Truth and Confusion

Truth and Confusion
Luke 22:16-20

16 For [gar] I say [lego] unto you [humin] , [hoti] I will [phago] not [ouketi] any more [ou me] eat [phago] thereof [autos] [ek] , until [heos] [hotou] it be fulfilled [pleroo] in [en] the kingdom [basileia] of God [theos] .
17 And [kai] he took [dechomai] the cup [poterion] , and gave thanks [eucharisteo] , and said [epo] , Take [lambano] this [touto] , and [kai] divide [diamerizo] it among yourselves [heautou] :
18 For [gar] I say [lego] unto you [humin] , [hoti] I will [pino] not [ou me] drink [pino] of [apo] the fruit [gennema] of the vine [ampelos] , until [heos] [hotou] the kingdom [basileia] of God [theos] shall come [erchomai] .
19 And [kai] he took [lambano] bread [artos] , and gave thanks [eucharisteo] , and brake [klao] it, and [kai] gave [didomi] unto them [autos] , saying [lego] , This [touto] is [esti] my [mou] body [soma] which [ho] is given [didomi] for [huper] you [humon] : this [touto] do [poieo] in remembrance [anamnesis] of [eis] me [emos] .
20 Likewise [hosautos] also [kai] the cup [poterion] after [meta] supper [deipneo] , saying [lego] , This [touto] cup [poterion] is the new [kainos] testament [diatheke] in [en] my [mou] blood [haima] , which [ho] is shed [ekcheo] for [huper] you [humon] . KJV-Interlinear

16 for I say to you, I shall never again eat it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God. '17 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He said, 'Take this and share it among yourselves; 18 for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine from now on until the kingdom of God comes. '19 And when He had taken some bread and given thanks, He broke it, and gave it to them, saying, 'This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.' 20 And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, 'This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood. NASB

Christ concludes the final Passover of history in this ceremony and in His words which call on every believer in Christ to remember Him and this day in history with references to the symbolism of the body of Christ and the blood of Christ. These are references not to real flesh or to real blood but are used as teaching aids referencing to the work of Christ on the Cross.

We do not eat of His original body. We do not drink of His physical blood. But there are those in history who have distorted this call of remembrance and have attached some pretty strange concepts and practices to this ritual.

In our Church Age, unlike the prior ages in history, we have but one ritual, and that is the Communion table, or as some refer to it, the Eucharist.

Prior to the Cross, sacrifices of real animals were used to symbolize and to teach the work of the Messiah on the Cross. In the original Passover, the Israelites butchered their evening meal, symbolizing the sacrifice of Christ on the Cross. They then painted their door posts symbolizing their faith and belief in God and what He said.

For the next forty years, they wandered in the desert and had no permanent door posts, so they substituted the blood on the door with the cup of wine which again symbolized and taught the spiritual death of Christ while on the Cross.

When the tabernacle was established, the blood of the animal was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Refer to the chart on the Tabernacle in your book of charts or on the Index page of the web site.

This again represented the saving work of Christ while on the Cross. These all, were teaching aids and shadow rituals of the one and only real sacrifice when Christ actually went to the Cross. Once accomplished then the huge veil which separated the Holy place (the outer room) from the Holy of Holies (the inner room) was torn from top to bottom, thus removing that barrier, which separated man from God, forever. The ritual sacrifices were no longer necessary. Now Jesus called for a new covenant. One of reality and taught through the communion table ritual.

When we eat of the bread. We remember that God came to earth and assumed the form of man with the body of man. A perfect and incorruptible body, free of blemishes. He will have a human body forever and ever. He went to the Cross in a human body. He was buried in a human body. He was resurrected in a human body, and will retain it forever.

When we drink of the cup, then we are taught and commanded to remember, His spiritual sacrifice, His spiritual death which He endured in our place while on the Cross during those three hours from noon until three o'clock, when the sky went pitch black in a supernatural darkness. When a storm went raging across the planet culminating and concluding in the tearing of the tabernacle veil. His work was finished. Our salvation was now historically accomplished and secure. Before, it was but a promise from God, but once the Cross was completed, then that promise was fulfilled and had become a reality.

So between the date of the Cross, and the rapture of the church and even to His second advent, we are to remember the Cross. We are to remember Christ's saving work. We are to remember that our salvation from sin and death is courtesy of God through Jesus Christ. This remembrance can certainly be accomplished through the symbolic eating of bread and the drinking of wine, however anyone who has a mouth (believer or unbeliever) can eat and drink. The true remembrance is through the consuming of the real food of life, Bible doctrine, which you eat every time you study your Bible, every time you remember doctrine, every time you utilize it in your daily life.

You celebrate this memorial by being in fellowship and by advancing and living in your spiritual life. The spiritual life is not a once a week, or once a month, or a once on holidays convenience of life, but it is a moment by moment everyday of your life, pattern of life. And to the extent you live it, you then fulfill this command to 'Do this in remembrance of Me.'

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