A New Way
Matthew 26:26-28 26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take and eat; this is my body." 27 Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
-Communion speaks to us of a New Exodus, a new way out of bondage and oppression. Communion finds its fuller meaning as we examine where it came from.
-God provided a way for Israel to get out of Egypt. He used Moses as the main leader who would guide the people and lead them out. But it wasn’t enough just to get out. There was a destination in mind. God had promised Abraham, the Father of the nation of Israel, that He would give the land of Canaan to him and his descendents. So, Moses helped lead the people out, but the Promised Land was their destination.
-God has provided a way out for all mankind. It is a way out of sin, a way out of lostness, a way out of despair! There is deliverance and redemption available to those who are in bondage to sin and self.
-Communion or The Lord’s Supper is based on the historical event of Israel coming out of Egypt. God led them on a journey to the Promised Land so they could find rest from the tyranny of Egypt and to build a future. It is a new Exodus or 2nd Exodus that Jesus is calling us to.
-If we take a look at our communion service and work backwards to where it came from and what it is based on, we end up in the book of Exodus where people were gathered in family groups in their houses one dark night in Egypt. God had already used Moses to speak to Pharaoh to let God’s people go so they could worship Him. In fact, God had already sent 9 different plagues to show Pharaoh that the God of Israel was real and more powerful than any other so-called gods. Pharaoh continued to harden his heart and refused to let God’s people go. So, Moses announced a final plague – the death of the firstborn in every family. However, God told His people to kill a lamb and spread some of its blood on the doorposts of their homes. Then they were to roast the lamb and eat it in their homes, not taking any outside. God told them this lamb was only for those who were in covenant with Him as one of His people. There are a couple of things I want to point out about this lamb. It couldn’t be just any lamb. It had to be perfect with no blemishes, diseases or injuries. Also, God told them not to break any of its bones. So they killed and ate it, along with flatbread (unleavened), and they were spared the death of every firstborn, and God led them out of Egypt.
-For some 3500 years now many Jews have celebrated Passover all around the world to remember how God delivered their ancestors from the bondage and cruelty of Egypt.
One Passover night a Jewish man was leading a small group of people in observing the Passover Meal. He did something unheard of that night. He assigned new meaning to the bread and the wine that they used at the meal. After the meal, He took some of the flatbread and broke it and in essence said, “This meal isn’t about the body of a lamb, it is about My body. This 3rd cup of wine called the Cup of Redemption isn’t about the blood of the lambs that were killed on the first Passover, it is about My blood.” In effect, He was saying, I am the Passover Lamb. He had no intention of saying that the bread and wine actually turned into His body and blood when they ate it. He was turning their attention from what had happened 1500 years earlier in Egypt to something that would make a New Exodus possible to all who would receive Him.
-So instead of His followers thinking about a small animal whose blood caused God’s judgment to pass over their ancestors, Jesus was telling them that His own blood would be used to help people escape the judgment that is coming on all sin. Jesus said, “It is My blood of the new covenant or new agreement I am making with mankind. Whoever believes enough to apply to their lives what I will do through the sacrifice of My body and My blood will escape judgment and find a new way to God.” Jesus was the perfect, blameless Lamb of God who would take away the sin of the world – for all who would believe. And even 1500 years before He died, God gave specific instructions regarding the Passover lambs that would help people recognize Jesus as the Passover Lamb. Just as no bones were to be broken on the Passover lambs, so no bones were broken on Jesus when He died on the cross. God wanted to give people every reason to believe and overcome any doubts they might have.
-Communion, or the Eucharist (which means “thanksgiving”) is the most sacred aspect of our faith, the greatest mystery, the greatest sorrow, the greatest blessing, the very heart of our Lord’s teaching. It would do us all good to learn to approach communion with humility, confidence, and prayer, giving thanks to God for our forgiveness. We can thank God for what He brought us out of, and we can thank Him for what He has brought us into – His favor, His family, His presence!
Main thought: God has provided a way to get us out of Egypt and to get Egypt out of us!
-Since communion is all about the new covenant God made with man, let’s look at what the OT says about the new covenant.
Jeremiah 31:31-34 31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more." (See Heb. 10)
-God has a new way of dealing with mankind. He has a new way of getting us out of sin and into His family. Let’s go ahead and take a look at a few thoughts on God’s New Way!
1. A New Way Out
-We need to understand that just as Israel was powerless to get themselves out of Egypt, so we are powerless to get ourselves out of the trap of sin. People are addicted to sin and we all need God’s help to get free from it.
Romans 5:6-8 6 You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
-We can’t just pull ourselves up by our bootstraps and suddenly start living right and doing the right thing. We might do some things right, but we’ll never be free unless we put our faith in Jesus and ask Him to forgive us and cleanse us, and deliver us.
-At the Passover meal, Jesus took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:27-28).
-In Egypt each family killed their Passover lamb, and drained its blood into a basin. Then they dipped a hyssop plant in the blood and used it kind of like a brush to spread the blood on both sides and above the door. By doing this, they were sparing their household from certain tragedy as God’s judgment fell on the Egyptians.
-How do we apply the blood of Jesus, God’s Passover Lamb, to our lives? Jesus said His blood was poured out for the forgiveness of sins. Taking communion and drinking grape juice does not bring God’s forgiveness. However, the Bible tells us that if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all that is not right in our lives. Repentance is the way out of judgment.
-We don’t like to talk about it much, but God will judge this world and punish people for every sin they have committed – unless the blood of the Lamb is covering them. Hell is for real! God doesn’t want anyone to go there, but if we refuse Him then that is where we choose to go.
-God has called us out of darkness and into His light! He has provided a new way out through His Son Jesus! Have you taken it?
2. A New Way In
-God has also provided a new way in – into right relationship and friendship with Him! Once we repent and call on God to show us the way out of darkness, He places us in Christ. In fact, this is the amazing message of being justified or made right with God. When God looks at us, He sees Jesus! If anyone is in Christ, they are made new! And because we are in Christ we can come into the holy place of God’s close, special presence and worship God and have fellowship with Him.
Hebrews 10:19-22 19 Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20 by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.
-You can have access into God’s presence as His child and friend because of the blood of Jesus that was poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.
3. A New Heart
Ezekiel 36:25-26 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 26 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
-God changes us from the inside out when we come to Him asking Him to forgive us on the basis of the blood of Jesus! Not only do we escape the death penalty- God’s judgment on a sinful world, but our hearts are made clean and we become fit for the presence of God. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God. A pure heart only comes from God based on what Jesus did on the cross!
2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
4. A New Way of Living
2 Corinthians 5:15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
-Our motivation changes when the blood of Jesus has its effect on us and in us. We begin to live for Him rather than for our own selfish desires. God’s new way of dealing with man changes how we think and it changes how we act!
1 John 2:2-6 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4 The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6 Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
-So, in keeping with God’s word to us, we seek to honor God by our lifestyle, avoiding anything that would bring shame to His name. We actively obey what is right, and we actively avoid what is wrong. Does that mean that it’s all a bunch of do’s and don’ts? Is it all about following a list of rules found in the Bible? Let me say both No and Yes.
-First, No! Following a list of rules will never make you right with God. Only faith in Jesus makes you right with God. Yes, we do follow God’s rules for our lives out of love and gratitude for Him, but it is based on the loving relationship we have with Him. If we are trying to do enough good things for God to accept us, we are saying that what Jesus did on the cross was not good enough to make us right with God! But if we do good and obey God in response to His love for us, then we are on the right track.
-We need to remember that our actions reflect on whose we are. If we say we belong to Christ, then we need to live for Him, not ourselves.
5. A New Destination
-When Israel left Egypt, they were headed for the Promised Land, where God would bless them and multiply them into a mighty nation that would reflect His glory to the whole world. However, along the way, many of them disobeyed and sinned against Him by serving other Gods and whining and complaining that He wasn’t taking good enough care of them. So, what should have only taken about 3 months took 40 years, and several of them missed out on the reward.
-Our Promised Land is heaven, where we will be with the Lord forever! We don’t know a whole lot about it, but it will be worth every bit of pain and every problem we’ve experienced here on Earth. 1 Corinthians 2:9 "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him."
Conclusion: So, as we wrap up our time, we’ve talked about a new way that God provided for us to get right with Him and become who we were meant to be in Christ! Maybe right now and throughout this week we can take a few minutes each day to think about what we were saved from. Remember that God provided a new way out – a new exodus from an old life of sin and hopelessness. Realize that God also provided a new way in. We can enjoy close fellowship with God because we are in Christ. Thank God for a new heart that is soft toward Him and that has been cleansed and changed by His life that flows through you. And make a commitment to obey from your heart the teachings of Jesus. After all, obedience is a mark of those who love and follow Him. Finally, spend a little time thinking about where you’re going! In Egypt, the people had little hope and little to look forward to. The only value they had in the eyes of the Egyptians was how much work they could do. Heaven is referred to as God’s rest. There is a spiritual rest we can enter into now, but we do have a destination! Jesus has promised to come back for us and take us to be with Him forever! Finally, recognize that all of this is made possible by the death and resurrection of Jesus! His blood provided the new way for you to get right with God and get to know Him and enjoy Him forever!
-If you’ve been doing things YOUR way, I hope you’ll stop and think about the new way that God offers to you. Jesus invites you to come to Him and find forgiveness. In Him you will find peace and life and joy! He offers you a way out of your slavery. He wants to deliver you from the things that have you trapped. He offers you His love and a family and close relationship. He will give you a new heart, a new way of living, and a new destination. If you want to say YES to Him today, would you slip up your hand so I can pray for you?
[Play Holy Spirit Rain Down – clip ]
