“The day is coming,” says the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the LORD. “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the LORD. “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people … And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.” Jeremiah 31:31-33, 34b NLT
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people – an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.” Luke 22:20 NLT
A covenant is a binding agreement between two parties. It was usually solemnized with various seals and signs. Covenants were common in the ancient world and God used this cultural practice when He made binding promises and required serious commitments from His people. He made a covenant with Adam and Eve, Noah, Abraham, and with the nation of Israel after He led them out of slavery in Egypt. Some of the symbols of ancient covenants included animal sacrifices, pronouncements of blessings and curses, covenant meals, and memorials.
On that Passover evening, Jesus used the familiar symbols and pictures of the Old Testament covenant to institute the new and forever covenant. However, this new covenant was very different. The old covenant, primarily associated with the Mosaic Law, was based on external rules, rituals, and performance. Its sacrifices could not ultimately remove sin. Jesus' death and resurrection established a new covenant, a new agreement between God and humanity. This covenant is based on faith in Jesus and His sacrifice, offering forgiveness of sins and a restored relationship with God. There is ONE commandment – Jesus’ command to love as He loves. That is a big assignment and covers far more than rules do. The new covenant is unconditional and undeserved. It is a covenant of grace made possible only through the blood of Jesus.
The old covenant was selective. That covenant was with the nation of Israel, God’s “chosen” people, to begin His redemptive rescue of a broken world. The new covenant is for every soul who ever took a breath. All people, all nations. Nothing in our history, nothing done by us or to us disqualifies us from a forever relationship with God, sins forgiven, and freedom! Communion celebrates that.
- Thank Jesus right now for His sacrifice that once and forever rescued us and gives us relationship and peace.