Galatians 3:27 - We “put on Christ” when
we are baptized.
Thoses that have been baptized
should recieve the
The
Lords Supper
The
bread is broken, meaning that Christ's body was
broken for our sins;
The
wine is poured from the pitcher into the cup,
meaning that Christ's blood was shed for our
sins; the bread and the wine are handed out,
meaning that the salvation work of Christ is
offered to us:
The
bread and the wine are received and eaten,
meaning that we receive in faith the work of
Christ for us and our salvation;
The
bread sustains and the wine refreshes us,
meaning that Christ's work for us keeps us alive
and gives renewed strength.
Christian
rite in which bread and wine (or grape juice)
are taken in commemoration of Christ's death;
sacrament was instituted by Christ at his supper
(Lord's Supper, or Last Supper) with his
disciples the night before his death (Bible,
Matt. xxvi, 26–29; Mark xiv, 22–25; Luke xxii,
14–20)
It is a testimony to his faith in
the final resurrection of the dead. Being a
church ordinance, it is prerequisite to the
privileges of church membership and to the
Lord’s Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic act of
obedience whereby members of the church, through
partaking of the bread and the fruit of the
vine, memorialize the death of the Redeemer and
anticipate His second coming.
Matthew 3:13-17; Matthew 26:26-30;
Matthew 28:19-20; Mark 1:9-11; Mark 14:22-26;
Luke 3:21-22; Luke 22:19-20; John 3:23; Acts
2:41-42; Acts 8:35-39; Acts 16:30-33; Acts 20:7;
Romans 6:3-5; 1 Cor. 10:6, 21; 1 Cor. 11:23-29;
Col. 2:12
The bread and wine
are memorials of Jesus' death on the cross
(Luke 22:19-20; 1 Cor. 11:26).
In the
Lord's Supper, we each eat a piece of bread in
remembrance of Jesus. When we drink the "fruit
of the vine," we remember that Jesus' blood was
shed for us, and that it signifies the new
covenant. The Lord's Supper looks back to the
death of Jesus Christ on the
cross.
Jesus'
death shows how much God loves us — so much that
he sent his Son to die for us, so that our sins
may be forgiven and we may live forever with
him. This is good news! Although we may be
saddened by the enormous price that had to be
paid for us, we are happy that it was indeed
paid.
When
we remember Jesus' death, we also remember that
Jesus was dead for only three days. We rejoice
that Jesus has conquered death, and has
set free all who were enslaved by a fear of
death (Heb. 2:14-15). Our mourning has turned to
joy (John 16:20).
Christians look back to the
crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus as the
defining moment in our history. This is
how we escape death and the slavery of sin, and
this is how we are freed to serve the Lord. The
Lord's Supper is a memorial of this defining
moment in our history.
The Lord's Supper also
pictures our present relationship with Jesus
Christ. The crucifixion has a continuing
significance to all who have taken up a cross to
follow Jesus. We continue to participate in his
death (Rom. 6:4; Gal. 2:20; Col. 2:20) because
we participate in his life (Gal. 2:20;
Eph. 2:6; Col. 2:13; 3:1).
Paul
wrote, "Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which
we give thanks a participation in the blood of
Christ? And is not the bread that we break a
participation in the body of Christ?" (1 Cor.
10:16). With the Lord's Supper, we show that we
share in Jesus Christ. We participate
with him, commune with him, become united in
him. The Lord's Supper helps us look upward, to
Christ.
In
John 6, Jesus used bread and wine to graphically
illustrate our need to be spiritually nourished
by him: "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of
Man and drink his blood, you have no life in
you.... Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my
blood remains in me, and I in him" (verses
53-56). The Lord's Supper reminds us that real
life is found only in Jesus Christ, with him
living in us.
When
we are aware that Jesus lives in us, we also
pause to think what kind of home we are giving
him. We allow him to change our lives so that we
live the way he wants us to. Paul wrote, "A man
ought to examine himself before he eats of the
bread and drinks of the cup" (1 Cor. 11:28). The
Lord's Supper helps us look inward, to examine
ourselves because of the great meaning in this
ceremony.
As we
examine ourselves, we need to look around, to
other people, to see whether we are treating one
another in the way that Jesus commanded. If
you are united with Christ and I
am united with Christ, then we are united to
each other, too. The Lord's Supper, by picturing
our participation in Christ, also pictures our
participation (other translations may say
communion or sharing or fellowship) with each
other (1 John 1:3, 7).
Paul wrote in 1 Cor. 10:17,
"Because there is one loaf, we, who are many,
are one body, for we all partake of the
one loaf." The Lord's Supper pictures the fact
that we are one body in Christ, one with each
other, with responsibilities toward one
another.
The essence of
worship is the inner experience of treasuring
the true beauty
and worth of God. And
the outward forms of worship are the acts that
show how
much we treasure the beauty and
worth of God. Therefore God created all of
life as worship because he has told
us, "whether you eat or drink or whatever
you do, do all to the glory of God" (1
Corinthians 10:31). Do everything you
do in a way that expresses your treasuring
of
God.
