Two words . . . just two words . . . a total of five letters. But, it occurs to me, they are at the very heart and soul of the gospel. They are the basis for our confidence as believers. They are two words which source a power not of this world . . . two words that resonate with certainty . . . two words that shift the playing field from performance to promise. But the power lies not in the words themselves but in the One who spoke them . . .

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will establish a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah . . . For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Hebrews 8:8-12 ESV)

I know that, strictly speaking, this new and better covenant has to do primarily with Israel and will find it’s fulfillment when Christ comes back to reign over the repentant and redeemed nation. But it’s also true that the church is a demonstration of the nature of the new dynamic and of the power at work within this new covenant . . . this “I will” approach to calling, creating, and crowning a people for His own possession and glory.

The Old Covenant tells what man must do; the New Covenant tells what God will do. He will establish the covenant and He will enact the promise . . . He will put His laws into His people’s minds . . . He will inscribe His ways on their hearts . . . He will be their God and will make them His people. He will, apart from our best attempt at merit, and despite our greatest failures, He will be merciful concerning our iniquities and He will determine to remember no more our sins. Because He has provided the sacrifice for all sin, through His Son . . . because He has determined to deal with those who come to Him out of the abundance of His grace alone. Oh, the power extended through “I will” . . . oh, the peace experienced because of “I will” . . . oh, the praise evoked to the God of “I will!”

And, it occurs to me, that this “I will” dynamic isn’t just the means for entry into the covenant relationship but is also the basis of living in covenant relationship. To be sure, I have a lot of decisions to make as I do life . . . a lot of levers at my fingertips to manipulate as part of navigating each day . . . but even then, it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me (Gal. 2:20). It isn’t my strength that allows me to power through the storms and get through the valleys, but it’s His all sufficient and freely given grace that renews the inner man . . . that gently prompts, “Keep on keepin’ on.” And, on those occasions where I experience the mountain top and know some measure of the thrill of victory, even then there is no boasting in what may be viewed as my accomplishment, or sense that I somehow deserved it, but only humble recognition that He is working His sovereign purpose in my life as He wills and as I seek to abide in that will.

Yup . . . two pretty powerful words . . . and One Almighty and Awesome God. And because “He will”, I will seek Him . . . because “He will”, I will trust Him . . . because “He will”, I will praise Him.

Amen?