Comments Concerning the Lord's Supper |
Blood of Jesus | Ready, Willing and Able | Power in Combining Our Lives | By the Will of God
Physical and Spiritual | Spend and Be Spent | Daily Choices | A note to our visitors
It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. 5 Consequently, when Christ came into the world, he said, "Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; 6 in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure. 7 Then I said, 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God , as it is written of me in the scroll of the book.'" (Hebrews 10:4-6)
Jesus taught people how to live and please God, performed miracles by God's help, in short, “went about doing good.” (Acts 10:38 ) But we see the core purpose of His mission toward the end of His (earthly) ministry “w hen the days drew near for him to be taken up, (and) He set his face to go to Jerusalem .” He said three times things such as, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem . And the Son of Man will be delivered over to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn him to death 19 and deliver him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified, and he will be raised on the third day.”
Jesus was born to die … for us, according to the will of God.
(Continuing back in Hebrews) 6 … 'Behold, I have come to do your will, O God …. 10 And by that will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
For those of you who have been buried with Christ through baptism into death, please meditate on the sacrifices that Jesus made in order to do God's will and to make possible the taking away of our sins.
If you have haven't died with Christ in baptism, please meditate about your soul's condition and the will of God in your life while we take the Lord's Supper.
In the Lord's Supper, we take simple, physical items – crackers and juice – and we eat and drink. The items remind us of what happened in this physical world – that Jesus was crucified and died on the cross. But we remember more than that! The bread, representing Christ's body, is unleavened, as was the bread used during Passover, and symbolizes the purity of Christ. (Exodus 12:8; 1 Cor. 5:6-8) Perhaps the unfermented juice, representing His blood, also symbolizes His purity. We meditate on the fact that, through that physical suffering, Jesus paid the penalty for our sins and satisfied the Creator of the universe by one sacrifice for sin, for all people, for all time.
So, what He did on the cross echoed in the heavens, and what we do in this physical act echoes in the heavens, as well! It unites us in purpose and strengthens the fellowship we have with each other and with Jesus Christ. And while some may “eat and drink condemnation” to themselves (1 Cor. 11:27 -34), we remember the Lord's body and blood and we take those elements in, as a reminder of our responsibility to become like Him.May God bless each of us as we eat and drink.
Think about that phrase, “I will very gladly spend and be spent for your souls” (2 Corinthians 12:15) and apply it to what Jesus did.
In His Life:
"Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Matthew 8:20)
In His Death:
He left the Father, with all His riches… Came down from heaven and gave His life-blood to make the vilest sinner clean… He gave His life-blood for even me. (What a Savior, v. 2 and Refrain)
Out of the ivory palaces, into a world of woe, only His great eternal love made my Savior go. (Ivory Palaces, Refrain)
He spent.
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich. (2 Corinthians 8:9)
He was spent.
He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors. (Isaiah 53:12)
From eternity the plan was made, and it was “written in the volume of the Book: I have come to do Your will, O God.” (Hebrews 10:7) Jesus' eternal priorities translated into daily choices. At 12 years old, He said, “I must be about My Father's business.” (Luke 3:42, 49)
After His baptism, He made daily choices while preparing to be tempted in the wilderness. (Matthew 4)
He made daily choices throughout His earthly ministry. (Luke 19:47 ; 22:53 )
He made daily choices when He set His face to go to Jerusalem , knowing in perfect detail the suffering that was awaiting Him. (Luke 9:51-53; Matthew 16:21)
His long-term goal kept Him going. “For the joy that was set before Him [He] endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Heb. 12:2)
We have a long-term goal of being welcomed into the very presence of God. We need endurance (Hebrews 10:36) for making our daily choices.
Let's consider Jesus' daily choices – and ours! – as we become “partakers of Christ” in the Lord's Supper at this time.Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called "TODAY," lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. 14 For we have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end…. (Hebrews 3:12-14)
(Visitors, you may participate in this, if you feel comfortable doing so, or you may simply watch. Again, thank you for being here among us today.)
Written by Ink Man
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Quotes are from the English Standard Version or the New King James Version of the Bible.