God's New Covenant - Jeremiah 31

2. Prayer
God of suffering and glory,
in Jesus Christ you reveal
the way of life through
the path of obedience.
Inscribe your law in our hearts,
that in life we may not
stray from you,
but may be your people.
Amen.

3. The Church Calendar
March 21

4. GOD & BIBLICAL COVENANTS
1. God is ALWAYS the INITIATOR
2. God initiates COVENANTS
and KEEPS them
3. God uses SPECIFIC covenants
for the sake of EVERYONE/THING

5. // GOD’S NEW COVENANT // Jeremiah 31:31-34 //

6. “The only people who ask
(if the OT can be spiritually enriching)
in a comprehensive manner are
those who don’t read it.”
- Scot McKnight

7. The days are surely coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant with the
house of Israel and the house of Judah.
It will not be like the covenant that I made
with their ancestors when I took them
by the hand to bring them out of the
land of Egypt—a covenant that they broke,
though I was their husband, says the Lord.
But this is the covenant that I will make with
the house of Israel after those days, says the
Lord:
JEREMIAH 31:31-32

8. I will put my law within them,
and I will write it on their hearts;
and I will be their God, and they shall
be my people. No longer shall they
teach one another, or say to each other,
“Know the Lord,” for they shall all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,
says the Lord; for I will forgive their iniquity,
and remember their sin no more.
JEREMIAH 31:33-34

9. A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit
I will put within you; and I will remove from
your body the heart of stone and give you
a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within
you,
and make you follow my statutes and be
careful to observe my ordinances. Then you
shall
live in the land that I gave to your ancestors;
and you shall be my people,
EZEKIEL 36:26-28

10. THOUGHTS on the NEW COVENANT
1. This was NATIONAL and SOCIAL,
not just PERSONAL and INTERNAL
// NEW COVENANT //

11. THOUGHTS on the NEW COVENANT
1. This was NATIONAL and SOCIAL,
not just PERSONAL and INTERNAL
2. This was COMMUNAL restoration,
not just INDIVIDUAL salvation
// NEW COVENANT //

12. DALLAS WILLARD
The purpose of God with human history
is nothing less than to bring out of it…
an eternal community of those who were
once thought to be just ’ordinary human beings.’
…this community will, in its way, pervade the
entire created realm and share in the
government of it. God’s precreation intention to
have that community as a special dwelling place
or home will be realized. He will be its prime
sustainer
and most glorious inhabitant.

13. THOUGHTS on the NEW COVENANT
1. This was NATIONAL and SOCIAL,
not just PERSONAL and INTERNAL
2. This was COMMUNAL restoration,
not just INDIVIDUAL salvation
3. This was about GOD’s initiative,
not just a SELF-HELP plan
// NEW COVENANT //

14. THOUGHTS on the NEW COVENANT
1. This was NATIONAL and SOCIAL,
not just PERSONAL and INTERNAL
2. This was COMMUNAL restoration,
not just INDIVIDUAL salvation
3. This was about GOD’s initiative,
not just a SELF-HELP plan
4. This was ACCOMPLISHED in JESUS,
and is IMPLEMENTED by the SPIRIT
// NEW COVENANT //

15. DALLAS WILLARD
A time will come in human history
when human beings will follow the
Ten Commandments and so on as regularly as
they now fall to the ground when they step off a
roof.They will then be more astonished that
someone would lie or steal or covet than they
now are when someone will not.The law of God
will then be written in their hearts…this is an
essential part of the triumph of Christ and the
deliverance
of humankind in history and beyond.

16. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE…
- No one hated anyone else
- No one murdered anyone else
- No one destroyed covenant relationships
through unfaithfulness
- No one stole from anyone else,
and no nation stole from another nation
- No one lied to or about others,
individually or socially
- No one resented their neighbor or
desired their possessions, or was living
without their basic needs being met
// NEW COVENANT //

17. IMAGINE A WORLD WHERE…
- Everyone loves everyone else
- Everyone seeks the best for everyone else
- Everyone was faithful and trustworthy
- Every person and every nation was
content with what they already had
- Everyone spoke the truth
- Everyone had their basic needs met,
had access to the necessary resources,
was grateful for and content with
what they had, and celebrated their
neighbors’ well being
// NEW COVENANT //

18. IMAGINE A WORLD GOVERNED IN…
- Love
- Joy
- Peace
- Patience
- Kindness
- Goodness
- Faithfulness
- Gentleness
- Self-control
// NEW COVENANT //

19. DALLAS WILLARD
God’s precreation intention to have that
community as a special dwelling place or
home will be realized. He will be its prime
sustainer and most glorious inhabitant…
The law of God will then be written in
(our) hearts… this is an essential part
of the triumph of Christ and
the deliverance of humankind
in history and beyond.

20. Benediction
O God, you have made of one blood
all the peoples of the earth, and have sent
your blessed Son to preach peace to those
who are far off and to those who are near.
Grant that people everywhere would
seek after you and find you;
bring the nations into your fold,
pour out your Spirit on all flesh,
and hasten the coming of your kingdom,
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.