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What's The Lord's Supper
(Holy Communion)
Really All About?
(Chris S.Sherrerd)
When I totally consecrated my life to the Lord Christ Jesus (I was 37 years of age at the time and had had many years of various “church” experiences), I immediately embarked on a life-long serious study of the Bible, to learn as best I could God’s Ways and Purposes and His will for my life. But as I was studying the Bible, and even searching out the full meaning of the key words in the Greek and Hebrew, I became increasingly appalled over the tremendous disparage I saw between the Book of Acts Church and modern Christianity, between what the Bible really says and modern Christian understandings.
What I saw was not that modern Christianity was outright wrong per se, but that the real root meanings and essence of true Biblical teachings was virtually lost if not tremendously “watered down”. Alas satan’s strategy of using his religious spirit to almost destroy Christianity has been all too effective and thorough in many areas of Christian “truth” and practice.
That is especially so concerning the teachings and practices of the “Lord’s Supper” or “Holy Communion” throughout most forms of modern Christianity.
In this teaching article we attempt to counteract that devastation.
1. Why We Celebrate The Lord’s Supper
2. What We Celebrate By The Lord’s Supper
3. Communion As An Ascent Offering
4. Principle of Different Levels Of Apprehension In Celebrating The Lord’s Supper
5. Typology Of The Animals In The Ascent Offering
5a. Turtle-Dove: Divine Son Of God
5b. Paschal Lamb: Christ In Us
5c. Bullock: Christ Our Deliverer
6. How We Therefore Are To Celebrate The Lord’s Supper
7. Specific How To’s
7a. Acceptance vs Involvement vs Total Commitment
7b Our Initial Acceptance Of Christ's Atoning Work On Calvary
7c. Our Personal Involvement In Christ's Atoning Work On Calvary
7d. Total Commitment To And Union With Christ
8. When We Are To Celebrate The Lord’s Supper
9. Calendrical Confusions Of The “Passioin Week”
10. Auxiliary Considerations
10a Dying To Self
10b. Imputed Righteousness The Real "Offering"
1. Why We Celebrate The Lord’s Supper
Why do we celebrate the Lord’s Supper or Holy Communion in the first place?
Simply because Jesus commanded us to. In Luke 22:19 we read that Jesus, during His last supper with His disciples, said: “This is My Body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” And in reference to that, Paul in 1 Corinthians 11:24-25, says: “and when He had given thanks, He broke it [the bead] and said ‘Take, eat; this is My Body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.’”
Later in this article we discuss what He meant by “remembrance”; here we point out that it is a commandment by our Lord to us.
2. What We Celebrate By The Lord’s Supper
“Passover” is one main aspect of Holy Communion that has been lost over the years. The context of Jesus celebrating His Last Supper with His disciples, was the seder celebration of Passover! That is clear in Matthew 26:17-19, Mark 14:14-16, Luke 22:11-15, and John 18:28.
And the rich meaning of us celebrating the Lord’s Supper in remembrance of Him cannot be understood without knowing what Passover was all about!
The Lord’s Supper symbolizes the New Testament prophetic fulfillment of "Passover" in Exodus Chapter 12. That is a most beautiful Biblical description of Christ coming to dwell in us. In that account, the Israelite's household is a type of a Christian believer's heart or inner person. The account speaks of the Lord, Christ Jesus in type, "passing over" us; but just what does “passing over” mean? It is a very misleading phrase for what He actually did and does.
Exodus 12 is commonly misunderstood by Christians today, and we must very carefully note exactly who actually did what on that first Passover night. First, note verses 12 and 29 of Exodus 12: we are clearly told that God will smite the first-born. But then note verse 23, that says just as clearly that it is the destroyer who will enter the houses to kill. Conclusion: satan is merely God's agent to enforce the Adamic Curse. We note in Job 2:1-7, Luke 22:31-32, and Ephesians 1:19-23, that satan can do absolutely nothing except by the expressed permission of the Godhead [or by human permission]. And as God allows, it is satan, not God Himself, who enters our hearts and enforces the Adamic Curse in our lives.
Just what does the Lord do? Actually, "pass over" is a misleading translation of the Hebrew word PhSCh. PhSCh does not mean to skip over or pass by (like "superman") and ignore, nor to not kill, nor to refrain from interfering, nor to remotely bless in some sense. Rather, it means to take a step in order to enter! PhSCh in the Hebrew in verse 23 means that the Lord will step through the doorway (PhTCh or "entrance-way" in the Hebrew, not DLTh or "door") in order to enter the house. The blood of the Passover lamb sprinkled on the doorway was a sign to the Lord that He is welcome and is invited to enter. The Lord sees the blood and enters. Once in, He will not let the destroyer enter to destroy; the destroyer, seeing the Lord inside, does not enter.
One or the other entered every house in the land. One or the other enters every one of us! Beware, all who ignore God's provisions for redemption!
Note that our Lord PhSCh'ing us is conditional. There were four things each Israelite head-of-household had to do:
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(1) hear the Word of God - Exodus 12:3ff and 12:21ff;
(2) slay a lamb - Exodus 12:3b-6 & 21;
(3) apply the Blood to his doorway - Exodus 12:7 & 22; and
(4) eat the sacrificial lamb - Exodus 12:8-11 & 43-46.
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These are types of four ways in which we must change our thinking (repent):
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(1) learn of God's ways for our salvation, i.e., read the Bible and listen to the Holy Spirit as He draws us;
(2) offer Christ on the Cross of Calvary as our "burnt" (ILH, pronounced "alah", meaning "ascending") offering (Leviticus Chapter 1);
(3) earnestly seek to deepen our personal relationship with our Lord Christ Jesus; and
(4) allow Christ in us to permeate every thought and motive and activity of our beings (by assimilating Christ in our being, as typified by "eating" His flesh and "drinking" His life-fluid, i.e., His blood).
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Applying the Blood typifies our saying to God, "Yes, that covenant You offer to us via Your Son dying on the Cross, applies to me, and I welcome You into my heart".
It is not the blood per se, nor the religious ritual, but the Lord's presence in the house, that keeps the destroyer out. Again we note, the Blood on the lintel and posts of the doorway is seen not by man but by the Lord, who sees it as a welcome sign to Him. Revelations 3:20 says, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if any one hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me (in intimate fellowship!)." Passover denotes Christ indwelling us, not merely leaving us unmolested!
Nevertheless, the Blood of the PhSCh sacrificial lamb of Passover did play a key role. There were actually five specific ways in which the sprinkled blood was involved in keeping the destroyer out:
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(1) As we just emphasized, it was seen by the Lord as a sign of inviting/welcoming Him. Each man (the Israelites) had to apply the Blood to the doorway of his own home, that typifies our inviting Him into individual hearts. Though the Blood was of Earthly origin (as was the Blood of Jesus our substitutionary Lamb-man), it was not to be seen by men but rather by the Lord.
(2) The Lord sees it as attitudes on our part of obeying His word (even when it sounds foolish) and desiring/welcoming Him into our lives and hearts.
(3) The Blood is proof to satan that Christ has purchased us from satan, and hence satan no longer has any legal right over us. (Except if/when/as we momentarily give him permission. We have the choice of who shall be our Lord; but as long as we don't choose Christ, then Satan is by default.)
(4) Christ, through His Blood, has rendered satan powerless. He (Christ Jesus) rendered powerless the devil (the death angel) by His death (outpouring of His Blood) - Hebrews 2:14.
(5) Through that, Christ is our PhSCh: His shedding or outpouring of His Blood or life-fluid into our hearts does this. His presence in us keeps satan out. Demonic exorcism is not the ultimate way, but rather flooding our hearts with Jesus!
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Letting Christ be our PhSCh is not a simple nor trivial step. First of all, it must be done in accordance with God-ordained principles. "Coming to Christ" is not the simple thing many preachers represent it to be. He is ever willing, as he "would that all be saved" (1 Timothy 2:4); but He waits until we seek Him and invite Him in, before He will enter us.
That seeking and inviting is utterly impossible to a fallen and depraved man unless and until Divine power is brought to bear upon him, his understanding is supernaturally enlightened, his heart is supernaturally changed, and his will is supernaturally broken. This is why intercessory prayer is as important an ingredient of evangelistic outreach as are preaching the Gospel message and being a witness of Christ. Nevertheless, once we do this, Christ is faithful to His Word and does enter into our hearts, no matter how black and long be our backlog of sins. "All whosoever ...."
In summary then, when we celebrate the Lord's Supper (which is patterned after the Hebrew celebration of Passover), we denote Christ coming into us to dwell. We "eat" His Body (bread) to denote Christ's Presence coming into us here and now. And we "drink" His blood (wine/grape juice) to denote Christ's Life-Fluid (eternal life) coming into us so that He will live in and through us. Both His Presence and Life we assimilate into our whole being.
3. Communion As An Ascent Offering
Another rich source of understanding the Lord's Supper is found in the "Law of the Offerings" found in the first nine chapters of Leviticus.
Leviticus 1:2 says "... if/when anyone of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall ...." The rest of Chapter 1 then describes the "burnt" offering.
Great misunderstanding exists concerning the concept of "offering" meant here. The Hebrew word for "offering" is QRBN (pronounced "korban"). QRBN does not mean surrendering possession of nor denying use of or pleasure from something. It means to do what one can in order to improve a personal relationship. The essence of giving an offering in Leviticus, is therefore doing whatever God will accept in order to improve our personal relationship with Him. The first thing we need to do for that is to "offer" Christ Jesus on Calvary as our "burnt" offering.
QRBNs (offerings), again, are what we do to improve our relationship with God. If we don't care about that, then QRBNs are of no value. If we do care about that, then we must explore how the Old Testament QRBNs are shadows or types of New Testament QRBNs.
In Leviticus Chapter 1, the Hebrew word misleadingly translated "Burnt Offering" is ILH, which literally means "Ascent" or "means of ascending". In order for us to ascend to God, we must first undo or satisfy the Adamic Curse, since otherwise all of us, through sin, are hopelessly cut off from God. A slain offering such as the ILH is needed, providing that the life being slain has the following 4 characteristics:
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(1) a form of life which itself is not regarded as under the Adamic Curse (unblemished animals, a lower form of life than human, in the Old Testament law; sinless and divine Christ, a higher form, in the New Covenant);
(2) represents us, the offerer;
(3) the offerer identifies with it; and
(4) once the animal is slain, its blood or "life-fluid" (then free from the Adamic Curse since that curse has been satisfied by the slaying) is presented to God in substitute for the offerer's life.
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When we personally identify with Him as such, then His blood, which He offered to God as a substitute for our life, is accepted by us on our behalf, and our personal relationship with God improves from absolutely zero to a relationship of positional righteousness and justification.
Note the issue here is that we seek/desire to improve our personal relationship with God. God seeks from us most of all that we desire Him out of our free will, seek Him, want to fellowship with Him. We receive none of His rich promises in God’s Word unless we seek Him with our whole heart (Jeremiah 29:13) and with white-hot passion (“earnestly” in 1 Corinthians 12:31 and 14:1).
He often has to deal in our lives in many various ways over much time in order to purify our thoughts and desires, as ore is purified in the refiner's fires of trials and tribulations, that our thoughts (like smoke) rise unto Him in purity of praise, worship, and total dependence upon Him. Our thoughts and attitudes are to be a "sweet savor or pleasant aroma" unto God.
4. Principle of Different Levels Of Apprehension
In Celebrating The Lord’s Supper
Of course, the most foundational and ever-pervasive offering for New Testament believers is declaring Christ on Calvary for our atonement.
But unless we do that first, we are totally cut off from God and without hope (Ephesians 2:12). So the first Old Testament offering, as we have just briefly discussed, was a type of our Lord's sacrifice - the ILH or ascent offering of Leviticus Chapter 1.