For their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they themselves also may be sanctified in truth. John 17:19.
Today your LORD (יהוה) God (אלהים) says:
Your life is My love. Abide in My love. Live on in My love. Be forever in love. Let love be your life. Your life proceeds out of and is an extension of My love. Also, your life is about My love, that is what you should be busy about. The Word of power that sustains and holds all creation together is just one word, but it is who I AM, love.
One Word from Me can open up your destiny and that one Word is love, for as you follow Me directed you will be along the pathway of your life. Let love direct your life. It is what directed Jesus and it is what directs all I do as well. And My Kingdom is directed by love as well. All there is love and all who are there are love. And that is why it is so wonderful. It is My domain and I am love. Nothing else is able to enter there. Everything there is saturated in love. Divine love. Deeds done out of divine love are eternal fruit. Anything done without divine love is limited to this life only, to the flesh.
And that is the goal of your life: perfect love, and it is then you walk right out of this life into My Kingdom.
My apostle Peter wrote about the growth from a new believer to one living in perfect love. He talked about the path or stages of growth that take place in the believer as you exercise and grow in your faith: first there is moral excellence (virtue), and then knowledge, then self-control, and then perseverance, then godliness, next brotherly love, and finally as the highest level of virtue agape love, which is the equivalent of chesed in Hebrew. It is divine love, which is a continuous flow that is not interrupted by offense or selfishness. Divine love never fails, it is always working. It is the love that tolerates no evil to abide with it but reaches out to raise up the fallen and to seek out and save the lost.
Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust. Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins. Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never stumble; for in this way the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be abundantly supplied to you. 2 Peter 1:2-11.
Today, let us go to the celebration of love that is the partaking of My divine nature in the body and blood of My Son. This is the highest act of divine love in the laying down of the life of My Son to reconcile sinful man to Myself not counting their sins against them but accounting them all to My Son, And My Son and I are one. It is the fulfillment of what was begun at the first Passover and was continued as a memorial for all generations in celebration of the Passover seder. This is what Jesus was celebrating at the Last Supper, the Passover seder which was eaten on the evening of the fourteenth day of the month of Nissan as was the first Passover. The lambs were killed at twilight and eaten in the night.
Days for My people Israel were counted from sundown to sundown because of the way I spoke creation into being. So in looking at the days in that way, Jesus celebrated the Passover, was betrayed, and suffered crucifixion and death all on the same day, from sundown to the three o’clock hour when He died the next day and He was buried also that same day, before sunset.
“Come, let us return to the LORD. For He has torn Him, but He will heal us; He has struck (wounded) Him, but He will bandage us. He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. Hosea 6:1-2.
Once sunset came the women could not prepare the spices for proper burial because Shabbat and the feast of unleavened bread had begun the same day that year. And that is why the Pharisees did not want to be ritually impure for the solemn feast of unleavened bread the next day after Jesus was crucified. John 18:28.
‘These are the appointed times of the LORD, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at the times appointed for them. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at twilight (between the two evenings) is the LORD’s Passover. Then on the fifteenth day of the same month there is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work. But for seven days you shall present an offering by fire to the LORD. On the seventh day is a holy convocation; you shall not do any laborious work.’” Leviticus 23:4-8.
Jesus had celebrated the Passover since his childhood, but the Passover seder which is called the Last Supper was the only one narrated in the four Gospels because of the great importance to time and eternity of what took place that night and over the course of the next few days. Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. John 13:1
And Jesus sent Peter and John, saying, “Go and prepare the Passover for us, so that we may eat it.” They said to Him, “Where do You want us to prepare it?” And He said to them, “When you have entered the city, a man will meet you carrying a pitcher of water; follow him into the house that he enters. And you shall say to the owner of the house, ‘The Teacher says to you, “Where is the guest room in which I may eat the Passover with My disciples?”’ And he will show you a large, furnished upper room; prepare it there.” And they left and found everything just as He had told them; and they prepared the Passover. Luke 22:8-13.
Jesus only did what I told Him and I had designated a very particular place in which to celebrate this Passover meal. And Peter and John were led there by following a man carrying a pitcher of water that he had drawn from the pool of Siloam.
And when the hour came, Jesus reclined at table, and the apostles with him. And he said to them, “I have earnestly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you I will not eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he said, “Take this, and divide it among yourselves. For I tell you that from now on I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” And he took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” And likewise the cup after they had eaten, saying, “This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood. Luke 22:14-20.
You see here that Jesus first begins with a cup of wine offered in thanksgiving, but this was not yet the cup taken after they had eaten that He spoke the words of consecration over. So what was taking place? To know you have to understand the order of the Passover memorial meal, which is called the Seder, that followed the instructions I gave to Moses for the remembrance.
The seder involved the sharing of four cups of wine. These four cups stand for My four “I wills” stated to Moses concerning the redemption of My people from slavery:
Say therefore to the people of Israel, ‘I am the LORD, and I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, and I will deliver you from slavery to them, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great acts of judgment. I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God, and you shall know that I am the LORD your God, who has brought you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians. Exodus 6:6-7.
As I spoke these words to Moses, I revealed to him the plan by which I would redeem the children of Israel. In a prophetic sense, I was also revealing how I would redeem you to become My children. Based on the four promises you have the four cups of the Passover feast.
First, the Cup of Sanctification – based on My promise that “I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians.” Second, the Cup of Judgment or Deliverance- based on My statement, “I will deliver you from slavery to them.” Third, the Cup of Redemption – based on My statement, “I will redeem you with an outstretched arm.” And fourth, the Cup of Praise or Restoration – based on My statement, “I will take you to be my people, and I will be your God.”
The first cup is part of the Kiddush (sanctification) or Thanksgiving. It is the promise of redemption from slavery. It opens the first part of the meal and the reading of the account of the first Passover and the second cup is poured, the cup of Judgment when all recite, “But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go unless compelled by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out my hand and strike Egypt with all the wonders that I will do in it; after that he will let you go. Exodus 3:19-20.
Then after remembering the ten plagues, all would recite Exodus 12:12: For I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and I will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and on all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am the LORD. Exodus 12:12.
The second cup is drunk followed by praise and worship. This cup is not mentioned in the recounting of the Last Supper. This is followed by the Passover Supper. This was the sharing of the meal of the Lamb, unleavened bread and the bitter herbs. It was during this part of the feast that Jesus told Judas Iscariot to quickly do what he was going to do. After Judas left the feast, Jesus instituted the new and everlasting Covenant at the time of the blessing after the meal in thanksgiving for the bread by taking the bread in His hands as He gave thanks and then broke the bread and saying, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”
The next part of the feast is the Ha-Geulah (the Redemption) when the third cup, called the cup of blessing or the cup of redemption is offered in celebration of My promise to redeem you. This cup symbolized the blood of the Passover Lamb as a perpetual memorial. And this is the cup Jesus took up after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you, do this as often as you drink in remembrance of Me.”
But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned–every one–to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:5-6.
In Jesus death, I did not just cover sin, I took it away. Anyone who places their trust in Jesus and His finished work of redemption accomplished on the cross, is passed from death due to sin, into life which is eternal.
After the third cup there came a fourth cup: The Cup of Praise or Restoration. This cup is poured during the final hymns of praise when Psalm 136:1-16 is sung: Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who spread out the earth above the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who struck down the firstborn of Egypt, for his steadfast love endures forever; and brought Israel out from among them, for his steadfast love endures forever; with a strong hand and an outstretched arm, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who divided the Red Sea in two, for his steadfast love endures forever; and made Israel pass through the midst of it, for his steadfast love endures forever; but overthrew Pharaoh and his host in the Red Sea, for his steadfast love endures forever; to him who led his people through the wilderness, for his steadfast love endures forever; Psalms 136:1-16.
Then the fourth cup is drunk. And this is recounted in by Matthew in his account of the Gospel. At the end of the Passover meal, we hear Jesus saying, “But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” After singing a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. Matthew 26:29-30.
Jesus purposely chose the Third Cup, the Cup of Redemption, which is also known as the cup of blessing, as the new covenant in His blood.
For I received from the Lord what I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night when 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 also he took the cup, after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of profaning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. 1 Corinthians 11:23-30.
There is also a fifth ceremonial cup of wine poured during the Sedar called “Elijah’s Cup,” which is left untouched in honor of Elijah in accordance with the prophecy I gave to Malachi, that Elijah will come to herald the advent of the Messiah. Jesus did not have this one. It had been fulfilled already. Elijah had come and they did with him just as they pleased. John the Baptist came in the Spirit and power of Elijah, as Elisha did as well, a double portion. And just as Jezebel went after Elijah, so too did Herodias after John. And, of course, the Messiah had come and was there at the table with them that night.
I love you. I have things planned from the foundation of the world that manifest at the appointed times. You are right on time for all I have planned for you. Never forget. Do this in remembrance of Me. And not just once a year now, but every time you eat the bread and drink the cup. Do you recall that Paul celebrated it with the people one night two times? Acts 20:7-11. Love without limits is My Covenant with you.