The Lord is my Cup

(Written by Dr. Rudi Swanepoel)

What was in the cup Jesus referred to in the garden where He prayed: “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass away from Me, nevertheless not what I will but what You will and desire.” (Matt. 26:39) What caused Him to not want to drink of this cup, yet forced Himself to partake of it?

In Biblical times agreements and covenants were sealed with the mutual drinking from a cup, after the covenant meal was enjoyed together. Two parties stepping into a covenant relationship would be bound by the agreement after drinking from the cup.

The very night before Jesus was crucified He gave His disciples a cup: “And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink of it, all of you; For this is My blood of the new covenant, which [ratifies the agreement and] is being poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.” (Matt 26:27-28) He was stepping into an agreement with humanity. Cutting a covenant that would bring salvation to the world and true worship to the Throne Room of Heaven. The cup He gave them was filled with His life. It represented His blood and “life is in the blood” (Lev. 17:11) What He was giving them that night to drink was His cup, filled with Himself! Think about it. Everything He is, all His perfect attributes mixed into one potent covenant blessing.

David wrote in Psalm 16:5-6 AMP “The Lord is my chosen and assigned portion, my cup; You hold and maintain my lot. The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; yes, I have a good heritage.” The Lord has apportioned Himself for us and what a tremendous portion He is! We drink of His cup and taste the sweetest tastes imaginable. Salvation, healing, deliverance, blessing, wholeness, anointing, peace, love, and more. All that makes Him God, shared with us in the holiness of covenant! No wonder David said the Lord held his lot.

The Lord is the Guarantor of our destiny. The Hebrew word “hold” means “to sustain / to obtain / to follow close”. The Lord sustains and obtains our destiny. He designs our lives according to His perfect will and then He follows our progression closely to ensure our success in living within our destiny! The lines have indeed fallen for us in pleasant places. Lines here means “measured inheritance”. Our measured inheritance is in pleasant places. God’s plans over us are to prosper us, not for evil to give us a hopeful future. (Jer. 29:11) Look at it again! Your inheritance have been carefully measured out by the Lord and guaranteed through covenant, ratified by sacrifice and ensured by the Holy Spirit in our lives. (Eph. 1:14) No wonder David said in Ps. 23: “My cup runs over!” What can contain all of God? Nothing is big enough. El Shaddai, the God of more than enough cannot be contained in a cup! The Lord is my cup and my cup runs over!

Now back to our question. What was in the cup that was given to Jesus in Gethsemane? Yes, you are right! You and I were in that cup! If the Lord is my cup then according to the rules of covenant, I am His cup. Everything that represents me were mixed into that cup! Every sin, weakness, crooked desire and broken thought. Every pain, scar and unholy emotion. Every failure, deception and bitter root. What a concoction! Yet He drank it and became my sin and received the full punishment for it on the cross. Wow! Thank you Lord for drinking my cup!

Jesus settled His side of the agreement 2000 years ago and now it is our turn! Will we drink His cup today? Will you join me? Yes, it seems so unfair. What we get is infinitely more than what He got. Our cup for His is hardly an equal trade, yet we gave what we could and so does He! Our imperfections for His perfection. Our weakness for His strength. Our sickness for His health and healing. Our turmoil for His peace. Our hate for His love. Our blindness for His vision. Our inability for His power. Our insignificance for His prominence.

Go ahead. Taste and see that the Lord is good. Consummate the agreement. Enforce the covenant in your life. The Kingdom of God is set up according to the laws and principles of covenant. Our existence is determined not by fate, but by design. When we drink His cup, the agreement is enforced. Blessings become inevitable, failure’s no longer a choice. Faith becomes fact and relationship with Almighty God a reality!

The apostle Paul said: “For I have received from the Lord that which I passed on to you [it was given to me personally] . . .” 1 Cor. 11:23 AMP. Will you realize today what we have received personally for the Lord? A portion, a cup that must be shared with the rest of the world! Our cup cannot be depleted. Our portion will never run out! Jesus said to His disciples: “Freely you have received, freely give!” Matt. 10:8

The Lord indeed is my cup. I am drinking from my saucer because my Cup runs over!