{"id":4087,"date":"2024-03-09T16:14:19","date_gmt":"2024-03-09T21:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/?p=4087"},"modified":"2024-03-09T16:14:20","modified_gmt":"2024-03-09T21:14:20","slug":"the-lords-supper-as-a-covenant-meal-march-10th-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/?p=4087","title":{"rendered":"THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER AS A COVENANT MEAL, MARCH 10th 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

CENTRAL THOUGHT
For my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink, John 6:55<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TEXT: EXODUS 12:1-14, LUKE 22:13-20, 1 COR. 11:20-34<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTRODUCTION:
The Lord Jesus Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples before His eventual trial and crucifixion.
An understanding of the Passover meal in the Old Testament will no doubt give us a clearer insight into the meal that is today celebrated as the Lord\u2019s Supper.
The Lord\u2019s Supper is an act of worship which is also known as The Communion (1 Cor. 10:16). Today, some refer to it as The Eucharist, from the Greek eucharisteo, \u201cgiving of thanks\u201d, which Christ did at the time of its institution- Mt. 26:26-27. It is a simple act, in which those who are Christians partake of unleavened bread and drink of the fruit of the vine. It is an important act, one that we should understand why we do it, lest our participation be meaningless to us, displeasing to God, and detrimental to us as we read in 1 Cor. 11:27.
It is therefore very necessary for all Christians to be well acquainted with the meaning and practice of the Lord\u2019s supper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LESSON OBJECTIVES:
The objectives are to:
1.) Know the meaning of the Lord\u2019s Supper.
2.) Examine the characteristics of the Lord\u2019s Supper as set out in the Scriptures; and
3.) Know the benefits of partaking in the Lord\u2019s Supper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIBLE TRUTH:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTION 1.) WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER?
As the Passover was a memorial commemorating Israel\u2019s deliverance from Egypt through the blood of the lambs on the door post, so the Supper is a memorial of our Lord\u2019s death who makes our deliverance from bondage of sin possible. Paul gives us an account as given by the Lord Himself- 1 Cor. 11:23-25. Here we note that we eat the bread in memory of His body and drink the cup (fruit of the vine) in memory of His blood. This way, we commemorate the death of Jesus on the cross. His death made the new covenant possible, \u201cFor where a testament is, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator\u201d, Heb 9:16. His blood was shed for the remission of sins, \u201cIn whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace\u201d Eph. 1:7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTION 2.) HOW IS THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER TO BE OBSERVED?
We are to reverentially eat the communion, \u201cin a worthy manner\u201d, 1 Cor. 11:27,29. Failure to observe with proper reverence brings condemnation. One will thus be guilty of the blood of the Lord resulting in eating and drinking judgement to oneself. To make light of this memorial puts one in the same category as those who mocked Him as He hung on the cross!
It is to be done with self-examination, reflecting upon one\u2019s spiritual condition. 1 Cor. 11:28. The Lord\u2019s Supper in one sense, then becomes a very private matter between a Christian and his or her God; a time to reflect on the past and to resolve for the future. It is a time to ask oneself some basic questions: Are we living in a manner that shows appreciation for His sacrifice by accepting the grace of God in our lives? 2 Cor. 5:14-15, Gal. 2:20; or are we by willful sinning, guilty of having \u201ctrampled the Son of God underfoot\u201d, \u201ccounted the blood by which [we were] sanctified a common thing\u201d, or \u201cinsulted the Spirit of Grace\u201d? Heb 10:26-29. Do we, by refusing to repent of our sins, \u201ccrucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame\u201d Heb. 6:4-6.
The Communion is to be celebrated with other Christians as there is ample indication the Lord\u2019s Supper is designed to be a communal meal. The disciples \u201ccame together\u201d to break bread- Acts 20:7.
Indeed, whenever they came together, they were to \u201cwait for one another\u201d 1 Cor. 11:33. \u201cFor we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread\u201d 1 Cor. 10:17. At Communion, we commune not just with the Lord, but with one another.
It is to be done often. The early Christians often came together on the first day of the week to \u201cbreak bread\u201d- Acts 20:7.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTION 3.) DISCUSS SOME WAYS IN WHICH THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER IS BEING PERVERTED IN SOME OF TODAY\u2019S CHURCH.
It has become obvious that the celebration of the Lord\u2019s Supper has been corrupted in some of today\u2019s congregations. It is not unusual to hear announcements in the radio and television asking people, unbelievers inclusive, to come for \u201cspecial services\u201d with their own \u201ccoke\u201d or \u201cribena\u201d and bread for \u201choly\u201d communion. Of course, many usually throng to such services in the hope of special blessings. This amounts to a gross perversion of the sacred. How is this different from the \u201cAbomination that maketh desolate\u201d, Dan. 12:11, Mark 13:14. Even in some assemblies, the need for unleavened bread to be used is not upheld. A look at the Exodus passage reveals that our God pays attention to details. Besides, the Lord\u2019s Supper is for believers in Jesus Christ. Even the believer is called upon to examine him\/herself before taking the Communion. It is a HOLY covenant meal.
\u201cDiscerning the Lord\u2019s body\u201d in 1 Cor. 11:29 means that many of the Corinthians did not distinguish the Lord\u2019s supper from an ordinary and common meal. This also implies the unity of the body of Christ and the measure of the agreement that is expected among us. \u201c For we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread\u201d, 1 Cor. 10:17.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

QUESTION 4.) WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OF THE LORD\u2019S SUPPER TO THE CHRISTIAN?
The cup and the bread of the present-day Communion declare, \u201cEat of my humanity that lived out the life of God\u201d. And that is what weak mankind needs- the humanity of Jesus that overcame. He said eat of my body and drink my blood. Eat of my humanness that was like you and overcame and lived in agape love; thus, He is saying let me Life come into you.
The New Covenant, through the power of the Holy Spirit, gives us the very Life and the very Love of Jesus. And the bread and the cup make it real to us just as He was a real human being, Spirit encased in flesh. And He, as Spirit in flesh, lived in agape love; and when we partake of the Communion participate in our spirit and in our flesh, in all our senses, in the Life that was His Life, the Life that is His life now. As we eat and drink, the Holy Spirit makes it real to us, causes us to participate in, partake of, not only Him, but everything that comes with Him: the terms of the new covenant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAILY LIVING APPLICATION
Christians today should never lose sight of its significance for us. It is a constant reminder of the great sacrifice Jesus paid for our sins. It is a communion or sharing of the body and blood of the Lord, a time for self-examination and rededication of our service to the Lord and a means for building fellowship with one another in the body of Christ. May such thoughts encourage us to never neglect opportunities we have to observe the Lord\u2019s Supper, but to continue steadfastly and in so doing \u201cproclaim the Lord\u2019s death till He comes\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MEMORY VERSE:
1 CORIN 10:17<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFor we being many are one bread, and one body: for we are all partakers of that one bread\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAILY DEVOTIONAL GUIDE
MONDAY: THE LORD\u2019S PASSOVER. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ex. 12:1-15
TUESDAY: JESUS IS THE LAMB OF GOD. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

John 1:29-34, 1 Pet. 1:19
WEDNESDAY: THE LAST SUPPER. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matt 26: 26-23
THURSDAY: COVENANT MEAL IS IN REMEMBRANCE OF CHRIST. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Luke 22:14-20
FRIDAY: SELF-EXAMINATION IS ESSENTIAL AT COMMUNION. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Cor. 11:20-28
SATURDAY: DANGER OF TAKING HOLY COMMUNION UNWORTHILY. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 Cor. 11:29-34.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CENTRAL THOUGHTFor my flesh is the real food; my blood is the real drink, John 6:55 TEXT: EXODUS 12:1-14, LUKE 22:13-20, 1 COR. 11:20-34 INTRODUCTION:The Lord Jesus Christ ate the Passover meal with His disciples before His eventual trial and crucifixion.An understanding of the Passover meal in the Old Testament will no doubt give us […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sundayschool"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/1-the-light-by-his-stripes-william-walts-13.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4087"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4089,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4087\/revisions\/4089"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mzgtiglobal.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}