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Topic: REMEMBER (02/03/22)
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TITLE: "...do this in remembrance of Me (1Cor. 11: 24 NASB)." | Previous Challenge Entry
By Doug Laird
02/08/22 -
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The “this” being spoken of in 1Cor. 11: 24 NASB is the celebration of what is commonly referred to as the Lord's Supper or Communion within what has become the various denominations (or non-denominational congregations) of the Christian Community at large.
Allow me to say up front, that because of different interpretations, it is not possible to address this subject in any depth without stepping on denominational toes. When swimming against the current that has been established by the religious traditions of men (Matt. 15: 9), one will find himself in Gal. 4: 16 scenarios.
“So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth (Gal. 4: 16 NASB)?”
Satan has managed to take the very ritual that was intended to promote unity by bringing into remembrance the Person and the Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, and has made it one of greatest causes means of division in the body (Church) of Christ.
These Man-made divisions not only caused and maintains separations between denominations, but create divisions within denominations as well, by determining who can, and who cannot officiate and participate. When celebrated as it was intended to be, as a memorial celebration, participants reinforce the 1Cor. 3:11 foundation (FAITH in Christ) on which the entire Christian Faith rests.
Memorial celebrations are not for the purpose of re-doing something that has already been done, but to bring back to our conscious minds something that has already taken place in the past.
In the case of celebrating the Lord’s Supper (Communion), it was not established to be the means of reproducing the physical body, the physical blood, or the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was to “bring into remembrance” the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ (1Cor. 11: 24, 25) and His one time (Heb. 10: 10, atoning (1John 2: 2), sacrifice (1Cor.11: 26) that He finished on the cross.
On the night before He was crucified, while celebrating the Passover meal (consisting, in part, of bread and wine) with His disciples in an upper room of a private residence, the ritual of the Lord’s Supper was introduced.
Note that at that time, when the disciples ingested the symbolic bread and wine, His actual body and blood has not yet been sacrificed. When Church Age believers ingest the symbolic bread and wine, it is to bring into remembrance the actual Person and the atoning shed blood that had been sacrificed on the cross.
There was no altar present or set up in the upper room. There was no altar required then, and there is no altar required now to celebrate the Lord’s Supper (Communion).
The one and only sacrificial altar pertaining to salvation was the cross of Christ.
Jesus, not being from the tribe of Levi, did not qualify as one who could function as an officiating priest of that time period (Heb.7: 14). With a change in Covenant, there is a change in the priesthood (Heb. 7: 12-14). Jesus is the High Priest (Heb. 9: 11) of the New Covenant (Luke 22: 20 ).
EVERY born-again, Church Age believer, is a priest (1Pet. 2: 9). Pastors, in their leadership role, customarily lead the congregations in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but this function can be delegated to any believer-priest.
The Lord’s Supper was successfully celebrated for centuries BEFORE the altars, cathedrals, hierarchy, priesthood, pageantry, rules, regulations, procedures, and traditions of religious men, entered the picture.
Whenever Man adds to, or takes away from what Scripture has to say, by teaching or practice, the fallout divides the Christian Community. All of the pageantry and overt activity that has evolved in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper impresses Man, but not God (Luke 16:15).
“And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that WHICH IS HIGHLY ESTEEMED among MEN is detestable in the sight of God (when such things run contrary to Scripture).” (Luke 16: 15 NASB parentheses mine).”
Many of the controversial issues surrounding the celebration of the Lord’s Supper can be resolved by simply keeping in mind that the ritual was established as the means for us to remember, and not to reproduce, the Person (who He was - Mark 14:61-62), and the atoning sacrifice that He finished (John 19: 30) while shedding His blood on the cross.
The opinions expressed by authors may not necessarily reflect the opinion of FaithWriters.com.
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