Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing
it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my
body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them,
saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which
is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink
again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in
my Father's kingdom.” (Matthew 26:26-29)
Jesus said, “And
this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ
whom you have sent.” God created human beings as the highest of his creatures.
We are not animals. We are not mammals.[1] We
are humans. Man. The only creature created in the image and likeness of God.
However, we are
also the creature responsible for bringing sin, corruption, and death to our
world. As much as our environmentally-friendly world loves being enemies of God
for claiming we need him, it is our rejection of God that has made our world so
environmentally-unfriendly!
The reason we need
the new covenant in Jesus’ blood is because his sacrifice for our sin is the
only way our sin-problem can be resolved so we can be restored to God as his
people who are once again in the image and likeness of his Son.
Did you know that the
new covenant in Jesus’ blood is distinguished from every religion in the world
because it is the only covenant in which God has done 100% of the work to have
a relationship with his people? Every religion requires humans to do some form
or list of good works to be acceptable to their god, or universe, or mother nature, or
whatever they have imagined is waiting for us after death.
In God’s own words,
“For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory
of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that
is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be
received by faith” (Romans 3:22-25).
It is so worth
learning that amazing (and big) word, “propitiation”. It means that Jesus satisfied
God’s justice against our sin by bearing the full weight of God’s wrath against
everything sinful, evil, and wicked his lost sheep had ever done. God’s
holiness had to pour out judgment on our sin. In a sense, Jesus pushed his
sinful, guilty, and condemned sheep out of the way and bore that judgment on himself. The judgment was
paid, justice was satisfied, and sinners could now be forgiven.
Here is one of the
most glorious expressions of what Jesus did when he laid down his life on the
cross: “For our sake (believers) he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that
in him we might become the righteousness of God” (II Corinthians 5:21).
This is why Jesus could
institute a new covenant in his blood. He became the sin God had to punish so
we could become the righteousness God would joyfully receive. But it is only “in
him”, hence the imagery of eating and drinking the provisions of the covenant.
And that “in him” can only happen by grace through faith in Jesus Christ our Creator, our Lord, and our Savior.
© 2024
Monte Vigh ~ Box 517, Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8
Email: in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the
English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text
Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of
Good News Publishers.)
[1]
Yes, I know we fit the
description in some ways, but human beings need our own category!
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