OVERFLOW || Holy Communion
Communion gives us access to Heaven’s Revelation, Life and Victory!
1 Corinthians 11:23 For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself. On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread 24 and gave thanks to God for it. Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me.” 25 In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood. Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.” 26 For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.
What is Communion?
Communion is a covenant meal of remembrance, participation, unity, proclamation, and anticipation. It roots us in the work of the cross (heaven’s revelation), binds us together as one body (heaven’s life), and points us toward the coming kingdom (heaven’s victory).
It is a spiritual and covenantal meal
Spiritual
Something very spiritual occurs when we partake of the Lord’s supper.
One of the reasons Paul urges us to self-examination:
1 Corinthians 11:27–29 (NLT) (a warning about taking communion lightly) 27 So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. 28 That is why you should examine yourself before eating the bread and drinking the cup. 29 For if you eat the bread or drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God’s judgment upon yourself.
We must not take this meal lightly and must partake of communion by honoring it.
Covenantal
Requires Relationship
It’s a family meal
Relationship with Him and His body
1 Corinthians 10:16-17 New Living Translation 16 When we bless the cup at the Lord’s Table, aren’t we sharing in the blood of Christ? And when we break the bread, aren’t we sharing in the body of Christ? 17 And though we are many, we all eat from one loaf of bread, showing that we are one body.
Communion Gives us Access to Heaven’s Revelation, Life and Victory:
The revelation of Jesus is found in the bread and the cup. Heaven’s Life is revealed through the bread and the cup. Heaven’s victory is proclaimed through the bread and the cup.
Heaven’s Revelation
Heaven’s Revelation centralizes around the work of the Cross
Communion brings us into the reality of the cross as we partake of the bread and the cup.
The Bread:
The flatbread He would have held during that passover meal would have had no yeast, stripped and pierced.
That bread was pointing to His body. He would be the bread with no yeast (yeast often represented sin), He would be whipped or stripped and like the bread He too would be pierced.
The Cup
The passover meal included drinking from 4 cups:
Cup of Sanctification – “I will bring you out” (Exod. 6:6a)
Cup of Deliverance (or Judgment) – “I will free you from your bondage” (Exod. 6:6b)
Cup of Redemption – “I will redeem you” (to purchase back) (Exod. 6:6c)
Cup of Praise (or Completion/Acceptance) – “I will claim you as my own people/ I will take you as my own” (Exod. 6:7)
Luke 22:17 Then he took a cup of wine and gave thanks to God for it. Then he said, “Take this and share it among yourselves. 18 For I will not drink wine again until the Kingdom of God has come.”
This is part of heaven’s revelation: WHAT HE STARTED HE WILL BRING INTO PERFECT COMPLETION
Romans 8:19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.
Here is what I pass on to you: Take communion as you await the return of Christ. When the world seems to be getting darker and trials and tribulations only increase, take communion and remember HE came and He is COMING BACK again and He will make it all new!
Heaven’s Life
Communion binds us to Christ and His body
Because of the work of Jesus on the cross we get to have access to the abundant life that only Jesus can offer us!
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10
Communion is a spiritual participation in the life of Christ. It reminds us of our union with Him—His death becomes our death, His life our life.
If communion binds me to Christ it also binds me to His body!
1 Corinthians 10:17 – “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread.”
Communion isn’t just vertical (with Christ) but also horizontal (with one another). It affirms our unity as the family of God, reconciled through the cross.
Here is what I pass on to you: When sick, partake in communion. When spiritually weak (fatigued) take communion! When you are feeling disconnected from the body, take communion with the body! Take communion to realign and receive fresh grace.
Heaven’s Victory
Communion points us to heaven's victory!
1 Corinthians 11:26 – “…you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.”
Communion looks back to the cross, but also forward to the return of Christ and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9). It stirs our hope and expectancy.
Communion reminds us of Heaven's victory and thus communion becomes a way for us to fight our battles!
Communion is a spiritual weapon because it reminds our real enemies of our secured victory!
When we take communion, commit a Spiritual act of Violence!
We overcome by the blood of the Lamb! Rev 12:11
You prepare a table for me in the presence of my enemies. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; My cup runs over. Psalm 23:5
Here is what I pass on to you: When you sense demonic resistance or fleshly resistance take communion. When being plagued by anxiety or depression, take communion. When being slandered or mistreated, take communion! He has prepared a table before you in the presence of your enemies!
