Communion by Intimate Participation

On the Festive Day of Rest, called the Lord’s day there is a standing invitation to all those who love the Lord to share in His Fellowship and Worship. And on this day, He often hosts a spiritual banquet for us to experience a greater intimacy with Him. We call this banquet The Lord’s Supper.

But what’s going on in the Lord’s Supper?  Is it simply a heightened remembrance of what Jesus did for us 2000 years ago or is it something else? When it comes to the Lord’s Supper, the biggest mistake that most evangelicals make is that we underestimate its meaning, power and purpose. Paul writes to the Corinthians,
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say.  The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? (1Cor. 10:14-16)

Interestingly, the Greek word translated “participation” is a familiar one to many, but perhaps we our familiarity has bred some boredom with it. The Greek word is
koinonia which means “communion by intimate participation.” Paul is saying that in the Lord’s Supper we commune by intimate participation with the Body and Blood of Christ. We have koinonia with Christ’s Body and Blood in the Supper. It is a mutual sharing and an intimate experiencing. So the, the Lord’s Supper is an intimate banquet of koinonia with the body and blood of Christ, a spiritual banquet whereby we are refreshed by partaking of Him. The Lord’s Supper makes our secret union with Christ as certain for us as if we had seen it with our own eyes. In The Institutes, Calvin describes the Lord’s Supper as,

“This is the wonderful exchange which, out of his measureless benevolence, he has made with us; that, becoming Son of man with us, he has made us sons of God with him; that by his descent to earth, he has prepared an ascent to heaven for us.”

In the Lord’s Supper, we have the full witness of everything that Christ has done for us and it gives us the opportunity to experience them as if Christ were present Himself, sitting right before our eyes and touched by our hands.

More Tomorrow…..