Exodus 12:14 “This day
shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the Lord;
throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a
feast”.
Continuing in my biblical
study of the Christian sacraments, the next lesson on the Lord’s Supper
explains that the new covenant does not destroy the old in substance, but only
in form. The outward administration of God’s new covenant differs in many ways
from the outward administration of His old covenant. Today, for example, we no
longer sacrifice animals for atonement, for the perfect sacrifice of Christ is
our atonement. However, the substance of redemption for us was the same for the
old covenant saints (those who have been sanctified), who did sacrifice
animals. Per John 8:56, the old covenant saints looked to the atonement of
Christ even though it had not yet occurred in their day. But as it had not yet
happened, the outward manner in which the old covenant saints benefited from
that sacrifice involved animal sacrifices. Their faith in the final atonement
to come was demonstrated by their obedience to the sacrificial laws. Today, we
benefit from Christ’s sacrifice by remembering it as a past event. Our faith in
that “final atonement” is demonstrated in part by obeying the principle that
Christ has ended animal sacrifice.
The lesson confirms that, outwardly,
the sacraments differ under the two covenantal administrations, but their
substance is the same. In a previous lesson, we saw this with circumcision and
baptism—both point to regeneration, but baptism does so under the new covenant
while circumcision did so under the old covenant. Since the Lord’s Supper is
the new covenant version of the Passover, it points to the same reality the
Passover did. Fundamentally, the Passover commemorated God’s work of
redemption, specifically in redeeming the Israelites from slavery in Egypt.
Thus, the Lord’s Supper also remembers God’s redemption.
Yet while redemption from
Egyptian bondage was a true act of salvation, something deeper was going on in
that event. The Israelites applied blood to the doorposts and lintels of their
homes to show the Lord that they were to be spared. But as God is
omniscient, it is not as if He needed the blood to learn where
the Israelites lived. The Israelites needed the blood. They were no less guilty
of sin than the Egyptians, and the blood signaled that their sin
had been atoned for and that God would not put them to death. The lambs sacrificed at Passover
were a propitiatory (acceptable) sacrifice that stayed God’s wrath, foreshadowing the
sacrifice of the Lamb of God to turn away finally the Creator’s wrath. In the
Lord’s Supper, we remember that "final atonement".
Our heavenly Father is a just
and holy God who cannot turn a blind eye at sin. He cannot simply forgive
people without demanding a price for their sin. Romans 6:23 clarifies, “For the wages of sin is death,
but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our
Lord.” On the cross, Christ paid that high price of separation from God for
His people. God is good and sin is evil. Habakkuk
1:13 says of our Creator God, “You are of purer eyes than to
behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness.” The bread and wine of the Lord’s
Supper are God’s promise to us that Christ has turned away God’s wrath for
believers. As we take the Lord’s Supper, let us remember that because Christ
paid the price for us, we owe Him everything that we are. For without Jesus’
redemption, we have hell to pay.
1 Corinthians 11:23-25 The
Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and
when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you;
do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the
cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This
do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
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