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Devotional | Cindy Western | Dec 25, 2021
“He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’After supper he took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.’” Luke 22:19-20
“He took some bread and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and gave it to the disciples, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.’
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.’” Luke 22:19-20
Few things conjure up more hope than the word “new.” Whether it’s a new house, new puppy, new job, new phone, or new baby, there is a feeling that comes only with the word “new.” Maybe the most celebrated new throughout the world is the New Year. Every December, we inevitably start talking about the promises the New Year will bring. We begin to set goals, resolve to make changes to our lifestyles, to reset and get a new start. The expectation keeps building until December 31 when parties, concerts, and fireworks lead us to a countdown to midnight when we bid farewell to the old year and welcome in the new.
When Jesus was born, he ushered in with him a new covenant. God had promised this covenant about 600 years earlier through the prophet Jeremiah.
“‘The day is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,’ says the Lord.
‘But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,’ says the Lord. ‘I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, “You should know the Lord.” For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,’ says the Lord. ‘And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.’” - Jeremiah 31:31-34
Israel had continued to break the first covenant with God by turning from him, over and over again. God made a new promise that was different, better. The old covenant was made to a nation, a collective of people. The new covenant, on the other hand, goes beyond the promise to a specific nation and becomes personal, between God and each person. This covenant wasn’t delivered written on stone tablets like the old one. This new covenant would be written by the Spirit on the heart of the believer, by each person who enters into the covenant. And those in the covenant, from the least to the greatest will already know God and will be forgiven, with their sins remembered no more.
This new covenant was fulfilled by Jesus and confirmed his last night on earth during Passover:
After supper he took another cup of wine and said, ‘This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood, which is poured out as a sacrifice for you.’” - Luke 22:19-20
We are the people of the new covenant. We are able to have a relationship with our God, not in a national sense, but personally. This relationship is not based on keeping a set of laws, but rather on forgiveness, mercy, and grace. Obedience is not the condition of salvation, but the byproduct of it. Love is the standard bearer to the one inside the covenant, love for God and his creation, with an emphasis on others. This is the promise of new.
This New Year’s Eve, take time to relish in the covenant between you and God. As you settle into the idea of newness that comes with the single tick after midnight, remember the new hope Jesus bought for you. Let Happy New Year mean something deeper in your soul, that no matter what the New Year brings, the greatest new has already come.
Prayer
Dear God, thank you for the new covenant that allows for me to know you personally. Thank you for forgiveness so great you remember my sins no more. Thank you for making all things new in you and for giving me your Spirit to write your promise on my heart. As I celebrate a new year, I will praise you for new life and eternal hope. Amen.
Cindy Western
Pastor of Discipleship Materials & Small Groups
Cindy Western is Pastor of Discipleship Materials & Small Groups. She is passionate about helping people experience Jesus through Bible studies, small groups, and community.
cwestern@crossings.church