What’s New That Has Rocked Your World?
If I gave us an assignment to list the top ten inventions that have revolutionized our lives, I’m sure our lists would include some of the same innovations, and we would differ on others. Let me offer three that make my list.
The phonograph. Recorded sound?! We take that for granted, but when Thomas Edison showed this to the world, no one was expecting it. The telephone, automobile, and the airplane were ideas that multiple inventors were chasing, but the phonograph only existed in Edison’s head.- The smartphone. I had a marked reaction when I saw the first ad for the iPhone. It was not something I would have ever expected. But the smartphone have transformed our cell phones into tiny mobile computers.
- The insulin pump. This made my list because I have been a Type 1 diabetic for over forty years. I have written before about the men who developed insulin, but the addition of the insulin pump was a game changer.
All three of these were new and radically innovative, but as amazing as we may view them, they have been improved on over the years.
The Bible tells us of something else that was new: a new covenant. God had made a covenant with the people of Israel (Ex. 19), but the people failed to keep up their end of the relationship. They had moments of good efforts, but they’d drop the ball of obedience again and again. Too bad because it was a good covenant with a loving and faithful God.
God then came to the people with a new covenant.
“Look, the days are coming”—this is the Lord’s declaration—“when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. This one will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors on the day I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt — my covenant that they broke even though I am their master”—the Lord’s declaration. “Instead, this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days”—the Lord’s declaration. “I will put my teaching within them and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will one teach his neighbor or his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they will all know me, from the least to the greatest of them”—this is the Lord’s declaration. “For I will forgive their iniquity and never again remember their sin” (Jer. 31:31-34).
On the night before His crucifixion, Jesus announced this new covenant was now in play.
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you” (Luke 22:20).
iPhones and insulin pumps may be game changers, but what Jesus gave us is The Ultimate Game Changer. The covenant He established through His death and resurrection was like nothing before—and nothing since. No religion, philosophy, or worldview comes even close to what Jesus did through His sacrifice and victory.
Every new invention—even the most innovative—have been improved on, but not the new covenant. In two thousand years, it has not changed because it does not need to. There is no way it can be improved; it is perfect as it is.
And it will last.
“Now may the God of peace, who brought up from the dead our Lord Jesus—the great Shepherd of the sheep — through the blood of the everlasting covenant, equip you with everything good to do his will, working in us what is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen” (Heb. 13:20-21).
The covenant in Christ is eternal, and those who choose to embrace this covenant with live eternally. That is a true game changer.
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This post supports the study “God’s Promise of a King” in Bible Studies for Life and YOU.
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