On the night before He was crucified, Jesus took a cup, gave it to His disciples, and said, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood.” In a single sentence, He announced that a new era had dawned — an era promised six hundred years earlier by Jeremiah, purchased by His own death, sealed by His own Spirit, and still shaping the life of the church today. At Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota, this is the covenant we live under, preach out of, and invite every sinner into.
“This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.” — Luke 22:20
Six centuries before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah spoke one of the most loaded sentences in the Old Testament: “Behold, the days are coming, says the LORD, when 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” (Jeremiah 31:31–32). The old covenant was good, but it was not the last word. God had a new one coming.
That new covenant was inaugurated at the cross. Jesus’ blood was the covenant blood. His death was the once-for-all sacrifice that the old system had been rehearsing for fifteen hundred years. “By one offering He has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). The writer of Hebrews spends four chapters making the same point: what Christ did is better — a better priest, a better sacrifice, a better sanctuary, better promises.
And the new covenant is not a potential arrangement, waiting for the right generation to activate it. It is here. It was sealed by the blood of Jesus, poured out in His resurrection, and given to the church at Pentecost when the Spirit came to live inside every believer.
Under the old covenant, the same sacrifices were offered year after year, unable to take away sin (Hebrews 10:1–4). Under the new covenant, Christ “by one offering… has perfected forever those who are being sanctified” (Hebrews 10:14). The work is finished. The blood is more than enough.
“Because He continues forever, has an unchangeable priesthood. Therefore He is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them” (Hebrews 7:24–25). The Great High Priest is alive, seated at the right hand of God, and praying for His church right now.
“I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33). Under the old covenant, the law stood outside the people and condemned them. Under the new, the law is written inside, and the Spirit of God gives the power to do what the commandment asks.
The temple curtain was torn from top to bottom at the crucifixion (Matthew 27:51). The way into the holy place is open for every Christian. “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near” (Hebrews 10:19, 22).
The old covenant was made with one nation. The new covenant is for the world. “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations” (Matthew 28:19). In Christ, the dividing wall between Jew and Gentile has been broken down (Ephesians 2:14). Every people group, every language, every class has an equal seat at the table.
This does not mean Israel has been set aside. Paul is careful in Romans 9–11 to say that God has not forgotten His ancient people. The new covenant fulfills the promises to Israel rather than replacing them. But the door is now open to every sinner on earth who will come to Christ by faith. The covenant community is no longer defined by ethnicity. It is defined by the blood.
The price was enormous. The terms are simple. Repent of sin. Believe in Jesus Christ, who died for your sins and rose again. Receive the Spirit He has given. Be joined to His church. The covenant is open, and the Lord is inviting.
“But now He has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.” — Hebrews 8:6
The new covenant is not a stricter law. It is a new heart. The old covenant said, “Do this and live.” The new covenant says, “You are alive in Christ — now live out of what you are.” Obedience does not earn the covenant; it flows from it. The Spirit in the believer produces what the law on the stone never could (Galatians 5:22–23).
This is why Christians are not crushed by the commands of the New Testament even though they are higher than the commands of the old. Jesus asks for more than Sinai did — He asks for the heart, the motives, the thought life, the enemy-love. But He also gives more. He gives Himself. He gives His Spirit. He gives His Father’s welcome. The yoke is easy, the burden is light (Matthew 11:30), not because the standard is lowered but because the power is given.
At Grace Fellowship Church in Sarasota, we preach the new covenant as it is — a finished work that produces a changed life, sealed in the blood of Jesus, lived out in the ordinary days of ordinary disciples in a real local church.
The New Covenant does not stop at forgiveness. The same promise writes the law on the heart, puts the Spirit inside the believer, and makes obedience possible from the inside out (Jeremiah 31:33; Ezekiel 36:26–27). This is the covenant under which sanctification actually happens. The cross opened it. The Spirit is carrying out its work in every believer now.
— Sundays at 10:00 AM · 4350 17th Street, Sarasota, FL.