We are God’s covenant people, and we are seated with our Lord in this covenant meal. Now covenants are, at bottom, relationships. Covenants are not doctrinal abstractions. Covenant is not a mere word that we use to distinguish ourselves from other denominational traditions. Covenants are structured in the very way that God created the world, and in the way He recreated the world in Jesus Christ. Simply put, you are never alone. Everywhere you go, in everything you do, you are always in relationship. In this meal, God is declaring and making His relationship to you explicitly obvious, but the relation is there all the time.
The question therefore is whether you are constant in this covenant, whether you are faithful. But this brings us to a central question, one that has vexed many unnecessarily. What does it mean to be faithful? It means to trust the only One who is faithful, the only One who ever kept covenant perfectly, our Lord Jesus Christ. You are to trust Him always, cling to Him always, rest in Him always, and never to look to your own performance or merit. There is nothing there but failure and self-condemnation.
But in Christ, there is no condemnation, so come. In Christ, there is forgiveness, so come. In Christ, there is pardon and cleansing, so come. In Christ, there is food for the hungry, so come. Come, be obedient. But obedience means faith, and faith means that you will take and eat, and take and drink. The meal is before you.