What is a covenant?
A covenant is a treaty or
binding agreement between two parties.
The Hebrew word berith which is translated covenant literally
means cutting, implying the fact that a covenant was confirmed with the
shedding of the blood of a sacrifice.
This meant that a covenant was a blood oath.
The New Covenant is primarily
stated in contrast to the Old (Mosaic) Covenant. These two covenants are the only conditional
covenants God makes in the scriptures.
God’s promises in the covenants are eternal, but the agreement itself
depends upon men accepting the terms of agreement.
What are some of the differences
between the New and Old Covenants?
- The Old Covenants
terms/rules had to be learned (Exodus
24:12)
- The Old Covenant had to be
obeyed according to the ability of men (Romans 7:5)
- The Old Covenant was
confirmed with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8)
- The Old Covenant had severe
consequences for failure to obey (Deuteronomy 28:15-68)
- The New Covenant is Holy
Spirit taught (Jeremiah 31:33-34)
- The ability to obey the New
Covenant is empowered by the Holy Spirit of God (Hebrews 9:14)
- The New Covenant is
confirmed by the blood of the Son of God
(Matthew 26:28)
- The New Covenant is crowned
with God’s mercy and forgiveness for those times men fail to obey (Hebrews
8:12)
The first Lord’s Supper was a
Passover observance by Jesus and His disciples.
(Matthew 26:19-20) It was
also the institution of the New Covenant.
It makes sense for us to honor the New Covenant on Passover.
During the Passover
observance, it was customary for the head of the feast (Jesus in this case) to
lead the table in remembrance of the four great “I WILLS”, promises of God to
Israel as stated in Exodus 6:6-7. These
were memorialized by the taking of a cup of wine for each declaration. The four promises and cups were:
- I WILL bring you out (the
cup of sanctification)
- I WILL bring you out of
bondage (cup of deliverance/praise)
- I WILL redeem you (the cup
of redemption)
- I WILL take you to me for a
people (cup of acceptance/praise)
On the night of the first Lord’s
Supper, Jesus took the first three cups with His disciples. The last cup, the one in which He said “this
is my blood of the new testament (covenant) which is shed for many for the
redemption of sins” (Matthew 26:28) was the cup of redemption. Redemption (Hebrew gaal) means to be
purchased out of slavery, or to pay a ransom and free. It had to be done by someone who was a
kinsman (family). Jesus paid the
purchase price (His blood) to redeem us from slavery to sin (Romans
6:12-16). Jesus refused to take the
fourth cup (the cup of acceptance) because Israel had not yet accepted Him as
Messiah. (Matthew 27:20-25, Zechariah 12:10). The next time that He takes the cup will be
with all believers and redeemed Israel at the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation
19:7-9).
Some notes on the Lord’s
Supper taken from the early church -
- Important passages for
meditation before taking the Lords Supper include Matthew 26:26-28, John
6:22-71 and 1 Corinthians 11:20-34.
- The Lord’s Supper was done
weekly, sometimes with every meal
- The Lord’s Supper is a
spiritual and physical blessing to all who take it worthily
- The Lord’s Supper brought
sickness and death to believers who took it unworthily (1 Corinthians
11:20-34)
- Unleavened bread
(symbolizing purity) and red wine sometimes mixed with water were normally used
- Because the Lord’s supper
was normally done in small groups, personal confession was often practiced
before taking it, to cleanse the conscience and help the believer take it in a
worthy manner
- The point of the Lords
Supper is to remember what Jesus did for us (Crucifixion) and to remember our
commitment to the New Covenant with Him
