
Hebrews 9:15 "For this reason He is the mediator of a new covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the transgressions that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."
1 Peter 3:8-9 To sum up, all of you be harmonious, sympathetic,brotherly, kindhearted, and humble in spirit; 9 not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving ablessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing.
Introduction
As you read Ezekiel
36-37, you are getting into the section of Ezekiel where the focus is becoming
more and more on what God is going to do for His people - the nation of Israel.
God is speaking forth what the Bible calls "The New Covenant". Whenever God enters into agreement with His
people, we call that God making Covenant with them. Covenants involve parties, exchanging of
words and vows and the all important part of who will fulfill what obligation
sin the covenant. Whenever you see God
using the statement "I will", that means the covenant's blessings and
fulfillment will be completely His doing.
Bible teachers call such a covenant an "unconditional
covenant", meaning that there are no strings attached and that God is
making a covenant with His people not for their sake, but for His own sake. Whenever God made similar covenants with
Abraham and David, the promises and fulfillment depended not on them, but
God. Roughly 35 times do we find God
saying "I will" in Ezekiel 36-37.
God's promise to Israel to restore and save her did not depend on her
performance. If anything, she was
unwilling and had done nothing to deserve such grace from God. God did it for His own namesake. God chose Israel (Ezekiel 36:21) and promises
to call her out from among the nations (36:24), bring about her conversion whereby
she will believe on the Messiah and be saved (Ezekiel 37:11-14) and cleanse or
sanctify her (37:28). God will do all these things for Israel at His second
coming when He initiates His 1,000 year reign or what is also called "the
millennium." Does all this
activity from God mean Israel can act anyway she wants in the future. No.
Because God's "I will" leads to "you will". God's willingness to select, save, and
sanctify sinners includes the purpose for them becoming willing participants in
His Covenant. Their participation depends
upon God making the first move.
1 Peter
3 echoes these New Covenant promises which we as Christians in this present age
are getting a spiritual foretaste of the New Covenant. Jesus Christ,
the Mediator of the New Covenant, paid for such promises with His blood. In 1 Peter 3:8 we are told to be kindhearted
toward one another, being that Christians are those people who are called by
God to Himself to inherit a blessing. God's will contains our will. He accomplishes the work of our salvation
from beginning to end, with the understanding that our level of enjoyment of
His Relationship with us hinges on our faithfulness and obedience. The lengths to which God went through in
securing the believer's redemption ought to be the grounds for motivation to
obedience in the Christian walk. We are saved by grace through faith alone,
with the saved life proceeding onward in faith that is never alone.