The Age-Old Problem With The Perfect Solution
In my brief reflection on a lesson taught at Bible College recently, I couldn’t help but dwell on an invaluable truth in God’s plan of salvation.
In the Bible, the book of Jeremiah would help us to see the tragic reality of a broken promise followed by a new promise that points forward to its fulfilment in Jesus in the New Testament. The wonder of it all continues to ensue when we see how it offers us an insight into the character of God and what this means for all of us - hope.
It means hope for all of us.
The old covenant broken
They did not obey or incline their ear, but everyone walked in the stubbornness of his evil heart.
Jeremiah 11:8.
It’s as bad as it sounds, and even worse than you might imagine. It shows us the nature of humanity at its core - rebellious. More than that, it’s borderline out of control compared to what it’s all intended to be.
Imagine an unfaithful spouse deliberately forsaking their wedding vows. Now imagine an entire nation rescued from decades of intense slavery to belong to God but failing miserably to uphold their side of the promise to no one’s benefit but their own downfall and condemnation. True story.
But it doesn’t end there.
The new covenant fulfilled
“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah[…] I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people[…] For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.”
Jeremiah 31:31–34
A divine initiative that no longer depends on human contribution - God will make, God will put, God will write, God will forgive.
A pressing change in covenant administration - What was written in stone in the old promise (Deut 4:13) is now written on hearts (v33).
A decisive new way of resolving the problem of unfaithfulness - A once-for-all payment through a perfect sacrifice that makes all other means redundant.
All this, purely by the grace and mercy of God to redeem unfaithful sinners to himself. All this, relevant and immensely significant to us today as it was throughout human history.
It’s worth adding on my part, this is merely another glimpse of gospel truth that has so much more depth than what I’ve just shared. But I must say, it is enough to humble me once more and kneel in awe and praise of Jesus Christ, the true fulfilment of God’s promises to an undeserving, unfaithful people.
Where I failed, he never did. More than that, he forgave me for all of it in his perfect sacrifice once-for-all.
Jason