On Turning the Everyday into Eternity

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.