A Table Spread - Wine
Luke 22:20
In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This is The New Covenant in My Blood, which is poured out for you."
This New Covenant is the cup of suffering which every faithful believer must take hold of and drink of. We willingly choose to lay down our lives for the sake of the gospel. How God chooses to use our lives is something the believer faces on a daily basis.
Friends have left me. Family has disowned me (though some have come to Christ through my steadfast refusal to back down from sharing this faith in Jesus Christ).
The body of Christ was created to suffer for the sake of the gospel. Jesus knew this when He came to this world: it is for this purpose He came.
Before His death He suffered during His ministry, but always found more strength when He prayed with His Father. In the kangaroo court of Pilate He was judged and condemned. In the courtyard He was whipped. In the company of Pilate's guards He was assaulted and mocked.
A hateful people pursued Him to the cross, whereupon three spikes were pounded into His hands and feet. And as if that wasn't enough, then the cross was raised and dropped into the ground. The jouncing of His body must have been horrendous. His body knew pain and suffering. So did His emotional status, for most of His disciples, His friends, ran away and left Him at this time.
As His disciples in this generation, we must remind ourselves that being a Christian was never meant to be an easy thing to do. It is, however, the right thing to do, if we want to bless God and be a blessing in His kingdom. Of the twelve original disciples who followed Christ, only one turned away and followed his heart. Only one betrayed Him.
Throughout history many people who have professed their faith in Christ and took on the mantle of Christianity have turned away from following Christ faithfully. In the church we call it backsliding, because that's what God calls it. It is faithlessness, a turning away from God back to the world. It is apostasy: turning away from God and doing whatever we feel like doing, like disobedient, unruly, undisciplined children.
Jeremiah 2:19
Your own wickedness will correct you, and your backslidings will rebuke you. Know therefore and see that it is an evil and bitter thing that you have forsaken The LORD your God, And the fear of Me is not in you,” says The Lord GOD of Hosts.
From The Topical Lexicon:
Apostasy: It portrays the heart that abandons covenant loyalty, substitutes idolatry or complacency for true worship, and thus reverses the direction God intends for His people.
As Christ's disciples, we are called to suffer. First, Jesus calls to Himself, to His side, to walk with Him [Matthew 4:19]. Then He calls us to take up our cross and follow Him [Matthew 16:24; Mark 8:34; Luke 9:23] daily. It is a perpetual thing to take up our cross until the day we lay it down permanently.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in The Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
Galatians 5:24
Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Covenant loyalty is faithfulness to God in every aspect of the Christian's life. We willingly opt to believe that God is God and that there is no other god. We bring Him our lives: our hearts, our thoughts, our emotions, our words, our actions. And God changes us. Like the rushing water abounds over the river rocks, smoothing their rough edges over time.
We choose to honor Him with our bodies, not participating in the things of this world, nor bringing the things of the world into His sanctuaries. We choose to honor Him with our thoughts, meditating on His Word and not contemplating evil against anyone.
We choose to give Him all the glory at all times. It is not we who have healed our bodies and our minds, it is God. God did it. It is not we who have delivered our minds from corruption and wickedness, it is God. God did it. Miraculous events, even when they seem minor, are still miracles. God did that.
The wine I drank before I got saved and filled with God's New Wine, God's Will, was only intoxicating. The Wine in The Cup of The Covenant is It is The Spirit of God Who empowers me to walk upright and witness of The Testimony of Jesus Christ with boldness, with fearlessness, and with genuine love.
Now, God is my Anchor, for I have The Hope of Glory living in me: Jesus Christ. The Spirit of God has written His Name across my heart, claiming Ownership. We do this all the time in life: make sure our name or some kind of identifying mark is on our things so no one else can claim ownership.
God makes a Mark on His property, too. His servants are sealed [Ephesians 1:13]. His Mark, His Spirit, is upon every faithful, covenant-bearing, follower of His Only Begotten Son Jesus Christ.
His Mark is on me, for I have taken up The Cup of The New Covenant, The Testimony of Jesus Christ, and even now, as I write, I am drinking of it. Thank God. For this cup, though bitter on the tongue at times, is sweet to the soul and the strengthening thereof.
Which cup are you holding?
B.C./A.D. - Compilation Album (Various Artists)
I HAVE DECIDED/LIVE - Elevation Worship
