“Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” Matt. 26:27-28.
By Michael Adekoya – Dear Readers, happy new year to you all once again. In the Church where I pastor to the glory of God, at the beginning of each year, we usual have 7 Solution Sundays revival programmes. The topic of the first Sunday is “The Blood Covenant”. This week, I’ll like to share with you from my sermon on Sunday Crossover Night.
When David, Israel’s greatest king, was very young, something happened to him that’s both a beautiful picture portrayal of God’s blood covenant with you. If you’re saved, God and you have a blood covenant together.
After young David killed Goliath, he didn’t go seeking for fame. He was humble, introducing himself to King Saul only as the son of Jesse (1 Sam. 17:58). Jonathan, the King’s son, formed an unbreakable bond with David – a blood covenant so to say. The Bible says Jonathan’s soul “was knit to the soul of David” (1 Sam. 18:1).
Just as we are sometimes closer to our brothers and sisters in Christ than to members of our natural families, Jonathan became closer to David than to his own father. In their blood covenant, Jonathan and David vowed to be forever loyal to each other and their children. (1 Sam. 18:1-3). How does a blood covenant impact your life today? To live victoriously, you need to understand the covenant God made with you when you were saved. The whole Bible is about the blood covenant. All Bible promises are covenant promises. Blood covenants go all the way back to Genesis and God’s blood covenant with Abraham (Gen. 15:9-21). When Jesus held The Last Supper with His disciples, He said, ““Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matt. 26:27-28). Each time we come to the Lord’s Table, we celebrate the blood covenant.
The Lord Jesus was sent to fulfill God’s promise of a Savior (Gen. 3:13-15), and through His blood, each of us can be forgiven, redeemed, and accepted by the Father. When young David began receiving praise from the Israelites, King Saul, insane with jealousy sent out a royal edict that David must be killed. He began hunting David like a wild partridge on the hills of Judea. For years, Saul focused all his forces on killing David. Then one day, Saul and Jonathan were both slain during a battle against one of Israel’s enemies. Now David, whom God had anointed even before his fight with Goliath, was king. But in Saul and Jonathan’s family, there was blind panic. Imagine their thoughts, David is suddenly king. They wondered, “When will the retaliation begin? When will David take vengeance on his enemies?”
Jonathan had a little son named Mephibosheth. When his nurse heard of Jonathan’s death, she grabbed the boy to take him to safety in a desert wasteland called Lo-Debar. She didn’t know about the blood covenant between David and Jonathan. In haste, she dropped little Mephibosheth and fell on him, crippling him for life. How many times the child must have asked her, “Why am I here?”, “Because someone’s trying to kill you.” “Why am I crippled?”, “Because we were running from him.” “What’s going to happen?”, “You better hope he never finds you.” Mephibosheth grew up with this mentality: fear of David, an enemy of David.
My Dear Friend, in the Garden of Eden, before the Fall, we were destined to inherit the Earth, to rule and reign. Then we lost our inheritance.
But that wasn’t the end of the story, either for Mephibosheth or for us. Mephibosheth is a picture of our desperate condition before we received God’s forgiveness, kindness, and agape love. The blood covenant transformed Mephibosheth’s story and ours. One day, King David was thinking about his covenant with Jonathan. He wondered if a member of Jonathan’s family could possibly still be alive. But David wanted to fulfill His covenant with Jonathan. Learning about Mephibosheth, he wanted to bless and show kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake. (2 Sam. 9:1).
As they brought him before King David, we might wonder if he had any memory of the palace as it had been. Was he thinking of the life he lost? Casting his crutches aside, he fell on his face, trembling like a bird in a trap. But David immediately said, “Do not fear, for I will surely show you kindness for Jonathan your father’s sake and will restore to you all the land of Saul your grandfather; and you shall eat bread at my table continually. (2 Sam. 9:7). To one expecting death, David said, I’m restoring your inheritance. Dine at my table and be like my son. Mephibosheth could hardly take it in. “Why would you return my inheritance? Have me eat at your table? Be as your son?” Here, David explains, It’s not because of anything on your part. It’s my love for Jonathan. And for his sake, I’m keeping our blood covenant.
Mephibosheth is exactly as we once were, before Christ and the Cross. Before Jesus, no one dared to address God as “Father.” But when Jesus came, He taught us to say, “Our Father” (Matt. 6:9). Now we are beloved in Christ. We’re inheriting what we don’t deserve through the blood covenant. Until now, Mephibosheth saw David as an enemy. But he’s no longer out of fellowship with the king; he’s in fellowship. No longer running from David, he’s running to David. He has a decision to make.
He must: change his mind about David (repentance)
accept the covenant by faith.
Does that sound familiar? Those are the terms of salvation in the New Testament: repentance and faith!
Mephibosheth accepted the covenant. Immediately, the lowly former resident of Lo-Debar was transferred to the palace of the king.
My Dear Friend, yesterday, Mephibosheth lived on the backside of nowhere, eating and breathing dust. Today, he awakened on silken sheets in the palace. Servants arrived to meet his every need, saying, “The king and his sons are waiting for you. You’re coming to breakfast at his table.” There’s a white linen tablecloth. His misshapen limbs are hidden beneath it. This is a picture of what Jesus does for us, covers us with His righteousness, clothes us in pure white linen (Isa. 61:10; 2Cor. 5:21; Rev. 7:9). Mephibosheth must have been thinking, I can’t understand this, but I can’t deny it. It’s because of a blood covenant my father made with David. Though Adam lost our inheritance, God foretold a Redeemer (Gen. 3:14-15). Later He made a blood covenant with Abraham that included us spiritually (Gen. 15). Jesus restored us. We’re now heirs of God and joint-heirs with Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:17). For Christ’s sake, God forgives and redeems us.
- Mephibosheth was crippled by a fall. We were crippled by Adam’s fall.
- Mephibosheth was heir to a kingdom but lost his inheritance. God created man to rule and reign upon earth, but we lost our inheritance.
- He couldn’t come to David; he had to be found. God sought us, just as David sought him.
- Before David rescued him, he was as good as dead (2Sam. 9:8). Before Jesus, we were under the sentence of death: “The wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). “The soul who sins shall die” (Ezek. 18:20).
- He hated and feared David. Lost mankind hates and fears God.
- He was deceived, thinking David was his enemy when David was really his friend. Before we’re saved, we think the same way about God.
- He was in bondage because he didn’t know the blood covenant was awaiting his acceptance. Today people run from God because they don’t know the extent of His love for mankind and that He has made a Blood Covenant on their behalf already.
My Dear Friend, Mephibosheth, who was lonely, disinherited, abandoned and forgotten received the benefit of the covenant and was ushered into the king’s presence because David was a faithful covenant-keeper. Our God is a faithful covenant-keeper (Ps. 89:34; Deut. 7:9). In Jesus, we’re moved from exile into the palace. We have the Eternal King’s forgiveness, our inheritance is restored, and we fellowship with the King of kings.
Mephibosheth is a portrait of what blood covenant brings to us. Long ago your Heavenly Father made a blood covenant. Your elder brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, sealed it with His blood and brought you into a relationship with God, now and for eternity. As you journey through this new year, walk in the consciousness of this blood covenant, be confident of who you are – heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus, live to please our Elder Brother – Jesus, walk by faith to please our Heavenly Father through the help of the Holy Spirit that He has given to us, love your fellow covenant brothers and sisters unconditionally as you have been loved, preach the Gospel to others who are still in Lo-Debar like Mephibosheth and you before you knew Jesus and enjoy the benefits of the palace (Kingdom and salvation benefits) even in the presence of the devil (Ps. 23:5). Once again, happy new year and remain blessed!
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