Our Hope and Future: Jeremiah 31

The hope that Jeremiah was speaking about is more explicitly mentioned in chapter 31. The days are coming when God will make a new covenant with His people (Jer. 31:31). God says in Jeremiah 31:33, "But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on thier hearts; and I will be their God and they shall be My people." So few Jews at this time are following the Lord with their hearts. "They honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me" (Isaiah 29:13). God called Israel from the begining to be circumcised in heart, not just in the flesh (Dt. 30:6). The author of Hebrews will help us get the full beauty of this passage. Jesus Christ is now seated in Heaven and is the High Priest of a better covenant, namely the New Covenant. The Old Covenant forced animal sacrifices. Now Jesus is the true sacrifice once for all in the heavenly realm, the true tabernacle (Heb. 8:2-3). Why is the New Covenant better? Because it promises transformation and forgiveness. The Old Covenant pointed out our sin and our need for a Savior (Gal. 3:24). Why is there hope for Jeremiah and his contemporaries? Because a day is coming when God will blot out their sins if they give their heart to Him. This is fulfilled in the incarnation, life, death, resurrection, and ascension of the God-Man Jesus Christ. I pray that I daily live in the transformation and forgiveness of Christ. God allow me to treasure You. May I be willing to consider "all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8) and willing to give up all for the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:44). Thank you Jesus for the New Covenant of your blood that brought redemption to those who truly follow You. Our sins are forgiven by Your blood alone. Through Your blood we have a Mediator between us and God the Father. Christ is our hope and our future. It is not some better life now in the sense of worldly and fleeting pleasures. The hope Jeremiah speaks of in 29:11 is not some sort of promise to meet all of our worldly wants and desires. Instead, it is looking forward to the hope, future, and joy that comes through the covenant relationship with Jesus Christ.