330. Eternal Covenant of Peace
Ezekiel 37:26 Moreover I will make a covenant of peace with them: it shall be an everlasting covenant with them: and I will place them, and multiply them, and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore.
Again, the word “forevermore” makes this a promise for all God’s people, all the believers in Christ who have ever lived on earth, instead of only for the return of the Jews from Exile in Babylon. The Bible contains several covenants, all of which are wrapped up into one covenant in Christ, set and sealed by His Blood on the cross and guaranteed in His resurrection. The one-way covenant is totally dependent on God who does it all and keeps His promises on account of Christ.
The covenant God makes with us is a covenant of peace. This includes peace with God, peace inside the soul, peace with family, friends, neighbors, hostile nations, and with all people, peace with the animals, and peace with the entire environment. This means it will all be “very good” once again. There can be no more tears, disasters, tragedies, pestilence, war, hunger, heartbreak, sorrow, sadness, pain, sickness, sin, death, or anything that would remove or diminish perfect peace. It is the peace of Lord; it is unshakable. We do not now know such peace, but inwardly we dream of the possibility. And God promises to make it real.
This covenant is everlasting. It will go on long after our own bodies and this present earth pass away. There is a heaven; there is an afterlife; there is a Paradise; there is real hope for what we know must be true. And it is all ours. It is a worthwhile exercise to reflect on the realities of heaven.
God’s Sanctuary will be in our midst forever. The sanctuary is the Presence of God. God temporarily dwelt among His people in Eden, in shrines and altars, in the Tabernacle and the Temple, in Jesus in the flesh, in the Church on earth, and finally, when all evil is removed, in the New Heaven and the New Earth in which the Sanctuary of God’s Visible Presence will be enjoyed forever. Meanwhile, our body is a temple and the heart is the sanctuary of God. Enjoy the Promise.