TEXT: Didactic/Topical with textual references
INTRO: Southern Baptists recognize and practice only two ordinances: 1.) baptism (the “first act of obedience” in following Christ) and 2.) The Lord’s Supper (a celebration of the death of Christ for our sins and the hope of His return, also called Last Supper, Communion, the Eucharist, Mass). It is the second we will look at today as we consider the change in covenants between God and ourselves.
I.THE INITIAL OLD TESTAMENT COVENANTS.
A. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT. READ GENESIS 12:1-3. Abraham is known as the “Father of “Faith.
Gen. 15, 3 promises:
1.) Vs. 5, “Your offspring will be as numerous [as the stars in the sky.”
2.) Vs. 6, “Abram believed the Lord and He credited it to him as righteousness.”
3.) Vs. 7, “I am Yahweh who brought you from Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to possess.” Chap. 17:8, God says to Abram, “And to you and your future offspring I will give the land where you are residing. . . . as an eternal possession and I will be their God.”
Chap 15:9-10, 17, It was a covenant God would see kept by His grace, not by human effort.
B. THE MOSAIC COVENANT.
Israel: The Lord took the tribes of Israel’s sons to Egypt where they grew into a nation. He then delivered them through the leadership of Moses.
God commanded the Passover Meal.
While on the Exodus, God established through Moses the “”Mosaic Covenant,” or “The Law of Moses,” which is found in the TORAH or the PENTATEUCH. God would reveal Himself through His Law and Israel would respond to the revelation by keeping the Law and be blessed as God’s people.
II. THE NEW COVENANT.
A. THE PASSOVER CUPS.
Ex. 6:6,: “Tell the Israelites: I am Yahweh and I will deliver you from the forced labor of the Egyptians and free you from slavery to them. I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and great acts of judgment. I will take you as My people, and I will be your God.”
1.) The Cup of Sanctification (being chosen); 2.) The Cup of Plagues: (representing being saved from bondage); 3.The Cup of Redemption : (God will reach out and perform acts of judgment); and, 4.) The Cup of Completion: (representing what lies ahead at the end of days).
Jesus used the cup of redemption to initiate the New Covenant.
B.THE NEW COVENANT PROMISES. Jesus, upon sharing the cup, said “This cup is the New Covenant, which is established by My blood.” (1 Cor. 11:25)His blood established a new covenant. The Covenant removed the keeping of the Mosaic Law as a means of receiving God’s promise of salvation.
The New Covenant was based on the Lord satisfying the demands of the Law and offering grace to those who followed Him.
It signifies a movement from the Old Covenant based on the Law to a New Covenant based on grace.
CONCLUSION
We are to 1.) Acknowledge that we are not under the old Law; 2.) Recognize the New Covenant of Grace: remember His sacrifice, renewed in grace, refreshed to move forward , and rejoicing in our eternal hope.