Greetings,
In light of the present season of Easter and the resurrection life that we enjoy in Christ, I felt to post another excerpt from by book, The Now Covenant. This book is available in print, e-book, and audiobook. As New Covenant leaders and New Covenant believers in Christ, we need to walk in the fullness of the life that we have in Christ.
Audio Excerpt:
True communion was initiated in the fulfillment of Passover. Jesus became the true Passover Lamb, who took away the sins of the world. In preparation of that sacrifice, Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples. He had eaten that meal with them in previous times. He had most likely eaten the bread of Passover and drank the cup at least twice before with his men. He had experienced the physical elements of bread and wine at numerous settings of his 331/2 years of human life. As the Word of God, He had observed the Passover meal hundreds and hundreds of times from the realm of heaven. However, this meal was different. This is the one Passover meal that He had longed to see. This was the one that would fulfill all of the previous meals leading up to that moment. This is why Jesus said, “With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer” (Lk. 22:15). This was the one that would reveal the truth of the Passover meal.
The first cup of the Passover meal was a cup of Thanksgiving (Kiddush), a testimony of becoming the people of God through God’s covenant and transformation in the life of Abraham. The second cup of the Passover meal was a cup of Telling, or Testimony (Hagadah), for stories of deliverance from Egyptian slavery. The third cup was the cup of Redemption, or Blessing, to demonstrate God’s redemption power for all who believe in Him. It testified of the death of the flesh of Egyptian inheritance and the protection unto new life for the believer in Israel. The fourth cup was the cup of Praise (Hallel), to testify that God had acquired His people as a holy nation unto Himself (Ex. 6:6-7). Jesus had come to the world as the Word made flesh. He Himself had fled to Egypt to free all who were bound to the bondage of sin. He was born as the cup of Thanksgiving to God. He lived his life as the cup of Telling. His life in the flesh would set precedence for all who would follow Him to become the living testimonies of God’s story in the earth. The time had finally come for Jesus to take the unleavened bread of the Passover and the third cup of Passover wine (the cup of Blessing or the cup of Redemption). Jesus finished its symbolism in the presence of His disciples. He proclaimed to them that He was about to give His life as a ransom for all men. The cup to follow the cup of Redemption would be the cup of Praise. He revealed this truth when He took the cup after supper and called it the cup of the New Covenant in His blood shed for mankind. The cup before supper was the cup of blood, the blood of the Old Covenant. The cup after supper was the cup of Hallel (Praise), the cup of resurrection life in Christ. In this act Jesus proclaimed that the blood of the New Covenant is the life of the Spirit in Christ.
Luke 22:20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.”
Jesus has become the resurrection life within the body of Christ that we might drink the cup of Praise anew with Him (Mt. 26:29). That cup is not a cup of earthly wine. It is a cup of heavenly wine! It is the cup of resurrection life given to all who believe in Jesus Christ. It is the cup that testifies that the cup of Redemption and Blessing has been drunk once for all men through the shedding of the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ. To drink that cup of resurrection life one must first be a partaker of the Bread of Life. By drinking the cup of Praise, we proclaim the fulfillment of the cup of Redemption for all mankind. In sharing the cup of the Spirit, we experience the intimacy of the body of Christ. In experiencing the intimacy of the body of Christ we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ for all men.
The hour had come for the life of the flesh to be exchanged for the life of the Spirit for all of mankind. Jesus had come to complete the death of the old Adam and initiate the birth of a new human race through the seed of His flesh as the Last Adam. His life would be sown in corruption but raised to incorruption (1 Cor. 15:42). He would endure the cross once for all, but for the sake of the joy set before Him (Heb. 12:2). He would prove to be the beginning of the true bread and cup of life for all men (Jn. 6:35, 48). The Body of Christ would become a new creation in the earth (2 Cor. 5:17). The elements of the Passover meal would be revealed in the flesh of the body of Christ and the cup of the Holy Spirit that flows within her being. The Bible teaches that the life of the flesh is in the blood (Lev. 17:11). It does not teach that the life is in the blood. The life of humanity is in the Spirit of God, but the life of the flesh had to be given once for all in order for all to receive the life of the Spirit. Without the shedding of blood there can be no remission of sins (Mt. 26:28; Heb. 9:22), thus Jesus shed His blood once for all. The cup of Blessing for the believer was drunk once for all by Jesus Christ. It was His willingness and obedience to love that empowered Him to shed His blood once for us all. We need not drink that cup ever again. He has given to us the cup of Praise. He has given to us the cup of the Spirit. In drinking the cup of the Spirit, we proclaim the death of Jesus Christ. For unless One drank the cup of Blessing, we could not drink the cup of Praise. God has not called us to drink the cup of Blessing. He has made a way for us to drink the cup of Praise! He has the authority to bring all men out of sin as the cup of Thanksgiving. He set precedence for the testimony of all men as the cup of Telling. He has fulfilled the death of the flesh for all men as the cup of Redemption and Blessing. He is now calling all men to drink of the cup of Praise, proclaiming we are a holy nation unto God our Father. Is this not the cup of the New Covenant table?
Food For Thought,
Ted J. Hanson
Audiobooks at Kobo, Nook, Chirp, Apple, Google Play, Scribd, Authors Direct – & more forthcoming
Buy Print or E-book and Audiobook on Amazon:
Donations can be made at the link on the home site of:
Checks can be made payable to House of Bread Ministry and sent to:
House of Bread Ministry, 3210 Meridian St., Bellingham, WA 98225
To avoid us paying a transaction fee from your donation, you can also set up a payment or an automatic payment from your bank to House of Bread Ministry. Just set it up as a ‘bill pay’ through your online bank account and your bank will mail a check to House of Bread Ministry. We will record your payment as a donation to House of Bread Ministry (E.I.N. 91-2009037) and we will send you a contribution receipt at the close of the year.
Our Ministry Information Is:
House of Bread Ministry
3210 Meridian St.
Bellingham, WA 98225-1728
