The First Announcement of the New Covenant

On the heels of announcing a comeback for the exiles in Babylon, Jeremiah is the first prophet to announce a New Covenant between God and Israel. The enormity of this moment cannot be overstated. The Covenant of Moses in the Law was epic. It had defined Israel as a nation for 1000 years. Over that time, Israel failed again and again to keep their end of the bargain. The die was cast in their hearts. They could not curtail their actions. They needed a deeper work of God in the heart. 

That is what they get. 

Jeremiah 31:31–32 (ESV) “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the LORD.

Jeremiah is clear: The problem with the Old Covenant was the people. They couldn't stop sinning. This is our problem. We cannot stop sinning. We are powerless against the struggle, and no matter how much we experience a fresh burst of enthusiasm to obey, we fall into sinful tendencies again and again. 

The New Covenant would not be an external law code but an internal character change. 

Jeremiah 31:33 (ESV) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD: 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.

This is what God does with people. He doesn't conform them to a religious standard; He transforms them into new people. Notice that it is written on the heart. This is a personal transformation. It is not a national calling. God is dealing with them individually. 

Jeremiah 31:34 (ESV) And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”

The New Covenant will bring about an inner knowledge of God. People will know the Lord and not just know His laws. That means the relationship God is looking for is more than outward obedience. He's looking for an inward conscience that knows and loves the Lord. Their sins will be forgiven. Their inward evil will be removed. 

Jesus came to inaugurate this New Covenant that changes us on the inside by shedding His blood for us on the outside. He declared so at the last supper:

Matthew 26:27–28 (ESV) And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, 28 for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.

Notice the cosmic permanence the Lord attaches to this promise. 

Jeremiah 31:37 (ESV) Thus says the LORD: “If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD.”

Now it is 2800 years later and mankind is not even close to plumbing the depths the this planet, nevermind getting to another one! How amazing is God to promise according to such terms that even millennia later are still in force! None can convince me the Bible is not the Word of Almighty God. 

Yes, Christians still sin, but their inward character rejects and renounces it, seeking to perfect holiness out of fear of the Lord.