The New Covenant
“Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah – not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord.” – Jeremiah 31:31-32
It’s essential that churches really study the biblical history of Israel to better understand their own identity, calling and future. Only by this can a biblical unity emerge in the Body of Christ, which will transform Jewish and non-Jewish followers of Jesus into witnesses for this world. Through Jesus the Messiah (Hebrew for ‘Anointed One’, or in Greek, Christos), the foundation of the promised new covenant, God has integrated believers from all nations into His story of the people of Israel.
Paul tells us that the believers from other nations are no longer sojourners, but citizens and members of God’s household, along with those of the house of Israel who believe in the Messiah – with the very same rights and duties, built upon the fathers, prophets and apostles who represented God’s story for Israel. Jesus forms the cornerstone, holding this web together, for He was the fulfillment of all God’s promises for Israel (see Ephesians 2:19). So as the Church, we are bound to the same fate as Israel, because the God of Israel is also the God of the Church.
Just as it is wise to reflect upon the Jewish roots of the church, we should also re-focus on the story of the salvation of the people of Israel, who found fulfillment in the Messiah – not through turning to extra-biblical Jewish culture, which emerged apart from Jesus. Jesus Himself is the new covenant and thus the fulfillment of all the promises made to Israel.
This devotional is taken from the book To See God by Marcel Rebiai. If you would like to order your own copy, please email us here, [email protected].
Marcel Rebiai is a board member of Revive Israel, and is inspiration for our community. Marcel was born in Algiers in 1953. He came to Switzerland as a war orphan and received faith in Jesus in his youth, which changed his life and made him a messenger of God’s love in Jesus. Since then, he has been faithfully working for the building of the community of Messiah. Marcel is the founder of the “Community of Reconciliation”, an organization that works for reconciliation between Jews and Arabs based on God’s forgiveness and love in Christ. Marcel teaches in various settings around the world about the love that God revealed to us in Jesus, a love that enables reconciliation. Marcel has been living in Jerusalem for the last 30 years, is married to Regula, and has four children and eleven grandchildren.
