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1 Corinthians 10:16: Is not the cup of blessing which we bless a sharing in the blood of Christ? Is not the bread which we break a sharing in the body of Christ?
As Pastor Smith has explained to us this morning, in prayer we seek communion with the Triune God. As we pray in Christ to the Father in the power of the Spirit, we are caught up into the eternal Triune communion.
Prayer seeks communion with the Triune God. Prayer also assumes communion with the Triune God. We can offer our prayers confidently before our Father because we speak in the Name of His Son and because we have been given access in the Spirit.
But how can we know that we are in communion with the Father, Son, and Spirit? How do we know that we are in the Son, and that the Spirit gives us access? We know that the Father is willing to hear prayer; how can we know that He is willing to hear our prayers?
There are several ways to answer that question, but one part of the answer has to do with this table. Paul says that this meal is a communion in the body and blood of Jesus. When we eat the bread, we have a communion with the body of Christ, and this cup is a communion in His blood. Communion in the body and blood of the Son of God is our entry point into communion with Father, Son and Spirit. The Son communes with us in the incarnation, and He brings us into communion with Himself, and with His Father and His Spirit, at this table.
God is not deceiving us here. He says that this bread and wine are communion in Christ. Trust His word, and believe that here you commune with the Son, and with the Father and Spirit. And the next time you pray, remember that you were at this table, where you have communion in the body and blood of the Son of God.
posted by Peter J. Leithart on Sunday, October 21, 2007 at 08:45 AM
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