Communion

When we gather together as a group of believers and sometimes new or non-believers, we partake in what's called "communion" also known as "The Lord's Supper." I'm sure there are some people that are not 100% sure as to what the purpose and meaning behind it all is. As most of you are aware 2000 years ago a man lived by the name of Jesus Christ. This man, born of a vigin by the power of the Holy Spirit was God in the flesh. This man Jesus was crucified on a roman cross as a one-time for all sacrifice for our sins. In the Old Testament as a reconciliation for sins people were to sacrifice a lamb, now Jesus being the Lamb of God took our sins upon Himself when He was sacrificed for us. By believing and trusting in Jesus and repenting, not just confessing but turning away from sin God has provided this path that leads to eternal life. What does all this have to do with a cup of juice and a piece of bread? On the evening that Jesus was betrayed He sat around a table with His followers, in front of them were a loaf of bread and wine, some things that were everyday household items in His time. He took bread and said "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 is the new covenant in My blood, which is poured out for you." So there is a symbolic meaning to each of these items. The bread which He said was His body was a symbol of Him sacrificing Himself on the cross. The wine which He said was the new covenant in His blood was a symbol of His blood being shed for us. The old covenant required the sprinkling of blood on the altar for the atonement of sins. Now the new covenant was the shedding of Jesus blood once for all. So the basics of it is a remembrance of Christ's death, not His life, not the miracles, not the teaching, not even His resurrection, but His death. Why? Because that's the central message of Christianity, Jesus died...for us. He died on the cross so that those who trust in Him won't have to face the wrath of Almighty God on Judgement Day. Now this doesn't mean that we trust in Jesus and then run around and sin after we leave Church. That only makes us hypocrites. We must strive to be holy with the strength and power from Christ, for it is written, "Be Holy, For I am Holy." We are to live in the light of God's presence as is written in 1John 1:5-10 (New Living Translation): "This is the message He has given us to announce to you: God is light and there is no darkness in Him at all, so we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness. We are not living in the truth. But if we are living in the light of God's presence, just as Christ is, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, cleanses us from every sin. If we say we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sin's to Him, He is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. If we claimed we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that His word has no place in our heart." 2 Corinthians 13:5 says for us to examine ourselves to see if we are in the faith, so today before we partake of the Lord's Supper as one body "The Church" let us take time to ask God for forgiveness of our sins and to wash us clean and make is whole.
God Bless You All!