It is a common assumption: since we celebrate the Lord’s Supper and drink the cup of Christ’s blood, we must be direct partakers of the New Covenant promised to Israel. But this assumption, though widespread, is not merely a minor confusion—it strikes at the heart of the Church’s identity, inheritance, and standing before God. The distinction is not academic; it is salvific.
The Last Supper: Old Covenant Shadows
Jesus instituted the New Covenant at the Last Supper, but do not miss the context: He did so with unregenerate disciples, still under the Law, celebrating the Passover on the Sabbath (Matthew 26:28). This was not yet the Church. The event occurred within the old covenant framework, with the disciples as sons of Israel, not yet born of the Spirit. The Synoptic Gospels faithfully record this, presenting Jesus as the minister to the circumcision, confirming the promises made to the fathers (Romans 15:8). The New Covenant, as prophesied by Jeremiah, is explicitly made “with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah” (Jeremiah 31:31; Hebrews 8:8).
The Church: Resurrection Life and New Creation
But after Christ’s resurrection, everything changed. The Church does not gather on the Sabbath, but on the first day of the week—the day of resurrection, the “eighth day,” signifying new creation (Acts 20:7). This is not a mere shift in calendar, but a declaration: we are not standing in the old creation, nor under the shadow of the Law. We break bread as those who have been brought into resurrection life, participating in the reality, not the shadow.
This is a positive, glorious outcome: the Church’s breaking of bread on resurrection day signifies our participation in the new creation and the life of the Risen Christ. We do not gather to remember bondage, but to proclaim liberty.
Paul’s Revelation: One Body, One Bread
Paul, entrusted with the revelation of the mystery, makes plain what was hidden from ages and generations. The Lord’s Table is not a mere memorial or a re-enactment of Israel’s covenant meal. It is the fellowship of the Body in the blood and flesh of Christ (1 Corinthians 10:16). We are not a collection of individuals striving to keep a covenant; we are one bread, one Body, joined to Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 10:17).
Here is the force of Paul’s argument: we stand in Christ’s resurrection, testifying to His death until He comes (1 Corinthians 11:26). Our participation is not as outsiders or servants, but as heirs—those who have received the benefits of Christ’s death and resurrection as an inheritance, not as a wage.
The Blood of Christ: One Sacrifice, Two Covenants
Do not confuse the covenants. The same blood of Christ secures both the New Covenant with Israel and the Everlasting Covenant between the Father and the Son (Hebrews 13:20; Matthew 26:28). Christ did not die twice—once for Israel, once for the Church. He died once for all (Hebrews 10:12). The value and strength of every covenant rests on His blood alone.
But the Church’s relationship is not with the New Covenant as made with Israel. The Church is not a party to that covenant. Instead, we are joined to Christ, the heir of all promises, and participate in the Everlasting Covenant made between the Father and the Son. We are co-heirs with Christ, not mere beneficiaries of a contract written to another people.
John’s Gospel: The Mystery of Union, Not Covenant
The Gospel of John is conspicuously silent about the Passover meal and the New Covenant. Why? Because John’s focus is not on Israel’s promises, but on the mystery of union with Christ. “Abide in Me, and I in you” (John 15:4). Here, Christ is revealed as our very life—living water springing up within (John 4:14; 7:37-39), our food and drink (John 6), the Vine into whom we are grafted. The sending of the Spirit (John 14–17) is the guarantee of our union, not our enrollment in a covenant made with another nation.
This is not a secondary matter. If you collapse the distinction—if you insist the Church is merely a participant in Israel’s New Covenant—you forfeit the glory of sonship, the assurance of inheritance, and the boldness of a cleansed conscience. You reduce the finished work of Christ to a mere legal arrangement, and you obscure the reality that we are joined to the risen Lord as His Body.
What Is Lost If the Error Is Accepted
If you accept the error that the Church is simply a party to the New Covenant with Israel, you trade your inheritance for a bowl of pottage. You lose the assurance that your standing is in Christ alone, not in your ability to keep covenant terms. You undermine the reality of the Everlasting Covenant, which alone secures your perfection, your sonship, and your access to God. You place yourself back under the shadow of Law, rather than in the liberty of resurrection life.
The Lord’s Table: Testifying to the Finished Work
When we partake of the Lord’s Table, we do not come as those hoping to keep a covenant. We come as those who have been made perfect forever by the blood of the Everlasting Covenant (Hebrews 13:20). We testify—not to our faithfulness, but to His. We proclaim—not our striving, but His finished work. We are not waiting for a kingdom to come; we are already part of His new creation, joined to the Head, and seated with Him in heavenly places.
Let no one rob you of this assurance. The Church’s participation in the Lord’s Supper is not a mere echo of Israel’s hope. It is the declaration of our union with Christ, our share in His resurrection, and our inheritance secured by the blood that speaks better things than Abel. This is not a negotiable point. It is the foundation of the Gospel, the safeguard of justification, and the guarantee of your sonship. Stand in it, and refuse to be moved.
