Title: My Lord, My God
The Lord's Supper was instituted by the Lord Himself, and we participate by faith in the Lord's body and blood through the bread and cup we share during this time. The Lord said that this bread was His body torn for us, and this wine was His blood shed for us. It is this sacrament meeting that most clearly and practically shows that we believe in Jesus and are saved.
As a result of our faith in Jesus Christ and our union with Him, we become dead with Him (Romans 6:3). The just law of God is that those who sin must die. “The wages of sin is death” (Romans 3:23) There is no way to solve that sin without dying. But because we believe in Jesus Christ and are united with Him, we who are sinners died with Him on the cross. My sinful nature, this body of sin that I will continue to sin in the future, is dead. The dead are now free from all liability and punishment. It all ends with death. We who believed in Jesus died on the cross with Him.
In this way we became new people. We, who were sinners who became enemies of God because of our sins and had no choice but to suffer God's terrible curse and wrath, have now become children of God who receive God's great love. This is the salvation that Jesus accomplished on the cross, and it is the salvation freely given to those who believe. We receive this salvation through faith in Jesus Christ.
Our participation in sacrament meeting at this time shows this truth very clearly and vividly. When the Lord instituted this ceremony, he said: “As they were eating, Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, “Drink from this, all of you, for the forgiveness of sins. It is my blood of the covenant, which is shed for men” (Matthew 26:26-28).
We are now eating this bread and drinking this cup according to the command of the Lord. This bread means the body of the Lord, and this cup means the blood of the Lord. When we eat this bread and drink this cup, these will enter our body and be digested and become a part of our body. This powerfully shows that we are united with the Lord and become one. Therefore, as we take the bread and drink the cup at this time, we confirm and realize that we are united with the Lord. The Lord wanted us to deeply understand and remember this fact through this ceremony.
However, all of these things do not happen automatically just by participating in this ceremony. This work is done only by faith. Only when we participate in this ceremony with faith in Jesus Christ and in what he has said to us will this blessed work be accomplished for us. Furthermore, the Lord is actually present and pours out His infinite grace upon us as we partake of His body and blood through this rite. So how blessed and precious is this ceremony?
The key to all of this is faith. In today's text, the Lord spoke about how precious and important faith is. After the resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples who were gathering in the house. How happy were the disciples? But when Jesus appeared, Thomas was not there. Later, the other disciples told Thomas that the Lord had appeared. But Thomas did not believe what the disciples were saying. Let's look at verse 25. “The other disciples said to him, We have seen the Lord.” Thomas said to him, “Unless I see the nail marks on his hands, and put my finger in the marks of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” work? The Lord was resurrected and appeared to the disciples, and the disciples were overjoyed. But Thomas was still grieving because he did not believe it.
These are the words of the Lord to us today. Although we have not seen the Lord with these fleshly eyes. However, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, I came to know and believe in the Lord through the Word. I have a personal relationship with the Lord. The Lord not only saved me, but He changed me in this way. But sometimes we envy those who have seen the Lord with their own eyes. But the Lord says we are more blessed than them. The members who participate in this ceremony while looking to the Lord with faith at this time today will also be empowered by the infinite grace of the Lord. May you be filled with this blessing.