God called Abraham and made great promises to him and to his children’s children forever. Abraham did his part—which was not to do some great work, but to believe what God has promised. And anyone in all the world who believes them as he did, also will become one of Abraham’s “children.” And he gets in on all these wonderful things.
God would bless Abraham so he would become a great man. God would make him happy forever. Abraham would become a famous man. Wherever he should go anywhere in the world, Abraham would be a blessing to other people. People who were kind to Abraham, God would especially bless them. God Himself would fight against anyone who opposed
Abraham; and best of all, through Abraham’s children’s children Jesus would come to save the whole world. All this is the promises in the New Covenant.
What God wanted His people to do when they got to Mount Sinai was to believe those same promises He made to Abraham as he believed them. God knew that those who believe as Abraham believed would become like him in character, and therefore be his true children. Better still, those who believe God’s promises really become like Jesus in character. It’s called “faith which works.” Believing God’s promises changes the heart, because you are so happy to be one with Him and to have this wonderful hope in your heart, you want to keep all His commandments. And that means, of course that now you hate sin, because that was what crucified Jesus.
When you believe God’s new covenant, you stop worrying about yourself. It’s like stepping out of a dungeon into bright sunshine. It’s like a bird soaring above the mountains, free. It’s like a prisoner getting out of jail. You stop worrying about what other children think of you, whether your clothes are as nice, for example, or whether you are as pretty or as handsome as someone else. Poor people who believe God’s “new covenant” promises are happier than rich people who don’t.
When you believe God’s new covenant promises, you are free from any fear about what color you are, or where you live, or what kind of car your dad drives, or what kind of house you live in. You are Abraham’s child “in Christ,” which means that all those promises to Abraham are now yours. You may not have a dime in your pocket to spend, but you are a multi-billionaire “in Christ.” You know that He will never forget you or forsake you. He will hold your hand forever.
When you believe the new covenant promises, you become like David was when he was a child and wrote the 23rd Psalm, which says, “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.... Goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” David didn’t promise God anything in that Psalm; he simply believed the Lord’s promises to him, that He is his shepherd and He would care for him forever, and he would “dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
You know you have a heavenly Father who will love you forever. And of course, you will want to obey His commandments, for they are “the perfect law of liberty” (James 1:25). Some grown-ups think that children can’t understand the New Covenant. But you know they can, don’t you?