THE CHRISTMAS COVENANT—Jeremiah 31:31-34
God informed Jeremiah & Jeremiah the people, of the promise of a new covenant to supplant/fulfill/uphold/empower the ineffective covenant.
God’s people have the promise of an effective covenant.
What is the Christmas Covenant?
Why is the promise of a differing covenant encouraging to God’s people?
3 encouragements concerning the covenant people of God.
The covenant people of God are promised...
1—The Christmas Covenant is...
A UNITING COVENANT(:31)
—Explanation:(:31)
:31—“Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel & with the house of Judah--”
No longer a separation among God’s people. Israel & Judah—Tribe against tribe—Family against family—Region against region—Might against weakness, etc...
Ezek. 37:16-24(28)—“16 “As for you, son of man, take a stick for yourself & write on it: ‘For Judah & for the children of Israel, his companions.’ Then take another stick & write on it, ‘For Joseph, the stick of Ephraim, & for all the house of Israel, his companions.’ 17 “Then join them one to another for yourself into one stick, & they will become one in your hand. 18 “And when the children of your people speak to you, saying, ‘Will you not show us what you mean by these?’-- 19 “say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the stick of Joseph, which is in the hand of Ephraim, & the tribes of Israel, his companions; & I will join them with it, with the stick of Judah, & make them one stick, & they will be one in My hand.”’ 20 “And the sticks on which you write will be in your hand before their eyes. 21 “Then say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD: “Surely I will take the children of Israel from among the nations, wherever they have gone, & will gather them from every side & bring them into their own land; 22 “& I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel; & one king shall be king over them all; they shall no longer be two nations, nor shall they ever be divided into two kingdoms again. 23 “They shall not defile themselves anymore with their idols, nor with their detestable things, nor with any of their transgressions; but I will deliver them from all their dwelling places in which they have sinned, & will cleanse them. Then they shall be My people, & I will be their God. 24 “David My servant shall be king over them, & they shall all have one shepherd; they shall also walk in My judgments & observe My statutes, & do them. 25 “Then they shall dwell in the land that I have given to Jacob My servant, where your fathers dwelt; & they shall dwell there, they, their children, & their children’s children, forever; & My servant David shall be their prince forever. 26 “Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them, & it shall be an everlasting covenant with them; I will establish them & multiply them, & I will set My sanctuary in their midst forevermore. 27 “My tabernacle also shall be with them; indeed I will be their God, & they shall be My people. 28 “The nations also will know that I, the LORD, sanctify Israel, when My sanctuary is in their midst forevermore.”’””
“Make”—Also :33—trk karath kaw-rath’—To cut, cut off, cut down, hew, cut off a body part, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
“New”—vdx chadash khaw-dawsh’—New, new thing, fresh.
“New” In that its encouragement is always new every morning, is never succeeded or antiquated by any other.
“House”—tyb bayith bah’-yith—House; Place; Receptacle; Home, house as containing a family; Household affairs
—Argumentation:
Rom. 10:5-13—“For Moses writes about the righteousness which is of the law, “The man who does those things shall live by them.” But the righteousness of faith speaks in this way, “Do not say in your heart, ‘Who will ascend into heaven?’” (that is, to bring Christ down from above) or,” ‘Who will descend into the abyss?’” (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead). But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth & in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus & believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, & with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew & Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him. For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.””
Gal. 3:28—“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Col. 3:11—“where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all & in all.”
—Application:
?To what Covenant are you committed?....
.....Yours a UNITING COVENANT?
?You under the umbrella of the Christmas Covenant?
2—The Christmas Covenant is a...
A DIFFERING COVENANT(:32)
—Explanation:(:32)
:32—“not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the LORD.”
Not of the covenant made at Sinai.—The persona under it being faulty—
1Tim. 1:5-10—“Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, & from sincere faith, from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to idle talk, desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm. But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully, knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless & insubordinate, for the ungodly & for sinners, for the unholy & profane, for murderers of fathers & murderers of mothers, for manslayers, for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, & if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,”
“Covenant”—Also in :31 & 33—tyrb b@riyth ber-eeth’—Covenant, alliance, pledge, treaty.
“Took”—qzx chazaq khaw-zak’—to strengthen, prevail, harden, be strong, become strong, be courageous, be firm, grow firm, be resolute, be sore.
“Lead”—auy yatsa’ yaw-tsaw’—To go out, come out, exit, go forth—Hiphil—To cause to come or go out, lead out, to bring out of, to deliver.
“Broke”—rrp parar paw-rar’—To break, frustrate; To split, divide.—Hiphil—To break, violate, frustrate, make ineffectual.
“Husband”—Verb—leb ba`al baw-al’—To marry, rule over, possess, own.—Qal—To marry, be lord over, rule over
—Application:
?To what Covenant are you committed?....
.....Yours a DIFFERING COVENANT?
?You under the umbrella of the Christmas Covenant?
3—The Christmas Covenant is ...
AN INDIVIDUALLY COLLECTIVE COVENANT(:33) Appropriated
—Explanation:(:33)
:33—“But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the LORD: I will put My law in their minds, & write it on their hearts; & I will be their God, & they shall be My people.”
“...I will put My law in their minds,...”
Rom. 12:2—“And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”
Eph. 4:17-24—“This I say, therefore, and testify in the Lord, that you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles walk, in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who, being past feeling, have given themselves over to lewdness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
“...& write it on their hearts;...”
—Makes one personally, permanently & publicly accountable.
“Covenant”—tyrb b@riyth ber-eeth’—Covenant, alliance, pledge, treaty.
“Make”—trk karath kaw-rath’—To cut, cut off, cut down, hew, cut off a body part, eliminate, kill, cut a covenant.
“Put”—Ntn nathan naw-than’—To give, put, set.—to give, bestow, grant, permit, ascribe, employ, devote, consecrate, dedicate, pay wages, sell, exchange, lend, commit, entrust, give over, deliver up, yield produce, occasion, produce, requite to, report, mention, utter, stretch out, extend.
“Law”— hrwt towrah to-raw’—Law, direction, instruction.
“Minds/Inward parts/Within them”—brq qereb keh’-reb—Midst, among, inner part, middle.
“Write”—btk kathab kaw-thab’—To write, record, enroll.
“Hearts”—bl leb labe—Inner man, mind, will, heart, understanding.
“God”—Myhla ’elohiym el-o-heem’—God.
“People”—Me `am am—Nation, people; Kinsman, kindred.
—Application:
?To what Covenant are you committed?....
.....Yours an INDIVIDUALLY COLLECTIVE COVENANT?
?You under the umbrella of the Christmas Covenant?
4—The Christmas Covenant is a...
A RELATIONAL COVENANT(:34) Effective
—Explanation/Argumentation:(:34)
:34—“No more shall every man teach his neighbor, & every man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the LORD. For I will forgive their iniquity, & their sin I will remember no more.””
...“Know the LORD”...”
“....for they all shall know Me,...”
Jn. 6:45—““It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Therefore everyone who has heard & learned from the Father comes to Me.”
Mat. 11:27—““All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, & no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son, & the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.”
Jn. 17:3—““And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, & Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”
1Jn. 2:27-28—“But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, & you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, & is true, & is not a lie, & just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him. And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence & not be ashamed before Him at His coming.”
*Not merely a rational grasp of God’s existence....but is instead the involvement in a relationship with God.
“Teach”—dml lamad law-mad’—To teach.
“Neighbor”—er rea` ray’-ah—friend, companion, fellow, another person.
“Brother”—xa ’ach awkh—Brother
“Know”—edy yada` yaw-dah’—To know, perceive, discriminate, etc.
“...For I will forgive their iniquity, & their sin I will remember no more.””
Ps. 103:10-14—“He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities. For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him; As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.”
Rom. 6:13-14—“And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, & your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace.”
Gal. 3:13-14—“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse for us (for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”), that the blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus, that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.”
Rom. 11:26-27—“And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; For this is My covenant with them, When I take away their sins.””
“Forgive”—xlo calach saw-lakh’—To forgive, pardon.
“Iniquity”—Nwe `avon aw-vone’—Perversity, depravity, guilt or punishment of iniquity.
“Sin”—hajx chatta’ah khat-taw-aw’—Sin, sinful—Condition of sin, guilt of sin, punishment for sin, sin-offering, purification from sins of ceremonial uncleanness.
“Remember”—rkz zakar zaw-kar’—To remember, recall, call to mind
—Application:
?To what Covenant are you committed?....
.....Yours a RELATIONAL COVENANT?
?You under the umbrella of the Christmas Covenant?
—CONCLUSION—
Action:
The Christmas Covenant is...
A UNITING COVENANT(:31)
A DIFFERING COVENANT(:32)
AN INDIVIDUALLY COLLECTIVE COVENANT(:33)
A RELATIONAL COVENANT(:34) EFFECTIVE
Christmas celebrates the fulfillment of these promises!
Jer. 31:22—“How long will you gad about, O you backsliding daughter? For the LORD has created a new thing in the earth-- A woman shall encompass a man.—GILL—‘a mighty one, a mighty man, the man Jehovah’s fellow; conceived, contained, & encompassed, in the womb of the virgin, the woman, whose seed he was to be of, & of whom he was: this was a "new", unheard of, extraordinary thing, a "creation", a work of almighty power! the human nature of Christ was formed & prepared by the power of the Holy Ghost, without the help of man; & this now is mentioned as an argument & an encouragement to the Jews to return to their own land, since the Messiah is born there of a virgin, as it was foretold he should. This seems to be the true & genuine sense of the words, & other senses weak & impertinent; as when they are made to refer to the heroic spirit in some women superior to men; to the unusual practice of women suing to men for marriage; & to the people of Israel returning to the Lord from their apostasy.’
Jer. 31:36-37—““If those ordinances depart From before Me, says the LORD, Then the seed of Israel shall also cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD: “If heaven above can be measured, And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel For all that they have done, says the LORD.”
Presented 12/05/04pm to:
Providence Baptist Church
975 Providence Road
Whigham, GA 39897
