'Appreciating God's Love'
A) Prophecy of the New Covenant
Jer 31:31-34 "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. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, 'Know the Lord,' for they all shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them, says the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
Before the fall of Jerusalem and Judah, God told the Israelites that He would made a New Covenant with them:-
1. It will be different from Mosiac law which they broke
2. God will put the law in their heart
3. He will be their God
4. They will all know Him
5. Their sins will be forgiven and forgotten
Fulfillment of New Covenant
Mat 26:28 For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
The prophecy of the New Covenant by Jeremiah was fulfilled by the New Covenant of the blood of our Lord Jesus at the cross.
B) Grace of God in the Gospel
Luke 24:46-47 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem... Behold, I send the Promise of My Father upon you; but tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high."
Whoever repents of his sins and believes in the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ the Son of God, His death and resurrection will be given the Holy Spirit as the seal of redemption and he becomes a born again Christian.
Since God is Spirit and love, the Holy Spirit will fill the heart of the new believer with the love of God. With a new heart filled with the love of God, he will be able to love the Lord God Almighty.
I John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us.
New Heart filled with God's love
Eze 18:30-32 "Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways," says the Lord God. "Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies," says the Lord God. "Therefore turn and live!"
Having accepted the love and grace of God by becoming a born again Christian, God will give him a new heart to love Him thus fulfilling this prophecy.
C) More Grace with Spirit of Truth
Jam 4:6 But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."
Our Lord Jesus came to earth in the flesh - full of grace and truth. So He gave us the grace of salvation and also the extra grace of the Spirit of truth to all those who submit to Him by keeping His commandments and words.
John 1:14 And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
The New Holy Spirit of Truth
John 14:15-17a, 26 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth"... But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.
In the OT, God anointed the kings, priests, prophets, judges and artisans with the Spirit of the Lord or the Holy Spirit to help them to perform their duties.
Only after our Lord Jesus came to earth, He can give (or baptize) us a new Spirit or the Spirit of truth when we keep His commandments.
The Spirit of truth will bring to our remembrance His words and guide us into all truth thus fulfilling the prophecy of a new Spirit in Eze 18:30-32.
John 16:13-14 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you."
