A ceremony of reverence for Jesus
July 13, 2009 (Monday)
When Moses and the Israelites received the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, they had a ceremony sealing their covenant relationship with God, and it involved blood sprinkled upon the people. Jesus established a new covenant, and it, too, involved blood. At the last supper he had with his disciples, he instituted, “The Lord’s Supper,” and said, “This is the New Covenant in my blood.” The old covenant was about “law” and the new covenant is about “grace.”
Jesus told his disciples to continue to observe “The Lord’s Supper” in memory of him and his sacrifice of himself on the cross for us. Yesterday at Timbergrove Baptist Church we did that. We ate bread representing his body and drank “wine” (grape juice) symbolizing his blood.
Jesus asks us to do this so that we will never forget the meaning of his death on the cross. Here it is, in one verse from the Apostle Paul: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God” (2 Cor 5:21 NIV).
The author of the Book of Hebrews further explains: “...he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them” (Hebrews 7:25 NIV).
Through his death he has atoned for our sins, and through his resurrection he lives to intercede with the Father for us. I would call that the best news ever given to the people of this world.