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Deliverance into godliness and
life |
3 As His divine power has given to us all
things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of
Him who called us by glory and virtue,
2 Peter 1:3
The apostle Peter
is implying in the above scripture that the great rewards and goals
of the Gospel are life and godliness. It seems that the Christian
walk can be categorized by these two great words. Let’s relate these
two themes to the Lord’s Supper and the cross. Jesus delivered us
from sin so that we can be godly. Godliness is the goal of the
bread. Also, Jesus experienced death for us so that we can
experience life. Life is the goal of the cup.
In other words, the
Holy Spirit is pleading and waiting for us to take our sin to the
cross so that He can lead us into godliness (righteousness,
obedience, etc.) By experiencing the deliverance of the cross, we
are freed up to be lead by the Spirit into all godliness; i.e., to
act like God would act. Also, the Holy Spirit wants us to experience
deliverance from death (curses, hell, condemnation, etc.) so that He
can minister life (nourishment, supply, etc.) to us.
The ministry of the
cross empties us of sin and cancels death. The Holy Spirit seeks to
replace the sin and death with righteousness and life. The cross
empties us. The Holy Spirit fills us.
In eternity, hell
will be filled with sin and death. Heaven will be filled with only
righteousness and it will pulsate with life. Everything will be
alive and every need, no matter how small, will be met continually.
So, when we eat the
bread, we might take one bite to remember our deliverance out of
some sin we’re struggling with. We might take another bite to think
about what the Holy Spirit would want us to do in place of that sin.
We might consider the tough decisions we need to make regarding our
behavior.
34 When He had called the people to Himself, with His disciples
also, He said to them, "Whoever desires to come after Me, let him
deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me.
Mark 8:34
When we drink the
cup, we might take one sip to remember our deliverance from the
judgment our particular sin deserves; i.e., we are forgiven. We
might take another sip to think about the life and blessing we can
expect from the Lord instead of death and cursing. We can drink the
juice as if we are drinking all the need meeting promises and gifts
listed in the Bible. We can drink as if we are drawing our very life
and sustenance from Jesus our source. We can drink as if we are
drinking in a blessing from the Lord. Enjoy!
16The
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 10:16
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