Can You Fill In the Blanks?

I was leading Bible study from the book of Hebrews, dealing with the New Covenant and the priesthood of Jesus. The discussion was about sacrifices, and a few comments were made that caused me to talk about the Lord's Supper (Communion, to some).

I asked the class to fill in the blank on each of the proclamations of Jesus as he introduced the elements.

Luke 22:19 - And he took bread and broke is, and gave it to them saying, "This is my_________ given for you,,,"

Every class member got it right. The answer is "body."

Then I quoted from Luke 22:20- In the same way he took the cup, saying, "This cup is ________..."

Every class member got it wrong. They answered "my blood."

What would you have said (without peeking)?

The correct answer is "the new covenant" Then Jesus added the modifier "of my blood."

The saddest thing in what passes for Christianity is that pastors, teachers, professors and "scholars" have no understanding of what Jesus was saying.

Jesus made the same statement in 1 Corinthians 11:25, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood..."

According to Hebrews 8:13, and in the context of all of the book of Hebrews, the Old Covenant has been made obsolete. It no longer applies in any way, shape or form to Christians.

Christians are under a New Covenant (contract) with God, one that He initiated and one that is unconditional.

The New Covenant is that if we will repent of sin and turn in faith, trusting in, and only in, the finished work of Christ at the cross of Calvary, we shall become a new creation in Him.

Did you get that? It's Christ's finished work, not mine. There is no work for me in the process of salvation. When Jesus cried, "It is finished," that meant that everything needed to accomplish salvation has been done. His blood ushered in a New Covenant.

Often Christians get tense over whether or not they have done enough to please God. Ease up! Jesus has pleased Him for us!

Wallow in that for a while.

It is not easy for us to neglect the "do this, don't do that" religion of the Old Covenant. Often we decide that it's our life plus Jesus.

That's so wrong.

It's Jesus and absolutely nothing else. As Paul said, "For me to live is Christ..."

Forsake the Old Covenant. It's over and done with. Kaput. Finis.

Revel in the New Covenant. Quit trying to live with one spiritual foot in the Old Covenant and one spiritual foot in the New Covenant. It won't work, Never has, does not now and never will.

Live in the New Covenant of His blood...just like He said.

This post was precipitated by a very meaningful Lord' Supper service in church Sunday Morning.