THE MEANING OF THE NEW COVENANT TODAY

More than 2000 years ago Jesus sat down with His disciples for one last time before He went to the cross. He knew what was going to happen and wanted to celebrate the Passover meal with His disciples just one last time. What Jesus said at that Last Supper is very important, and is something so wonderful we should never forget it. In Jeremiah chapter 31 verses 31 to 34 we read the following:

"The days are coming says The Lord, when I will make a New Covenant with the people of Israel and the people of Judah, it will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors, when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, they broke this covenant though I was a husband to them." Declares The Lord.

This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel at that time: I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbour or say to one another - Know the Lord, because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest "declares The Lord, for I will forgive their sin and remember their wickedness no more".

Jesus knew exactly what He was doing when He celebrated this Passover meal with His disciples, the words He used during the meal make it obvious. In Luke chapter 22 verses 14 to 20 we read a first-hand account of what happened at the Last Supper. "When the hour had come Jesus and His disciples reclined at the table. He said to them: "I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. I tell you I will not eat it again until it finds fulfilment in the Kingdom of God."

After taking the cup He gave thanks and said: "Take this and share it amongst you, I shall not drink the fruit of the vine again until the Kingdom of God has come." He took some bread and gave thanks for it then broke it in pieces and gave it to His disciples saying: "This is my body which is broken for you, do this in remembrance of me."After supper He took another cup of wine and said: "This cup is the New Covenant between God and His people, an agreement confirmed in my blood which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.

When Jesus said this He knew full well that He was fulfilling the prophetic word found in Jeremiah chapter 31 and that it was the New Covenant which God was making with His people which had been so long awaited. When we see the words "and for many" we can be sure that it means all who will believe throughout all generations until His second coming.

God is very careful about the words He uses, so that we can know that He means exactly what He says, and that there can be no misunderstanding. He is covenanting to forgive all the sins of all the people who make Jesus Lord of their life for as long as time continues. Furthermore, Jesus took upon Himself the full wrath of God the wrath that we all deserve so much, so that we would never have to experience it.

He makes many other promises for those who truly believe, one of them is a promise that is so amazing that we cannot imagine it happening, but know in our hearts that it is true. In Jude verse 24 we read: "Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you and to present you before His glorious presence without fault and with great joy.

You might at times feel very guilty of sin but God has promised to cleanse you from it all, through your faith in what God has done and won for you through the cross and His rising to life again. Now if the enemy tries to trip you up and gets you to commit a certain sin a second time and you come to The Lord and say " I've done it again Lord, please forgive me." He will not remember what you are talking about, since He has promised to forgive your sin and never bring it to mind ever again.

When the enemy makes you feel guilty about your past, just remind him of his future through the victory of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the book of Acts chapter 2 verses 37 to 39 we read that Peter stood up on the Day of Pentecost and set out the conditions for entering into this covenant with God in these words: "Repent and be baptized everyone of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sin and you will receive the gift of The Holy Spirit. This promise is for you and your children, and for all who are far off, for all whom The Lord our God will call."

Herby we have the absolute assurance that if we walk in fellowship with God, earnestly trying to obey and do those things that will please Him, then we know that we walk in covenant with Him and that all these promises apply to you. The word "Covenant" is often substituted for "Testament" as in The Old Testament and the New Testament, the word testament actually means Covenant.

Without the Old Covenant there would probably never have been a New Covenant, but now Jesus has come and made this binding, unbreakable agreement with us. At the Last Supper some gospels mention a cup, the bread and another cup. This is being correctly reported as the Last Supper involved w4 cups of wine. What Jesus has done the enemy can never undo, so lets give Him than all the praise and glory, He deserves it.