About

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About Communion
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Three translations of 1 Cor. 1016

• The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
  communion of the blood of Christ? The bread which
  we break, is it not the communion of the body of
  Christ? (1 Corinthians 1016, KJV)
• Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give
  thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?
  And is not the bread that we break a
  participation in the body of Christ? (1
  Corinthians 1016, NIV)
• Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a
  sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread
  which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
  (1 Corinthians 1016, NASV)

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Meaning of communion

• Communion translates the Greek word koinonia.
• Participation or sharing in something (Bauer,
  Gingrich and Danker)
• Communion is not the thing we eat (i.e. we
  dont take communion) communion is the sharing
  we experience when eating.

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Three analogies
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The altar of Israel

• Consider the people of Israel Do not those who
  eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? (1
  Cor.1018)

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The principles God taught through the altar.

• Israel learned that God was pleased when they
  made offerings to Him and that through them they
  could solicit His favor and be forgiven of sins.
• Israel learned that God had accepted them into
  His favor by the invitation to eat of the table
  they had prepared for God.

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The altar of the church

• Is not the cup of thanksgiving for which we give
  thanks a participation in the blood of Christ?
  And is not the bread that we break a
  participation in the body of Christ? Because
  there is one loaf, we, who are many, are one
  body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (1
  Corinthians 1016-17)

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This tabernacle is not of this creation.

• But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the
  good things to come, He entered through the
  greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made
  with hands, that is to say, not of this creation
  and not through the blood of goats and calves,
  but through His own blood, He entered the holy
  place once for all, having obtained eternal
  redemption. (Heb. 911-12)

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The altar is a spiritual one upon which the
sacrifice of Jesus body has been offered.

• We have an altar from which those who minister at
  the tabernacle have no right to eat. (Hebrews
  1310)

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We are accepted by Him not on the basis of what
we offer but what He offered for us!

• When Christ came as high priest of the good
  things that are already here, he went through the
  greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not
  man-made, that is to say, not a part of this
  creation. He did not enter by means of the blood
  of goats and calves but he entered the Most Holy
  Place once for all by his own blood, having
  obtained eternal redemption. (Hebrews 911-12)

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The sharing of all Christians in the body and
blood of the Lord points to the unity we have
through His sacrifice universally!

• Because there is one loaf, we, who are many, are
  one body, for we all partake of the one loaf. (1
  Corinthians 1017)

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Like Israel, our participation in the Lords
Supper declares that we want God to be our God
and that we want to be His people and for Him to
bless us. It acknowledges that we want to please
Him and to receive His forgiveness when we sin.
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Like Israel, we are invited by God to share in
His table (what Paul calls the table of the
Lord, and this eating declares our acceptance by
Him!
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The altar of Gentiles
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Participation in these sacrifices resulted in sin
for the Christian.

• Do I mean then that a sacrifice offered to an
  idol is anything, or that an idol is anything?
  No, but the sacrifices of pagans are offered to
  demons, not to God, and I do not want you to be
  participants with demons. You cannot drink the
  cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too you
  cannot have a part in both the Lords table and
  the table of demons. Are we trying to arouse the
  Lords jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1
  Corinthians 1019-22)

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• Therefore, my dear friends, flee from idolatry.
  (1 Corinthians 1014)
• You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup
  of demons you cannot partake of the table of the
  Lord and the table of demons. Or do we provoke
  the Lord to jealousy? We are not stronger than
  He, are we? (1 Cor. 1021-22)

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In this communion, we say to God that He is our
only godthat we want to please Him alone, that
we want to be in His favor alone, and that we are
exclusively His! This should truly challenge us
each week to be a holy and righteous people. Are
we living this life?
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In this communion, He says to us that He accepts
us through the blood of His son and that He seeks
for us to be His people, trusting in Him as God
and obeying Him as His children. This should
give us the greatest joy to know that He accepts
us on the basis of Jesus sacrifice. Do we have
this joy?