The bottom line

I love the way my church celebrates communion because it brings me back to the basics of life with Christ every week.  You’d think it would get old and mechanical, but every week God shows me something new.

For the purposes of this post, we are returning to the beginning. When Jesus took the cup on the last supper, He said “this is the cup of the New Covenant”.  What does this mean?

There are many covenants in the bible – The Sinai covenant (think 10 commandments) and the Noah covenant (think rainbow) are two of them.  With every covenant, we find:

• God’s Part
• the people’s part
• a ceremony
• a marker, or reminder

Noah’s covenant is in Genesis 9.  Noah built an altar and made a sacrifice (this was the ceremony).  God outlined what he expected of Noah and his descendants (don’t kill people, don’t eat meat with the blood still in it); God’s part (he would never again kill off the human race with a massive flood); and a marker – the rainbow.

In the New Testament, we find the New Covenant outlined in John 14.

Our part:  Love God and love other people.

God’s part:

1. Eternal hope – Jesus went to prepare a place for us, and He is coming back.  What does this mean for us?  We don’t have to be defined by our past or our present.  We have a future with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  We have hope. (John 14:1-3)

2. Purpose and Provision – Jesus promises that we will do the things He has been doing and more. We aren’t here just to get a paycheck.  Jesus wants us to be about His business of reconciling people to Him.  When we are doing what He has called us to, all we have to do is ask, and whatever we need to complete the mission will be ours. (John 14:12-14)

3. The Holy Spirit – when Jesus returned to heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit’s job is to teach, guide and correct us.  We also find that he convicts the world of sin, comforts us, and empowers us. We are never alone. God is in our corner. Feel like you are failing at the ‘love others and love God’ part?  It is the Holy Spirit’s job to keep you on track. (John 14:15-17)

The ceremony?  Jesus dying on the cross.

The remembrance: Communion.

Every week, we remember that Jesus has called us to love others and love God. We also remember that God has given us a promise – He provides our hope and our future, and gives us the power to be the people He created us to be.