Monday, October 19, 2020

10/19/20 THE ONE ANOTHER’S IN THE NT #12 — 1 Corinthians 11:33 (CSB) Therefore, my brothers and sisters, when you come together to eat, welcome one another.

In 11:17-34 Paul gives instructions for observing the Lord’s Supper. Numerous times in the OT, God describes Himself as “the God who delivered you from Egypt.” God seems to regard His deliverance of the Hebrews from their Egyptian slavery as, perhaps, His most impressive miracle ever, up to that point. The annual Jewish Passover festival, then, celebrated God’s most powerful display of His omnipotence in the entire OT.

On the eve of His crucifixion, Jesus “transformed” the OT Passover into the NT Lord’s Supper. After His subsequent resurrection and ascension, whenever Christians observe the Lord’s Supper, we actually remember God’s TWO greatest triumphs—OT AND NT! Naturally, the Lord expects us to regard this celebration as especially sacred and holy.

But the Corinthian believers had turned this most special ordinance into a selfish occasion for over-indulgence. And this behavior so offended Almighty God that some of them had actually died as a result. God obviously takes this celebration quite seriously; so we should as well.

The word “welcome” in v.33 above is also translated “wait for,” or “anticipate.” The Lord’s Supper is a celebration of the entire assembled local church, the Body of Christ. As we remember Christ’s priceless sacrifice on our behalf and praise and honor Him, we also must remember that each and every member of our assembly is Spirit-gifted, unique, and essential to our successful accomplishment of God’s tasks for our body.

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