I will be preaching a message at Cornerstone Church tomorrow entitled, “The Law In the Grace”. Our subject matter is the importance of the Bible in judging what is right, good and of God.

Over the next few days I will be publishing the sermon in bits and pieces. Here for your perusal is our launching point.

Our Scripture study this morning begins by introducing us to the fact that God is a God who operates in the world  by covenants.

 How many of you know that God is a God who makes binding agreements with people? Whether you know it or not God has offered to make a binding agreement with you today. He is just waiting for you to sign on the dotted line, so to speak.

God talks about His newest covenant, or binding agreement, with mankind in the Book of Hebrews, There He says,

“Here is the main point: ….

now Jesus, our High Priest, has been given a ministry that is far superior to the old priesthood, for he is the one who mediates for us a far better covenant with God, based on better promises.

⁷ If the first covenant had been faultless, there would have been no need for a second covenant to replace it. ⁸ But when God found fault with the people, he said:

“The day is coming, says the Lord,     when I will make a new covenant     with the people of Israel and Judah. ⁹ This covenant will not be like the one     I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand     and led them out of the land of Egypt. They did not remain faithful to my covenant,     so I turned my back on them, says the Lord. ¹⁰ But this is the new covenant I will make     with the people of Israel on that day,^[c] says the Lord: I will put my laws in their minds,     and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God,     and they will be my people. ¹¹ And they will not need to teach their neighbors,     nor will they need to teach their relatives,^[d]     saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest,     will know me already. ¹² And I will forgive their wickedness,     and I will never again remember their sins.”^[e]

¹³ When God speaks of a “new” covenant, it means he has made the first one obsolete. It is now out of date and will soon disappear.

…by the power of the eternal Spirit, Christ offered himself to God as a perfect sacrifice for our sins. ¹⁵ That is why he is the one who mediates a new covenant between God and people, so that all who are called can receive the eternal inheritance God has promised them. For Christ died to set them free from the penalty of the sins they had committed under that first covenant. “Hebrews 8:1-9:15 (excerpted)

What is the importance of this covenant to you?