Communion

The second ordinance we observe is called communion.  Communion comes from the Greek word Koinonia, which means to fellowship without reservation with a Godly love.  At communion, we fellowship with God above as we surrender our hearts to Him and thank Him for what He has done for us at Calvary.  Communion also called the Lord’s Table has at least two purposes; first, to be a reminder of what sin cost our Savior on Calvary, and second, to get us to ask God for forgiveness of our unconfessed sins.  Communion is called the Lord’s Supper, because He gave us the example before He went to the cross of Calvary.  (Matthew 26:17-30.)

First, Communion is a picture lesson of what our sin cost Jesus on the cross of Calvary. 

Sin has the penalty of eternal separation from God in hell.  Romans 6:23. We by our own willful sinful actions earned a place in the Lake of Fire.  But God out of His love for us gave us Jesus Christ to die in our place.  John 3:16.  Salvation is free.  Ephesians 2:8,9.  God freely gives us the gift of salvation without any merit of our own.  We can’t earn salvation, but we can receive it as a gift free of charge.   Communion reminds us what sin cost Jesus.  Even though salvation is free to us, our sin cost Jesus His life and much more.

There are two parts the cup and the bread.  I Corinthians 11:17-26   First, the cup shows us that Jesus shed His blood for our sins.  “Without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.”  Jesus had to shed His blood in order to wash away our sins.  When they scourge Him, His back bled.  When they forced the crown of thorns on His head, His scalp and head bled.  When they plucked His beard by the chunks, His face bled.  Finally, as He hung their dead on the cross they took a spear and pierced His side, then blood and water flowed from His side.  Jesus went through extreme pain and cruel sufferings because our sins.  He died on the cross out of love for you and me.  He freely gave His life so that we might live.   When we pray over the cup and bless it, we thank God for having shed His blood for us.  Second, the bread shows that Jesus body was broken for us.  He was beaten because of our sins.  He was spit upon and tortured because of what we have done.  He endured this suffering, because He loves us.  He allowed His body to be broken for us.  So when we eat the unleavened bread it reminds us His body was broken.  The bread is unleavened, because leaven was symbolic of sin.  Jesus was sinless so we use unleavened bread.  When we pray over the bread and bless it, we thank God for having broken His body for us.  Because Jesus shed His blood and broke His body at Calvary, we have the way to be saved.  Jesus is the spotless Lamb of God Who died in our place.  He paid the penalty for our sins in His own body on the cross of Calvary.  He did this out of love for us.

At communion, we are given a time to search our hearts and confess our sins.  I Corinthians 11:26-32.  We are to judge ourselves and search our hearts to see if we have any unconfessed sin in our lives.  Psalms 139:23, 24.  We should ask God to search our hearts.  As He shows us sin in our lives, we need to confess it and forsake it.  I John 1:9.

At salvation, Jesus forgives us of our sins just for the asking; the same is true of sins after salvation, we have to repent of them and ask forgiveness.  God will forgive us.  Once our sins are forgiven and our hearts are clear of sin, we may partake of the Lord’s Supper, also called Communion. 

After we hold a Communion service, we sing a hymn in accordance with Matthew 26:30.  Communion is a time to thank the Lord for what He has done for us and express our love and gratitude to Him.  We worship Him through the Communion service and the song we sing to end the service.  The whole purpose is to glorify God and enjoy Him.

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