“Remember that you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12 (ESV).
The people of Israel had a covenant, or agreement, with God, and this covenant gave them many wonderful promises. But if they were not faithful and did not keep their part of the covenant, they were punished and corrected. On Mount Sinai, God had given them commandments to keep.
A new kind of covenant with God is made
When Jesus came to the earth, He said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do your will, O God, as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.’” Hebrews 10:5-7 (ESV).
This was the covenant that Jesus made with His Father. It was not just about keeping some commandments, but about doing the Father’s will in everything. He had to sacrifice Himself to learn obedience (Hebrews 5:8; Hebrews 9:14). He had to give up His own will; He had to die in order to do the Father’s will (John 6:38), and God raised Jesus, our great Shepherd, up from the dead through the blood of the eternal covenant (Hebrews 13:20). The promises of this covenant are much greater than the promises of the old covenant.
God could not make this new covenant with a whole nation, but Jesus says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” John 10:27 (ESV). This is not only for the Jews, but through the preaching of the gospel of Christ, these sheep are gathered from among all peoples and nations. Jesus said, “And they follow Me.” They enter into the same covenant as Jesus.
When we are baptised, we testify that we have entered the same covenant as Jesus. “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?” Romans 6:3 (ESV). This is the death to our self-will, so that we can live a new life according to the Father’s will, just as Jesus did. Then Jesus becomes our Shepherd, and we will share in the same blood of the covenant. This also gives us the right to be raised from the dead, that is, the rapture when we will meet Jesus in the clouds (Romans 6:4-5; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17).
The promises of the covenant
All the promises of the covenant will be fulfilled in us if we are faithful to the covenant—we have a right to them. Read about them, and it will warm your heart if you believe. To begin with, you no longer need to worry about your earthly needs; the things you need will be given to you if you do God’s will (Matthew 6:31-34).
You will also share in the godly nature and escape the corruption that is in the world (2 Peter 1:4.) You become God’s heir and will be glorified together with Jesus (Romans 8:17). You will sit with Jesus on His throne, just as He sat down with His Father on His throne (Revelation 3:21.) We could go on and on like this. “... no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.” 1 Corinthians 2:9 (ESV).
Those who love Him are the ones who keep His commandments. (John 14:15). They are faithful in the covenant just as the great Shepherd of the sheep was, and they will live together with Him in glory (2 Timothy 2:11-12.)