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\u201cAnd no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, \u2018Know the Lord,\u2019 for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more\u201d (Jeremiah 31:34).<\/p>\n
HERE WE HAVE ONE OF THE MOST OBVIOUS DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW COVENANTS. The difference pertains to \u201cknowing\u201d God; so we need to think for a moment about what that means. Surely, it is impossible for a human being to know God completely, but even when the word \u201cknow\u201d is used in reference to God, it denotes a very special interaction between personal beings. To \u201cknow\u201d someone is to have more than just a formal acquaintance; it is to have entered deeply into an understanding of them: their way of thinking, their character, their will, their instructions, and much more. When God created us in His image, He desired to have beings who were capable of knowing Him \u2014 and He revealed Himself to them so they could know Him in truth.<\/em><\/p>\n In Israel, a person\u2019s birth put him into the covenant automatically and then, as he grew older, he came to know God. But the new covenant is different. Our physical birth does not put us into that covenant, but rather a spiritual birth does (John 3:3-5), and that birth can\u2019t take place until we\u2019re old enough to understand sin and obey the gospel \u201cfrom the heart\u201d (Romans 6:17). No one is in the new covenant who has not come to know God.<\/em> \u201cNo longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, \u2018Know the Lord,\u2019 for they shall all know me,\u201d God predicted through Jeremiah. So one way we might define those who are God\u2019s people in this new age is that they are those who know God.<\/em> And don\u2019t misunderstand: they are those whom God knows<\/em> to be those who know Him. \u201cThe Lord knows those who are his\u201d (2 Timothy 2:19).<\/p>\n When God entered the world in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ, one of His purposes was to allow mankind to know Him more perfectly than had been possible before. In the words of John, \u201cNo one has ever seen God; the only God, who is at the Father\u2019s side, he has made him known\u201d (John 1:18). And in Christ, the day will come when we \u201cwill see his face\u201d (Revelation 22:4).<\/p>\n \u201cBy faith we are led, not against reason but beyond reason, to the knowledge of God in himself\u201d (Gerald Yann).<\/p>\n Gary Henry \u2013 WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com<\/p>\n