“The cup seals the new covenant with my blood. Drink it—and whenever you drink this, do it to remember me.” (1 Corinthians 11:25b, TPT)
Remember here is the Greek word anamnésis, Strongs #364. It means to properly deliberate and “better appreciate the effects.” The Lord does not just want us to think of Him, but to understand what it is He did for us through the new covenant that is sealed by His blood.
The new covenant is between Father and Son is unbreakable and we are invited to participate in it. Like a will, we are the benefactor of the promises. We do not need to earn it but rather receive it.
Jesus fulfilled the law completely as He walked on the earth – every requirement. This is why He told John that His baptism was to “fulfill all righteousness.”
Taking a step back, in Hebrews 7:9, it talks about the Levites paying a tenth to Melchizedek and says, “One might even say that Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham, because when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the body of his ancestor.”
In the same way that the Levites were in the loins of Abraham as he offered tithes to Melchizedek, in a sense, as we accept Christ, we were in His loins as He went to the cross, having fulfilled all the requirements of the Law and the Prophets [1] (see Romans 6:3-5). The Spirit, blood and water all testify. We do not need baptism by water, circumcision or Passover to be saved -Jesus fulfilled all for us. We can now celebrate them in freedom, not in fear of our salvation as there are no additional requirements.
Philippians 3:3 (TPT) says, “We worship God in the power and freedom of the Holy Spirit, not in laws and religious duties. We are those who boast in what Jesus Christ has done and not in what we can accomplish in our own strength.”
And Philippians 3:9 goes on to say, “My passion is to be consumed with Him and not clinging to my own righteousness based in keeping the written law. My righteousness will be based on the faithfulness of Jesus Christ – the very righteousness that comes from God.
David Wilkerson notes that as Jesus was talking to His Father in John 17, He was asking in essence, “We agreed that I could bring into our covenant everyone who trusts in Me. Now, Father, I ask You to bring these beloved ones under the same covenant promises You made to Me.” [2]
Years ago, when I was a brand-new Christian during a fast, I had a vision of the covenant that I was participating in. In this picture, the Cross of Christ was central but there was so much to this covenant, I couldn’t fully even see or understand.
David proclaims in Psalm 103 (TPT) benefits for being in relationship with God. He proclaims, “Yahweh, you are my soul’s celebration. How could I ever forget the miracles of kindness you’ve done for me? You kissed my heart with forgiveness, in spite of all I’ve done. You’ve healed me inside and out from every disease. You’ve rescued me from hell and saved my life. You’ve crowned me with love and mercy. You satisfy my every desire with good things. You’ve supercharged my life so that I soar again like a flying eagle in the sky!”
David Wilkerson used to say that you could not have a revival without understanding of the new covenant promises. In his book, Wilkerson notes that whatever that the Lord demands of you, including holiness, He will supply you with all the power needed to accomplish it. [3]
Four covenant promises Wilkerson notes are:
- You will have the Holy Spirit upon you without measure (Isaiah 61:1, John 3:34).
- You will never be out of My sight. My presence will be with you (Hebrews 1:5).
- I will lift you up in all times of opposition and discouragement (Isaiah 42:4).
- I will highly exalt Christ and give Him a name above other names (Philippians 2:9-10).
This new covenant is the source of our new life in Him. It is through Jesus and the promise that we are restored to right relationship like in the garden. Paul says in Colossians 1:19-20, “For God is satisfied to have all His fullness dwelling in Christ. And by the blood of His cross, everything in heaven and earth is brought back to Himself—back to its original intent, restored to innocence again.”
This new covenant is the source of the divine outflow of the grace of God. Paul says in Colossians 1:6 (TPT) “Every believer of this good news bears the fruit of eternal life as they experience the reality of God’s grace.”
In The Collected Works of John G. Lakes, The grace of Divine Healing and The Secret of Miracles, he speaks of a divine outflow of the nature of God in healing, salvation and power that can only described as “the Grace of God.” He writes, speaking of this grace, “Beloved, the Christian life is a glorious doorway into God, through Jesus Christ, into the divinest secrets that the soul of a man ever desired to attain. And, bless His name, you and I to-night are privileged to enter that doorway, and to know Him, ‘Whom to know aright is eternal.'”[4]
Paul goes on to pray that the church at Colossae would walk in the ways of this true righteousness (not by works but by faith in the new covenant), yielding to its life and maturing in the rich experience of knowing God in his fullness; energized with explosive power from the realm of his magnificent glory, filling them with great hope. (Colossians 1:10-11)
He goes on to say in Colossians 1:12-14, “Your hearts can soar with joyful gratitude when you think of how God made you worthy to receive the glorious inheritance freely given to us by living in the light [being enlightened]. He has rescued us completely from the tyrannical rule [authority] of darkness and translated us into the kingdom realm of his beloved Son. For in the Son all our sins are canceled and we have the release of redemption through his very blood.”
Entering into His promises means fully trusting that Christ alone has done all the work for us. We receive them by faith alone and not by any works of our own. As Jesus passed from death into resurrection, Wilkerson notes that we need to allow His Spirit to take us into death and raise us up as a new person – death to striving to please, death to ambition, death to boasting, death to plans, desires and will. [5] We cease striving and fully yield to its life and maturing, surrendering to Him in complete dependence.
Psalm 46:10 says, “Cease striving and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
Every obstacle and hindrance has been removed and the price has been paid by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross. We need not strive to get it all right and make a way to have the promises that are ours in the new covenant. Colossians 1:23 says, “And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored, if indeed you continue to advance in faith, assured of a firm foundation to grow upon.
As we grow in our belief, we are left with an ever-increasing revelation of His promises already fulfilled. “For you bring me continual revelation of resurrection life, the path of bliss that brings me face-to-face with You.” (Psalm 16:11, TPT)
In The Collected Works of John G. Lakes, The grace of Divine Healing and The Secret of Miracles, he goes on to say that he is anxious that God would help us realize our inheritance and we would walk and talk with our Lord while exercising God’s government over sin and sickness while knowing and revealing His all-conquering grace. He writes, “That wonderful strain runs all through the Word, where God endeavors to encourage mankind to rise out of his debased condition, and let the mighty action of the heavenly Spirit in the soul of him, in the spirit of him, in the body of him–make him God’s new man, like the Christ the Son of God.” [6]
We become like Christ and one with Christ, not only in our ability to exercise authority, but in heart, mind and purpose. Coming back to drinking of the blood of the new covenant, Lakes asks about it, “What does it mean when a man drinks to another’s pledge? It means that he has entered into oneness and fellowship and understanding with him, according to the words of the uttered pledge.” In other words, we become one with not only His redemptive life under the new covenant but His redemptive purposes to rescue mankind from their sins. [7]
Lord, when you were on the cross and the man who was deserving of death was next to you and looked to You, You promised Him, “Today you will be with Me in paradise.” There was nothing He needed to do other than accept it as a gift. He was certainly undeserving but yet You gave Him the fullness of Your Kingdom. I’m in awe of Your generosity and goodness to each one of us. Strengthen our faith, dispel our doubts and help us to walk more fully in Your promises under the new covenant. We love You and want everything You have for us in this season.
“Now may the God who brought us peace by raising from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ so that He would be the Great Shepherd of His flock; and by the power of the blood of the eternal covenant may He work perfection into every part of you giving you all that you need to fulfill your destiny. And may He express through you all that is excellent and pleasing to Him through your life-union with Jesus the Anointed One who is to receive all glory forever! Amen!” (Hebrews 13:20-21, TPT)
- Sievers, Rev. Susan. Resurrection Power. 2004.
2-3,5. Wilkerson, David. It is Finished: Finding Lasting Victory Over Sin. The Estate of David Wilkerson. Chosen Books, Minneapolis, MN. 2013.
4,6-7. Lakes, John G. The Collected Works of John G. Lakes.
