Today's sermon text is Jeremiah 31, starting at verse 29.
As a point of reference, many of you are familiar with the story of Daniel and the Hebrews who were carried away from Jerusalem to Babylon.
When they were growing up and still living in Jerusalem, they would have heard the warnings that God gave to national Israel through the prophet Jeremiah.
But most in Israel would have rejected Jeremiah. They considered him a madman.
And he was bringing only bad news that their kings did not want to hear.
Because Israel did not repent, national Israel suffered the consequences of breaking God's law.
And they were carried off into exile in Babylon.
In this ministry, Jeremiah was thrown into a muddy pit and left for dead.
He was rejected by his own people, being a prophet of God.
Some have said that Jeremiah suffered more at the hands of the rulers of Israel and Jerusalem than any other prophet, except for the Lord Jesus Christ.
So this word in this heavy, dark book of Jeremiah brings us some of the most glorious promises of God's enduring covenant faithfulness.
How even though these people are so rebellious and they're trying to kill even the messenger, Jeremiah, that God will bring a new covenant.
He will be faithful to his people.
And let's hear this promise from Jeremiah 31, beginning at verse 29.
This is God's inspired, inerrant, infallible, clear and sufficient word.
I'll say this is the word of the Lord. You can respond. Thanks be to God.
Jeremiah 31, starting at verse 29.
In those days they shall say no more.
The fathers have eaten our sour grapes and the children's teeth are set on edge.
But everyone shall die for his own iniquity.
Every man who eats the sour grapes, his teeth shall be set on edge.
Verse 31.
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
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.
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 and write it on their hearts.
I will be their God and they shall be my people.
No more shall every man teach his neighbor and every man his brother, saying,
Know the Lord, for they shall all know me from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord.
For I will forgive their iniquity and their sin.
I will remember no more.
Thus says the Lord, who gives the sun for a light by day in the ordinances of the moon and the stars for a light by night,
who disturbs the scene and its waves roar.
The Lord of hosts is his name.
If these ordinances depart from before me, says the Lord, then the seed of Israel shall also cease from being a nation before me.
Verse 37.
Thus says the Lord, if heaven above can be measured and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath,
I will also cast off the seed of Israel for all that they have done, says the Lord.
This is the word of the Lord.
Amen.
Thanks be to God.
You may be seated.
The grass withers and the flower fades, but the word of the Lord endures forever.
Let's pray.
Lord, we believe that your word is powerful.
Your word is alive.
It's active and it's sharp.
The word is the sword of the spirit.
We pray that your Holy Spirit will take the word that you revealed and that you will pierce us, Lord, to the heart.
Pray that you'll cut away our wrong understanding of you.
And that with your word, Lord, you will prune us.
You will make us to bear fruit that keeps with the covenant that Jesus cut in his blood.
We know that on our own.
We have no strength, Lord.
I confess that as the one standing before your people to minister your word, I have no strength, no words of my own.
I pray for your help.
I pray that you'll guard my lips.
That what I preach to your people, Lord, will be edifying.
That it will exalt Christ as the Lord of your people.
We pray this for his sake alone.
Amen.
If a child gets adopted into a new family,
one of the first things they need to figure out is how is this family the same or how is this family different from what I'm used to?
In our training to be foster parents, completing all those courses for certification,
it's heartbreaking to learn the different types of backgrounds and families that children in the foster care system come out of.
One of the common mistakes the new foster families make is that when a child arrives with their black trash bag full of all their belongings in life,
the family wants right away to take all the belongings out of that black trash bag and put them away
and then throw that old ugly black trash bag away because you're home now.
But it's it's very comforting to the child to know these are all of my possessions.
And if I have to run away from this home, I have everything I need right here in this black bag.
So the counsel to the families receiving a child out of the foster care system is be respectful and understanding of that.
Let the child keep their belongings in this trash bag.
Let them keep everything right where they have it, where they're used to it,
because they've had such bad experiences before this.
Let them just feel safe in your home.
All of us who are born as a human being from the line of Adam and Eve,
we are under the curse of Adam, the federal head.
We have a baggage, trash that we inherited.
And if Jesus has saved you and by the power of his spirit has transferred you from the domain of darkness into his kingdom of light,
and he's baptized you with the name of the triune God, you belong to him.
We're sorting that out.
How new is it to belong to God?
How much baggage do I bring with me?
Am I really at home here?
Or will God have a mood and want to kick me out of his family?
Well, my message for you today is about the new covenant that Jesus says he cut in his own blood.
And the question I want to walk through is how new is the new covenant?
That's the title of today's sermon.
How new is the new covenant?
This is part one of two.
So next week we'll be approaching this new covenant from the New Testament.
But we want to understand what God had promised leading up to the finished work of Christ.
And so the prophecy of the new covenant, it comes in the old covenant in many places,
but nowhere more clearly than in Jeremiah 31.
What we just read is our sermon text.
To the people of God is promised a new covenant.
And I want to see now, what does God say to the people of Israel in Jeremiah 31 about this new covenant
that should set their expectation for how new it will be?
The first observation in verse 29 is that the children of believers will stand on their own in the new covenant.
In the new covenant, the children of believers will stand on their own.
Let's understand this first in the context of Israel.
Israel as a nation was in a covenant with God, but it was a covenant based on works.
Moses gave the law from Sinai.
And if national Israel, a sufficient number in national Israel, obeyed God's law,
the whole nation would enjoy blessings in the land.
The iniquities of the fathers was upon the children in this covenant of works,
but also were the blessings.
In other words, if your parents were part of a generation that feared God,
the next generation could be very spoiled, take it for granted,
and still get to enjoy living in the land.
And that was the pattern for national Israel.
In verse 29, we're told,
In those days, referring to a future day that will come,
the fathers have eaten sour grapes,
but now the principle is going to change.
In the old covenant, when the parents sin,
the children's teeth get set on edge.
But in the new, he says,
In those days, in verse 30,
Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.
Every man who eats sour grapes,
his teeth shall be set on edge.
So he's creating a distinction relating to the children of believers.
He's using some Hebrew prophetic idioms here that we need to explain
to even be able to interpret this correctly.
What does it mean for your tooth to be set on edge
or to eat a sour grape?
A sour grape refers to the vineyard of God
and the vineyard being the people of God
not bearing the fruit that is pleasing to the owner of the vineyard.
To eat a sour grape is to take something that is displeasing to God
and receive it for yourself,
grab it for yourself as a sweet morsel.
It's to see a grape that you know is not pleasing to God
and to consume it.
Sin is treason against God.
Sin is a sour grape.
John Gill applied this to the church.
He said,
Sin, though it may be esteemed a sweet morsel,
is always a sour grape
because it's always committing treason
against the owner of the vineyard.
What does it mean for your teeth to be set on edge?
I had to do a little study on this one.
So think of your tooth like this.
If you put your hand out like this
and you've got the top of your arm
with your fingers being your tooth like this,
if you hit the top of your arm,
it's a sharp edge.
But if your tooth were set on edge
and you try to cut something,
it won't cut.
It's blunt.
So for your teeth to be set on edge,
it means that your teeth are worn down.
It's the dull side of the tooth that's blunt.
It means that you have been gnashing your teeth so much
that your teeth are now flat.
So he says in the Old Covenant,
the parents' sin
and the children's teeth are set on edge.
The sins of the parents in national Israel
are going to bring curses
and a miserable life for the children.
So the generation in Israel
that won't listen to the prophet Jeremiah
is bringing curses on the next generation.
They're going to get carried away into exile
because of the sins of their fathers.
That's the pattern in the Old Covenant.
But notice the change.
He says in those days,
in a future covenant,
the New Covenant,
your standing will not be based
on your parents' works or obedience,
blessing or curse.
It will be based on your own standing,
your own obedience
or rebellion against God.
Look at verse 30 one more time.
Everyone shall die for his own iniquity.
If you have gnashing of the teeth
and your teeth are blunt
and grinded down from the misery of your sin,
you don't get to turn
and blame it on your parents.
You stand on your own.
This is a big change.
Children of believers in those days
will stand on their own.
In John chapter 8 verse 24,
Jesus says,
I told you that you would die in your sins
if you do not believe in me.
You will indeed die in your sins.
In those days,
each one within national Israel
must believe for themselves in Jesus Christ
if they are to be part of the people of God
and receive the blessings of Christ.
So in the new covenant,
in those days that he's describing
as a future time,
your blessing or curse
is not based on whether you're a Jew or a Gentile,
whether you're in the land
or you're in exile like Daniel,
or whether your parents are pagans or believers.
You must believe in Jesus Christ,
your God and Savior personally.
That's the first observation.
Children of believers stand on their own
in the new covenant.
Do you see what I see in that?
Are you with me still?
Second observation.
The terms of the new covenant
are not according to those of the old.
The terms of the new covenant
are not according to those of the old.
Let's read verses 31 and 32 together.
Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord,
when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah,
not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers.
In that day, 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.
The old covenant was made
according to a certain pattern and principle.
But he says in the new covenant,
my covenant with my people in the new covenant
will not be according to that same principle.
Well, what was the principle of the old
before we see the contrast with the new?
The pattern of the old covenant,
we get in Genesis 17, verses 10 through 12.
God says to Abraham,
this is my covenant with you
and your descendants after you,
the covenant you are to keep.
Every male among you shall be circumcised,
the sign of my covenant.
So the fact that you are related to Abraham by blood
means that you're going to receive the sign of the covenant.
It had nothing to do in the person receiving the sign,
nothing in them in the old covenant.
It was simply from here.
You're from the line of Abraham.
Ethnically, biologically, you're of Abraham.
You get the sign of the covenant.
That was the principle in the old covenant.
But he said in verse 22,
the new covenant will not be
according to the covenant that I made.
It'll be different.
It'll work on a different principle.
He says he will establish a covenant,
the covenant that national Israel broke,
and it will be according to other terms
based on a different principle.
What is that principle?
Well, that's what he's going to explain
in the rest of the verses of our sermon text.
He says in verse 33,
this is the covenant that I will make
with the house of Israel after those days.
God kept his word.
National Israel received Jesus Christ.
And God says, I make this covenant with Israel
that everyone who will receive Jesus Christ
as the promised seed,
promised to Abraham.
And if you believe in him from national Israel,
this promise is for you.
In Romans 1 16,
Paul calls this the gospel,
the power of God for salvation,
for everyone who believes,
for the Jew first,
and also for the Greek.
So God is true to his word.
This new covenant is given to Israel first,
and all who are appointed to eternal life in Israel
will receive Christ as the fulfillment of this promise.
It's much better than the old covenant.
And it's not based on who your parents are.
It's based on whether you receive Jesus Christ for yourself.
So the terms of the new covenant are not according to those of the old.
Third observation.
You belong to the old covenant externally.
If you're born in national Israel,
your dad,
being a male Israelite,
would have received the sign of that covenant.
He would have been circumcised.
So you could belong to national Israel,
being covenant with God,
and have that sign of the covenant,
the circumcision in the old covenant.
But he says in the new covenant,
you can't belong externally.
You will belong to the new covenant
only by what God does in your mind and in your heart.
Look at verse 33.
Thus says the Lord,
I will put my law in their minds
and write it on their hearts,
and I will be their God,
and they shall be my people.
It's not an external sign any longer.
The new covenant is put to the inner man.
God writes it on your mind,
puts it on your heart.
Romans 2.25 says,
If you are a breaker of the law,
your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
If you claim to be in God's covenant
in the church,
and you pretend like you're a believer,
that you're saved,
but you live a life of sin,
of treason to God,
just eating sour grapes,
it doesn't matter who your parents were.
It doesn't matter if you're a Jew.
It doesn't matter if you're circumcised or not,
because that's what the early church was trying to decide.
How new is the new covenant?
What matters is if you are united to Christ,
because if you are united to Christ,
you are a new creation.
The old has gone away.
If you are a breaker of the law,
your circumcision has become uncircumcision.
The external sign does not dictate
whether you're truly in the covenant.
If by God's grace,
you were born to parents that God saved,
you do have many blessings.
If you're born into a household that loves the Lord
and fears the Lord,
if even one of your parents can say,
I'm a saved sinner,
you have so many blessings.
These are the parents who will bring you to church.
These are the parents who will forgive you
as God forgave them.
These are parents who will read God's word to you
and pray for you
and teach you to hide God's word in your heart
that you may not sin against God.
And through these parents,
God can minister the saving gospel.
But having Christian parents
does not put you in covenant with God.
There is no grace mediated through parents.
Ultimately,
Christ is the only mediator between God and man.
So we have many blessings
of being in a Christian household.
No one can be born into the covenant of grace.
You need to be transferred from Adam to Christ.
You need to be taken as a slave under Satan and darkness
and made a citizen under King Jesus and the new covenant.
Martin Luther continued that practice
of the Roman Catholic Church
of baptizing infant children of believers.
But his theology was correct
that he called his children little heathens.
This is not a sermon against children.
We love children very much.
We love them so much.
We don't want to give them false assurance.
We want to preach the full gospel.
You need Christ.
You and I were born as heathens.
And just like being baptized in the Roman Empire
didn't make you any less pagan
or citizen of the Roman Empire,
we don't want our children to have the idea
that because my parents love God and fear him,
I got a ticket.
You stand on your own.
You cannot belong to the covenant externally only.
It must be a work God does in your heart
and in your mind.
Colossians 1.13
All the little heathens as we're born
need to be delivered from the power of darkness
and transferred into the kingdom of the Son of God's love.
When the New Testament talks to children in the church
and saying,
Children, obey your parents in the Lord.
These are letters to the church.
Yes, children are part of the gathered congregation.
But if you're not in Christ for yourself,
you receive that as the law.
Children, obey your parents in the Lord.
And you think,
I didn't obey my mom just this morning.
I'm a sinner.
I need a savior.
So it's a blessing that you can hear the law of God
within the congregation.
Just like we remind ourselves of God's moral law every week
because it drives us back to the cross.
The covenant of grace is made between God the Father
and God the Son.
And with all of God's elect in Christ
as his seed.
If you are in Christ,
you are the seed of Christ.
And if you are in Christ,
you receive all the blessings that God gave
to the church through Christ.
But the only souls in the covenant of grace
are those to whom
the redemption that Christ purchased
has applied by the Holy Spirit.
You cannot be in the covenant of grace
unless God the Holy Spirit
applies redemption to you.
because you belong to the old covenant externally,
but to the new covenant,
you can only belong
by the work God does in your mind
and in your heart.
Fourth observation about the new covenant
is that God mediated the old covenant
by sinful men,
but the new by God,
the Son himself.
The old covenant God mediated.
He had someone stand in between God and man,
which was Moses.
In Deuteronomy,
the people begged,
please don't let God give us the law directly.
It's terrifying.
We will die
if we have to hear the law from God directly.
So God rose up Moses
as a mediator
to stand between God
and the people
to give them the law.
But in the new covenant,
there's no other mediator
except Jesus Christ himself.
Our sermon text was written
to national Israel,
Jeremiah 31.
In the non-Jews
in the church era,
1 Corinthians 10, 11,
are told this,
that the history of God
redeeming Israel
happened as an example for you.
They were written for our admonition
upon whom the ends of the ages has come.
In 1 Corinthians 10,
Paul's telling the church,
when you read about what God did
with national Israel,
that is for you,
for your good.
God made promises
and a covenant
to national Israel.
And God has kept his word
and he will keep his word.
But those promises
are also for you
to learn from,
to admonish the church,
which includes Gentiles.
And so what is it
that the church needs to learn
about this promise
in Jeremiah 31?
Let's look at verse 34.
In this new covenant,
God says,
No more shall every man
teach his neighbor
and every man his brother,
saying,
Know the Lord,
for they all shall know me,
from the least of them
to the greatest,
says the Lord.
How can sinners know God?
God says,
For I will forgive
their iniquity
and their sin,
I will remember no more.
They shall all know me
in the new covenant,
from the least
to the greatest.
You don't need a priest.
You don't need Moses.
You don't need a pastor
mediating God to you.
In the new covenant,
you will know God directly.
Christ is the great high priest.
He is the mediator.
And you know God.
You know God himself
when you know Jesus Christ
in the new covenant.
Some of you might be thinking,
What does this passage
in Jeremiah 31
have to do with me
or with the church?
How do you know
this is referring
to the new covenant
that Jesus cut?
And some of you
maybe have
Hebrews 8 memorized,
but if you don't
or if you want to see it
with your own eyes,
turn to Hebrews chapter 8.
You just need to know
it's not a pastor
up here trying to
twist something
from the Old Testament
and make it be
about the church.
Well, Hebrews 8
is most likely
Timothy's sermon notes
of the sermons
preached by Paul.
And in Hebrews 8,
starting at verse 7,
he writes,
For if that first covenant
had been faultless,
then no place would have
been sought for a second,
because finding fault
with them,
he says.
Put another way,
the covenant God made
through Moses
and national Israel
found fault
in the people of God.
it exposed their ability
to keep God's law
by their own flesh
and by their own strength.
So having exposed
their need for a savior,
he says,
this is Hebrews 8,
verse 8,
Behold,
the days are coming,
says the Lord,
when I will make
a new covenant.
And if you notice,
this entire passage
all the way
to the end of verse 12
is word for word
Jeremiah 31.
The application
of the new covenant
to the church
is given in Hebrews 8.
All that the apostle
has to say next
is verse 13.
In what he says,
a new covenant
he has made
the first obsolete
and what is becoming
obsolete
and growing old
is ready
to vanish away.
With the finished
work of Christ,
there is no more
mediator.
Church received
this promise
of Jeremiah 31
as fulfilled
in Christ.
And this new covenant
that fulfills
what God told Abraham,
through you
all the nations
will be blessed.
How can that be?
Well,
from the line
of Abraham
and David
comes Jesus Christ
and he is truly God,
truly man,
the mediator
of the new covenant.
Now the ceremonial law,
the judicial law,
they're obsolete.
They've faded away.
They have no more
bearing on God's people
to bring a curse
on them,
to expose
how they are
covenant breakers.
No longer.
Instead,
Christ is the only
mediator
and this covenant
is not a covenant
of works,
it's a covenant
of grace.
To be very specific,
parents,
you may not
mediate
the covenant
of grace
in Christ's place
to your children.
Some of you are saying,
well,
hold on,
didn't Peter say
in Acts 2,
39,
this promise
is for you
and your children.
Yes.
In fact,
let's turn there.
Let's turn to
Acts chapter 2.
If you can turn
in your Bible
to the New Testament
after the Gospels,
the book of Acts
chapter 2,
and let's read
exactly what Peter
says to the church
about the promise.
Acts 2,
verse 39.
Verse 39.
Peter preached,
repent,
and let every one
of you
be baptized
in the name
of Jesus Christ
for the remission
of sins,
and you shall
receive
the gift
of the Holy Spirit,
for the promise
is for you
and to your children,
to all who are
afar off,
as many
as the Lord
our God
will call.
So parents,
you can preach
the Gospel
to your children,
and you can
encourage them.
The promise
of salvation
is for you.
It's for you
who will receive
the gracious
offer of Christ
to save you
by His blood.
And it's not
only for you
who are
children of believers
or who are
ethnic Jews,
it's also for those
who are far off
to the islands
and the coastlands,
as many
as the Lord
our God
will call.
That's who
will receive.
That's who
will respond
in repentance.
And the church
affirms that
and praises the Lord
and celebrates
that with baptism.
So the gracious
promise of salvation
in Christ
is offered
freely,
genuinely
to all.
And it will
be received
by as many
as the Lord
our God
will call
by the application
of that promise
to their heart
by the Holy Spirit.
Matthew 27, 25
is a connection
I hadn't seen
until this week.
Peter is saying
the promise
is for you
and your children.
And think about
who Peter's audience
was.
These were the same
Jews,
the great crowd
that had cried
crucify him.
And Pilate said
I wash my hand
this man's innocent.
And in Matthew
27, verse 25
listen to what
the Jewish crowd
says.
May his,
Jesus' blood
be on us
and our children.
They brought on
a curse on themselves
and their children.
They're eating
these sour grapes
saying crucify him.
And it's their children
who they're cursing
by rejecting
the very son of God.
And Peter stands
and tells them
no,
this promise
is for you
and your children.
Turn to the Savior
Jesus Christ
and be washed
of your sin.
Your children too
can be blessed.
And as many
as are far off
through you
national Israel
will all nations
be blessed
and all those
that are regenerated
or engrafted in
they are the seed
of Jesus Christ.
who is in
the new covenant?
It's all those
who receive
the promise
of grace
through faith
in Christ
who repent
of unbelief
because the spirit
regenerated them
and they are united
to Jesus.
That's what's symbolized
in baptism.
You're forgiven
of your sins.
You've received
the Holy Spirit.
It's not based
on whether
you're in the land.
It's also for you
who are far off.
It's not based
on being born
into a Christian home
or being part
of the church
or being considered
a citizen
of the Roman Empire.
That's not what
makes you
in the new covenant.
It's as many
as the Lord
will call
because no one
can mediate
the new covenant
of grace
except Christ
himself.
Well, the fifth
observation is that
man could break
the old covenant
but the promised
seed himself
secures the new.
Man could break
the old covenant.
It says it right there
in our sermon text.
The covenant
which you broke.
But the promised
seed himself
is the one
who secures
the new covenant.
Let's look at
verse 35
through 37.
Thus says the Lord
who gives the sun
for a light
by day
the ordinances
of the moon
and the stars
for a light
by night
who disturbs
the sea
and its waters
roar.
The Lord of hosts
is his name.
If those ordinances
the sun
the moon
the tides
if those ordinances
were to depart
from before me
says the Lord
in other words
if God were no longer
sovereign over all
his creation
then the seed of Israel
shall also cease
from being a nation
before me.
It's not going to happen.
God will never
stop being sovereign
over his creation
and never will
the seed of Israel
cease from being
a nation
before him.
Thus says the Lord
of heaven above
if heaven above
can be measured
and the foundations
of the earth
searched out beneath
only then
would I cast off
all the seed of Israel
for all that they
have done
says the Lord.
He's saying
you want to know
how much better
the new covenant is
how gracious
how secure you are
if you're in the new covenant
no matter how bad
national Israel
has been
this new covenant
will be secured
just as I secure
the orderliness
of my creation
just as you can't
measure the expanse
or the depths
of the ocean
that's how unfathomable
my covenant
faithfulness
is to you.
He's saying
I could cast off
or throw away
or break ties with
and banish forever
the Israelites
of Jeremiah's generation
for all the sins
that they have committed
against me.
God has every right
to do that.
They are covenant breakers
but God says
I won't do that
just like you can't
understand
how deep the earth is
and how to measure
the distance
between an expanding
galaxy
so you can't
understand
my covenant
faithfulness
that I will
I will be faithful
to the seed
of Israel.
Well now we need
to understand
who is this seed
to whom God
will be so faithful.
We have three options.
One it's the biological
seed of Abraham
through Isaac
and Jacob
ethnic Israelites
today.
You can be a Christian
and believe this.
Second option
is that
this refers
to the Christians
now
and their children
today.
If you think
that the church
has replaced
national Israel
then it's the children
of believers
who are seeds
the seed promises
are fulfilled
ultimately in Christ
but also then
to biological children
or third
that Jesus Christ
is the capital
promised seed.
Let's let the Bible
interpret the Bible
for us
and would you please
turn to Galatians 3
New Testament
Galatians chapter 3
who is the promised seed?
Galatians chapter 3
and verse 16
Galatians 3
16
Paul is writing
to the church
which was disputing
this very thing
should Gentiles
be circumcised
because that's the sign
of the old covenant?
who are God's promises
for?
By the inspiration
of the Spirit
Paul writes
now to Abraham
and his seed
where the promise
is made
he does not say
and to seeds
as of many
but as of one
and to your seed
here it is
underline this
if you haven't already
your seed
who is Christ
in this Abrahamic covenant
God is promising
blessings
to Christ
and through Christ
to all of Christ's seed
man could break
the old covenant
but this promise
seed
Jesus Christ
he himself
secures
the new covenant
well for today
the last thing
I want to
encourage you with
is this
you are secure
if you are in Christ
in the new covenant
how secure?
how secure are you
if you are in Christ's
new covenant?
I just have four
for today
in the new covenant
Christ himself
holds you
secure
because Jesus Christ
undid
the curse
of Adam
Romans 5 17
since by one man
Adam's offense
death reigned
over all
much more
you who receive
abundance of grace
and of the gift
of righteousness
have life
through the one
Jesus Christ
because Jesus Christ
undid
the curse
of Adam
for all those
who are in his
covenant of grace
how secure are you
in his new covenant?
well Christ
holds you fast
because he signed
your adoption papers
with his blood
John 1 12
says as many
as received
Jesus Christ
to them
he gave the right
to be children
of God
to those who believe
in his name
1 John 3 1
behold
what manner
of love is this
the father
has bestowed
on us
that we should
be called
children of God
the seed promises
fulfilled in Christ
extend
to all those
who believe
in Christ
first through Israel
then for the nations
how secure are you
in Christ's new covenant?
Christ holds you fast
in his covenant
of grace
because the Holy Spirit
of God
lives inside of you
who believe
Romans 8 15
you have received
the spirit
of adoption
by whom we cry out
Abba Father
the spirit
himself
bears witness
with our spirit
that we are
children of God
and if children
then heirs
heirs of God
and joint
heirs
with Christ
how secure
are you
in Christ's new covenant?
God promised
in Jeremiah 31
verses 35
and 36
as stable
as I have made
the course of the sun
the cycle
of the moon
the placement
of the stars
the movement
of the waters
of the oceans
so stable
is my promise
to you
just as I show you
my sovereignty
over all creation
so I will sovereignly
keep you
by my power
in my covenant
of grace
through Jesus Christ
you shall never
depart from me
says the Lord
my promised seed
God the son
who took on flesh
to be your mediator
Jesus Christ
has secured you
for himself
you belong to him
and if you belong
to Christ
you shall never
cease
from being
his people
you are the people
of God
before you
in Christ
God has a kingdom
a nation
and you are firm
secure
in his hand
he says
just as heaven
cannot be measured
nor the foundations
of the earth
searched out beneath
so you
Christian
can trust
that God
will never
cast off any
who are his children
through Jesus Christ
that's how secure
you are
in the new covenant
well for many of you
I hope this is comforting
you are not
in a covenant
of works
you are not
that orphaned
foster child
that needs to fear
being kicked out
of the home
or having to grab
all your belongings
and run
one more time
you're in a covenant
of grace
the principle
is different
it's not based
on your works
or the works
of your family
you are secured
by Jesus Christ
himself
he came under
the law
his own law
and he fulfilled
all of it
on your behalf
so that you could
be a co-heir
with him
in his father's home
you are secure
in Jesus Christ
praise him
for his new covenant
of grace
and every time
we come to the
Lord's Supper
you remember
your adoption papers
are signed
with his own blood
let's spend some time
praying
in response
to the gospel
you've heard today
good
thank you
my God
let's have a
approximately
stop
pom
amazing
God
哲学
joins