2014-11-14
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Last week, I was led by the Holy Spirit to discuss the consequences of breaking the Covenant of Grace. HE 10: 15, “See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that there is no bitter root to cause trouble and defile many.” What is this bitter root? It is things like sexual immorality, pride, animosity, rivalry, or anything that is harmful to self and others. We also learned that Christ is the Mediator to the new covenant [Covenant of Grace]. We learned in (v. 24), the new covenant is better than the old one. Verses 26-27, teach us that Christ would “once more shake the heavens and the earth,” meaning He would judge us after His second coming. That which can be removed by shaking [those who reject Him and don’t have faith] will be so. “God is Light; in Him there is no darkness at all,” we are reminded from 1 JN 1: 5, qualifies Christ to be a better Judge than mankind. 1 JN 5: 16-17 makes the distinction between sin, which leads to spiritual death and that which doesn’t. We’ve seen this before in a previous devotion discussing the unpardonable sin, which is serial unbelief and rejection of God.
Today, I’m commanded to write about the taking of Communion. To prepare ourselves to take it, we must be ready to confess sins we have uncovered that we have committed. Self-examination without the provocation of guilt is meant here. 1 COR 11: 28-31, “A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognizing the body of the Lord, eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.” The words “fallen asleep” here is a common first century term for death. Back in DN 7: 13-14, we learned that God has authorized Jesus to be our final Judge. Only Jesus is righteous enough to judge with complete fairness and compassion. The final Judgment will take place after His second coming. 1 JN 5: 16 reminds us that if we see another person sinning (except in the case of the unpardonable sin), we need to pray for him.
Because this segment explains why our lives are at stake, it is necessary for us to be reminded that God does have a limit as to how much sinning He will tolerate. Remember RO 3: 25-26, “God presented Him [Jesus] as a Sacrifice of Atonement through faith in His blood. He did this to demonstrate His justice, because in His forbearance He had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished—He did it to demonstrate His justice at the present time, so as to be just and the One Who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” This means that before the Covenant of the Law, God didn’t punish people’s sins, because they had no way to know what was sin and what wasn’t. (Adam and Eve were exceptions to this, because they did know that eating the fruit from the tree of knowledge was against God’s will). However, once given, the Covenant of the Law was misinterpreted and misunderstood by mankind. They knew what was sin, but lapsed into legalism and missed the Spirit of the law [RO 7: 6]. With the first Advent, God was doing what He felt right to correct this situation. With Christ’s Atonement, He provided a way out for those who would listen to the truth and come to obedient faith in Jesus Christ [JN 3: 16; RO 3: 24-25]. The taking of Communion is a precious rite of the church and a great privilege, because it is the most intimate contact we have with the Lord Jesus while on earth. Forgiveness comes when we acknowledge we have sinned by confession and stop the behavior.
Communion is the taking of a memorial meal to recall the greatest sacrifice ever made, that of Christ’s physical life on the cross. And yes, it should be taken with a solemn and reverent attitude. It is the door to Christ’s heart. JN 14: 6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one goes to the Father, except through Me.” The standard interpretation of this verse indicates that one must be a believer in Jesus before he can have everlasting life. And, I don’t argue with that. But I also want to add to it that cooperating with our Covenant Partner in the process of sanctification can’t happen unless we choose to live “in Christ.” This means we accept His teaching, live it through our lives, mature spiritually by facing our sinfulness and working to expunge it, and that we make Christ’s agenda is the same as our own. The very reason we can “draw nigh to God” (come closer to God) is because Christ’s Atonement opened the heavenly Holy of Holies to us by the tearing of the inner veil from top to bottom [HE 9: 11-12; MK 15: 38]. No human act could do this. It is to this Atonement that God’s walk alone between the pieces of offerings, seen in GN 15: 17, looked forward. HE 10: 22-24 gives us these things to do: “Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water . Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He Who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.”
PRAYER: O Lord, we come to You today with heads bowed, hands raised, and on our knees. That is the picture of the Hebrew letter, Tzadi צ. I mention this, because Your desire is to have each of us know the love, freedom, and inner peace that comes from obedient faithfulness to You and Your teaching. You established it with the Jewish people and it spread to all who believe, but we have disappointed You with sinfulness—some inherited from the original sin and the rest of it because of sins we, ourselves, have committed. King David was an imperfect sinner, who recognized his own sinfulness and wrote his confession of it, in PS 51. We confess our own sins using his words. PS 51: 1-3, 6, 10-11, “Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your unfailing love, according to your great compassion, blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgression and my sin is always before me. Against You, You only, have I sinned and done what is evil in Your sight, so that You are proved right when You speak and justified when You judge…Surely You desire truth in the inner parts; You teach me wisdom in the inmost place…Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore me to the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit to sustain me.” I must personally add to our prayer today PS 51: 18, “In Your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.” As long ago as between 1011-971 BC, David wrote this prayer, and it is still applicable today. You are a gracious and kind God, and we are grateful. We offer You praise, loyalty, honor, and thanks for hearing our prayers and answering them, for the great forgiveness You offer us. In Christ’s holy/mighty name we pray. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: I am led to continue this discussion of the significance to us of Communion and the consequences of breaking the Covenant of Grace next week. Meanwhile, our understanding of our covenant relationship with both our godly Covenant Partner and our human covenant partners matters tremendously to how the final Judgment Christ makes on each of us. No one who understands what it is wants to endure spiritual death. Avoiding it is a choice Christ’s Atonement has made available to us. God is doing His part to help us avoid it, and we must do ours. We may only think that we must make difficult sacrifices to be obediently faithful to the Covenant of Grace. But nothing we sacrifice compares to the suffering and death by crucifixion that Jesus had to endure to keep up His end of it. Staying in tune with God’s will may be difficult at times, but no goal on earth is more worth it. The next time, we feel like complaining about having to break a tough habit, by having to go without something we think we want, remember what we are getting in return—a blissful, eternal fellowship in heaven with the Lord and all the righteous ones who have gone before us. Yes, it’s important when deciding what we will think or do to consider our decision in light of the eternal consequences of it. This is a change in our thinking that is well worth the effort—think eternally rather than just about our lives on earth. Letting the Lord lead in our lives means we must submit to Him. Consider PS 31: 3-5, “Since you are my Rock and my Fortress, for the sake of Your name lead and guide me. Free me from the trap that is set for me, for You are my Refuge. Into Your hands I commit my spirit, redeem me, O Lord, the God of truth.” Our God is faithful, and He loves us more than we can comprehend. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24:15
© Lynn Johnson 2014. All Rights Reserved.
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