206. Be His People
Jeremiah 11:4 [This covenant] Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them according to all which I command you: so shall ye be my people,, and I will be your God.
God makes a promise that we shall be His people: we belong to Him. He owns us by means of creation and redemption. His control over us and rule over us is good for us and only beneficial. His will and His work on our behalf are always with our interests and needs in mind. He takes care of us as a loving parent, a kindly king, a tender shepherd, and a solicitous owner. It is definitely good to be His people. As a child and a sheep we can rest secure and comfortable in His hands.
God also promises to be our God. If God is good and if God is love and if God is life then this is certainly good news for us who believe in Christ. And we can be sure that He is good, He is love, and He is life because we have seen the Son live, die and rise for us. We want and need no other God, and we look for good only from the one true God. All other gods, especially the Self, are not good and will do us harm.
We are His people and He is our God: this is the covenant the Lord makes with us. This, however, is conditional: if we obey His voice and do His commandments, then the promise comes true for us. Of course, we have failed on our part; we cannot and do not obey and do. But Jesus Christ has kept the commandments and obeyed the voice of the Father perfectly. This perfection is given to us, and in this way, by faith in Christ, we have met the condition. Therefore, the Lord God is bound to keep His part of the covenant promise. This promise is secured to us in the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus says, “This cup is the blood of the covenant.” There is a new testament, and under this covenant the one true God is our God and we are His beloved people for whom God is bound to lovingly care for. Of that there is no doubt.