ I said, ‘Obey Me and do everything I command
you, and you will be my people, and I will be your God. Then I will fulfill the
oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey’—the
land you possess today.”
I answered, “Amen, Lord.”
The Lord said to me, “Proclaim all these words in the towns of Judah
and in the streets of Jerusalem: ‘Listen to the terms of this covenant and
follow them. From the time I brought your ancestors up from Egypt until today,
I warned them again and again, saying, “Obey me.” But they did not listen or
pay attention; instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts. So
I brought on them all the curses of the covenant I had commanded them to follow
but that they did not keep.’” Jeremiah 11:1-8
Did you catch the promise God made with the Old Testament
Israelites?
The Israelites were required to obey Him and do everything
that He commanded them to do. If they did, then they would be His people and He
would be their God, continuing to bless them with a land of bounty, the same
land flowing with milk and honey that He had given their ancestors.
As long as the Israelites kept their end of the covenant,
all would be good. However, if they chose to break it, God also promised
something. He vowed that those who sinned against Him would be cursed and on
more than one occasion, He was forced to keep that promise, sending judgment on
His people for their stubborn disobedience and inclination toward wickedness
and evil.
Indeed, this was the problem with the people of Israel in
Jeremiah’s time. They had chosen to worship false gods and idols, directly and
willfully disobeying God’s command to have no other gods before Him and so He
sent a curse of destruction on the beloved promised land He had given His
people and sent them away into seventy years of exile.
We were supposed to see that breaking God’s covenant
proclamations was a bad idea but unfortunately, we as His people just didn’t seem
like we were ever going to get it. And so God, out of His deep grace and mercy,
chose to form a new covenant with His people, a new promise that formed the
foundation for the New Testament.
What was that proclamation?
For God so loved the world that he gave His
one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have
eternal life. John 3:16
This is the essence of the good news of the gospel, the good
news contained in the new covenant proclamation for the people of God. It wasn’t
that the old covenant disappeared. Not by any means. God is still our God and
we are still His people, expected to follow Him and His will in full obedience.
Know and trust that He will still bring judgment on anyone who purposely disobeys
Him.
But note that God, out of His great love for us, did not
wish that we perish from our sins. He longed that we have a way to be pardoned
but the only way that could happen is that if a sacrifice was made in place of
His people, a holy intercessor who could not only bear the weight of the sins
of mankind but also posses the power to overcome death and the grave to rise
and live again.
There was only one person who could fulfill God’s desire
and it was His one and only Son Jesus who conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of
a virgin, and walked the earth before dying by crucifixion while bearing every
sin of every person. He was dead and buried in a tomb but rose again to life in
resurrection power before later ascending to heaven and sitting at His Father’s
right hand.
Through Jesus, God established a new covenant or promise
with His people. He promised to save them from perishing as long as they
believed in His Son Jesus as Savior.
That’s it and one of the easiest, most blessed promises we
have from our heavenly Father.
Believe in Jesus as Savior and God will save us, ushering
us into eternal life after our life here in this world is over. Because of our
trust in Jesus, death is not the end but only a glorious beginning of a life
eternal with Him and God forever. Hallelujah!
If you have keep your end of the new covenant and placed
your hope in Jesus, then rest assured that God will keep His end of the
covenant and save you because He never breaks His promises.
If you have yet to accept God’s new covenant promise, I
urge you to not spend another second rejecting it and receive God’s offer of
everlasting life through Jesus today.
It’s one promise you will never regret making and a promise
that God never tires from keeping out of His deep love for His people.
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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