The Blood of the Covenant
The Blood of the Covenant
2/17/2001 and 2/18/2001
1 Corinthians 11
“….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."
Exodus 12
1 ¶ The LORD said to Moses and Aaron in Egypt,
2 "This month is to be for you the first month, the first month of your year.
3 Tell the whole community of Israel that on the tenth day of this month each man is to take a lamb for his family, one for each household.
4 If any household is too small for a whole lamb, they must share one with their nearest neighbour, having taken into account the number of people there are. You are to determine the amount of lamb needed in accordance with what each person will eat.
5 The animals you choose must be year-old males without defect, and you may take them from the sheep or the goats.
6 Take care of them until the fourteenth day of the month, when all the people of the community of Israel must slaughter them at twilight.
7 Then they are to take some of the blood and put it on the sides and tops of the door-frames of the houses where they eat the lambs.
8 That same night they are to eat the meat roasted over the fire, along with bitter herbs, and bread made without yeast.
9 Do not eat the meat raw or cooked in water, but roast it over the fire--head, legs and inner parts.
10 Do not leave any of it till morning; if some is left till morning, you must burn it.
11 This is how you are to eat it: with your cloak tucked into your belt, your sandals on your feet and your staff in your hand. Eat it in haste; it is the LORD's Passover.
12 "On that same night I will pass through Egypt and strike down every firstborn--both men and animals--and I will bring judgment on all the gods of Egypt. I am the LORD.
13 The blood will be a sign for you on the houses where you are; and when I see the blood, I will pass over you. No destructive plague will touch you when I strike Egypt.
-We talked about Covenant on Wednesday night.
-I am getting ready to do a series on the 10 commandments.
-Before I talk about the law, we have to have a thorough foundation of grace.
-This week I was talking to people and realized that the only hope we have is the blood of Jesus.
-It is easy to rely on your “goodness” if you have been behaving yourself. That is Santa Claus theology.
-I was witnessing to a person this week and they were commenting on my past life saying basically I was a nice guy.
-My response to that is the same as Tweety’s. They don’t know me very well do they?
-I need the grace of God.
-The only way I can deal with who I used to be and who you used to be is by grace.
-The only key to accepting grace is to understand the significance of the blood in the blood covenant.
1. WITHOUT THE SHEDDING OF BLOOD THERE IS NO FORGIVENESS
Hebrews 9
7 But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
8 ¶ The Holy Spirit was showing by this that the way into the Most Holy Place had not yet been disclosed as long as the first tabernacle was still standing.
9 This is an illustration for the present time, indicating that the gifts and sacrifices being offered were not able to clear the conscience of the worshipper.
10 They are only a matter of food and drink and various ceremonial washings--external regulations applying until the time of the new order.
11 When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man-made, that is to say, not a part of this creation.
12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves; but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, having obtained eternal redemption.
13 The blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer sprinkled on those who are ceremonially unclean sanctify them so that they are outwardly clean.
14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!
15 ¶ 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 only way God can rightfully be related to us is that the price of sin had to be paid.
-The wages of sin is death.
-The life is in the blood and a life has to spill blood in order to atone for a life.
-Jesus was the only person who had no sin. He shed innocent blood for us so we could receive a salvation that we didn’t deserve.
2Co 5:21 God made him who had no sin to be sin {Or be a sin offering} for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
-The blood of Jesus has sealed our forgiveness and our future.
2. BY FAITH WE HAVE PEACE WITH GOD THROUGH THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT
Romans 5
1 ¶ Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
3 Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
4 perseverance, character; and character, hope.
5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
6 ¶ You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.
7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!
-All of us have things in the past that we need to be covered by the blood.
-The only hope you have is the blood.
-Either the blood of Jesus is enough or not.
-I have found myself judging myself by the blood and others by their actions.
-In the Hebrew Bible the men entered into covenant with God by circumcision. That was the cutting of the man’s flesh in the part of him that represented himself and his future generations.
-He would then enter into a covenant with a virgin and blood would be shed on their wedding night.
-In the New Testament:
Romans 2
28 A man is not a Jew if he is only one outwardly, nor is circumcision merely outward and physical.
29 No, a man is a Jew if he is one inwardly; and circumcision is circumcision of the heart, by the Spirit, not by the written code. Such a man's praise is not from men, but from God.
Php 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh--
Col 2:11 In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, {Or the flesh} not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ,
-We have a covenant sealed in blood.
-That blood covers you, your past, and your future.
3. YOUR COVENANT WITH GOD SETS THE TONE FOR EVERY OTHER COVENANT YOU HAVE
-The Bible speaks about your marriage covenant.
Mal 2:14 You ask, "Why?" It is because the LORD is acting as the witness between you and the wife of your youth, because you have broken faith with her, though she is your partner, the wife of your marriage covenant.
-We have a marriage covenant that is only as strong as your covenant with God.
-I always say that I was attracted to Becky because of her honesty.
-Another way of saying that is that I trusted her to keep her covenant.
-I didn’t want to marry someone who was a covenant-breaker.
-We have a covenant together as a community.
-We are praying this weekend for covenant partners.
-That is just an extension of the covenant we have with God.
-We are making a commitment to support those we are in covenant with.
-There is a tremendous blessing of keeping covenant.
-There is tremendous harm for breaking covenant.
READ COVENANT PARTNER COMMITMENT
READ 1 CORINTHIANS 11
1 John 1:7
Revelation 12:11