Need the middleman

      This Lenten season, we have been working our way through the Old Testament, looking at God’s words that tell us “Never Again.” These are the words being fulfilled in all the familiar passion scenes found in the gospels. Today’s passage will look at who is responsible for each of our spiritual lives and for carrying out the work of the Kingdom.

 

     Jeremiah 31:31-34 (CEB):

 

     The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It won’t be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant with me even though I was their husband, declares the LORD. No, this is the covenant that I will make with the people of Israel after that time, declares the LORD. I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.

 

     They will no longer need to teach other to say, “Know the LORD!” because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the LORD; for I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.

 

 

This is the Word of God.

For the people of God.

Thanks be to God.

 

     The prophet Jeremiah lived through the fall of Jerusalem. What is interesting about that is Jeremiah received his call from God five years before King Josiah would launch a campaign to reform the kingdom from idol worship. Josiah knew their behavior had upset God and he sought to use his political influence and means to ignite a national revival. Jeremiah was alive for this attempt, only to see the fires meant for revival bring destruction.

 

     Why did a national revival attempt, with the approval and leadership of the king, fail? Because the king could only influence external activities. Meaning, people could put on a show that pleased the king but with no real desire to change. They would follow the rules as a group slogan that pumped up the crowd, but neglected what was necessary for a national revival to take place. Personal commitment.

 

     The Jews were God’s chosen people. He had made a covenant with them, recuing them from slavery in Egypt. God demonstrated to them and us that He brings salvation. But the Jews broke the covenant. It was not God who broke it because of their sin, it was the Jews who chose sin over the God who saved them. In verses 31 and 32, God says through Jeremiah, “The time is coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. It won’t be like the covenant made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt.” God is saying that the way the people sought reform needed reform.

 

     In verse 33, Jeremiah records God’s declaration, “I will put my Instructions within them and engrave them on their hearts.” Reformed reform would be more than remembering the law, it would be fixed in the very DNA of their being.

 

     On Mount Sinai, God wrote the Law on stone tablets. These words could be seen with eyes and known as rules to not break. They are not to be broken because there are consequences for doing so, sin. God does not like sin, and so to keep God happy with them and keep the blessings coming they follow the rules. But this is not love. This is following the rules to play the system. Reformed reform is the law placed at the core of a person, the place that is the fountain of all a person does so following the rules is a natural expression of their love to God.

 

     The key to reformed reform, having the law at the heart of a person is knowing God at the deepest level. The word “know” means to know by observing and reflecting and to know by experiencing. (Vines Bible Dictionary) It is a person seeing God’s law and reflecting on why it is good, but then experiencing His goodness on a personal level. What makes God good? “For I will forgive their wrongdoing and never again remember their sins.” Knowing God is to see He is good and experience Him by knowing He has forgiven sin. Reformed reform is a person knowing at the core God has forgiven their sin, and because of this radical love, they live out the law to demonstrate their love to God.

 

     What does this have to do with us? How does it reveal who is responsible for each of our spiritual lives and carrying out the work of the Kingdom? It is understanding that God is saying “Never again do we need the middleman.”

 

     The old covenant only promoted reform, but not enough to bring about revival. God gave the Ten Commandments so we would never again have to wonder about the expectations. But to truly live up to those expectations is more than simply following the rules. Following the rules is based on consequences and fear of them. When we are afraid of God we cannot know Him.

 

     But the way of grace is based on God and His forgiveness of your sins. It is your sin that makes you fear God and your sinfulness that keeps you from coming to Him. However, when you see God’s forgiveness change someone from the inside out and then experience it in your own life the love is overwhelming. Your response to God’s love is an inward motivation driven by your love for Him.

 

     Who is supposed to go to God for me? Verse 34 says, “They will no longer need to teach each other to say, ‘Know the LORD!’ because they will all know me.” Never again is there any need for the middleman. You do not need a pastor, a priest, or anyone else.

 

     Jesus is proof of this. God in the flesh, Jesus died so you can be assured your sins are forgiven. He is the radical love of God. The new covenant was established in His blood, the new covenant that you can see transform others and experience for yourself. But nobody else can know God for you, you must go to God just as you are. And you can do so with confidence knowing your sins are already forgiven, the only thing holding you back is you.

 

     Jesus is calling to you, His arms are wide open waiting for you to embrace Him, but what is keeping you from going to Him? Is it other believers and their expectations of you? Jesus is not calling you to them but to Him! Is it the Church? She is not perfect because she is made up of imperfect people in the process of being perfected by God. But Jesus is not calling you to the Church, He is calling you to Himself. That will connect you with the Church and Her mission, but the invitation is for you to come to Jesus. You need Jesus, and He is calling you.

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