耶三一31~32 耶和华说，日子将到，我要与以色列家和犹大家，另立新约，不像我拉着他们祖宗的手，领他们出埃及地的时候，与他们所立的约；我虽是他们的丈夫，他们却背了我的约；这是耶和华说的。

　　圣经给我们看见，神的心愿是要进到人里面作生命，而与人成为一。神总是喜欢接触人，在这接触中，祂与人立了好几个约。……在圣经里，神曾与人立了八个约，但祂只算两个约：借着摩西与以色列人立的约，以及被视为第二约（来八7）的新约，生命之约。所有其他的约—与受造之人立的约，与堕落之人立的约，与挪亚、与亚伯拉罕、在摩押地与以色列并与大卫立的约—都被神视为旁约。……我们若彻底研读这些约，就会看见神只在意一个约，就是生命的新约（耶利米书生命读经，三○六至三○七页）。

　　Jer. 31:31-32 Indeed, days are coming, declares Jehovah, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by their hand to bring them out from the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was their Husband, declares Jehovah.

　　The Bible shows us that the desire of God’s heart is to come into man as life and to be one with man. God has always liked to contact man, and in this contact He has made several covenants with man….In the Bible God made eight covenants with man, but He counts only two covenants: the covenant made with Israel through Moses and the new covenant, the covenant of life, which is considered the second covenant (Heb. 8:7). All the other covenants—the covenants with the created man, with the fallen man, with Noah, with Abraham, with Israel in the land of Moab, and with David—are considered by God as side covenants….If we study all these covenants thoroughly, we will see that God cares for only one covenant, the new covenant of life. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 255-256)

　　新约的内容是三一神；祂已经过过程并终极完成，成为神选民的一切。这新约在耶利米三十一章三十一至三十四节（参来八8~12）应许给以色列，且在主耶稣设立祂的筵席时，完全、彻底并完整的得着应验（太二六26~29，可十四22~25，路二二19~20，林前十一23~26）。主耶稣在设立祂的筵席时，与新约的信徒立了约。

　　耶利米书最重要的部分，就是关于新约的这段。既然耶利米说到新约，所以就某种意义上说，这卷书比一点没有说到新约的摩西著作更重要。摩西虽然预言了许多关于基督的事，但神借着他与以色列人所立的约，与耶稣基督却毫无关系。

　　基督的职事是称义的职事，而摩西的职事是定罪的职事（林后三9上）。所以，在神的经纶里，摩西的职事不是中心线。然而，若没有借着摩西所立律法的旧约，耶利米就无法暴露以色列人到极点。……这里我们看见律法的功用，在消极一面是要暴露我们堕落的光景和情况。这帮助我们转向源头，转向活水的泉源，这源头在新约里就是作神具体化身的基督（耶利米书生命读经，三○七至三○九页）。

　　基督用祂的血立了新约（这新约成了新遗命—遗嘱），赎了神子民的过犯（太二六28，来九15）。……祂按着神公义的要求为我们死，而祂借着死所流的血，就用来立约。甚至祂自己也说，主筵席上的杯乃是祂用血所立之新约的象征（林前十一25）。祂将我们救赎回来归神，使我们有资格承受神的一切。这就是新约。实际上，这新约就是基督自己。……在复活里，基督成了新遗命的遗赠，以及施行新遗命的中保、施行者（来九15~17）。这含示基督就是那约。……当神将圣经作为遗嘱给我们时，这就是说，神将基督给了我们。基督乃是中心与普及，作新约的实际。当基督被赐下，那就是说祂就是约。我们不仅有新约的项目在我们心思里，更有这约的实际，就是基督，在我们灵里。……祂是神给我们的约，就是神一切所是，以及神给我们之一切的实际（以赛亚书生命读经，四二六至四二七页）。

　　参读：耶利米书生命读经，第三十九篇；以赛亚书生命读经，第四十六篇。

　　The content of the new covenant is the Triune God, who has been processed and consummated to become everything to God’s chosen people. This new covenant was promised to Israel in Jeremiah 31:31-34 (cf. Heb. 8:8-13), and it was absolutely, thoroughly, and completely fulfilled by the Lord Jesus when He established His table (Matt. 26:26-29; Mark 14:22-25; Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:23-26). In instituting the table, the Lord Jesus made a covenant with the New Testament believers.

　　The most important part of the book of Jeremiah is the portion on the new covenant. Since Jeremiah spoke regarding the new covenant, this book, in a sense, is more important than the writings of Moses, which do not say anything about the new covenant. Although Moses prophesied very much concerning Christ, the covenant God made with Israel through him had nothing to do with Jesus Christ.

　　Whereas Christ’s ministry is a ministry of justification, Moses’ ministry was a ministry of condemnation (2 Cor. 3:9a). Therefore, in God’s economy Moses’ ministry is not the central line. However, without the old covenant of the law made through Moses, Jeremiah could not have exposed Israel to the uttermost….Here we see that the function of the law, which is something on the negative side, is to expose our fallen condition and situation. This helps us turn to the source, to the fountain of living waters, which in the New Testament is Christ as the embodiment of God. (Life-study of Jeremiah, pp. 256-257)

　　Christ enacted the new covenant (which became the new testament—the will) with His blood for the redemption of the transgressions of God’s people (Matt. 26:28; Heb. 9:15)….He died for us according to God’s righteous requirements, and the blood He shed through that death was used to form a covenant. Even He Himself said that the cup of the Lord’s table was a symbol of the new covenant in His blood (1 Cor. 11:25). He redeemed us back to God and qualified us to inherit everything of God. This is the new covenant. Actually, this new covenant is Christ Himself. In resurrection Christ became the bequests of the new testament and the Mediator, the Executor, to execute the new testament (Heb. 9:15-17). This implies that Christ is the covenant. When God gave us the Bible as a will, this meant that God gave us Christ. Christ is the centrality and universality as the reality of the new testament. When Christ is given, that means He is the covenant. We not only have the items of the new testament in our mind, but we also have the reality of this covenant, who is Christ, in our spirit….He is the covenant of God given to us, the reality of all that God is and of all that God has given us. (Life-study of Isaiah, pp. 338-339)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Jeremiah, msg. 39; Life-study of Isaiah, msg. 46