A Better Covenant

~Hebrews 8:6~

 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.

A few weeks ago, as my pastor was preaching from Acts, he said something that resonated with me strongly. He stated, “God, by nature, is a savior.” I immediately made connections to the books of Jeremiah and Ezekiel, as I have been studying both prophets and their texts over the last few weeks. The reader sees that through the ongoing sins of Israel and Judah, Yahweh is long-suffering, and He desires to save His people.

Jeremiah 11:1-7, like the prophet’s previous statements, emphasizes that Judah violated the Mosaic Covenant. At this point, God’s relationship had been broken repeatedly by His covenant people. Interestingly, the Hebrew word for broken as used in Jeremiah 11:10 implies violating or breaking a relationship, as in an annulment

However, God declared a new and better covenant in Jeremiah 31:31-34 due to His grace and mercy. The new covenant is distinguished by internal change of individual people, and His law is written on their hearts (31:33-34). Furthermore, God forgives sins, and there is no sacrificial system in His new covenant.

Likewise, the prophet Ezekiel establishes God’s plan for a new covenant in his writings. In Ezekiel 11:19-20 and 36:25-27, the Lord’s new covenant changes individual hearts for those who believe in Him. In 37:23, Ezekiel refers to the cleansing that is provided. Going forward, the prophet prophesies of Jesus (the servant David) as a shepherd (37:24).

Accordingly, the New Testament writers recognized that God’s new covenant provisions include the Church, and Christ stated clearly that his death ushers in the covenant Jeremiah spoke of (Matt. 26:28; Mark 14:24; Luke 22:20). Christ Jesus is the mediator of the better covenant.

As evidenced, we are so fortunate to serve a loving and just God. Yahweh’s mercy is incomprehensible, and He enables those who are born again (John 3:3) to cherish and follow His statutes. Yet, when we sin, we have access to His forgiveness. Any righteousness in our lives is to His credit. Indeed, one of God's glorious characteristics is that He is a savior!

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Jeremiah 31:31-34

“Behold, days are coming,” declares Yahweh, “when I will cut a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I cut with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, but I was a husband to them,” declares Yahweh. “But this is the covenant which I will cut with the house of Israel after those days,” declares Yahweh: “I will put My law within them, and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. And they will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, ‘Know Yahweh,’ for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,” declares Yahweh, “for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.”

Ezekiel 11:19-20

^"And I will give them one heart and give within them a new spirit. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in My statutes and keep My judgments and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God."

Ezekiel 36:25-27

Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your uncleanness and from all your idols. Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do My judgments.

Ezekiel 37:23-24

"They also will no longer defile themselves with their idols or with their detestable things or with any of their transgressions; but I will save them from all their places of habitation in which they have sinned, and I will cleanse them. And they will be My people, and I will be their God. "And My servant David will be king over them, and they will all have one shepherd; and they will walk in My judgments and keep My statutes and do them."

Matthew 26:28

"...for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of sins."

Mark 14:24

And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."

Luke 22:20

And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood."

John 3:3

Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

Hebrews 7:22

....so much more Jesus also has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

Hebrews 8:6

 But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, by as much as He is also the mediator of a better covenant, which has been enacted on better promises.