When speaking of the new covenant age we must ask three questions: (1) With whom did God originally establish the new covenant? (2) When did God make the new covenant? and (3) Why is today the age of the new covenant?
According to the Scriptures, God never made any covenant with the Gentiles. Therefore, the new covenant cannot be a covenant which God made with the Gentiles. Nor had God ever made any covenant with the church before this time. Since there was no first covenant, or old covenant, with the church, we cannot say that God made a second covenant, or a new covenant, with the church. Then with whom did God make the new covenant? Jeremiah 31:31-32 says, “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that 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 bring them out of the land of Egypt.” When the children of Israel came out of Egypt, the Lord God made a covenant with them. Later God said that He would make a new covenant with them. This word clearly shows us that God made a covenant, not with the Gentiles, but with the houses of Israel and Judah.
In determining the time when the new covenant was made, we must take into account the words in Jeremiah 31:31 which say, “The days come.” We know that when these words were spoken the days had not yet come. Verse 33 says, “But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith Jehovah.” What are the days referred to by the phrase mentioned here, “after those days”? We believe that according to the content of this covenant they refer to the beginning of the millennium. It will be at that time that God will make a new covenant with the house of Israel.
Since the new covenant is a covenant which God will make with the house of Israel in the future, why do we say that today is the new covenant age? When we come to this point we must realize that it is altogether too wonderful and an exceeding grace. We see that in the night the Lord Jesus was betrayed, “taking the cup and giving thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new (lit.) covenant...” (Matt. 26:27-28). “New covenant!” Oh, what music to our ears! How wonderful! How marvelous!
Although the term “new covenant” was written in the book of Jeremiah, still for several hundred years it was not mentioned. It was a treasure which had been forgotten. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He never mentioned the new covenant for more than thirty years. Day after day, year after year, He never mentioned it. Why at the time when He was eating the supper with His disciples, did He take the cup and bless it and give it to them saying, “Drink of it, all of you; for this is My blood of the new covenant”? He not only mentioned the new covenant; He also said, “This is My blood of the new covenant.” Oh, holy and gracious Lord, with thankful tears we worship and praise You! What a new covenant this is, full of life and full of riches! To those who do not know, it is only letters. Lord, You alone know what this covenant is. Today You have revealed this new covenant. We can say that You have opened the heavenly, spiritual treasure store, and You have bequeathed all the treasures to those whom You love. O Lord, how wonderful and gracious You are! Once again we thank and praise You.
Because of the Lord’s exceeding grace, the new covenant applies to all those who are found by grace. Although it is not until “after those days” (Heb. 8:10) that God will make a new covenant with the houses of Israel and Judah, still the Lord paid the price of His blood, enabling those whom He has redeemed to enjoy the new covenant first. From the day He died, the new covenant was established. This is the Lord’s great grace, so that we may have a foretaste of the blessing of the new covenant. It is in principle the same as when God made a covenant with Abraham. He did not make the covenant with us, but with Abraham. Yet in the same way that Abraham was justified by faith, we also can be justified by faith. Likewise, the new covenant which God promised Israel for their enjoyment in the future, because the Lord has shed His blood, can be enjoyed by us today as those who have been put under the new covenant. The Lord is building us up today by the principle of the new covenant and blessing us with the blessing of the new covenant. We know that the Lord shed His blood not only for our redemption, but also for the establishing of the new covenant. Redemption is but the procedure, the path, to reach the goal. The goal at which the Lord was aiming when He shed His blood was the establishing of the new covenant. Redemption is closely related to the establishing of the new covenant, for if the problem of sin were not solved, the blessing of the new covenant could not come upon us. We thank the Lord that His blood not only solved the problem of sin, but also established the new covenant. Therefore, this age is truly the new covenant age. Oh, the new covenant age is a blessed age! We need to praise God!
Now we shall summarize the contents of the new covenant. In later chapters we will examine its contents in more detail.
Hebrews 8:10-12 says, “For this is the covenant which I will covenant with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will impart My laws into their mind, and on their hearts I will inscribe them, and I will be God to them, and they shall be a people to Me. And they shall by no means teach each one his fellow citizen and each one his brother, saying, Know the Lord, for all shall know Me from the little one to the great among them. For I will be propitious to their unrighteousnesses, and their sins I will by no means remember anymore.” This passage clearly reveals that the new covenant includes three parts: first, God imparts His laws into man’s mind and inscribes them upon man’s heart. God becomes their God, and they become God’s people. This means that God Himself enters into man to be one with man. Second, these laws which are within man enable man to know God without the teaching of others. This is the inward knowledge of God. Third, God will make propitiation for man’s unrighteousnesses; neither will He remember man’s sins. This is forgiveness.
Hebrews 8:10-11 is actually one continuous thought. Verse 12 starts another thought. Based upon the word “For” in verse 12, we see that forgiveness is already accomplished. From God’s standpoint, verses 10 and 11 are His goal; therefore, they are mentioned first. Verse 12 is God’s procedure to reach His goal; therefore, it is mentioned later. According to our spiritual experience, God first makes propitiation for our unrighteousnesses and forgives our sins. Then He imparts His laws into our mind and inscribes them on our heart, so that He may be our God and we may be His people; finally He enables us to have an inward, deeper knowledge of Himself.
We may list these three parts of the new covenant as follows: (1) cleansing, (2) life and power, and (3) inner knowledge.
The new covenant truly meets our need. It need not be more, and it cannot be less. What God has done is truly complete. God has saved us, and through the Lord Jesus Christ, He has given these three great blessings to us. When we have the new covenant, we have cleansing, life, and power. We also have an inward knowledge so that we may know God in a deeper way. How complete and how glorious is the new covenant! How gracious God is toward us!