Study # 25
Broadlands Bible Church
February 8, 2023
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Thesis: The New Covenant is God's provision for the susceptibility of the spirit of man to the temptation to seek its exaltation in the eyes of men rather than the heart of God.
Introduction: In our last study, we looked into
2 Samuel 7 and its record of God's establishment of a covenant with David that sits
between the promise of "a great name" (
Genesis 12:2 and
2 Samuel 7:9) and the promise of "a land" (
Genesis 12:1 and
2 Samuel 7:10). In that study we saw that David had a "soul" problem that was rooted in his awareness of God's rejection of Saul and his recognition of his own propensities for significant evil (which proved to be as evil as he anticipated in
2 Samuel 11). This "problem" was the possibility that he would do something as evil as Saul had done so that as God rejected Saul from being King over Israel, so He would reject David as King over Israel.
We saw that David's "solution" to this potential was to "build God a house" as both a testament to David's "loyalty to God" and a desire to remove God from the "tabernacle" issue (a temporary presence): he wished to make God's commitment to his identity as "King over Israel" a permanent commitment. But, we also saw that God had a better approach: a firm covenant with David that no matter what he, or his offspring, might do, God would not remove him from his identity as "King over Israel". God promised to "build him a house" which is described as giving to, and maintaining for, David "an enduring dynasty which would rule over Israel forever.
We call this "firm covenant" The Davidic Covenant, and we see it as God's "solution" to the root problem of the "soul": insecurity.
This evening we are going to move on to the third of the supporting covenants that nest under the umbrella of the Abrahamic Covenant: we call it "The New Covenant".
- I. The Biblical Declaration Of The New Covenant: Jeremiah 31:31-37.
- A. Its "Roots".
- 1. The power of the temptation in Genesis 3 to regard God as "a liar" and to erect a defense against His perfidy (refusal to be loyal, or "not good").
- a. Initially, the temptation was an attempt to provide "security" in the face of divine depravity by seeking to "become wise" (sufficiently capable of discerning hurtful intentions in God and frustrating them); Genesis 3:6.
- b. Then, as a down-line development, the temptation became an attempt to gain the approval of others by one's "wisdom" so that what God would not give (status in His eyes), men would.
- c. Thus, man became a slave to the opinions of others (John 12:42-43) and, in so doing, made it impossible for him to possess the "status" that would make others "loyal" to him.
- 2. The downline results (feeder roots).
- a. Romans 3:20: no flesh would be justified (made acceptable to God) by works.
- b. Romans 3:27: Boasting became the primary technique of men to gain the approval they seek from men.
- c. Ephesians 2:8-9: Boasting is a destroyer of relationships; a linchpin of Theology in a relational universe (its only reason for being is self-exaltation at the expense of others).
- B. Its "Fruits".
- 1. It directly addresses the "works" produced by "boasting" by providing a better set of "works".
- 2. Humility puts the benefit of others ahead of any gains one might achieve for oneself.
- 3. It accomplishes these "fruits" by direct divine activity.
- a. Jeremiah 31:31 records God's plan to "make a new covenant" and 31:32 says it will be distinctly different from the Mosaic Covenant.
- b. The significant "difference" is God's actions upon man's "heart".
- 1) 31:33 says, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it".
- 2) The outcome will be "I will be their God and they shall be My people" in a genuine harmony of inner attitude and outer action.
- c. Its provisions.
- 1) "They will all know Me" (31:34): the "relational universe" will be firmly established in true righteousness.
- 2) "I will forgive their iniquity and their sin I will remember no more" (31:34).
- 3) "I will cast off all the offspring of Israel" only if the "fixed order" (31:36) of the universe departs and "If the heavens above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out...": an immutable commitment (Ezekiel calls it "an everlasting covenant of peace": 37:26).
- II. The Correlation Of The New Covenant With The Promise Of A "Great Name".
- A. The "greatness" of a name will always, ultimately, be determined by the identity of those who hold it in honor.
- B. God is the only One Whose "determination of greatness" counts.
- C. Jesus taught that "greatness" in God's Kingdom is rooted in the true humility of a servant of others.
