WEEKLY
SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON
An
international Sunday school lesson commentary
For
Sunday November 12, 2017
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THE
PROMISE OF A NEW COVENANT
(GOD’s
new covenant is personal)
(Jeremiah
31:27-40)
In
Jeremiah 31:31 the LORD promises a New Covenant with the nation of Israel and
Judah. It would not be like the old covenant made with their ancestors when HE
brought them out of the land of Egypt. Anyway, they had already broken that
covenant, even though GOD continued to love them as a husband who dearly loves
his wife.
GOD’s work in the New Covenant for HIS
people would silence the proverb that was uttered so commonly around Israel in
those days, which stated, “The parents eat sour grapes, but the children’s
mouths pucker at the taste” (v.29). It was that latter generation’s way of not
taking responsibility for its own sins. Apparently they found it easier to
stomach the guilt of their iniquities by convincing themselves that they were
suffering only because of the sins of their ancestors, and not through any
fault of their own, which of course is ridiculous.
In Exodus 24, verses 1-8, the Israelites
accepted GOD’s Covenant, as it had been given to Moses on Mount Sinai. However,
man would not then, and quite frankly, will not now, abide by such a covenant,
because he has always been, in every generation, too determined to do things
his own way. And when we choose to do things our way, we automatically move
farther and farther away from GOD, and we continue to interrupt our
relationship with GOD, by way of our perpetual sinful rebellion.
The New Covenant spoken of here in Jeremiah
31 is the covenant that was eventually ushered in by CHRIST JESUS in the first
century A.D. Yes, it took the life of CHRIST to restore our lost relationship
of friendship with GOD. JESUS’ whole purpose for coming was to usher in this
New Covenant from GOD, which consists of many spiritual aspects, and is a
covenant that is far superior to any before, or since that time.
But first, the final judgment upon Israel had
to run its course. It would come in the way of “a physical deportation” from
the “promised” land of Israel, to captivity in Babylon. With the final destruction
of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and his Babylonian forces in 586 B.C., the
self-imposed curse of the people of Israel was complete, and restoration could
get under way in about 70 years.
With HIS “Mosaic Covenant”, GOD had set “a
holy standard of conduct” by which HE intended for HIS people to live. However,
because of their rebellious hearts, they simply could not maintain those high standards.
The Mosaic Law served as a mirror for which sinful man could look into and see
for himself, just how far he was from GOD’s glorious and holy standards. GOD
shares HIS nature with us and HE wants us to live holy lives because HE is
holy. HE wants us to wholly desire to live holy under HIM.
The New Covenant ushered in by CHRIST, in
essence, makes the Mosaic Covenant obsolete and irrelevant. The old covenant
basically told Israelites how to behave and also specified blessings for those
who obeyed, and punishment for those who disobeyed. And although GOD still
desires for us to obey HIM under the New Covenant by desiring to live holy like
CHRIST, we are no longer prisoners or slaves to the sin and death of this
world, GOD has given us an obvious out, through the sacrificial blood of CHRIST
JESUS.
Under the New Covenant, GOD writes HIS laws
on our hearts and in our minds (v.33), and HE also promises believers an inner
transformation. Believers can now have a direct, experiential relationship of
friendship with GOD, through JESUS CHRIST, by the power of the HOLY SPIRIT living
in us. Through earnest repent, GOD is faithful to forgive whatever sins we
commit, because HE has accepted the blood of CHRIST as payment for all the sins
of the world, past, present, and future.
It is the duty of the Christian to build
his or her foundation on the “Most-High Faith”, which is “Christianity”, and
not all the various denominations man has dreamed up over the years. We must
learn to pray in the power of the HOLY SPIRIT, and we must always remember the
conditions of the New Covenant that has been ushered in by CHRIST, and then
signed in HIS OWN blood.
When we repent and trust in GOD’s presence,
and believe on CHRIST JESUS, GOD forgives us, and HIS transforming works begin
in our heart. And through our new found faith, we can begin walking in the
newness of the life that can only be found in CHRIST JESUS our LORD and SAVIOR.
And we can also forever enjoy a New Covenant relationship with GOD the FATHER,
here on earth, and, in Heaven.
A Sunday school lesson
by,
Larry D. Alexander
LARRY D. ALEXANDER- Official Website
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