But God Declared a New Covenant – Lent 32, 2021

As we approach the final days of our devotional series “But God…” and come to know the peace of God even as Kingdom citizens of a foreign land called the City of Man, we can experience gratitude that God didn’t leave us with the Law. God didn’t leave us with earning impossible social credits required to prove our worth. Instead, God gave us grace in the form of our Savior and a New Covenant in Jesus’ blood.

Jesus is the One who earned this covenant. He’s the one to mediate it. Hebrews 8:6 But in fact the ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which he is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is established on better promises.

How were these promises better? Well, the Law could only lead us to recognize sin. Jesus can forgive it. The Law required effort on the part of imperfect people. Jesus required only His own perfect effort. In the end, the Law could never save because that wasn’t its purpose. Jesus saves because that’s why He came.

Hebrews 8:7 For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. 8 But God found fault with the people and said: “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. 9 It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. 10 This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 11 No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. 12 For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” 13 By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.

The Law was a placeholder until God sent a Savior who would perfectly embody and keep the Law. Even better, the Law never disappeared, though it will happen “soon” which Matthew 5:18 lists as the point when heaven and earth disappear and “everything is accomplished.”

When Jesus returns, we will no longer need the Law.
Jesus will be enough.
If you ever worry God has left us alone,
consider how blessed we are to be in this moment of history.
Would God who brought us all the way from Eden, through a flood,
through exile and slavery, through occupation,
only to send His Son Jesus to die on a Cross
at the hands of the ruling Jews and Gentiles alike,
then raise Him from the dead leaving nothing but an empty tomb…
seriously would He suddenly decide to call it quits? After all that?
No, He’ll see us all the way to His Return! Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!

Thank You Lord for this new covenant! Thank You that it can never be taken away! Thank You that covenants that You make are certain and trustworthy and that with You, a promise made is a promise kept. In a world of false promises, a world in which people will say anything to get what they want, I praise You and thank You that this new covenant in the blood of Your Son Jesus Christ is certain and eternally good! He shed His blood at the Cross for our benefit. But not just ours because, Lord, You redeemed Your Image in fallen humanity. We have already been rescued as Image-bearers from the spiritual dark forces arrayed against mankind. Thank You Lord for this blessed time, this holy time, of Easter. Remind us that Good Friday was when Jesus purchased our forgiveness at an infinite and horrible cost. May we never take forgiveness lightly. We give You eternal thanks in the Name of Your Son Jesus Christ. Amen.

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If you’re already signed up on my Home Page sidebar to receive posts, you’ll get the 2022 Lent Devotionals automatically. Or you can “Like” Seminary Gal on Facebook and they’ll be delivered to your Facebook news feed. If you haven’t signed up, today is a great day to do so. Advent and Lenten devotionals remain among my most popular offerings. You don’t want to miss this encounter with God to prepare your heart for Easter! Understanding that prior years’ devotionals continue to minister, you may want to have access to a full series ahead of time:

Lent 2013 looked at The Letter to the Romans: Paul’s Masterpiece to reclaim foundations of our Christian heritage and began February 13, 2013.
A very special and ever popular offering was Lent 2014’s Be Still and Know that I AM God which can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014.
Lent 2015 began on February 18, 2015 with a series entitled With Christ in the Upper Room: Final Preparations. We explored what is often called “The Upper Room Discourse” found in John chapters 13-17.
ReKindle, the Lent 2016 series, began on February 10, 2016 and encouraged us to rekindle our spiritual lives.
Light: There’s Nothing Like It was the 2017 Lent series and explored this metaphor often used to portray Christ. It is archived beginning March 1, 2017.
Lent 2018, we explored the questions of Pi and Chi (the Greek letter beginning the word Christos, which means Christ, Messiah, the Anointed One). We asked and answered the questions “Why?” from the movie Life of Pi as we discovered the uniqueness of Jesus Christ in a world of many faiths.
Lent 2019 gave us a deeper window into Easter “More to the Easter Story” since we miss so much when we rely only on a superficial understanding of the work of Christ. These devotionals are archived beginning March 6, 2019.
Our Lent 2020 devotional series offered prayer points surrounding “Be Thou My Vision” and were aimed at helping us to see God for who He is. The full set of devotionals are archived beginning February 26, 2020.
The theme for 2021 Lent Devotionals was how to live between two worlds while waiting for Christ’s return. Into the gap between the City of Man and its fixation upon sin and the City of God with its demand for holiness, two words minister peace: But God. Praise God for His intervention! They are archived beginning February 17, 2021.