(Point to a brief case) "Deal, or No Deal?"
Since December 2005, ... the television host ...Howie Mandel ...has asked that question ...countless times ... to contestants on the game show ... with the same name.
It did not take much talent ... to be a contestant on Deal or No Deal.
It only took guts ... or maybe foolishness ... to keep playing through the game.
Contestants would select a briefcase ... with an amount of money inside ... that could range from ... one penny ... to $1 million.
Then ... one by one ... they would open the other cases on stage ... to narrow down the possible amounts ... that could be in the case they had chosen.
Every so often, ... the "Banker" made a money offer ... to the contestant. (Pause)
What would you do ... if two cases were left ... one case with ... $100.00 and the other with $500,000.00 ... And the banker offered you ... say $145,000.00?
Would you press the red button ... and take the deal, ... or would you say ... "No deal", and open one more case ... that will either give you half a million dollars ... or leave you with a hundred?
Deal, ... or No Deal?
What made the show interesting, of course, ... was that no one knew what would happen ... if the contestant kept playing.
That is where the drama came in. (Pause)
But what if you knew ... that your case you had chosen ... contained at least $500,000.00
If you could be guaranteed the best deal, ... you would surely ignore the banker's offer ...and play on?
Of course, ... you would!
Well ... Our Old Testament Lesson from Jeremiah ... speaks of two "deals" ... between God and his people.
The word that is used to describe these two possible deals is ... "Covenant."
Unlike the game show, Deal or No Deal, ... we can see in advance ... which of the two covenants ... is the better deal.
In fact, (Slow) God explicitly states ... that his New Covenant is ... the best deal.
So, let's take a closer look at our Old Testament Lesson, found in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 31:31-34)
Let us look into the first covenant ... God's first deal that He made ... with his people,
And then we will look into the New Covenant ... the New Deal ... he now extends to all people.
BIBLE "'The days are surly coming,' says the Lord, 'when I will make a New Covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.'" END (Jeremiah (31:31-34)
Clearly ... The words "New Covenant" ...indicates that Jeremiah ... is comparing two different covenants ... through which .... God established a relationship ... with his people
If God is going to make a new covenant, ... that means ... there was an old one.
Jeremiah tells us a little about this old covenant.
BIBLE "'It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand out of the land of Egypt, a covenant that they broke, though I was their husband. says the Lord." END (Jeremiah 31:32)
Jeremiah looks back several hundred years ... to the time ... when the Israelite's ... escaped from slavery ... in Egypt.
God, ... after several plagues, ... convinced Pharaoh ... to let his people go.
But then Pharaoh ... changed his mind.
And Pharaoh sent Egypt's army ... after the Israelite's, ... who were pinned between the impending army ... on one side ...and the Red Sea ... on the other.
With the odds against them, ... God performed a stunning miracle ... for his people.
He opened up a dry path through the sea ... so that the nation ... could escape ... to the other side.
When the armies of Egypt followed, ... God sent the waters back over them ... and turned them into ... fish food.
With that stunning incident fresh in their minds, ... God established a covenant ... a deal ... with his people.
And This Covenant ... was a two-sided deal.
If they, ... the people, ... observed his laws ... and observed his commands, ... he would bless them.
But if they failed to live ... as his law instructed, ... they would suffer ... for it.
Yet ... Before the Ink was dry on the old covenant, ... they had already broken it ... by engaging in all sorts of ... pagan immorality.
They had just been the beneficiaries ... of one of the greatest miracles recorded.
Yet quickly ... they had forgotten what God had done for them.
But this did not only happen during the Exodus.
(Slow) It was the story of their whole history. (Long Pause)
Now ... Let us Fast-forward .... several hundred years to the sixth century B.C., ...
When Jeremiah served the little nation of Judah, ... the remaining fragment .... of God's Covenant.
Now Jeremiah's book ... is filled with doom and gloom ... and warnings to the tribe of Judah, (Pause)
Why?
Because the people had forsaken God ... they had forsaken him time ... and time ... and time again.
Finally, ... God stated, ... "Have it your way!
So, ... God gave them a seventy-year "time out" (a gross understatement, to say the least)!
He allowed an enemy nation to attack, ...defeat, ...and deport them from their homeland ... for seven decades. For 70 years.
That was the historical backdrop ... when Jeremiah wrote his account.
And We as a people have continued in that sinful tradition.
In reality, ... this game show ... has been played over and over in God's word, ... beginning in the Garden of Eden.
God had given Adam the sweetest deal ... that has ever been given ... to a man.
Free run of the Garden, ... a beautiful wife ... all you can eat, ... peace, ... tranquility, ... no war, ...no famine, ...no poverty, ...no hate, ...and an intimate personal relationship with the creator of the universe.
Then what happened?
Satan came along and started to stir things up.
In Genesis 3 ...we find him tempting Eve ...with a new deal.
A deal from the Satanic Banker.
One that he portrays as a better Deal.
A better deal ... than the one God had made for them.
Satan basically says to Eve ... that if she takes his deal ... she will be like God.
And Eve pushed the deal button ... and so did Adam ... when they should have said ... "no deal".
There is an old saying ... "Opportunity knocks once ... but temptation beats on the door every day."
We live our lives constantly surrounded by ... temptations.
We are constantly being tempted ... to take a bad deal.
Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and ever since ... our will .... has been perverted into a rebellious will ...... that naturally opts for sin.
Yet many complain to God when bad things happen ... even when our own sin causes them.
Other's select certain portions of God's Word that they will apply in their lives ... and ignore the others.
When we act like his people only when it is convenient ... who are we to blame ... God?
We are not only letting bad things happen.
We are making them happen!
Beloved ... It is called sin.
So, if the "Old deal" ... the old covenant ... puts us in such ... a quandary,
What does God's "New deal" ... the New covenant ... have to say to us?
Hear God's Word:
BIBLE "'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the Lord. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. ....'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'" END
The old covenant was a two-sided arrangement.
If People did their part ... God would do his part.
But the people never did their part.
In fact, if we are honest ... No ordinary human being ... has or ever will keep God's commands perfectly.
So, ... God looked forward in time.
A day when his new covenant would come to fruition. (Slow)
"I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts." (Jeremiah 31:33)
The Hebrew word for "law" is torah, and it means much more ... much more than the 10 Commandments ... the written "law."
Torah is ... "a teaching," and this teaching ... this new law ... is one that God would write in their minds and in their hearts ... on the inner soul of his people.
And this new law, ... this new covenant was latter revealed to be ... the Gospel.
And God states to those under the New Covenant that ... "I will be their God, and they will be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
This New Covenant ... was no longer only to the house of Israel ... these words are proclaimed in the New Testament ... as well.
Beloved ... The new covenant relationship with God is not based on what people do;
It is based on God ... (Point up) the One in whom they believe.
And Jesus Christ, ... the promised Messiah brought this new covenant relationship ...to fruition ... by his sacrifice:
"I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:34 and Hebrews 8:12)
Wickedness forgiven.
Sins no longer remembered.
Iniquity against God pardoned ... for the sake of his Son.
He will separate Our Sins as far as the East is from the West and He will cast them into the depths of the sea. (Psalm 103:12 and Micah 7:19)
Beloved this is the New Covenant ... a covenant of Grace.
No fine print ... on the bottom of the page.
A one-sided deal, ... a unilateral covenant ...signed, ...sealed, ... and secured ... in the holy, precious blood of Jesus.
And that signed covenant is brought to us through faith ... in Christ Jesus.
Deal, or No Deal? (Long Pause)
Perhaps the word "Deal" ... is too casual to describe this great gift of God.
Despite our efforts at overcoming sin and rebellion,
Despite our amateur claims to be self-sufficient without God,
God came forward ... with the divine rescue plan ... of his new covenant.
God not only came forward, ... but he came down to our world ... in the person of Jesus Christ.
He came with righteousness ... that covers our sinful hearts.
He came with the sacrifice ... that atones for not only our sin ... but the sin ... of the whole world. (Pause)
Jeremiah's promise of a New Covenant ...was Fulfilled ... by the Coming of the Messiah.
And at the Last Supper Jesus lifted the cup and said, "This is my blood of the new covenant which was shed for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins." (Matthew 26:28)
(Slow) Beloved ... The birth, life, teaching, death and resurrection of Jesus is the Gospel.
In Christ, the prophetic promise of a New Covenant ... became a reality.
A New Covenant based on faith, ... not obedience to a law.
Through this New Covenant ... we are set free from the bondage of sin ... no longer slaves but children of God. (Long Pause)
In a way ... we all are left with two cases ... to choose from.
The Old Covenant ... and the New Covenant.
Just as the Banker tempts the contestant.
So, does the world, ... the flesh ...and the Devil ...tempt us ...to take ...a bad deal.
Beloved ... We know which case ... which Covenant Holds the Gift ... of Jesus.
That holds the gift ... of eternal life. Accept the gift laid before you.
Accept Jesus ... not only as your Savior ... but the Lord of every aspect of your life.
Yield to the Holy Spirit ... be transformed into the image of Christ.
Accept Him Fully ... Be all that God has called you to be.
Open the case (OPEN THE CASE INSIDE ARE THE SAME WORDS) ... of eternal life.
And Let Jesus Take you ... from Glory to Glory.
Amen and Amen!
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