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If your phone screen is cracked, you replace the screen. But what if the screen is fine and the inside is broken? It won't charge, apps keep crashing, it restarts every five minutes. A new screen protector won't help. You need to fix what's inside.
The Bible says people have the same kind of problem. God gave Israel good laws, but laws written on stone couldn't change their hearts. In this lesson God promises something new: a covenant that fixes the inside.
What you'll learn
- Why God promised a new covenant
- The four new things God promised through the prophet Jeremiah
- How Jesus began the new covenant at the Last Supper and through his death
Why a new covenant?
At Mount Sinai, God made a covenant with Israel: he would be their God, and they would be his people. But almost straight away, the people made a golden calf and worshipped it. And that was only the beginning. Over many centuries, Israel broke the covenant again and again. They worshipped idols, ignored the poor and rejected the prophets God sent to warn them. God was patient, and sent warning after warning.
Jeremiah was a prophet who lived at the worst moment in Israel's history. Babylon's army surrounded Jerusalem. The city was about to be destroyed, the temple burnt and the people taken away into exile. David's throne would be empty.
In Jeremiah 31:31–32, God describes the old covenant as the one he made when he led his people out of Egypt. He says they broke it, even though he had been like a husband to them. This was a broken relationship, not just broken rules.
The old covenant wasn't bad. God's law was good. The problem was the people's hearts. Remember Noah: the flood didn't fix the human heart either.
Jeremiah's promise: four new things
Right in that dark moment, God promised a new start:
"But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the LORD. I will put My law in their minds and inscribe it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they will be My people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
"No longer will each man teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘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 iniquities and will remember their sins no more." (Jeremiah 31:34)
| New covenant promise | What it means | Compared with the old covenant |
|---|---|---|
| God's law written on hearts (v. 33) | God changes people on the inside so they want to obey him. | The law was written on stone tablets. |
| I will be their God; they will be my people (v. 33) | The relationship God always wanted. | The same goal as at Sinai, now finally achieved. |
| All will know God (v. 34) | Everyone in the new covenant knows God personally, from the least to the greatest. | People relied on priests and prophets. |
| Sins forgiven and remembered no more (v. 34) | Complete forgiveness. God won't bring their sins up again. | Sacrifices had to be offered again and again. |
The prophet Ezekiel made a similar promise: God would give his people a new heart and put his own Spirit inside them (Ezekiel 36:26–27).
"The new covenant in My blood"
About 600 years after Jeremiah, Jesus ate the Passover meal with his disciples on the night before he died. Passover remembered how God rescued Israel from Egypt, the rescue that led to the old covenant at Sinai. Then Jesus did something new:
"And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is My body, given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you.’" (Luke 22:19–20)
Did you spot the words that come straight from Jeremiah? "The new covenant." Jesus was saying: the promise Jeremiah spoke about starts now, with me.
At Sinai, the covenant was sealed with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8). This new covenant is sealed with Jesus' own blood, when he died on the cross the next day. And that is how God can keep his promise to forgive sins completely. Jesus died to take the punishment for sin, so forgiveness is real and complete.
Later, the book of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah 31 in full and says Jesus is the one who brings this better covenant (Hebrews 8). When the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost (Acts 2), God began writing his law on people's hearts.
Communion today
Christians still share bread and wine (or juice) to remember Jesus' death and the new covenant. Different churches call it Communion, the Lord's Supper, the Eucharist or Mass. They understand some parts of it differently, but all of them look back to that night.
The promise chain: link 6
| Who? | What did God promise? | Sign | Fulfilled in Jesus |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeremiah's promise to Israel; Jesus at the Last Supper | New hearts, knowing God and forgiveness of sins (Jeremiah 31:31–34). | The bread and the cup (the Lord's Supper) | Jesus' blood began the new covenant; the Spirit changes hearts. |
Key words
- New covenant: God's promise to change people's hearts and forgive their sins, begun by Jesus.
- Exile: being forced to live far away from your homeland.
- Prophet: someone who brings God's message to people.
- Communion: the meal where Christians share bread and wine (or juice) to remember Jesus' death.
How this points to Jesus
This whole lesson is about Jesus. Every covenant so far has shown that people can't fix their own hearts. The new covenant is different because it depends on what Jesus did, not on what we do. His death pays for sin, and his Spirit changes people from the inside.
Think about it
Why did God promise a new covenant?Show answer
Because Israel kept breaking the old covenant. The law was good, but it couldn't change people's hearts, so God promised to change them from the inside.
How is having God's law "on your heart" different from just knowing the rules?Show answer
Knowing the rules means you know what's right. Having them on your heart means you actually want to do what's right, because God has changed you.
What did Jesus mean when he said the cup was "the new covenant in My blood"?Show answer
He meant that his death the next day would seal the new covenant Jeremiah promised, just as blood sealed the covenant at Sinai, and that through it sins would be forgiven.
Take it further
Which of the four new covenant promises seems most amazing to you? This week, think about what it would mean for God to remember someone's sins no more. If you're carrying something you feel bad about, you might like to talk with a trusted adult or your school chaplain. Your worksheet helps you compare the old and new covenants and add the next link to your promise chain.
If you'd like to, you could pray:
God, thank you that you don't just give us rules but change our hearts. Thank you that because of Jesus' death, you forgive our sins and remember them no more. Please write your ways on my heart. Amen.