Hebrews 8 - 05.16.24
SCRIPTURE: Hebrews 8:10 AMPC
“For this is the new covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will imprint My laws upon their minds, even upon their innermost thoughts and understanding, and engrave them upon their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.”
OBSERVATION
The old covenant involved keeping God’s commandments and laws about sacrifices and other external requirements. Although the Israelites had made a covenant promise of obedience, they did not remain faithful. They broke God’s covenant many times over. The Israelites could not remain faithful because their hearts had not truly been changed.
A changed heart requires something greater than the OLD system of sacrifice.
APPLICATION
God’s HOLY SPIRIT changed EVERYTHING
I will PUT a New Spirit WITHIN them.
“…I will put a New Spirit WITHIN them;
I will remove the hearts of stone from their bodies, and I will give them tender hearts, SO—that they may follow my statutes and keep my ordinances and do them. Then they will be my people, and I will be their God.”
(Ezekiel 11:19-20 AMP)
Under God’s New’s Covenant, God’s law is Inside us-not as an external set of rules and regulations BUT God Himself has taken up residence to transform our hearts, activate our conscience and influence our motives—giving us a desire to obey Him.
1. A New Heart. “I will put My Laws IN their Minds and Write them ON Their Hearts.”
2. Intimacy with God. “I will BE their God AND they will BE my people.” In the first covenant, people continually failed to live up to their promise breaking relationship. With the New Covenant, the relationship is secured through Jesus Christ.
3. Access to Knowing God for Everyone. “Everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already KNOW me.” The New Covenant makes every believer a Priest. Jesus tore the curtain, and every believer NOW has intimate 24/7 access to God through prayer. Every believer will have a New depth of understanding unlike anything before BECAUSE we have God’s Living Presence in our heart to reveal truth to us as we read His Word and continue to learn through Bible believing--Christ Centered Church community and godly teachers.
4. God’s Forgiveness is assured. “I will FORGIVE their wrongdoings, and I will never again remember their sins.” The old covenant provided an incomplete forgiveness needing to make sacrifices over and over again for their sins. With The New Covenant, sin and its effect of separating people from God are eliminated. Sin’s impact is completely overcome AND there is no longer a barrier to our relationship with God.
God’s Law is inside us and His forgiveness is complete!
PRAYER
Thank YOU LORD Jesus for YOUR GIFT! YOUR Word is written on our mind and upon our inner most thoughts to guide and direct our ways. YOU are working IN us to give us the desire and power to do what pleases YOU (Phil 2:13). Thank YOU for YOUR Goodness and Grace and LOVE that is beyond compare. Today I am simply Thankful and say Bless the LORD Oh my soul and all that is within me, Bless His Holy Name. amen.
Tina L Kudelka