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Today, the world is suffering from spiritual thirst without hearing the words of God and from rampant disasters (Am 8:11; Jer 44:23). Nevertheless, some people deny God’s word and insist, “The Passover of the new covenant is not the truth of salvation. So we don’t need to celebrate it.”
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, who were religious leaders in those days, for their hypocrisy and said that the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven was not given to them. Even now, there are people like them who claim to believe in God but do not understand the will of God correctly. As the Bible says that God’s people are destroyed from lack of knowledge, unless they know God’s word and obey it, they cannot help but end up going the way of destruction (Hos 4:6; Isa 9:16; Matthew 23).
The Passover, the truth of salvation, shines more brightly in the age of disasters. God has taught us that the Passover is a lasting ordinance and that we must preach this Passover for the generations to come. First, let us understand that God’s word is the absolute, unbreakable promise of salvation, and realize fully how precious and good the truth given by God is, through the words of the Bible.
The Bible viewed from the standpoint of eternal life
The universe created by God is an infinite world. If you count one star each second, it would take you more than 6,000 years just to count the stars in the galaxy we belong to. There are about 200 billion galaxies in the universe. This is just the number of the stars that have been discovered by scientists. Considering the number of the stars which the scientists have not been able to discover, there will be an immeasurable, infinite number of stars in the universe.
One second in our world is equal to 300 trillion years in the particle world. According to scientists, the earth is approximately 4.5 billion years old, and the universe is about 15 billion years old. Considering this fact, 300 trillion years are an almost infinite time.
One second, which is a mere blink of an eye in the human world, is 300 trillion years in the particle world. So, viewed from the standpoint of particles, the human world can never be understood. Likewise, from the perspective of the human world, the world of God—the spiritual world—cannot be understood. That is why God has given the Bible to us, human beings. As the faraway stars in the universe cannot be clearly observed without a telescope, so the kingdom of God cannot be seen except through the Bible.
The kingdom of heaven—the world of angels, which we are going to soon, is an eternal world, where there is no limit to space (Da 7:18). We, human beings, are destined to die, being confined by the barriers of time and space. In order to lead us to the eternal kingdom of heaven, God has wanted to give us eternal life.
Only God can give us eternal life. To give us eternal life—the greatest gift of all, God wrote the Bible, and personally came to this earth with the gift.
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”Jn 5:39-40
“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.”Jn 10:10
Jesus pointed out exactly how we should view the Bible. Some people think that the Bible is just a book which teaches morals and ethics. However, the most important thing that we have to find in the Bible is eternal life. So, we must view the Bible from the standpoint of eternal life.
If we do not regard God’s word written in the Bible as absolute, we can never receive eternal life. To get eternal life, we must properly know God who gives us eternal life and come to Him. However, the Jews did not believe the Bible, so they could not recognize God when He came to them; they rejected God because He came in the flesh and looked at Him with doubtful eyes, so they eventually committed the sin of crucifying Him on the cross.
God established the new covenant to give us eternal life
The last part of the Bible concludes that we must not add to or take away from the words of God, who is the source of eternal life.
I warn everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds anything to them, God will add to him the plagues described in this book. And if anyone takes words away from this book of prophecy, God will take away from him his share in the tree of life and in the holy city, which are described in this book.Rev 22:18-19
The above words show that if we teach people the things that have been added to or subtracted from the teachings of the Bible, we will not only receive the plagues but also lose the privilege to enter the kingdom of God. This means that we must follow every teaching of the Bible exactly as it is.
“I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.”Jn 13:15
Jesus personally set an example of what we should do so that we would not add to or take away from the Bible but try to get eternal life. Among the examples of Christ, let’s take a look at His example of celebrating the Passover.
Then came the day of Unleavened Bread on which the Passover lamb had to be sacrificed. Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and make preparations for us to eat the Passover.” … They left and found things just as Jesus had told them. So they prepared the Passover. When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.”Lk 22:7-15
The four Gospels of the Bible, which describe the works of the Twelve Apostles with Jesus, devote a great deal of space to the gracious scene of Jesus and the apostles celebrating the Passover. We need to take a careful look at this scene, as an example of Christ.
All the disciples of Jesus, including Peter and John, celebrated the Passover. Among them, there was no one who rejected the Passover, saying, “It doesn’t need to be celebrated. So I’ll not keep it.” Most of all, Jesus Himself desired to keep the Passover and directed His disciples to prepare the Passover. The purpose of Jesus’ coming to this earth was to redeem human beings from sins and to lead them to the way of eternal salvation. And Jesus eagerly desired to celebrate the Passover. So, it must be something that is very closely related to our salvation.
At the Passover Supper, Jesus Christ established the new covenant, through His word of promise with the bread and wine of the Passover as His body and blood.
And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you.”Lk 22:19-20
There was a certain reason why Jesus said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover.” Whoever eats Jesus’ flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life (Jn 6:54). So, through the Passover Covenant, Jesus wanted to give human beings eternal life.
The New Covenant Passover is the truth which Christ established through His precious flesh and blood to save us, sinners, who were destined for eternal death. God prophesied through His prophets how important the new covenant is to human beings.
God’s will in establishing the new covenant
“The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah… . This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the LORD. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the LORD. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”Jer 31:31-34
God’s people must have the law of the new covenant in their hearts. “I will be the God of the people who keep the new covenant; I will forgive all the sins of those who have the new covenant in their hearts.” This is the promise of God. Human beings may break their promises, but God never breaks His promise but fulfills it without fail.
People who do not walk in the new covenant can never receive the forgiveness of their sins. It is because God has not promised the forgiveness of sins to those people. Unless we have the forgiveness of sins, we cannot gain eternal life, and if we fail to receive eternal life, we cannot go to heaven. That was why Jesus proclaimed the Passover as the new covenant and eagerly desired to celebrate it.
Nevertheless, some people regard the Passover merely as a simple law of the Old Testament, and they insist that it does not need to be observed. Jesus eagerly desired to keep it, but they insist that there is no need to celebrate it. Can they be considered as true believers in Jesus? The Bible says about them, “They claim to know God, but by their actions they deny him” (Tit 1:16). They claim to believe in Jesus, but they reject the truth of salvation which Jesus desired to keep and wanted to give to human beings. How can they call themselves true shepherds or true Christians?
“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’”Mt 7:21-23
As we can see through what Jesus said, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover,” it is God’s will that we should keep the Passover. Satan never wants the holy will of God to be proclaimed to the whole world. So, we can clearly discern whose side the people are on, who oppose God totally by continuously slandering the new covenant and insisting on absurd theories.
So at the day of the Last Judgment, to those people who call out to Jesus, “Lord, Lord,” He will say, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” This means that they have nothing to do with Jesus.
The Passover of the new covenant is the truth of salvation that God has authenticated. It is the truth of truths, which God has restored since so many ancestors of faith shed their blood of sacrifice during the Dark Ages. So, even though there are people who stand against the truth, we must not stop preaching it.
Do the new covenant, and proclaim it
There are still numerous people who do not even know yet what the new covenant is. Let us preach the Passover to as many as possible—to our family, neighbors, and many other acquaintances around us. Since the Passover contains God’s promise of salvation for human beings, we must proclaim this promise to all people on the earth.
For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.1 Co 11:23-26
In the above verses, what is the Apostle Paul preaching to the saints of the early Church? He is preaching to them the truth of the Passover which Jesus established, saying, “This [bread] is my body… . This cup [wine] is the new covenant in my blood.” Paul said that what he passed on to them was a command from God—not his own opinion, and he called himself a minister of the new covenant (2 Co 3:6).
We keep the Passover of the new covenant, serving our Holy Heavenly Father and Mother and walking in the true teachings of Father and Mother. God has acknowledged us, who have the law of the new covenant in our hearts, as His own people, saying, “You are My people,” and has become our God. Only the people of the kingdom of God can enter God’s kingdom. God has also given us, His children, a gracious promise to let all disasters pass over us, who abide in the new covenant, at the Last Judgment.
Through the Passover of the new covenant, God has given us citizenship in heaven and has led us to eternal life and salvation. This year, let us all preach the boundless grace of God to the ends of the earth. No matter what kind of sophistry the false prophets use to deceive us, we must be able to discern from Christ’s point of view. Through the words of the Bible, we can figure out how unbiblical and false all their logic and teachings are. I earnestly ask all you brothers and sisters in Zion to diligently preach the Passover of the new covenant—the truth of salvation—and to always give thanks and glory to Heavenly Father and Mother for allowing us to be Their people and opening the way to heaven for us, through the new covenant.