The Covenant: Part 7
Two of the most significant words in the Bible are kingdom and covenant.
The covenant-making process consists of.…
1. Covenant Representative
2. Covenant Oath
3. Covenant Promise
4. Covenant Sacrifice
5. Covenant Seal
6. Covenant Meal
7. Covenant Memorial
An agreement between God and His people in which He has made binding promises based off of His unconditional love.
“Covenant Meal”
Q—Have you ever noticed how often we mark the significant events of our lives with a meal?
Think about a…
wedding
Anniversary
Birthday
Family reunion
The holidays
Business deals
Dates
Hanging out with friends
Think about Jesus’ ministry…
First miracle
Feeding of the multitudes
Eating with sinners
Zacchaeus’ conversion
Prodigal son
Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Washing of His feet
The night before He was crucified
Breaking of the bread in Emmaus
Breakfast on the beach
Acts 2:45-46 [NLT], All the believers devoted themselves to the apostle’s teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity…
Q—Have you ever wondered “why” a simple meal was so important?
“Covenant Meal”
Genesis 26:28-31 [NLT], “We can plainly see that the Lord is with you. So we want to enter into a sworn treaty with you. Let’s make a covenant. 29 Swear that you will not harm us, just as we have never troubled you. We have always treated you well, and we sent you away from us in peace. And now look how the Lord has blessed you!” 30 So Isaac prepared a covenant feast to celebrate the treaty, and they ate and drank together. 31 Early the next morning, they each took a solemn oath not to interfere with each other. Then Isaac sent them home again, and they left him in peace.
Genesis 31:44-46 [ESV], “Come now, let us make a covenant, you and I. And let it be a witness between you and me.” 45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a pillar. 46 And Jacob said to his kinsmen, “Gather stones.” And they took stones and made a heap, and they ate there by the heap.
Exodus 24:3-11 [ESV], Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord and all the rules. And all the people answered with one voice and said, “All the words that the Lord has spoken we will do.” 4 And Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel. 5 And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. 6 And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 7 Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it in the hearing of the people. And they said, “All that the Lord has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” 8 And Moses took the blood and threw it on the people and said, “Behold the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.” 9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel…11…they beheld God, and ate and drank.
If the old covenant was ratified by a covenant meal, then wouldn’t it make sense for the new covenant to be ratified by a covenant meal as well?
Luke 22:14-20 [AMP], When the hour [for the meal] had come, Jesus reclined at the table, and the apostles with Him. 15 He said to them, “I have earnestly wanted [desired] to eat this Passover with you before I suffer…17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, “Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes.” 19 And when He had taken bread and given thanks, He broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup, which is poured out for you, is the new covenant [ratified] in My blood.
Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of Me.”
1. Remember the Sacrifice
2. Reenact the Event
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 [TPT], I have handed down to you what came to me by direct revelation from the Lord Himself. The same night in which He was handed over, He took bread 24 and gave thanks. Then He distributed it to the disciples and said, “Take it and eat your fill. It is my body, which is given for you. Do this to remember me.” 25 He did the same with the cup of wine after supper and said, “This cup seals the new covenant with My blood. Drink it—and whenever you drink this, do it to remember Me.” 26 Whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are retelling the story, proclaiming our Lord’s death until He comes.
3. Receive by Participation
1 Corinthians 10:15-16 [TPT], I know I am writing to thoughtful people, so carefully consider what I say. 16 For when we pray for the blessing of the communion cup, isn’t this our co-participation with the [presence of the] blood of Jesus? And the bread that we distribute, isn’t this the bread of our co-participation with the [presence of the] body of Christ?
Communion means, “to participate in, to fellowship with, to be united together in partnership.”
By the simple act of communion we have the ability to receive in this present moment all the effects [benefits/promises] of the New Covenant that Jesus has provided for us.