Heb. 8:10b ... "I will put My laws into their minds, and I will write them upon their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
In the second chapter of Genesis we are told that God created the man and woman and placed them in a "garden toward the east, in Eden." Translated from a Hebrew word meaning "delight," Eden was nothing less than a paradise on earth. In addition to the physical beauty, comfort, and pleasure of this physical expression of God's love for the human pair He had created in His own Image, we recognize another and very wonderful expression revealed in the words, "And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day," (Gen. 3:8). It seems that God came down at certain times into the garden in some form of manifestation, here indicated as the "sound (or voice) of the Lord God," in order to "walk" in closer proximity to the man and woman. Could this indicate one of God's motives in creating man, namely, that He might have an intelligent being with whom He could enjoy meaningful fellowship? That God sustained this motive is probably the foundation for the statement, "I will be their God, and they shall be My people."
In the course of time, however, man's disobedience to God's will disrupted this unique fellowship. As the secured perimeter of the garden protected man from earth's dangers outside, the law God gave them to obey protected them from the ravages that inevitably come with "the knowledge of good and evil," (Gen. 2:17). It must have been a terrible disappointment to God that man devalued his familiar communion with Him to the point that he easily transgressed God's will in order to gain access to forbidden knowledge, (Gen. 3:22). It must have also been a most sorrowful experience for God to withdraw His presence from the corrupted pair and expel them from the exclusive home He had so lovingly designed for them. But divine disappointment and sorrow do not obstruct justice in the court of God. And thus we read, "He drove the man out; and at the east of the garden of Eden He stationed the cherubim, and the flaming sword which turned every direction, to guard the way to the tree of life,"(Gen. 3:24).
Nevertheless, God still loved His creatures and continued to desire the fellowship with them that He had enjoyed in Eden. Consequently, He began to take measures to overcome the effects of sin which alienated man from Him. First, He built a unique nation from a specially chosen ancestor, Abraham, whom He called from Ur in Babylonia. He then fixed His favor upon this nation and its commitment to Him in the Mosaic covenant. The essence of the covenant was engraved upon stone tablets, which were enshrined in a sacred chest guarded by an order of sanctified priests. In the fulness of time, however, He sent His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, though the Son Himself never sinned, (Heb. 4:15). Christ was given to be the ultimate sacrifice for sin, conclusively condemning sin in the flesh, (Rom. 8:3). Releasing from the power of sin every man who will respond to Christ's sacrifice with faith and obedience, God has made it possible for His original fellowship with man to be renewed. To confirm this reunion, He established a new covenant with man; not one engraved on tables of stone, but one written on the living tables of human hearts; not one enshrined in a sacred box, but one implanted in their minds. Now He can again "be their God,and they [can] be [His] people."
To learn of God's desire to fellowship in lovingkindness with man and of the measures He has taken over the centuries to fulfill this desire ought to have the most profound effect upon anyone who will consider it. Discovering that we can actually become "God's people" and look up to Him as "our God" should fill our lives with meaning, purpose, and value such as we would never know otherwise.
