The Blood of the New Covenant

The New Covenant

Amen, he is worthy. He has done so much for us. As we shift our focus to the Cup, I want to explain a little bit about what is going on and what the Cup actually is and represents.

In Luke 22 when the Lord Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper and he commanded his disciples to observe this ordinance until his Second Coming, He took the bread, broke it and divided it up for his disciples. And in the same way that the bread was torn and divided, so was his body torn apart for our sake.

In his body, he became our sin so that we can become his righteousness. Theologians call this the Great Exchange.

And after they took the Bread, he then took the cup and said this,

Luke 22:20 ESV

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.

The cup is the blood of Christ that was shed for you. And Christ said that the blood that the cup represents, his blood, is the blood shed to establish a New Covenant.

This is the language of the Scriptures - Covenant. A covenant is a commitment made by God to deal with his people in a certain way.

There are several Covenants in the Scriptures and with each establishment of these Covenant, the blood of animals was shed. We see this with the Noahic Covenant, the Abrahamic Covenant, the Mosaic Covenant… it is implied with the Davidic.

When God established the Mosaic Covenant, what the writer of Hebrews calls the Old Covenant, a lot of blood was shed. Listen to Exodus 24:5-8

Exodus 24:5–8 ESV

And he sent young men of the people of Israel, who offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace offerings of oxen to the Lord. And Moses took half of the blood and put it in basins, and half of the blood he threw against the altar. 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.” 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.”

And the people of Israel were covered by that blood but even covered in blood, they still awaited a greater sacrifice — one that could truly cleanse the heart.

But even with all that blood, it wasn’t enough to deal with sin permanently. That blood pointed forward to something greater.

The writer of Hebrews tells us that Jesus didn’t enter an earthly tent with the blood of animals—he entered the heavenly Most Holy Place with his own blood, securing eternal redemption.

Hebrews 9:12 says,

Hebrews 9:11–14 ESV

But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.

Christ’s blood is better. His sacrifice is once for all. His covenant is new and everlasting.

This is what Jesus meant when He said, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood.”

In the Old Covenant, the blood of bulls and goats covered sin temporarily. But in the New Covenant, the blood of Jesus cleanses us completely and eternally.

This Cup is poured out for you. This is the New Covenant, the reason that we are here this morning. And this is the gospel, that Christ has established a New Covenant and anyone can be a partaker of this New Covenant through faith in his Death and Resurrection.

Contrary to what our Presbyterian brothers and sisters think, this Covenant is not a continuation of the Old, instead this Covenant is a completely new thing that God has done to fulfill his promise to Abraham. Because Christ is that promised Seed of the Woman through whom the whole world is blessed.

And it is our job to tell the world about this Covenant.

Before we take this Cup today, I want to give you three purposes of the Cup. Why do we do this? What is this moment meant to do in us?

1. To Remember

Jesus said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

We are to never forget the Blood of Christ shed for each of us. The Cup serves as a reminder of his sacrifice. The gospel isn’t just something that we share with non-believers. The gospel is our life. The gospel is a daily reality for us. We need the gospel every single day of our lives. We need to be reminded that we were bought with a very heavy price. If we forget this, we are in trouble.

Secondly,

2. For Unity

1 Corinthians 10:16–17 says:

“The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? … Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”

When we come around the Lord’s Table to eat the bread and take the cup, we are proclaiming that we are one body with Christ as our head. Unity is so important for the body. If we have disunity within our church, then the body is sick and dysfunctional. We talk about this all the time but we have a very real purpose, a mission, to see the world impacted with the Gospel of Jesus Christ and for that mission to be a success, we need unity in our congregation. The table brings us together for a purpose.

And lastly,

3. To Look Forward

Jesus said in Luke 22:18:

“I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.”

The Cup is to remind us that there will be a day when we will celebrate this meal with Christ himself. There will be a day when we sit in his presence and feast with him. That should make you really excited! This is why our heart’s cry is Maranatha, Come Lord Jesus, we want to see him return to us so that we can be in his presence bodily.

So as we take this Cup, let’s remember: This is not just a symbol — it’s a reminder of a reality that changes everything.

The blood of Jesus means:

You are forgiven.

You are clean.

You are in covenant relationship with God.

And you belong to a people — the people of the New Covenant — whose mission is to proclaim His death until He comes.

This Cup reminds us of the cost of our salvation. But it also reminds us of the grace that has been poured out freely.

So if you are in Christ today — if you’ve trusted in Him for salvation — this Cup is for you. Drink it with joy, with awe, and with worship.

Let’s pray and then we will partake in the Cup together.

PRAYER