A New Covenant
A devotional thought from Halim Suh for “The Law”
Matthew 26:26-28: “As they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, ‘Take and eat it; this is My body.’ Then He took a cup, and after giving thanks, He gave it to them and said, ‘Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood that establishes the covenant; it is shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.’”
We saw in the Old Testament that a sacrificial system was in place for the Israelites when they failed to keep the commands of the law. Blood was shed to atone for the sins of the people. From this text we see that new blood is used for atonement in the new covenant—the very blood of Christ.
See, you and I are still imperfect at keeping the commands of God, even with regenerated hearts and the Holy Spirit within us. Unlike the sacrifices that had to be offered every time a sin was committed or even the ones that were offered once a year, the blood of Christ is better. It is a better and fuller sacrifice because it covers every sin that would ever be committed.
When we partake of communion and remember the sacrifice of Christ, we are not putting Him back on the cross. His sacrifice was complete, once and for all. He accomplished on the cross what no bull or goat ever could. He purchased for us an eternal redemption.
Pause and Reflect
• Think through all of the sins that you have knowingly committed in the last week. Now think of the passive ways that you have sinned by not honoring God first with your mind, heart, and hands. What would the burden be like if you had to offer sacrifices for each of those? What emotions does that weight produce?
• What does the new covenant imply about the value of Christ’s blood for it to accomplish so much?
Thank you for your insight on this week’s lesson. I am always looking for the imput of others as my lesson comes together each week.Your thoughts are going to be my closing Sunday morning. Thank again for your insight!
In Christ, steve
P.S. What a great way to think of, really think of the value of the blood of our Savior Christ Jesus. It really makes you think of God’s true character and how much He loves us and wants us to spend eternity with Him! Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so! WOW!