So I'm cheating a little bit today - I'm not "flipping & pointing". It's Easter, so let's do something that fits: Today's verse is Luke 22:20, which talks about "the cup" at the Last Supper. I've learned quite a bit about this part of the Last Supper story this week (with thanks to Beth Moore and my NIV Study Bible), so let me share my new-found knowledge with you.
During the Seder, four cups of wine are drunk, representing the four "I wills" of Exodus 6:6-7:
1) I will bring you out (the Cup of Sanctification), 2) I will free you from slavery (the Cup of Deliverance), 3) I will redeem you (the Cup of Redemption), and 4) I will take you as My own (the Cup of the In-Gathering).*
The first two cups are drunk before the main meal while the second two are drunk after the main meal. As Jesus ate the Passover meal with His disciples, Luke 22:20 says, "after the supper, He took the cup". Which cup did He take? It was third cup - the Cup of Redemption. It was this cup that Jesus, our Redeemer, turned into the cup of the New Covenant in His blood. (This, by the way, will count as today's "flip".)
The "point"? Everything that Jesus did He did with a specific purpose - to bring people to the Father. Nothing in His life was an accident or a coincidence. Jesus used the Passover meal, which had been celebrated for centuries and was familiar to the disciples, to forever change the meanings of the "I wills". Through Jesus' blood, God has brought us out of our sin, freed us from our slavery to it, redeemed us to Himself, and has taken us as His own.
Is there something familiar in your life that God will use to bring someone to Himself (or even to bring you closer to Him)? Maybe it's a talent you've just always had. Maybe it's something you learned as a child. Maybe it's an activity you do every day. Or maybe it's a bad experience in your past that God will "flip" into something good. Whatever it is, be on the lookout. Our God is a God of purpose, and His purpose is that no one should die without belonging to Him (2 Peter 3:9). You just never know when God will choose you to forever change the course of someone's eternity.
* Taken from Jesus the One and Only copyright 2000, Lifeway Press.
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1 comment:
Hey Amy,
Familiarities blanced - Fixing our eyes on what we cannot see. God be magnified!
Lookouts blanced - never fully grasping the endless possibilities. God be exemplified!
Checkpoints balanced while running out of gas? God be revered!
Indebtedness balanced - reliance on grace. God be praised!
Servitude, love comes full circle; give and it shall be given unto you. God be revealed!
Absolutes absolutely all to All Knowing Jesus! God be all and in all!
Everyday, is as a thousand years and those thousand years as a day.
Eternity the beginning of no end!
Keep blogging to His glory. It's all good, beautiful one after His own heart!
Blessings,
Meg L! ;-)
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