When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, He declared, “This
is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness
of sins” (Matt. 26:28).
One of the things that we as a church do phenomenally well
is eat! We always seem to have good food at our gatherings. As the old saying
goes, whenever two or three Christians are gathered together, there will be
food! And that is very true! On Easter Sunday, April 1st, we will have our
traditional sunrise service followed by a first-class breakfast. So if you want
some good food, I encourage you to join us. :) Similarly, we offer food every
Sunday. Yes, we could talk about the doughnuts that are available before the
service, but I was actually thinking of something significantly more important:
the Lord’s Supper.
On a weekly basis, we as a church observe the Lord’s
Supper, or communion as was the custom of the early church (Acts 2:42; 20:7,
11). This meal commemorates what Jesus did for us some 2,000 years ago when He
shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins. It was also the inauguration of
the New Covenant (Luke 22:19-20) and the end of the Old Covenant—the Mosaic
Covenant.
Interestingly, this food idea isn’t a new one. It was
actually a part of the Mosaic covenant. As you may recall, there were numerous
sacrifices required. Is it grilling season yet? :)
Ok, back on track: Why was the New Covenant necessary? Did the Mosaic become outdated? Did God have His fill of grilled meat and
want something different?
No. The Old Covenant was less than perfect (Heb. 7:11), and
it merely foreshadowed the New Covenant (Col. 2:17). God knew from the
beginning (see Gen. 3:15) that Jesus’ coming and the institution of the New
Covenant was the only means for our eternal salvation. That old covenant in
fact had three fundamental flaws. First, the blood of bulls and goats used to
atone for sins could never really take away sins (Heb. 10:4). Thus, those
sacrifices merely foreshadowed the perfect sacrifice: Jesus the Lamb of God
(John 1:29; Heb. 7:18-19).
The second flaw becomes obvious to anyone who tries to
observe the Old Testament laws. They are impossible to consistently keep! No
matter how hard a person tries, they will never be able to keep God’s commands
perfectly without divine intervention (Rom. 7:14-8:4). Again, this was a
foreshadow of what was to come, or shall I say Who – the Holy Spirit Who helps
us be holy.
Third, the Old Covenant was temporary and is now obsolete.
“When He said, ‘A new covenant,’ He has made the first obsolete. But whatever
is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to disappear” (Heb. 8:13; see
also Heb. 7:12; 8:13-9:4). The Old Covenant was merely shadow of the things to
come (Heb. 8:5-12; Jer. 31:31-34). This is not the first time in the Bible that
a covenant and its laws were made obsolete. You may recall the Adamic Covenant
(Patriarchal Age) experienced the same thing (Heb. 7:12; see also
http://eugenechristianchurch.blogspot.com/2013/10/how-to-understand-bible-101-lesson-4a.html).
Thus, the New Covenant was ushered in through Christ’s
death on the cross. Under this New Covenant, “we are no longer under the Law
but under grace (Rom. 6:14–15).” The Old Covenant has served its purpose,
and it has been replaced by “a better covenant” (Heb. 7:22). “In fact the
ministry Jesus has received is as superior to theirs as the covenant of which
He is mediator is superior to the old one, since the new covenant is
established on better promises” (Heb. 8:6).
Under the New Covenant, we are given the opportunity to
receive salvation as a free gift (Eph. 2:8–9). Our responsibility is to
exercise faith in Christ, the One who fulfilled the Law on our behalf and
brought an end to the Law’s sacrifices through His own sacrificial death
(portions of this section are from
https://www.gotquestions.org/new-covenant.html).
What does all of this mean for us today? It means that the
covenant that we are under today is built on better promises (Heb. 8:6). It
means that we have the promised gift of the Holy Spirit to help us overcome
sins, assure us of our salvation, and the empowerment to complete our God given
purpose in life (Ezek. 36:27; Eph. 1:13-14; 4:7).
When we take communion – the cup and the bread, we are
remembering and recommitting ourselves to the covenant we accepted the day we
were baptized into a new life in Christ (Rom. 6:3). Yet, God is not finished
yet with this food idea. Have you heard of the Wedding Feast? :)
In His service,
Matt
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