the eternal covenant is brand new, because you are

The Word for today:
Jeremiah 31:27-40

mark this: Jeremiah 31:33-34 --
"This is the covenant I will make with the house 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 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,"
declares the LORD.
"For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more."

Covenant is a big word. It shouts out, "Theology."  And few of us major in theology.

Not only is covenant a big word, but there are so many of them:
the Edenic Covenant;
the covenant with Adam;
the covenant with Noah;
the covenant with Abraham;
the covenant with Moses;
the Palestinian Covenant;
the covenant with David; and, finally,
the New Covenant.

And to confuse things even further, the covenants are sometimes called Testaments. What are we to make of all this? Where do we even begin?

Begin with Jesus. The key to understanding the covenants is to understand that the covenant is between Jesus and the Father,  from the foundation of the world.

Forget time; and forget cause-and-effect, and begin to think big--very big. Ready?

Jesus was Redeemer before he was Creator. That's what Revelation 13:8 means when it says he was the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

The covenants all boil down to this: where we fall short, Jesus takes our place.

Although the contract was made from eternity, it could not be sealed until Christ had paid, for us, the wages of sin, which is death. When he cried, "It is finished!" he addressed His Father. The contract between them was now fulfilled. The price had been paid.

Now the fellowship between man and God could not be broken even if the weakest link--man--should fail. The relationship would endure for eternity because should we fail, Christ in our place did not.

The eternal covenant with Christ was the reason why God could keep renewing His covenant with Adam, Noah, Abraham, Israel, David and the Christian church. Backing every pact which God made with the human family was God's covenant with Jesus Christ. Time and time again divine wrath was suspended only because it was put to the account of Jesus Christ, who in due time would pay all debts to eternal justice.

If you, today, ask Jesus to take your place, he will. At that very moment, the covenant between the Father and Jesus includes you.

At that very moment the eternal covenant is new, because you are.

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