Communion Part 4 - The Covenant of Grace and the Holy Spirit

Continuing on from last week's blog post Communion Part 3 - God's Covenant with Moses

For the Israelite, being part of the Passover meal linked him/her with the Children of God that were taken from slavery and misery in Egypt many, many generations before.  The Israelite too would remember the covenants God made with his/her forefathers Abraham and Moses; the covenant with Moses being ratified the through sacrifice and the ''blood of the covenant'':

Exodus 24: 8; ''And Moses took the blood and sprinkled it on the people, and said, Behold, the blood of the covenant, which the LORD hath made with you concerning all these words.''

The Israelite would also remember the actions of his forbear Adam and the consequences of the introduction of sin into the world, it's impact in separating God from man. 

 

 He/She would therefore know the significance and importance of  the 'Day of Atonement'.  On this day, instituted by God as part of the covenant with Moses, Israel's High Priest was required to enter the most Holy Place within the Tabernacle where the presence of God dwelt in order to offer a sacrifice and sprinkle blood to annul the affects of sin and enable for the Children of Israel an annual reconciliation with their God:

 

Leviticus 16: 29, 30 & 31;  ''And this shall be a statute for ever unto you: that in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict [humble] your souls, and do not work at all, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger that sojourneth among you:  For on that day shall the priest make an atonement for you, to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the LORD.  It shall be a sabbath [Sabbath of solemn] rest unto you , and ye shall afflict your souls, by a statue for ever.''

 

But, because Israel regularly breached  the covenant God established with Moses in so many major ways, God proclaimed through Jeremiah, His prophet, that He would bring in a new covenant, an unconditional covenant of grace: 

Jeremiah 31: 31, 32, 33 & 34;  ''Behold the days come saith the LORD, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was a husband unto them, saith the LORD. 

But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward [mind] parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.  And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the LORD: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the LORD: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.''

As we know now it was to be through the death of Jesus on the cross, his sacrifice and shedding of blood that this 'New Covenant', that is, a new basis for the relationship between God and His people, would inaugurated and established.

But this time God's people were not to be a Peoples linked by a common heritage, geography or culture - this time anyone could become a Child of God.

 

John the Baptist had warned that to be Jewish, to rely on their heritage through genealogy of Abraham down through the ages was itself not a guarantee of salvation:

Matthew 3: 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12; ''Bring forth therefore fruits meet [worthy of] repentance: And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of thee stones to raise up children unto Abraham.  And now also the axe is laid at the root of the trees: therefore every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. 

I indeed baptise you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptise you with the Holy Ghost and with fire: Whose fan [winnowing fan] is in his hand, and he will thoroughly purge his floor [threshing floor], and gather his wheat into the garner [barn]; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.''

After his resurrection Jesus instructed his disciples to make disciples of all nations, to form a People of God drawn from all corners of the earth:

Matthew 28: 19; ''Go ye therefore and teach [make disciples] all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.''

But what else did Jesus teach about this 'New Covenant' where anyone can enjoy an everlasting personal relationship with God:

John 3: 5, 6 & 7; ''Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man is born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.''

So, here Jesus is telling Nicodemus, a Pharisee and a ruler of the Jews who secretly came to Jesus during the night seeking out answers to questions that must have been troubling him, what a person must do to be saved from this world and to obtain everlasting life. 

Jesus told him that to have everlasting life he must be born again -  though he could not return into his mother's womb to be born once more into this physical and finite world  - or as I call it - the realm of the ''flesh''.

No, this time, Jesus tells Nicodemus, you (and everyone else for that matter!) must be born again through the transforming power of the Spirit to be able to enter heaven - or as I call it - the realm of the ''Spirit''; the realm where God will dwell with His people for ever, and ever, and ever.

Later in his earthly ministry, just before his sacrifice, Jesus told his disciples that he would be leaving them and going back to his Father; but for the anxious and bemused disciples he promised that he would not leave them comfortless and would send them a helper - the Holy Spirit:

 John 14: 1, 17, 18, 19  20; ''And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter [Helper], that he may abide in you forever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not. neither knoweth him; but ye know him for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me; because I live ye shall live also.  At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.''

John 14: 26; ''But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance, whithersoever I have said unto you.''

This '' another Comforter'' (or another Helper, from the Greek literally meaning 'one called alongside to help'), would be sent to support and guide them in God's work once Jesus had returned to his Father; ''another'' stresses that this Helper would be like Jesus to them - a comforting fact in itself!

Jesus tells his apostles that

• this Comforter  ''may abide in you forever''; in other words will permanent
• this Comforter will ''dwelleth'' with them - literally means ''takes up residence'' with them 
• this Comforter would provide them with a new spiritual form which would enable them to become secure in Jesus, just as Jesus was in God - ''I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you''.

Following his atoning  'Passover' sacrifice and victory over death on the cross, Jesus once more assured his apostles that even though he was about to leave this earthly, physical realm of the flesh  and return to his Father in the spiritual realm of heaven, in his absence he would not leave them without help:

Acts 1: 4, 5, 6, 8 & 9;   ''And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which, saith he, ye heard of me.  For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence.  But ye shall receive power, after [when] that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.''

And sure enough, at Pentecost, just as Jesus promised, the Holy Spirit came to his apostles:

Acts 2: 1, 2 & 4;  ''And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord [purpose] in one place.  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting.  And they were filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.''

This ''speaking with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance'' reinforced what Jesus said (below) would happen when his believers were baptised in the Spirit; that is 'born again' in a spiritual form through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit:

Mark 16: 16 & 17; ''He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned [condemned], and these signs shall follow them that believe ; in my name they shall cast out devils [demons]; they shall speak in new tongues.''

This speaking in tongues accompanied the outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the first Gentile converts at Corinth when listening to Peter preach the Gospel:

Acts 10: 44, 45, 46 & 47; ''While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost, fell on them which heard the word.  And they of the circumcision [The Jews] which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Ghost.  For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered Peter, Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptised, which have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?  And he commanded them to be baptised in the name of the Lord.''

Paul explains the importance of the Holy Spirit for both Jew and Gentile alike:  

 

Romans 8: 15, 16 & 17a;  ''For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  The Spirit beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:  And if children, then heirs; heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ;''

''The Spirit of adoption'', the Holy Spirit gives the believer a status in God's family as an (adopted) son/daughter.  ''Abba'' (Aramaic) again used here to denote the intimate name used only by members of the family.  ''Joint-heirs with Christ'' conveys the promise that we as members of God's Spirit filled family of believers shall all share in our inheritance together.

This Spirit of adoption is really very, very important; for me it is the crux of the status of our relationship with God in the New Covenant Age going forward:

Romans 8: 2, 8, 9, 10, 11;  ''For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.  So they then that are in the flesh cannot please God.  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you.  Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. 

And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.  But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised Christ up from the dead shall also quicken [give life to] your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you.''

"...he is none of his" suggests that any who lack the Spirit are not part of God's family.  ''Quicken your mortal bodies'' means that members of God's family will receive a new physical form by the in filling (''dwelleth in you'') of the Holy Spirit in order to be able to overcome death, just like Jesus.

And finally the last word this week with Paul:

2 Corinthians 3: 3; ''Forasmuch as ye are manifestly declared to be the epistle of Christ ministered [cared for] by us, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables [tablets] of stone, but in fleshy tables [tablets] of the heart.''

Next week - Communion Part 5 - Hebrews & Ephesians