Remembering- Created and Redeemed

(More on this days later…) Recap…

'We must be sustained by Jesus Christ our LORD!

When we partake of the symbolic ritual for our spiritual life we are RECOGNIZING our SPIRITUAL life, we are RECOGNIZING WALKING in the Spirit!  We are making an outward symbolic show of a WAY OF LIVING! This is a LIFE SYMBOL! A SPIRITUAL LIFE SYMBOL!  We are asking to walk in the Spirit, in the NEWNESS of life!

Rom_6:4  Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in NEWNESS of life.

We are proclaiming our new life symbolically!

Is it any wonder we should NOT enact this symbolic ritual lightly? If we don't recognize the importance of the ritual of what it's truly symbolic of and what it means to us as we proclaim our new lives then we are making an EMPTY gesture that means absolutely nothing! '

When we are baptized by full immersion we are making a declaration-

Reread the above verse- Romans 6:4 Therefore we are BURIED with HIM by BAPTISM into DEATH-  that like as Christ was RAISED up from the DEAD by the GLORY of the FATHER, even so WE ALSO should WALK in NEWNESS OF LIFE.

When we enter the water we are entering our spiritual grave.  When we are lowered beneath the water we are buried under the water in our spiritual grave and if we are never raised from that water we would physically die.  When we are raised from our spiritual grave we are raised into a new spiritual life, our OLD life buried, our sins forgiven, we have a NEW LIFE.

This symbolic act - baptism by full immersion- reveals our desire to live a new life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Another symbolic act we are given …

Luk 22:14  And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him.

Luk 22:15  And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer:

Luk 22:16  For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God.

Luk 22:17  And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves:

Luk 22:18  For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come.

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Luk 22:20  Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.

'THIS DO IN REMEMBRANCE OF ME.'

And we know that Paul reprimanded early Christians telling them that when they got together they weren't to eat the LORD'S SUPPER to satisfy their hunger or need to drink- they could eat and drink their ordinary meals not use the remembrance symbol to fill their bellies. The remembrance symbol was just that - something to partake in solemnly while REMEMBERING our Savior's sacrifice!  

1Co 11:20  When ye come together therefore into one place, this is not to eat the Lord's supper.

1Co 11:21  For in eating every one taketh before other his own supper: and one is hungry, and another is drunken.

1Co 11:22  What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the church of God, and shame them that have not? What shall I say to you? shall I praise you in this? I praise you not.

1Co 11:23  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:

1Co 11:24  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.

1Co 11:25  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.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

Paul explained the symbolic ritual that was for our NEW SPIRITUAL LIFE!

Jesus said-

THIS IS MY BODY- a broken body- broken bread.

THIS IS MY BLOOD-  a NEW TESTAMENT.

We all know a 'last will and testament', is something that reveals what is bequeathed upon those who remain after someone dies.  Jesus' NEW TESTAMENT His Sacrifice took the place of the OLD TESTAMENT of animal sacrifices.  Jesus' blood took the place of the animals blood that pointed to a more perfect sacrifice.

When we rise in newness of life, a spiritual birth, born again in Christ- we must be in CONSTANT remembrance of this new life and how it came to be.

We must NEVER partake of the Lord's Supper without truly remembering the reason we are breaking the bread and drinking the wine. If we partake of the Lord's Supper hoping it'll stave off hunger and thirst of a physical nature we are not REMEMBERING our Savior and His Sacrifice!

Truly this SPIRITUAL RITUAL is an amazing opportunity to relive our baptism in Christ.

A spiritual sustenance necessary for a spiritual newness.

We are BURIED with Christ in baptism and raised to NEW LIFE as He was raised to new life.

We recall the DEATH, the SACRIFICE that led to the BURIAL of our Savior, and symbolically we ACCEPT the Sacrifice made so we could LIVE a new spiritual life!

We have to comprehend what we are symbolically remembering as we partake in the Lord's Supper, to eat and drink it without that forethought truly is to do it in vain.  Is it any wonder we are told we are eating and drinking to our own damnation when we do not comprehend the spiritually sustaining ritual in the symbolic spiritual sustenance we are eating and drinking?  As we put the symbol of bread in our mouths and it is broken we must remember the broken body of our Savior.  As we put the symbol of wine in our mouths and drink it we must remember the blood that our Savior shed so we might life. We must remember the SACRIFICE that SAVES US, giving us a NEW SPIRIT LIFE-  a newness of life, born again not of flesh but of spirit, this is what our SAVIOR died to give to us!

Without the REMEMBRANCE - the ritual is senseless and in vain, it is spiritually deadly.

1Co 11:26  For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come.

We SYMBOLICALLY show the LORD'S DEATH- by REMEMBERING the LORD'S DEATH.

1Co 11:27  Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.

1Co 11:28  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

1Co 11:29  For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.

We must EXAMINE ourselves and by this we mean we MUST know WHY we are partaking of this Spiritual Ritual. We are partaking because we are REMEMBERING what was done for us by our SAVIOR!  We are acknowledging our NEED of FORGIVENESS found in our SAVIOR- HE DIED so we could be FORGIVEN! HE is the Supplier of our Atonement, through Him we are made One with our Creator, our Redeemer, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

We partake of this ritual of Spirituality- knowing that as we physically eat and drink we are doing this to affect ourselves Spiritually.  We are WALKING in the SPIRITUAL. We are walking in the newness of life, a life everlasting offered to us through the death and resurrection of our Savior.

 A spiritual remembrance.

 Much as we are to remember the Sabbath Day, we are in REMEMBRANCE to enact the ritual of the Lord's Supper.

We remember the Sabbath so we never forget we are created beings and not beings who created ourselves, or just happened to find existence haphazardly.

We remember our Savior's Death so we never forget we've been offered redemption from our fallen sinful state, we've been SAVED by a Redeemer.

Created and Redeemed.

Please, Heavenly Father, help us to be Yours! Let Your will be done in us! Keep us in YOU. Help us to NEVER FORGET we were created and we were redeemed! 

Thank you! All glory and honor unto You!

All in the name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, our Lord!

Amen.