Communion Thoughts #3

And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you. Luke 22:19-20

 

Out of all the amazing things about Jesus and His ministry and what He would do THIS is the FOCAL point that He instructs His disciples to pay attention to and to replicate, to do again, to stir up remembrance, to focus on this, to see its significance.

 

All the way through history in the bible we see the pattern demonstrated that points to Jesus, the Lamb of God, that points to salvation through Jesus.

 

In the garden of Eden the first prophecy about the messiah, about the saviour, about salvation is made: And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:15

 

And the first sacrifice for sin is made – the first animal death for a human – for Adam and his wife the Lord God made tunics of skin, and clothed them. Genesis 3:21

 

Job, the oldest written book of the bible, cries out for a mediator between God and man.

 

Time and and time again we see in psalms promises of amazing forgiveness : As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103: 12

 

And through into the prophets promises of a messiah, a king, a deliverer, a saviour.

 

Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
yet we considered him punished by God,
stricken by him, and afflicted.
⁵ But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
⁶ We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all. Isaiah 53:4-6

Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer,
and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, Isaiah 53:10

 

“But the gospel transforms us so our self-understanding is no longer based on our performance in life. We are so evil and sinful and flawed that Jesus had to die for us. We were so lost that nothing less than the death of the divine Son of God could save us. But we are so loved and valued that he was willing to die for us. The Lord of the universe loved us enough to do that! So the gospel humbles us into dust and at the very same time exalts us to the heavens. We are sinners but completely loved and accepted in Christ at the same time. … He saw your heart to the bottom and loved you to the skies.” Tim Keller

 

This is what we come to remember.

Christ In Me

*** notes from church this morning – awesome message by our youth pastor Caleb Hall – @ The River 

 

 

 

Eph 5:25-27 Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.

Last days
Glorious church, spotless bride
Matchless One is looking for a match, for a bride
Jesus isn’t going to be unequally yoked with His bride

Colossians 1:27 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Mystery
Christ in you, the hope of glory

Not just a Christ for us, or near us, or around us but Christ is IN us

Salvation
Healing
Ministry

Not living for him but as him
God raises up people and then works THROUGH US

Matt 13:17 For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it. (about the Kingdom of God)

Gal 2:20- I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Crucified with Christ, no longer I that live but Christ who lives in me

Die in Christ
Resurrected in Christ, he lives on me

 

How do I make that real in my life?

Faith has to grow

How do I determine if I’m making a decision by faith or by self?
What is the aim of this?
How do we live by faith vs flesh?

 

Our minds are conditioned by the world to feed self and flesh

Gal 6:8 Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

sow into the spirit

Romans 12:1-2 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.

renew your mind

 

Battlefield of the mind to let Christ rule in us

Be intentional

Going your own way is the path of least resistance

You’re either sowing into one or the other

Not necessarily an excess thing re sowing into flesh, but more often subtle

Called to be in the world, not of the world

Arrange your life to be a living sacrifice

 

1. hearing the voice of God
Matt 4:4 man should not live by bread alone but by every word that comes from God
If we’re not sowing into the spirit we develop wisdom

2. col 3:2 set your minds on things above
Intention

Your times of prayer matter
Your times in the. Word matter
Submitting to leadership matters
Listening to teaching matters
Speaking in tongues matters