Promises Kept: A 6 Day Devotional From the Old Testament CovenantsParaugs

Day 6 - Keeping Covenant for Covenant Breakers - Christ in the New Covenant

In His final moments alive, Jesus shares a meal with His friends. Every Gospel writer chooses a different angle to take. But all of them focus on something important–everything is about to change. John writes about the coming Holy Spirit (John 14-17). Matthew, Mark, and Luke write about the institution of the Lord’s Supper and the removal of our sins by the blood of Jesus (Matthew 26:17-35, Mark 14:12-26, Luke 22:14-23).

All of this is the fulfillment of the New Covenant promised in Jeremiah 31. Jeremiah tells Israel, “there is coming a day when your hearts will be transformed.” He promises to dwell among them again. He promises to forgive and forget all the wrongs they have committed against Him.

But there is one big obstacle standing in their way–their sin. In Luke 22:20, he tells them that this blood of the new covenant is a symbol of His blood that He will shed for them. This would have triggered a significant memory in their minds. Every year (and even that week) they prepared a lamb for slaughter. This had gone on for centuries. And every year, it had to be repeated the year after. It was never enough. But in the New Covenant promise of Jeremiah 31, there is an echo of permanency. This New Covenant is not written on tablets of stone, it’s written on human hearts (2 Cor. 3:3). This New Covenant contains the promise of sins being cast as far as the east is from the west (Jer. 31:34, Ps. 103:12).

The only one who could do this is God Himself.

Often we hear people make a distinction between the Old and New Covenants. The Old Testament is left behind, but the New Testament is where it’s at. But if we look closely at Jesus Christ, we see there is no distinction. There is no old covenant, there is just a broken covenant, which is why the new is even necessary. From the very beginning, God’s people have broken covenant with Him. Every single covenant in the Old Testament was driving home the reality that they were always going to need a new heart–one they could not create on their own.

This is where the New Covenant leads us–the culmination of every promise in the Old Testament, kept by our Savior in the New. That’s what we’ve been doing in this devotional. We have flexed our bible muscles to help us bear the weight of what the Old Testament has been telling us all along, every story whispers his name.

Read: (Jeremiah 31:33) and (Luke 22:19-20).

Pause and Reflect: How does the promise that His blood takes away sin change how you interact with unbelievers who feel weighed down by their own sin? Is there a sin in your life that seems too impossible to be forgiven? Write down Jeremiah 31:34 and replace “their iniquity” and “their sin” with that specific sin. Pray that God would give you faith to believe this to be true for you.

Pray: Lord, when we are weighed down with our sin, help us to remember this truth and this hope. You have given us new hearts. You have cleansed us by your blood. You have changed our old nature and given us a new nature in Christ. We praise you for the finished work of Christ, the one who secured the New Covenant by his own life, death, and resurrection. Amen.

For more on how Christ keeps the Old Testament promises, check out my new bible study, “Promises Kept: 5 Old Testament Covenants and How Christ Fulfills Them”