“In the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34) there are both eschatological clauses and soteriological clauses. The eschatological clauses are exclusively for the nation of Israel. The soteriological clauses are for the nation of Israel as well but, inclusively, they are also for us–as Jesus Himself taught (Matthew 26:27-29). With us the wondrous truth has already come to pass. The living God dwells in us. He is our God. We are His people. We occupy higher and holier ground than Israel ever knew. The God who said He would dwell with His ancient people Israel now says He will dwell in us. Think what it means. The heaven of heavens cannot contain Him. One word from Him and a hundred million galaxies burst into being and hurl themselves toward the ever-retreating boundaries of space, traveling at inconceivable velocities and on prodigious orbits and with mathematical precision. Yet He dwells in us! One word from Him and countless angel hosts, who surround His throne on high and sing His praise and hang upon His words, leap into instant obedience to do His will. And He dwells in us! As for us, well might the psalmist say. ‘What is man that Thou art mindful of him?’ We dwell on a microscopic planet chasing around a moderate star located some thirty thousand light years from the galactic center, one among a hundred billion stars in a far-flung galaxy in near infinite space. And we, ourselves, but the dust of the earth. He dwells in us! Moreover, He proclaims Himself to a wondering universe, to be our God! ‘I will be their God,’ He says, ‘and they shall be my people’! What amazing grace! Saved to the uttermost! Wonder of wonders! Of course, He demands separation from a world which spat in the face of His Son and which took Him out to a skull-shaped hill and nailed Him to a cross of wood! How could He demand, or we deliver, anything less?”
John Phillip’s commentary on 2 Corinthians