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In accordance to the promises that God gave Abraham, as recorded in Genesis 15:3-6 and 22:15-18, Jesus Christ began the New Covenant on the Passover day. Therefore the 14th of the 1st month, the Passover day, can rightly be called the Covenant Day. Jesus Himself is the One who established this day as the Covenant Day by His commands for this day and by His actions on this day! Jesus Himself has made the Covenant Day—the Passover day—the primary day, and the only day, for the renewal of the New Covenant relationship between each individual Christian and Himself and God the Father.
This New Covenant relationship can only be entered into by the operation of the grace of God. God’s grace begins with God the Father’s calling. Each individual must respond to God’s calling by repentance, baptism and loving obedience to the Word of God, which is the Truth. When these conditions are fulfilled, God the Father gives the Holy Spirit to each person He calls. The Holy Spirit enables each one to worship God in spirit and in truth! “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father is indeed seeking those who worship Him in this manner. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must [Greek dei, obligated, under divine compulsion] worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24.)
What Jesus is revealing by these words is not a suggestion—IT IS A COMMAND! The Greek text is most emphatic—it is an imperative command! Jesus is revealing the ONLY WAY to enter into the New Covenant relationship with God the Father.
This New Covenant relationship is offered only to those who are loving God the Father andkeeping the commandments and words of Jesus Christ. This is the foundation of Christian faith by God's grace under the New Covenant.
The only way to God the Father is through Jesus Christ! He Himself established the New Covenant with His own blood, and He Himself reveals the ONE TRUE WAY to enter into that special covenant relationship with the Father. He emphaticallystated, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6.)
God the Father’s plan is revealed in the life and death of Jesus Christ—Our Passover. “But we see Jesus, Who was made a little lower than the angels, crowned with glory and honor on account of suffering the death, in order that by the grace of God He Himself might taste death for everyone” (Heb 2:9).
No human work can possibly replace or be substituted for this awesome sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood alone can reconcile us to God the Father. Once we have been reconciled, it is through the risen Christ, our High Priest at the right hand of God, that we are saved by God’s loving grace.
“But God, Who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, has made us alive together with Christ. (For you have been saved by grace.) And He has raised us up together [through the operation of baptism] and has caused us to sit together in the heavenly places [through the begettal of God’s Holy Spirit] in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages that are coming He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. and this faith has not [Greek ouk, the impossibility of it originating] come from your own selves; it is the gift of God, not from works, so that no one may boast. For we are His [God the Father’s] workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto the good works [of faith, love and obedience], which God ordained beforehand that we might walk in them” (Eph. 2:4-10).
True Christians are to continually worship God the Father and Jesus Christ in spirit and in truth. They are in actual, true covenant with God the Father and Jesus Christ! Because they worship God as He commanded, they are faithfully and lovingly keeping the Christian Passover as commanded by Jesus Christ in the New Testament. They are observing it on the correct Covenant Day for the annual renewing of the New Covenant. This means that they annually observe the Christian Passover on the 14th day of the 1st month, the month of Nisan (according to the calculated Hebrew calendar), at the same time of day that Jesus instituted the new symbols, and in the proper manner as He Himself commanded at His last Passover. Each year, they fulfill all three parts of the Passover exactly as Jesus commanded: 1) participating in the footwashing, 2) eating the unleavened bread, and 3) partaking of the wine.
By partaking of the Christian Passover, as Jesus Christ commanded, they are rededicating their lives to walk in His way and live their lives by Him. “The one who eats My flesh and drinks My blood is dwelling in Me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent Me, and I live by the Father; so also the one who eats Me shall live by Me” (John 6:56-57).
The Christian’s relationship with Jesus Christ and God the Father is renewed each year by participating in the Christian Passover. The true meaning of the Christian Passover goes far beyond understanding the correct day and correct manner for its observance. In reality, the Christian Passover is the foundation of God’s plan for our lives—now and for all eternity!
God the Father gives us His magnificent love and grace through Jesus Christ our Passover! Let us partake of the symbols of the New Covenant as Jesus Christ commanded. Let us renew our covenant relationship with God the Father and Jesus Christ. Let us rededicate our lives in the love and grace of God as we partake of the New Covenant Passover—the Christian Passover.
