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| Communion by Joseph Prescia The Word of God instructs us to partake of bread and wine in remembrance of Christ. In a Communion service there are two elements of Christ’s redemption represented; the body and the blood. Jesus Christ’s blood was shed for remission of sin and his body was given for our healing. His body is represented by the bread. His shed blood is represented by the wine. In order to more fully understand the significance of the body and blood we will need to go back to the first Passover offering in the Old Testament in Exodus chapter 12. The children of Israel were slaves in Egypt. God had Moses go to Pharaoh and request letting His chosen people leave so that they could worship Him. Rather than letting them go Pharaoh chose to harden his heart toward this request. After nine major plagues he still resisted, but this 10th and final plague would persuade him. If the children of Israel followed these instructions they would be delivered. Exodus 12:1-11 And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, 2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. 3 Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: 4 And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. 5 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6 And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. 7 And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. 8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. 9 Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. 10 And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. 11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. (KJV) Two elements are represented here for deliverance; flesh and blood. God told them to tell their children about this great event and to continue to perform it forever. Exodus 12:12-14 For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. 13 And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. 14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever. (KJV) The Passover lamb was killed on the afternoon of the 14th of Nisan. The flesh of the lamb was eaten that night after sunset. Old Covenant: New Covenant: Blood shed for sin Blood shed for sin Blood of the Passover lamb was The blood of the Passover Lamb, Jesus Christ offered yearly as a covering for sin was offered once for complete cleansing and for the children of Israel. forgiveness of sin for the children of God. Body for healing Body for healing The Passover lamb was eaten for the The Lamb of God, Jesus Christ, was sacrificed for physical needs of the children of Israel physical healing for the children of God. Passover Communion A memorial for the children of Israel A memorial for the children of God to to remember how God rescued them remember the significance of Christ’s broken from destruction. body and shed blood. We too were rescued from destruction. Matthew 8:17 That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses. (KJV) There are two parts mentioned here. Christ handles them both: 1.sin (infirmities) 2.sickness 1 Corinthians 5:7b For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. (NIV) 1 Corinthians 10:16 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? (KJV) "Communion" means to "share fully" of Christ in all that he did. The cup represents the blood of Christ and the bread represents the body of Christ. When we remember both we share fully in all that they represent. Without Christ mankind has a serious spiritual and physical problem. Sin is spiritual. A consequence of sin is sickness. Wholeness has two parts: spiritual and physical. 1 Peter 2:24 Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. (KJV) With sin: Without sin: (a) unrighteous (dead in sin) (a) righteous (dead to sin) (b) consequences-sickness, disease & want (b) health, needs met (c) separation from God (c) reconciled to God 1 Corinthians 11:23-30 For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: 24 And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. 25 After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. 26 For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come (This tells how long we’re to do this. We are to show the Lord’s death in Communion until he comes back). 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily (or inappropriately), shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily (or inappropriately), eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body (the reason it could be inappropriately). 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep (die unnecessarily). (KJV) God enacted this event to remind us of what Christ accomplished us. God bound Himself by calling it a New Testament or Covenant. He bound Himself to His Word. The first covenant in the Old Testament was the one with Noah immediately after the flood. God told Noah that He would set His rainbow in the sky as a covenant between Him and the earth and that He would remember not to destroy the earth with water ever again. This was the physical sign man could see with his eyes. God’s covenant with Abraham was circumcision, a daily physical reminder. God established covenants with Moses, Joshua, David, and others. Likewise, communion today is a physical reminder of God’s covenant with us with the cup and the bread. God binds Himself to His Word with shed blood to make it completely legal. Even the Devil is bound by this legal accomplishment. God has made a binding and solemn agreement with us that sin is wiped clean and that by his stripes we are healed. Our sins are gone. They are not lingering around anymore. We’re no longer under any law or requirement to work at being righteous because Christ is the end of the law to everyone that believes. Galatians 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (KJV) All bondage, mental, physical, and spiritual has been cut loose. Jesus Christ has paid the price in full. In the spiritual courtroom, so-to-speak, the highest court of the land, where all the legal, spiritual documents were declared binding, we have been declared not guilty, shameless, and made righteous. All charges brought about by the Devil have been declared invalid because of the legal requirements met by Christ. The Devil had to drop all charges because we have been proclaimed "not guilty." With sin removed, the consequence of sin had to go as well. All sickness and disease can be legally handed back to Satan. The legal requirements for justice have been satisfied. When you study the records of healing in the Gospels, Jesus shared the Word of God first with the people and then he ministered healing. You don’t see it the other way around. Some say that it’s the will of God to be sick so that God can test you. Well, in all the Gospels records Jesus ALWAYS did the will of God and he never made anyone sick. He healed the sick, cast out devils & raised the dead. We have the right to accept what God says we can have. We have authority earned by Jesus Christ to cast away sickness and disease. We have dominion to be above anything contrary to righteousness and health. There is no condemnation, no guilt, and no remembrance of failures of any kind because nothing can separate us from this love of God through Christ Jesus our Lord. We come to the communion table knowing that our sins are forgiven, that by his stripes we are healed and that we can no longer come unto condemnation. We don’t celebrate the resurrection necessarily in communion but we remember that Christ gave his life for us. We remember his sacrifice. A price was paid for eternal redemption, not in the resurrection but in his sufferings. In breaking of bread-Jesus said, "Take, eat, this is my body which is for you, (for your healing). This do ye in remembrance of me." In partaking of the wine-Jesus said, "This cup is the New Testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me." |
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