I want to teach you today about a very simple thing that happened in the Bible: God made a contract with the people of Israel but they broke that contract; so God made a New Contract with all the people of the world. The New Contract is through Jesus Christ. And everyone is allowed to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour. It doesn’t matter what country you were born in, or what language you speak, or what religion you were born into – you are allowed by God to accept Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour so that you too can have your sins forgiven and receive eternal life.
We all know what a contract is: a contract is a deal or an agreement to buy or do something; you make a contract with yourself or with other people. Maybe you have a contract to clean someone’s house, they tell you that they will pay you to clean their house, and as long as you clean their house they pay you some money. If you don’t come to clean their house, they don’t pay you. You broke the contract.
God made a contract with the people of Israel many, many years ago through Moses the prophet and servant of God. This contract is called the Old Covenant; and that is just another way of saying Old Contract.
In this Old Contract God said to the people:
“If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, I will send you the seasonal rains. The land will then yield its crops, and the trees of the field will produce their fruit. Your threshing season will overlap with the grape harvest, and your grape harvest will overlap with the season of planting grain. You will eat your fill and live securely in your own land….
“However, if you do not listen to me or obey all these commands, and if you break my covenant by rejecting my decrees, treating my regulations with contempt, and refusing to obey my commands, I will punish you. I will bring sudden terrors upon you—wasting diseases and burning fevers that will cause your eyes to fail and your life to ebb away. You will plant your crops in vain because your enemies will eat them. I will turn against you, and you will be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you will rule over you, and you will run even when no one is chasing you! – Leviticus 26
The people of Israel, the chosen people of God – the Jews – rejected God’s laws and his covenant; they broke the Old Contract.
We read about this in the prophet Hosea:
“you broke my covenant
and betrayed my trust.”
This is what God said about his people the Israelites:
“This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” – Hosea chapter 1
God divorced Israel because they rejected God. It says in the prophet Jeremiah:
“I gave faithless Israel her certificate of divorce and sent her away because of all her adulteries.”
A New Contract
So we read that the people of Israel, God’s chosen people, rejected the Contract with God and refused to obey God’s rules and regulations and refused to worship Him. So God said:
“The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the LORD.
“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbours, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the LORD.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the LORD. “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” – Jeremiah 31
And this New Contract would be sealed with the blood of Jesus Christ and God would give us His Holy Spirit so that we would have a down payment for heaven.
“Then, after doing all those things,
I will pour out my Spirit upon all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy.
Your old men will dream dreams,
and your young men will see visions.
In those days I will pour out my Spirit
even on servants—men and women alike.
And I will cause wonders in the heavens and on the earth…” – Joel chapter 2
The Blood of Jesus
We are all sinners and we all have turned away from God at one time or another, so we shouldn’t judge others because Jesus said: “Do not judge or you will be judged.”
Some people think that the way to have a good life is to get rich, to get as much money as possible – and they don’t care how they get it. Some people turn to violence in order to get money and power but God said:
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life—whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing? Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are? Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?
“And why worry about your clothing? Look at the lilies of the field and how they grow. They don’t work or make their clothing, yet Solomon in all his glory was not dressed as beautifully as they are. And if God cares so wonderfully for wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow, he will certainly care for you. Why do you have so little faith?
“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs. Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.
“So don’t worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring its own worries. Today’s trouble is enough for today.”
But still, some people do not want to live a good life and trust in God to provide for them; some people are not happy with what God wants to give them; and these people get angry and take by force what they want.
They don’t realize that the way to peace with God is through the blood of Jesus. They way to have peace, and joy and comfort is to realize and say to God that you are a sinner and that you have sinned against Him and that you want Him to forgive you of your sins. If you can humble yourself and say that you have sinned then God will bless you with peace and forgiveness of sins.
“If you humble yourself God will lift you up.”
Trust in the Lord
Be happy with what God has given you, thank Him for what He has done for you. You are very blessed if you follow the ways of God. Listen to what Jesus teaches us:
“God blesses those who are poor and realize their need for him,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.
God blesses those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.
God blesses those who are humble,
for they will inherit the whole earth.
God blesses those who hunger and thirst for justice,
for they will be satisfied.
God blesses those who are merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.
God blesses those whose hearts are pure,
for they will see God.
God blesses those who work for peace,
for they will be called the children of God.
God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right,
for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs.“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
“You are the salt of the earth. But what good is salt if it has lost its flavor? Can you make it salty again? It will be thrown out and trampled underfoot as worthless.
“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father.
“Don’t misunderstand why I have come. I did not come to abolish the law of Moses or the writings of the prophets. No, I came to accomplish their purpose. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not even the smallest detail of God’s law will disappear until its purpose is achieved. So if you ignore the least commandment and teach others to do the same, you will be called the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But anyone who obeys God’s laws and teaches them will be called great in the Kingdom of Heaven.” – Matthew chapter 5
Trust in the Lord and do not lean on your own understanding. Put your faith in God and in the power of His Holy Spirit to wash away your sins in His blood and give you eternal life through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The New Covenant is signed with the blood of Jesus Hebrews 13:20.