The New Covenant

“The New Covenant” 07/01/18

I enjoy pot-luck suppers, don’t you? The variety of food, the fellowship. Can you imagine, though, what it would be like if some people got there early, ate the best food, and even were getting drunk, leaving those who came later with little or nothing left to eat? Can you imagine everyone bringing their own food but not sharing it with others? It appears that something like this was happening at Corinth when the church gathered to celebrate the Lord’s supper. After rebuking them for their unchristian behavior he reminds them what the Supper is supposed to be focused on.

1 Corinthians 11:23–26 NIV84

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

Paul is giving this instruction because the church in Corinth was observing an outward form of the Supper, going through the motions, without remembering the significance. There was no sense of community, of being united as the Body of Christ. Paul is telling them that they need to be concerned not with themselves but with the well-being of each other. This is what the new covenant should bring about.

Paul is giving this instruction because the church in Corinth was observing an outward form of the Supper, going through the motions, without remembering the significance. There was no sense of community, of being united as the Body of Christ. Paul is telling them that they need to be concerned not with themselves but with the well-being of each other. This is what the new covenant should bring about.

At the Lord’s table there should be no distinction between rich and poor, Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female.

Have you ever signed a contract? A covenant is a contract. Another word is testament.

Covenant – an agreement between two parties. Initiated by God, established with a sacrifice, made not with individuals but with a community. A relationship in which one party established terms which the other party accepted or rejected.

Not because God needs anything, simply because God loves us and knows we need God.

Covenant with the people of Israel

Jesus’ words about a new covenant look back to an old covenant

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.” 8 Moses then took the blood, sprinkled it on the people and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that the Lord has made with you in accordance with all these words.”

Exodus 24:7 NIV84

Then he took the Book of the Covenant and read it to the people. They responded, “We will do everything the Lord has said; we will obey.”

Created a community of faith

Created a community of faith

Centered in the written word – 10 commandments

Obedience to the Law of Moses

Maintained by continuous sacrifices

Promise of a new covenant

Jeremiah 31:31–34 NIV84

“The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “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 a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘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 wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “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 a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘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 wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The new covenant

Created a community of faith

Centered in the living Word – Jesus Christ

Obedience to the Law of love – here is where the church in Corinth was falling short

Only the one sacrifice needed

Why with the cup – covenant sealed with blood

Just as the old covenant was sealed to the people by the blood being sprinkled on them, the new covenant is sealed to us when we drink the cup.

In remembrance

Of Jesus’ life and ministry – humility and compassion – came to serve, not to be served

Of Jesus’ death– sacrifice for us, the forgiveness of our sin

Of Jesus’ resurrection – He is alive and present now with us; He is coming again

The word Paul uses for remembrance means making present the past so that it becomes effective in the present. Same as the Passover meal itself was to make the past event of the exodus a present and personal experience to those celebrating.

Proclaim the Lord’s death

We not only remember Jesus’ death, but we proclaim that it was for us. In word and symbolically we repeat the good news of Jesus’ sacrifice. Not just individually but as a people. Christ’s death has created a new community of people who bear his name.

Until He comes

Hebrews 9:15 NIV84

For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.

The church in Corinth gathered together to commemorate a principle they were unwilling to practice

The church in Corinth gathered together to commemorate a principle they were unwilling to practice

Paul goes on to say, “Examine yourselves.” Are we guilty of forming cliques, of divisiveness, of selfishness?

As we come to the table

Let us remember that we are united into the Body of Christ

We commit ourselves to being His people

We confess our faith

Let us remember what Jesus did for us

Let us be ready for Him when He returns