God’s Covenant (7)

“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day thatI took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.” Jeremiah 31.31-34

Covenant and Kingdom
In the New Testament, the covenant God had entered with His people, and the Kingdom He had promised from the days of Jacob onwards, come together in a single Person – our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus represents the fulfillment of all the precious and very great promises of God (2 Pet. 1.4; 2 Cor. 1.20). He is the King of Israel and the Lord of all lords. His Kingdom has come with power (Acts 1.8; 1 Cor. 4.20), power which is reconciling all things back to God (2 Cor. 5.17-21) and making all things new (Rev. 21.5).

To know Jesus Christ – to receive, embrace, trust, follow, and enjoy Him – is to know the full blessings of God’s covenant and the full power of His eternal Kingdom. In Jesus, God invites the world into His covenant and Kingdom, to know His glory and to bask in the fullness of His peace forever.

Jesus is both the roadway of God’s covenant and the beginning and end of the story and structure of redemption. He is our Bridge over time into the fullness of God and His peace. Only in Jesus can we know the promise of God’s covenant, the power of His Kingdom, and the peace of His presence forever.

Why is this so?

Jesus and God’s covenant
First, because Jesus is both God and man. He bridges the unseen and seen worlds, making a way for us to live fully and abundantly in both, through His life, death, and resurrection. Reaching down to us from the eternal, unseen realm of glory, Jesus lifts us up, in His resurrection and ascension, so that we are seated with Him in the eternal presence and peace of God (Eph. 2.6).

Second, because Jesus fulfilled all requirements of God’s covenant and Kingdom. God’s covenant, we recall, requires obedience to His commandments; His Kingdom is a Kingdom of righteousness. Jesus has passed through the covenant pathway of the Lord as a burning torch and a smoldering oven (Gen. 15), refined and refining everything and everyone He touches, perfectly fulfilling all the righteous requirements of God’s Law.

But He also took upon Him the burden of our disobedience, enduring slaughter, like a sacrificial Lamb, to ensure that we who continually stray from God’s covenant path might always be renewed in Him Who is the Way (Jn. 14.6).

As King and Lord of God’s covenant, Jesus has overcome every enemy of our souls, and He is destroying the works of everyone and everything that opposes the progress of His rule. His covenant people may suffer setbacks and sorrows along the path over time, but they will always make progress so long as they set their eyes on Him, waiting for them on the far bank (Col. 3.1-3; Heb. 11.13-16). He has pioneered the way into the fullness of God’s presence and peace (Heb. 12.1, 2), and He rules the world, with truth and grace, making even the nations to show the glories of His righteousness.

So, look for Jesus!
Jesus is the story of Scripture. Jesus is the structure Who sustains the Bible and carries it through to its glorious conclusion in Revelation 21 and 22. Wherever you’re reading in the Bible, therefore, look for Jesus (Jn. 5.39). Look for Him in the examples of great saints, the types and symbols of God’s covenant, the pre-incarnate manifestations of His Word, every doctrine of faith and life, and all the means of redemption and renewal in the Lord. Jesus is the Alpha and Omega of Scripture and all things. In Him all things consist and are held together (Col. 1.17; Heb. 1.3). He is advancing His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven, and one day He will deliver us and it to our Father and His, to the praise of His glorious grace!

God’s covenant takes many developing forms throughout the Bible. Nevertheless, all these various covenants are but unfolding expressions of the one covenant of promise, and the promise of that covenant, the promise of life and peace forever with God, is always, at every place in Scripture, held out to us in our Lord Jesus Christ.

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things; to Him be the glory forever and ever!

For reflection
1.  How can you see that Jesus features in all the various covenants of Scripture?

2.  The various covenants of Scripture are like the sections of a telescope, which is the one covenant of God. Explain.

3.  Why is it important to seek Jesus in all parts of Scripture?

Next steps – Transformation: How can you learn to “see Jesus” more consistently throughout the Bible? Talk with a pastor or church leader about this question.

T. M. Moore

You can learn more about God’s covenant and why it’s so important by ordering T. M.’s book, I Will Be Your God, from our online store (click here). For a deeper study of God’s covenant, order the workbook, God’s Covenant, from our online store (click here).

To learn how God’s covenant defines the shape of Scripture, and guides our approach to understanding and using the Bible, enroll in the course, Introduction to Biblical Theology. It’s free and online, and you can study at your own pace or with friends. To learn more and to register, click here. This week’s study is Part 1 of a series on The Word of God, and is available as a free download by clicking here.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.