240128 Communion: Remembering Christ's Love
Through the Bible in 3 Years - Year 3 • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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INTRODUCTION:
We, as members of the Body of Christ, unite now before the table to remember and celebrate our Lord’s death (1 Corinthians 11:26). We come to consider what Christ has done for us. To reflect on His love and our response to it.
Please turn with me if you would to the book of Galatians, chapter 2 verse 20. PAUSE
The Apostle Paul under the inspiration of God’s Holy Spirit penned these astonishing words Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”
Paraphrase:
Restate: Paul says, “my old self, my natural unregenerate self, has been crucified with Christ - my old self died with Him. Now I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me. Now the life I live I live by faith in the very Son of God. I live for Him because He lives for me and loved me and sacrificed Himself for me.”
Exhort: As we, the Body of Christ, come to communion, let us remember this incredible fact: Christ lives in us, Christ loves, us and through Him, we are renewed in life and in our common faith in our resurrected Lord.
The Love of God
Paul’s Part: Could there be sweeter words than that? PAUSE He loved me, Paul says Christ ἀγαπήσαντός - a verb denoting great sacrificial affection and loyalty towards… me. Think of who is saying this! Paul, the violent aggressor (1 Timothy 1.13)! The one who was a blasphemer and a persecutor of the Bride of Christ. MARVEL: What kind of love is Christ’s love? PAUSE
Our Part: Each one of us shares this in common with Paul… we too were antagonistic toward God, dead in our trespasses and sins - children of wrath, doing the desires of the flesh and the mind, (Ephesians 2:1–3) But God, because of His incredible wealth of mercy - He loved us too… (Ephesians 2:4) What kind of love is God’s love? MARVEL
Christ’s Part: Christian, He loves us too(!), sacrificially. He gave Himself up voluntarily for us, to be our sacrifice, too! He ascended that awful hill to unite us with Him, in death, to unite us with Him in His burial and in His resurrection. What kind of love is Christ’s love?!? That He would love us from before the foundations of the earth (Ephesians 1:4), that He would take on human flesh (Philippians 2:7) and live perfectly under His own good Law… It is stunning that, through His sacrifice, He would forever unite us with Him in His crucifixion, so that our body of sin might be done away with and that we would be freed forever from the punishment that is owed to us (Romans 6.6). We now belong to Him entirely, granted victory in Him (Romans 8.37), able to do all things in Him with the strength He supplies (Philippians 4.13). He bids all come, come weary sinners heavy laden with care, come and He will give you rest… so we come to Him, to eat of His bread and drink of His cup, in remembrance of Him.
Reciprocate
We must confess: We come to His table as He has instituted; to remember, to proclaim; to recall what He has done for us and to rejoice in the Love of God, let us prepare our hearts, understanding that we still need His continuing grace day by day. To that end, we must examine ourselves to reflect on our need. PAUSE We are still needy sinners and while Christ’s atoning work has made us positionally right with God we still fail, we still err, we still transgress. We must appropriately judge these as instructed in 1st Corinthians 11. A love this great must not be approached casually but truthfully. Before there can be fellowship there must be confession and repentance but just think of who we are confessing to! The One who loves us to death, He is ready to receive us, to forgive us if we will but confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive - to cleanse us entirely (1 John 1:9).
We must pray: So, let us ask Christ’s Spirit to continue loving us even more… enough to convict us where there is sin, to request that He compel repentance so that we might receive forgiveness for sins and come joyfully to commune with the God who loved us and gave Himself up for us.
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Communion
Feedback is that some sentences are complex
Transition from marveling at God’s love to us to self-reflection could be more seamless
In His sacrifice, we find not only the solemnity of His death but also the joy of our redemption
We too have been crucified with Christ - our dependence upon righteousness according to the Law is dead
We have crucified our flesh with its lust Galatians 5:24“Now those who belong to Christ Jesus crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.”
The world has been crucified to us and us to the world Galatians 6:14“But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” Romans 6:6“knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, in order that our body of sin might be done away with, so that we would no longer be slaves to sin;” - SIN IS ULTIMATELY SELF SERVING AS OPPOSED TO SERVING CHRIST OUR LORD
We live in Christ and Christ lives in us - an inversion of our normal tendencies (CT3)
We are victorious in Christ Romans 8:37“But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us.” Romans 8:10“But if Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness.” - WE NOW LIVE IN THE STRENGTH OF CHRIST Philippians 4:13“I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” - WE ARE UNITED WITH CHRIST John 15:4–5““Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit from itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” OUR LIVES ARE NOT OUR OWN - WE HAVE BEEN BOUGHT WITH A PRICE THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODIES 1 Corinthians 6:20“For you were bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.”
The life that we live is by faith in Christ - this is confident assurance and resting in what He has done
By faith we stand on this truth - He was substituted for us 2 Corinthians 5:21“He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.” - WE ARE NOW ACCOUNTED RIGHTEOUS IN CHRIST - WE ARE NOW HOLY ONES, SAINTS AND ALTHOUGH NOT SINLESS Romans 8:1“Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” - WE HAVE CHRIST’S LEGAL STATUS AND RIGHTS AND HE IS OUR LORD NOW, OWNING US ENTIRELY, ALL OUR SELF - WE ARE NOW SEATED WITH HIM Ephesians 2:6“and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,”
Christ loved me - unmerited, undeserved, self-giving love
And not only Christ but also the Father John 3:16 ““For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.”
Christ gave Himself up for me - He voluntarily surrendered Himself to die to help me
To rescue us Galatians 1:4“who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father,” - WE CAN EXPECT TO DO THE SAME, SUFFER AND DIE TO SELF TO HELP OTHERS - SELF DENIAL IS THE HALLMARK OF CHRIST AND SHOULD BE FOR US
The Christian suffers with and for, dies with, is buried with, is quickened and resurrected by, receives his glorification and inheritance from Christ
Dangers
There is no perfection in this life - we still deal with sin
Christ is not crucified in us - He died once for all the just for the unjust 2000 years ago NAC
Day of Rest Genesis 2:1–3“Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. And on the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created in making it.” - GOD COMPLETED THE CREATION AND HE RESTED