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Ever since Christ ate His
last meal with His disciples, and instituted the “Lord’s Supper”, there
have
been all sorts of variations
on this theme practiced by people who are given
over to the Christian persuasion. Unfortunately,
very few under-stand what’s
behind this ceremony and why it was initiated. Up
until three days ago, I was one of these
unenlightened.
I was reading a commentary
on Exodus by Henrietta Mears and something she wrote about Moses
arrested by
attention. It was
this, “The moral law
was given, followed by the ceremonial law which was, in part, provision
for the
violator of the moral law”.
Before I speak to the
implication of her statement, let me share with you what I recently
said to my
wife, Teresa. We were talking
about
communion and I made the observation that I really didn’t see much
utility in
my doing communion, (other than by faith and
obedience) because the last thing
I needed in my life of total enmeshment in Jesus Christ and God’s Plan,
was to
every now and
again take communion to “remember” Jesus. He
was, and is, on the top of my mind during
just about every waking moment.
It was not long after this
that The Holy Spirit chose to open my spiritual eyes to a very
important truth
regarding the Lord’s Supper
ceremony. As
is often the case, God’s Spirit had set me up for this revelation by
having me
realize that no matter now much I’ve
done to keep my body/temple in good shape
and free of pain, there are still problems that crop up that just will
not go
away. It
seems that every time I
successfully deal with one physical problem, another one crops up. And so it has gone over the past 40
years
that I have been in The Lord.
I was reflecting on this
dilemma, around the time when I was reading Mrs. Mears’s remarks about
the Old
Testament moral law,
being followed by the ceremonial and sacrificial
laws. I reasoned to myself that if, in
fact, her comment was true (and I believe
it is), it must be a type, or shadow,
of a New Testament truth, particularly with something as important as
the Old
Testament moral
laws and how they related to the ceremonial and
sacrificial laws. After all, this whole
topic is taken up in
most of the Pentateuch,
not just a few verses scattered over a number of Old
Testament chapters. So, for there not to
be a New Test counter-part would
seem unrealistic. It didn’t take long for
me to consider the
various aspects of the only New Testament ceremony that God has
ordained for
born-again believers once they have been baptized, (outside of the
marriage cer-emony
which, like baptism, was
designed to be a one time event). The Holy
Spirit, through the Apostle Paul in
I Cor. 11:25-34, gives us some interesting insights
about those in the
And connected to this situation we find that
as a consequence, some in that assembly were” weak, sickly and had even
died”
due
to their inordinate behavior. In
other words, physical health is somehow connected with communion, for
the
believer. This was as
obvious to me as
it was that New Testament communion is tied to New Testament law, the
same as
the Old Testament ceremonial
laws were tied to the Old Testament moral laws. And
as Mrs. Mears so correctly pointed out,
the Old Testament ceremonial laws
were to provide a form of grace for those who
had violated the moral laws (the ten commandments, plus all the other
laws of
conduct
we find in the Pentateuch). So,
I questioned, why wouldn’t God have provided a similar form of grace
for New
Testament believers
who would periodically violate the royal law of love?
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Anyone who has their New
Testament theological head screwed on straight knows that born-again
believers
are not under any of the
moral laws of the Old Testament as an imperative, but
rather they are kept as an indicator one is living out a new life
earmarked by
the law of love. As far as God is
concerned, we have died in co-crucifixion with Christ and been raised
into new
creation life. But
within the salvation
condition/process, we have been exhorted to keep the royal law of love,
a law
that we break on a consistent basis.
However, God has provided us with a ceremony, which if properly
discerned, will delete any judgmental condemnation, or chastening,
that would
otherwise come to us from The Lord. In
His own Words, if you will judge yourself, I will not have to, (I Cor.
He
did the same with His Old Testament chosen people by instituting a
whole system
of sacrificial and ceremonial laws. But
as the
book of Hebrews points out, we now have a better sacrifice, and by
inference a better sacrificial/ceremonial ritual, to go along with
the better
law of Love. So we’re still under law as
New Testament believers, but now this royal law of love is what we do
out of
knowing
that we’re already saved and seated in the heavenlies, rather than our
keeping this law in an attempt to be saved (the huge difference
between
doing something in the indicative mood, rather than the imperative
mood). And when we sin, or go against this
royal
law, we
have a glorious ceremony that we can partake of weekly (as the early
church most likely did), which will keep us on top of our daily
accumulations
of falling short of God’s Glory, and at the same time will help us
maintain
optimal physical health (in conjunction with
eating properly) that is not possible
through any other ceremony or form of self help.
And please be aware, I am
fully aware of all the different opinions floating around about what I
Cor. 11
is speaking to, but for me, what
I have just shared is where the rubber of
health meets the heavenly road.
So now, when I think of …”Do
this in remembrance of Me”, I am wonderfully aware that what I am to
remember
is not Jesus in a general
way, but specifically that His Atoning Sacrifice
2,000 years ago somehow, in an almost mystical way, covers and cleanses
me of
accum-
ulated weekly sin as I partake of His symbolic Body and Blood. And when, out of neglect, I miss this blessing
for weeks or months on end,
this becomes just one of many ways we do not
properly discern the Body of Christ. I
believe that one can eat and drink unworthily by
neglecting to take communion,
with the consequences being that too much accumulated sin eventually
takes it
toll on our bodies. I’m not
talking loss
of salvation here, simply lack of spiritual maintenance and its
consequences. We do have a spiritual
immune system that is
connected to our physical one and must be maintained if
we are to expect optimal physical and spiritual health. As
with physical
so it is with spiritual
(“When I see the blood
[applied], I will pass over you”. Do
this [not think this] in remembrance of Me.”).
It was not the raw body of the lamb
that gave nourishment to Old
Testament
done by the blood applied; then, and
only then, was nourishment possible
(John
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Old Testament
a type of sin. “Purge out therefore the
old leaven”, (I Cor. 5:7). The leaven of
unrighteousness must be removed from our lives if we are to
eat (become one
with) His Body.
“Bitter herbs” that were
eaten with that first Passover are a type of the suffering(chastening)
that
comes with our judging ourselves for accum-
ulated sins, or being judged by God
if we will not. “No chastening for the
present seemeth to be joyous”, (Heb.
“Be ready to leave”. Old
Testament
to be ready to go. “Watch therefore, for
ye know neither the day
nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh…”,(Mt. 25:13;
Mark
“In the twinkling of an
eye”, is an any moment thing.
We have to remember that the
whole Passover ceremony was repeated over and over again, after the
Exodus,
right up until our Passover
Lamb was slain.
Not only was it repeated once each year as a memorial, but
reiterated
daily, weekly, and monthly in the river of blood
that ran from the throats of
millions of animals, along with the roasting and eating of these
animals’
flesh. So, the Old Testament Passover
l
amb was slain just once (in a year), and the various sacrificial
cere-monies
were repeated over and over again as a remembrance and
maintenance program. In like manner,
Christ our Passover Lamb was
slain just once, and it will never be repeated.
But the ceremony
of communion is an on-going reminder and maintenance
thing that has been given to Spiritual Israel as a means towards
spiritual and
physical nourishment and health.
Needless to say, I will
never again take communion without being aware of these glorious truths. And I will never again miss a week of
cere-
monial union with my crucified Savior and Lord. Ritual
and ceremony can become, as it did in
the Church at
heavenlies with Christ” and truly
consecrated to our Lord.