The New Covenant Passover
The New Covenant Passover is the core truth of the new covenant established by Jesus Christ, who came to earth in the flesh 2,000 years ago to save humanity. Jesus and His disciples observed the New Covenant Passover the night before His crucifixion, fulfilling the prophecy in Jeremiah: “The LORD God will establish a new covenant.”[1]
The early Church continued to observe the New Covenant Passover even after Jesus’ ascension. The apostles and the saints of the early Church kept the New Covenant Passover in the evening of the 14th day of the first month by the sacred calendar every year according to Jesus’ teachings, and preached the love and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
The New Covenant Passover was not observed for a long time after it was abolished at the Council of Nicaea in 325. The Bible prophesies that the Second Coming Christ, who appears in the flesh, will restore the Passover of the new covenant.
Proclamation of the New Covenant Passover
Prophecy of the New Covenant
The appearance of the new covenant was already prophesied in the Old Testament. The prophet Jeremiah foretold that God Jehovah would establish a new covenant and write His law on the hearts of His people.
“The days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, declares the LORD. This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”
God promised to forgive the sins of those who keep the new covenant and to remember their sins no more.
Jesus Fulfills the Prophecies
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Jesus Christ fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah. The four Gospels record Jesus proclaiming the new covenant while celebrating the Passover with His disciples in the upper room of Mark’s house the day before His crucifixion. On the 14th day of the first month by the sacred calendar, when it was customary to sacrifice the Passover lamb, Jesus sent Peter and John to prepare the Passover.[2] That evening, He observed the Passover differently from the Old Testament tradition. He declared the Passover bread to be His body and the Passover wine to be His blood shed for many for the forgiveness of sins.[3] In the Gospel of Luke, it is written that the Passover is the new covenant established by the blood of Jesus.
When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer . . .” And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”
This fulfilled Jeremiah’s prophecy that God Jehovah would establish the new covenant. Jesus emphasized the Passover wine as the new covenant, expressing His deep desire to share the Passover with His disciples before His suffering (the Crucifixion). Thus, the New Covenant Passover is the heart of the New Covenant.
The New Covenant Passover is also Jesus’ will for God’s people. Just as a will takes effect only upon the death of the one who made it,[4] Jesus died on the cross the day after keeping the Passover so that the new covenant established during the Passover could take effect. The Passover of the new covenant embodies the love of Christ, who sacrificed Himself to the point of death for the salvation of humanity.[5]
Blessing of the Passover of the New Covenant
Becoming God’s People
Apostle Paul wrote that Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah, “The LORD God will make a new covenant.”
For if there had been nothing wrong with that first covenant, no place would have been sought for another. But God found fault with the people and said “The days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they did not remain faithful to my covenant, and I turned away from them, declares the Lord. This is the covenant I will establish with the people of Israel after that time, declares the Lord. I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear.
God said that those with the law of the new covenant written on their hearts become God’s people. Therefore, those who have the New Covenant Passover on their hearts and keep it are the true people of God in the New Testament times. Becoming God’s people means receiving heavenly citizenship[6] and entering the kingdom of heaven.
It is written that those who keep the new covenant know God, from the least of them to the greatest. The Bible says people perish because of a lack of knowledge of God.[7] Those who keep the New Covenant Passover gain wisdom and understanding through Christ’s blood,[8] knowing God deeply.
The Forgiveness of Sins and Eternal Life
God promised forgiveness to those who keep the new covenant and assured them that He would remember their sins no more. Humanity came to die because of sin,[9] but Jesus declared that the wine of the New Covenant Passover is His blood, poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. By observing the New Covenant Passover, we receive the forgiveness of sins through the blood of Christ. Quoting the Psalms, Apostle Paul wrote that blessed are those whose sins God does not acknowledge.[10]
When sin, the cause of death, disappears, we can live forever. Thus, when we receive the forgiveness of sins, we can also receive eternal life. So, Jesus said that whoever eats and drinks His flesh and blood by keeping the New Covenant Passover will receive eternal life.
Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.
Abolition and Restoration of the New Covenant Passover
The Early Church Kept the New Covenant
Christians of the early Church kept the New Covenant Passover annually on the evening of the 14th day of the first month by the sacred calendar, according to the teachings of Jesus Christ.
For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. Therefore, let us keep the Festival (Passover) . . .
In his letter to the church in Corinth, Apostle Paul emphasized the importance of keeping the Passover because Christ sacrificed Himself as the reality of the Passover lamb. He wrote that whenever we eat the bread and drink the wine on the night of the Passover when Jesus was arrested, we must continue to observe the Passover until He comes, commemorating the death of Christ.[11]
On the contrary, Jesus warned that those who do not keep the New Covenant Passover and betray Him would be punished.
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. How much more severely do you think someone deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
“Treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified them” refers to those who regard the Holy Supper of the New Covenant Passover, which offers the forgiveness of sins, as unholy. Paul warned that those who violate the new covenant would face a greater punishment than those who transgressed the Law of Moses.
Peter also cautioned against false prophets who “deny the sovereign Lord who bought them.”[12] To grant us forgiveness of sins, God gave His blood as a ransom and established the Church.[13] Those who violate the truth of the New Covenant Passover, established by the blood of God’s sacrifice, are denying the Lord who redeemed them. The apostles and saints of the early Church strongly opposed those who sought to prevent people from keeping the Passover. They steadfastly upheld the truth of the new covenant, which embodies the love and sacrifice of Christ.
Abolition of the New Covenant Passover
The truth of the new covenant established by Jesus Christ began to change from the second century. The New Covenant Passover was abolished at the Council of Nicaea convened by the Roman Emperor Constantine I from May to June in 325. Afterwards, those who observed the Passover on the evening of the 14th day of the first month by the sacred calendar as Jesus taught, were treated as heretics. During the Dark Ages, the New Covenant Passover completely disappeared and was not observed for about 1,600 years.
Restoration of the New Covenant by Christ Ahnsahnghong
Despite numerous religious reformers from the 16th century onward, none restored the New Covenant Passover, fulfilling the prophecy that Christ would find no faith on earth upon His return.[14] The Bible prophesies the Second Coming Christ will restore the Passover.
[S]o Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.
The Second Coming Christ, who comes to bring salvation to humanity, must restore the New Covenant Passover, which contains the promised forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Isaiah prophesied that God would restore the New Covenant Passover, which had not been observed for a long time.
On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine . . . he will swallow up death forever . . . In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us.”
The wine that destroys death is uniquely the wine of the New Covenant Passover. According to prophecy, Christ Ahnsahnghong restored the New Covenant Passover in this age. He restored the complete truth and faith of the early Church, including the New Covenant Passover, which had not been observed for about 1,600 years. Therefore, Christ Ahnsahnghong is recognized as the Second Coming Christ—God who appeared in the flesh. The Church of God, established by Christ Ahnsahnghong, is the only church in the world that observes the New Covenant Passover according to the Bible, fulfilling the last Reformation.[15]
See also
Related videos
- Sermon: The New Covenant Engraved on Our Hearts
- Sermon: The Law of Life, the Passover
References
- ↑ "Luke 22:20".
- ↑ "Luke 22:7–8".
- ↑ "Matthew 26:19–28".
- ↑ "Hebrews 9:15–17".
- ↑ "Romans 5:8".
- ↑ "Philippians 3:20–21".
- ↑ "Hosea 4:1–6".
- ↑ "Ephesians 1:7–9".
- ↑ "Romans 6:23".
- ↑ "Romans 4:7–8".
- ↑ "1 Corinthians 11:23–26".
- ↑ "2 Peter 2:1".
- ↑ "Acts 20:28".
- ↑ "Luke 18:8".
- ↑ [Special Feature ● Luther's 500 Years of Religious Reformation—Church of God and Truth in the Bible] 2.7 Million World Mission Society Church of God Saints' 'Grand Chorus', Monthly JoongAng, November 17, 2017