1 Corinthians 10:16
Communion with Christ
Woodlawn Baptist Church
December 30, 2007
Introduction
In 1 Corinthians 10:16, Paul wrote,
“The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?”
I want you to imagine a scene with me…a scene of beauty and wonder and grace. The King of heaven and earth has prepared a feast in honor of His Son. The table has been prepared, the Son has taken His place at the head, and it is you and I who have been invited to sit and dine and fellowship. As we look around the table we see one another…men and women, boys and girls loved by God, here by invitation. The Son, Jesus Christ, is prepared to receive us as guests and honor us as friends. He has prepared a feast before us.
Can you imagine such a scene? To be asked to eat with the King of Glory? Were He a physical king with a physical kingdom and you and I were invited to feast at his table, we would certainly prepare ourselves for the occasion. Our dress and demeanor and language and disposition would all reflect great joy and honor toward the one who has invited us.
God has indeed prepared a feast in honor of His Son. The Lord’s Supper is symbolic of that feast. I chose to draw your attention to the verse we read in 1 Corinthians for a couple of reasons. First, it is the only place in the Bible where the Lord’s Supper is referred to as communion. But secondly, and more specifically, because I want you to understand what that word communion means in relation to the Lord’s Supper.
The word communion comes from the Greek word koinonia and it means partnership, participation, fellowship or intercourse. In other words, it is the joining of two or more into one. That’s why Paul continued in 1 Corinthians 10:17 by saying,
“For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread. Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar?”
The word partakers comes from the same Greek word as communion. Paul’s point was simply this – that in coming to the table, whether it be the Lord’s table or an idol’s table, we are joining ourselves to that which it represents. We become one with it and with those who partake of it with us. “We being many are one bread.” Jesus Christ is the Bread of Life, and in communion we commune, become one with one another and most importantly, with Him.
Now, while the Lord’s Supper was a new thing for the people of God, the idea of eating and drinking in His presence was not. For example, find Exodus 24:9-11 in your Bible. When the people of Israel were camped before Mt. Sinai, just after God had given the Ten Commandments, God called the leaders of Israel up to the mountain to meet with him.
“Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: and they saw the God of Israel: and there was under his feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness. And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand: also they saw God, and did eat and drink.”
There’s a lot of interesting stuff in those few verses, but it is the fact that God invited these men into His presence where they dined with Him.
In addition to this, turn to Deuteronomy 14:22-23; 26. Every year the people of Israel were to give a tithe of all their crops.
“Thou shalt truly tithe all the increase of thy seed, that the field bringeth forth year by year. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, the tithe of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the firstlings of thy herds and of thy flocks; that thou mayest learn to fear the Lord thy God always…And thou shalt bestow that money for whatsoever thy soul lusteth after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever thy soul desireth: and thou shalt eat there before the Lord thy God, and thou shalt rejoice, thou, and thine household.”
Again, a lot there, but the point is that each year God’s people were commanded to come into His presence, wherever that might have been, and eat and drink before Him. But even earlier than that, God had put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden and given them all of its abundance to eat (except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil). Since there was no sin in that situation, and since God had created them for fellowship with himself and to glorify himself, then every meal that Adam and Eve ate would have been a meal of feasting in the presence of the Lord. He created them for communion: for oneness with Him.
When this fellowship in God’s presence was broken by sin, God still allowed some meals, such as the tithe of fruits we read above, so the people would eat in His presence. These meals were a partial restoration of the fellowship with God that Adam and Eve enjoyed before the Fall. They were a picture of the communion God desires. But the fellowship of eating in the presence of the Lord that we find in the Lord’s Supper is far better. The Old Testament sacrificial meals continually pointed to the fact that they were still looking for the Messiah. The Lord’s Supper, however, reminds us that Jesus’ payment for our sins has already been accomplished, so we now eat in the Lord’s presence with great rejoicing because now we truly can commune with God. Now the enmity that stood between us and God has been removed. Now the offense that kept us from being one with Him is gone and all that stands in our way is our own stubborn wills.
But even the Lord’s Supper looks forward to a more wonderful fellowship meal in God’s presence in the future, when the fellowship of Eden will be restored and there will be even greater joy, because those who eat in God’s presence will be forgiven sinners now confirmed in righteousness, never able to sin again.
That future time of great rejoicing and eating in the presence of God is hinted at by Jesus when He said, “I tell you that I shall not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.” We are told more explicitly in Revelation 19:9 about the marriage supper of the Lamb: “And the angel said to me, Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” This too will be a time of great rejoicing in the presence of God, as well as a time of reverence and awe before Him.
From Genesis to Revelation, then, God’s aim has been to bring His people into fellowship with Himself: into communion. And one of the great joys of experiencing that fellowship is the fact that we can eat and drink in the presence of the Lord. It would be healthy for our church today to recapture a more vivid sense of God’s presence at the table of the Lord. You see, when we partake of the Lord’s Supper, we do not just drink from a thimble and eat a wafer of bread and think reflective thoughts about Jesus. He is here! We are in the presence of the King. It is communion.
Jesus said, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in their midst.” He is here today. Not literally in the bread or in the cup as some believe, but here, in our presence. He is here, in those of us who believe. He is here, dwelling among us collectively as a church. He is here, communing with us. We sit today in the presence of the King of Glory who suffered and died for you!
Knowing that the Lord’s Supper is the table of that King, we ought to consider some of the implications of such a feast.
1. The King decides who is invited – We somehow have a problem with this, but we shouldn’t. Jesus didn’t invite everyone to the upper room when He instituted the Supper. The early churches didn’t invite everyone when they observed it. It was begun by Jesus as a church practice, taught as a church practice, and should continue to be a church practice. Because the Scripture teaches that the Lord’s Supper is a church ordinance, when we observe the Supper we invite those who are members of our church to observe it, and we do so because we believe Jesus intended it to be that way.
When my Toastmasters club had its Christmas feast a couple of weeks ago, only those who were members of our club were invited. It wasn’t open to the public, nor was it open to everyone who claims to be a Toastmaster. There are times that we have those sorts of meals, but this was a special one open only to our members.
Other clubs practice the same thing and we don’t take offense at them for doing it. We shouldn’t take offense with the church for practicing the same thing. This is a special feast for our church to commune, to be one, both with one another and with Christ. We have many other meals where anyone is invited, but this one is a special time of communion for our church family and in no way says we think less of or don’t care about those who are not members of our church.
2. The King deserves honor – I believe we can honor Christ at His table in a number of ways.
a. We need to examine ourselves – why are we sitting at the Lord’s Table? Why have we come? Are we in the right frame of mind? Are our attitudes right? Are our motives right? Have I really trusted Christ to be my Savior? Am I living in obedience to what I know His Word to teach? Is Christ in you? Consider this: today you are sitting at the Lord’s table. What does He see when He looks across the table to you? Does He look upon you as one of His children? Is He pleased with what He sees? Is He happy with what is in your heart? No matter if you and all the world are satisfied with your life. Is God? So, examine yourself.
b. Confess any known sin – is there sin in your life? Christ died on that cross to set you free from sin. He died to eradicate it from your life. He came to destroy its power over you. Are you holding on to it? Are you clinging to it? Look past the commonplace sins that you overcame years ago. Are you allowing Christ to free you from the sins of your tongue? Have you confessed and repented of your anger? Your resentment? Your bitterness? Your fear? Your worry? Your envy? Have you repented of your lack of trust?
c. Surrender your life – God desires that we offer ourselves as living sacrifices to Him. Every redeemed person, every disciple of Christ must be a man or a woman consecrated to God, entirely separated to live for Him, for His will, for His work, and for His honor.
That’s what every disciple really wants too though. Communion is a marvelous union. Jesus offers Himself to us, and we offer ourselves to Him. Jesus gives Himself wholly for me, and I give myself wholly for Him. He yielded His life for ours, now we are to yield our lives for His.
d. Express gratitude – How do we honor our dinner host? We examine ourselves, confess any known sin, surrender your life, and express your gratitude for being there, and in this case, for the ability to be there. It is because of His sacrifice; because of His shed blood; because of His suffering; because of His death that we have communion. God forbid that we should ever forget it.
The Scripture teaches us that those who do not honor the Lord at His table do not discern the Lord’s body and eat and drink damnation to their own selves, to the end that some get sick and others even die because they take the Supper lightly. Hopefully you took time before today to prepare your hearts and minds, but just in case you did not, I want to give you that opportunity. It will seem like an eternity, but I want to give you a few minutes to think and to pray. I want you to take these few moments to examine yourself and ask God to examine you. Confess any sin God shows you. Surrender your life to God in every way you know how, and express your thankfulness to Him. Would you bow your heads now and do that?
Allow for a few minutes of silence.
Matthew 26:26-29
“And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.
And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.
