Communion

Whether you call it the Lord’s Supper or Communion, if you’ve been a Christian for long I’m sure you’ve experienced this ordinance in some fashion. Some churches eat a cracker and drink juice, while other churches eat bread and drink wine. Some churches pass the elements out, while others go and get the elements from their leaders. But, regardless of your past experience with the Lord’s Supper, I wonder if you fully understand the point of it, the depth of it, and the beauty of it… Above all I wonder if you see the importance of this ordinance, and its ties to the great gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Lord’s Supper is to be observed as a memorial of the life, death, and resurrection of Christ, but it is also to be observed in anticipation of Jesus’ return. The Lord’s Supper is a pledge of communion with God and His people. So, the Lord’s Supper is both vertical (communion with God) and horizontal (communion with the church). This is why Paul speaks of judgment when taken wrongly, saying, “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29). And likewise why he talks about the many (the church) becoming one (unified in the gospel) through this ordinance. “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).

This truly is a beautiful thing for repentant believers. Just think about what all it represents, communicates to us, and reminds us of:

• It represents Christ’s death.

• It pictures the suffering and execution of Christ, so that you and I might have our sins atoned for.

• It helps us understand our union with Christ. Jesus said, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood abides in me, and I in him” (John 6:56). We are in Christ and He is in us…

• It’s a source of spiritual nourishment.

• It’s a means of grace. When we are reminded of what Christ has done for us, by eating the bread and drinking the fruit of the vine, we are reminded of the gospel; we are reminded in our souls that Jesus Christ came to save sinners, and not merely to make salvation possible, but to secure the salvation of His people. We are strengthened by this grace.

• It deepens our understanding of our unity as a local church as we practice this together. We are commanded by Scripture to take the Lord’s Supper, “together as a church” (1 Corinthians 11:20), as God’s people, as a body, and this is to express the unity of Christians.

• It’s an affirmation of Christ’s love for each of us as individuals. It helps me and you understand Christ’s love for us. It is for the church as a whole but it is also for each believer individually. Jesus died for His people but His people are made up of individuals.

• It affirms that all of salvation’s blessings are ours in Christ. I am His and He is mine. You are His and He is yours. By partaking in His death we also partake in all of His blessings. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:3).

• It’s an affirmation of our own personal faith in Christ. The Lord’s Supper is a time to remember and meditate on the beautiful fact that I myself believe in the gospel. I believe what that juice represents. I believe what that bread represents, I believe it and I reaffirm my faith in the gospel, my personal faith in Christ Jesus, Himself, and what He has done and who He is.