i was wondering....

if anyone ACTUALLY reads these. it's always nice to have a little comments here and there. any interaction is better than none, ya know?! :P i wonder what other people study? what God is speaking to them. Like to see if there is anything anyone really wants to study, perhaps if suggestions are made, i will study some stuff that OTHERS like to know about too. :) let me know, k?

Rom 6:5 (With Him)

Before i get some crazy messages from folks about this image, first hear me out, as to why i am using it. I was browsing the internet this morning in search of a good Cross of Christ image and came across this one. I was actually appauled by it at first, and then when i thought about the scripture that i am currently studying, i thought, "ah! that actually IS a GREAT image for THIS!!!" (plus, it got my attention, so i figured it would probably do the same for other viewers as well).

"FOR IF WE HAVE BEEN PLANTED TOGETHER IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS DEATH, WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION."

This word, "If," actually means "in view of the fact," or "since it is so," letting us know that there is no real question that Christ died, or that we are in His likeness.

Sometimes these guys would choose a word that was less desirable in meaning, but "sounds" better and means something like the word in translation, i think that is what happened in this instance. What i mean by this is, for example., the word Love has about 5 different meanings: "i love Dr. Pepper." "I love my Wife." But we don't love Dr. Pepper the same way that we love our spouse. We have a different types of love for different things. Anyway, not everybody understands the whole translation of scripture thing....moving on, (sigh). :)

I like what JS has to say about it, he gives a wonderful illustration for this: Take for instance, a pair of Siamese twins: their bodies are joined together at one point, and the bloodstream that flows, goes through both physical bodies, as though they are a normal one. That is what it is like when we receive Christ into our lives. We are connected to Him. When He died, we died, etc.

The word, "LIKENESS," is the same as resemblance, which is almost the same identity.

We share His Death & Resurrection. Both deaths had to do with sin, but from different aspects. Jesus bearing the sin, which the sinner has given Him.

Adam Clark, a well known theologian mentions it's a "beautiful metaphor, taken from grafting, or making the scion grow together with a new stock." Now, i didn't know what a scion is, so i had to look it up. I also researched all synonyms for the word, "scion," and was amazed. they are: branch, child, graft, heir, offspring, progeny, successor. i love that, because Christ tells us that He is the Vine and we are the branches (Jn 15), we are the children of God and heirs to Salvation, (Heb 1:14, Rom 8:15, Gal 4:6), & we are His offspring and are grafted into Him (Rom 11:17).

When i read Barnes' notes, he said we are all like seeds of the same plant (Christ), planted and growing up in Him together, "as He rose from the grave, so shall we rise from sin. As He lived a new life, being raised up, so shall we live a New Life." And i loved the scripture that he gave for a reference here:

Jhn 14:19 "Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also."


"WE SHALL BE ALSO IN THE LIKENESS OF HIS RESURRECTION."

JS states that it's not a statement made of predictions made per say, but that of a logical fact. "Paul says in his Greek, 'For in a view of the fact that we have become those permanently united with Him with respect to the likeness of His death, certainly also (as a logical result), we shall become with Him with respect to the likeness of His Resurrection."

What does any of that have to do withe the pic? when i see this pic, on a daily basis, i am reminded that i have died to MY DESIRES, MY HOPES, MY WANTS, MY ATTENTION AND GLORIFICATIONS, MY OWN PRAISE AND SELF-WORSHIP, and now i live for Him, because He died for me...in my place, now i am giving Him my life. When i look at that pic, i see myself, i'm reminded of the benefits that i reap and the price that i did not pay. I'm not my own anymore.

1Cr 6:20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.

Gal 2:20 I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

A Love Story

It's so funny! everytime i sit down to study something, the Lord is leading me from that place, which is the starting point, and He takes me some place else, but i love it. I am studying things that i never have, seeing things i have never seen. I'm so in love with my Saviour. Not only does He love me, not only did He give Himself for me, He take me on adventures and talks to me along the way. What an awesome Lover, He loves my soul. "Who is man that God would take notice of him?"

I was studying something in Rom 6:5 and came across yet another comment that Bro Swaggart spoke about us and our relationship with Christ, and as i began taking notes on this subject, the Lord seemed to lead me in a different direction. Before i knew it, i was jotting down things i hadn't imagined. Allow me to clarify:

We need to go back the the former studies we have been doing on the Lord's supper, the wine/blood, and the bread/flesh we have eaten and what it means to eat them. By taking communion and discerning the Body of Christ, we are saying the following:

Communion is to fellowship, association, intercourse and intimacy with Him. I thought about how separated we were from God because of sin. We don't understand how awesome it was for Adam and Eve to be One with God. The Word says that the voice of God walked and talked with Adam in the garden (Gen 3:8). This was perfection on earth as anyone could know it, and in ALL TRUTHFULNESS, not based on what one would "feel," He truly had everything back then! Oneness with God is so far from the Christian these days, we don't even know how to imagine such a thing.

When Adam sinned, He was instantaneously separated from God, thus rendering both his physical & spiritual man in a total state of depravity! His physical man and spiritual man were divided at that moment, Adam suddenly has to figure out how to feed his physical body now, and he has no way in which to feed himself spiritually. The Tree of Life in which fueled both physical & spiritual man is no longer made available to him. He is now cast out of the garden of Eden and God had to put Cheribums with swords of fire in order to keep Adam and Eve away from it, for the Tree of Life stands for perfection, Oneness with God, Communion with God, which they cannot eat of now, being in sin. So...from this moment, until Christ died on a tree (what started at a tree, ends at a tree), there was no Way for man to come to God and be in communion with Him.

So now you have God on one side, who is Perfection, Holy, Creator & unable to be in the presence of sin.

Then on the other side, you have man, in total depravity, in need of God, food, home, shelter, covering, apart from all of that, LIFE, because his spiritual man is now dead and his physical man is in a state of slow decay.

There is this huge gap between the two now. Hmmm, if only there were a bridge between the two, a mediator, one that could take away the veil or curtain that is between the two.

Let's just say that from the beginning, God being all knowing, knows the end from the beginning (is 46:10), set in motion a plan to do take away the veil. Veil means curtain or separation between two things. In the Tabernacle of Moses, there was a separation between the room where the candlestick, shewbread, & altar of incense...where the priest could see the Light of the World (candlestick) the shewbread to eat, (Bread of Life), and the Altar of Incense (Prayers & Conversations with God)...and the veil separated them from the Holy of Holies, which was where the actual Spirit of God would come down in the midst and dwell. Only One could go into this room, all others would die. The High Priest was given access one day a year to the presence of God in this place...and he was the only one that was separated enough to encounter God in this fashion (also...Christ is our High Priest...all things a foretelling of Christ and what He would do).

I think we can safely call Christ the Meeting Place for the two. God is a Spirit (Jn 4:24), so He had to take the form of something in order to actually come and dwell here. He chose to do so through the womb of a woman, just like us. Which is perfect, because what started with a man, ended with a man, the man Christ Jesus. It's awesome how it all just fits together!!!

So Christ in all His perfection comes and dwells with us, like us, in order to become ONE with us. He could identify with our humanity, having experienced it. People think that God is this diefied entity that is above all (which He most certainly is), but without compassion, and yet He loved us so much that He came down as we are, to our level. Took off His Perfect White Robe, laid it on the Throne, and Put on flesh, to heal us, to love us, to reach out and to listen, to teach us, to pray for us. (Heb 4:15) That doesn't sound like a disconnected or unconcerned God to me. what do you think?

Note: I know i keep repeating this message over and over again, but the fact is, it's THE message that Paul preached, all of the disciples did for that matter, and it is what JESUS preached, most importantly. In every way possible, He was trying to relay this simple message to His followers. In fact, it wasn't at all the messages that are being preached today. Not riches, He's not the christ that makes folks rich! he told the rich young man to sell all of his possessions, give it to the poor, having treasure in Heavenand follow after Him. (Matt 19:21-22) That tells me that following Christ won't make me rich in this world, but i'm rich in His Kingdom, because i have Eternal Life, and that is all we need when it is said and done. Proper Perspective is what we need. We're not be conformed to this world, but into Christ. (Rom 12:1-2)

How is this a love story? I'm about to tell you. what is it that a bride wears at a wedding? a veil, right? there's that word again, Veil. what did we say that a veil is, it's what separates the groom from his bride. what is the church said to be? the Bride of Christ. What is Christ, but the Groom. What separates us? the Veil, what is the veil a type of? sinful flesh. What are we trying to prepare for? the Marriage. What is the Marriage? Us, One with Christ Fully, in our new Home, the New Jerusalem. (Jhn 14:2 In my Father's house are many mansions: if [it were] not [so], I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.)

I think the reason that God refers to are being totally reunited as a marriage is because He genuinely is in love with us, and plans to be at One with His highest creation, man.

So, He had the Veil to be rent in twain, meaning: His flesh was afflicted in OUR place, therefore abolishing the sting of sin, which is death, that we may inherit eternal life and become One, in Communion, Intimate, with Him once again.

If you read Song of Solomon 5:1-16, you'll find a love story much like that of us. we are the ones seeking, He is the One to be found and in desperate need of Him. the reason we are found by the watchmen, smitten, wounded....we have been wounded by sin and the veil that is take from us is the proper covering we need. Think back the the garden, what did Adam and Eve do once they knew that they were naked? they didn't seek God to find out how to have a covering...they tried to cover it themselves in their own way, but through Christ, we have what is the proper covering...His Perfect Blood.

Not only did He allow His own Bloodshed, He hung there, being in the most excruciating pain, and plead with the Father, negotiating our forgiveness. Forgiveness means: to give up a debt, to permit what is not permitted, to not hinder, TO ALLOW. In fact, Jesus, was pleading that the Father would ALLOW US back into His presence, back into the garden. Look to the end of the book...Rev 2:7, He gives us to eat of the tree of Life once again.

Anyhow, I know it is a long Love story, but a good one.

The Bread (Scriptures)

Ok, still studying on these topics which are all tied together: The Bread/ The Flesh of Christ/ The Blood (Wine)--Basically, communion, and what Christ was referring to at the last supper when he spoke concerning his body and his blood.

Gen 3:19 In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou [art], and unto dust shalt thou return.

Something awesome about the Word of God, is that it is SO universal to itself, what i mean, is that it is so fitly framed and put together in such a way that all of the puzzle pieces just fit perfectly. In Gen 3:19, this is after the fall of man, when Adam and Eve have sinned and God is now giving them the consequences of "knowing Good and evil." Here is what is so interesting about this scripture:

Before Adam fell, he didn't have to work for anything. He didn't even eat bread, they ate from the trees in the garden of Eden. so, why would God tell them that they would have to work for, "by the sweat of his face," for bread? he is in fact restating this scripture and translating it when Jesus says in John 6:51 "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." He says this to them, because He is making reference to Gen 3:19. Before they fell, they already were eating Life, which was Christ, He IS THE TREE OF LIFE. His spiritual man and physical man were both on the same level together in the presence of God all of the time. When the fall occurred, man's spiritual man (so to speak) died, but his physical man stayed alive. Adam was so perfect before the fall, had experienced such magnificence of the Lord that it literally took his physical body 930 years to die, but his Spiritual Man fell when they ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. (i'm trying to make this as plain as i know how to, i hope it is making sense, if not it is because i am not a very good teacher.)

So, when Christ tells them that He is the Bread of Life, He is in fact saying, if i can translate in layman terms, what was undone is being made DONE through what i am about to do for you. If you will abide in me, receive what i am doing, and believe on Me, eat of Me, i will give you eternal life, i will feed your spiritual man forever. That is why he said (John 6:53): "Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you." He was saying that the food and drink that we take for our natural body, that body will perish. But we have a chance to become part of a body that will live forever in peace with God, if we will receive Him and what He has done for us.

Ok, then there is the scripture in Lev 6:16 that is rich as well.

Lev 6:16 And the remainder thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat: with unleavened bread shall it be eaten in the holy place; in the court of the tabernacle of the congregation they shall eat it.

Let me expound further, so as to reveal the types and symbols here. Aaron and his sons are the priests of God...selected by God Himself. What are we also known as His Believers, (1Pe 2:9) "a royal priesthood," when He says that in His Word of us, He is not talking about just pastors, He is referring to those of us that love Him and His Word. The Unleavened Bread is a type of Christ as well. Leaven is seen as a symbol for sin, and He was without sin...hence, UNleavened Bread, He is the Bread without sin. The priests would eat the unleavened bread or shewbread in the tabernacle in the wilderness, it was simply a foreshadowing of Christ. God has always been attempting to relay this message to His people (death, burial, resurrection), it's not a new message, it's just been lost through time.

This is one that is great!

Exd 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; [and] with bitter [herbs] they shall eat it.

The flesh that they would eat is that of the lamb that the family would have taken to the temple to have sacrificed to God for an atonement (rolling away or back) of their sins. They were instructed that they had to eat the whole thing in that one night, not leave any for the next day. Just as, we have to take all of Jesus, and not just parts of Him, we can only serve Him as our master, not ourselves and Him. We would love ourselves and hate Him. Obviously, Jesus is the "Lamb of God," as spoken by John the Baptist in John 1:29. The "roasting with fire," is a beautiful picture of the Lord Jesus Christ taking our punishment upon Himself. Fire is seen as a type of Judgment throughout the Word of God. He had not earned our judgment, but willingly took it for us, in our place. We just explained what the unleavened bread means, and the bitter herbs were a type of the bitterness of sin that He tasted, having never sinned Himself.

Awesome, huh? Who would have thought that the Word of God could be so rich, exciting, so tasty and meaty! The greatest part about this lesson here, is that i really intend to come back to it, go through it all again, and line by line study it out thoroughly...to chew on it and digest it so to speak. Because that is IN FACT what we are to do with the Word of God, being our DAILY BREAD...we should meditate on God's Word each and every day, asking Him to reveal Himself to us through it and in it. Amen? Ok, tomorrow, Rom 6:5!!! Yeah....

The Bread

It's funny how the Holy Spirit works in our lives. I decided that i may gave been getting off on a rabbit trail with my studies the past couple of days, and wanted to get back on track where i began studying. I went back to Rom 6, where i had original begun these studies and came across something that i ALSO wanted to get out about the Bread, since i had just studied the cup yesterday...talking about communion. Anyhow, i picked up my favorite commentary, that of Brother Swaggart's and began to read what he had to say about Rom 6:5, when, as i began to read....i began to see something about "The Bread" of Life that came in perfectly with what i was studying on communion. So...i took that as the leading of the Holy Spirit to go ahead and study this portion first, before we get back to Rom 6:5.

Brother Swaggart was talking about how baptism is a symbol for death. He spoke about how we are all members of His Body...and then i remembered something that i had read from a different commentator about a week and a half ago. This person stated that when we eat of the bread, it is as though we are eating from the same loaf. The "Loaf" would be Christ. But, (and i'm not sure if i am communicating this quite as clearly as I AM seeing it), if we consider what we are in fact saying by our actions if we are to partake of this ceremony (if you will), we are saying that we have fellowship with THIS GOD. Just like the heathens did, they communed with their pagan gods...at least they were making an open announcement that this was what they were a part of and were allowing all spiritual influences of this "god" into their lives. We in essence are doing the same when we partake of the Lord's Supper. We are openly making a visual announcement that we are having fellowship with, welcoming into our lives, becoming one with...this God that we are taking part of this "offering" so to speak, when we eat it.

Let me better illustrate this: when we "eat His flesh, we are in fact saying that we are dead, buried with Him in Baptism (being baptized into Christ, not water), and by the drinking of His blood, that we are His servant and He is OUR GOD.

(it'll get clearer as i write, hopefully). All of Christ's members (members of His Body)-are the sinners who have Faith in Him and have chosen to associate themselves with Him in that Baptism. In essence, WE DIED & WERE BURIED WITH HIM. This is like (again, the example of the wedding ring for marriage, is what baptism is to the Believer, between them and God). It's an outward symbol that reminds us & explains to us how we spiritually are partaking in what Christ PHYSICALLY experienced.

it's a metaphor respecting our Faith in His Atoning work.

The punishment Christ suffered was that of what a sinner/thief would receive....punishment of sin is death. WE didn't ACTUALLY suffer THAT HORRIFIC death. How do we experience it with Christ then, if we are dead with Him? How do we take part in this "death" then? We believe when we eat this bread that we are part of His Body. (The Perfect & Sinless Body that He is and we actually are not). When we eat, we show that we DIED WITH HIM & WERE BURIED. Meaning, our Sin Nature (which He took upon Himself, willingly), because of His innocent Perfect Bloodshed for US, is overcome, The Sinful Man is dead, murdered, killed, laid dormant if you will. To be BURIED WITH HIM: our sinful nature was done away with and made dormant (no longer in full dominance), by His Body being Broken for us.

By HIS BLOOD: When we drink the wine (grapejuice) we are drinking the blood of an innocent man. (Murderers are said to be "guilty of innocent blood" - which we ARE guilty of. His Blood was poured out because of Our Sin. so, when we drink, we are in fact saying that we are drinking of the "cup of salvation," because there is NO WAY we could drink from the cup of God's wrath, which is what Jesus endured & the reason for His Bloodshed.

The need for Resurrection: 1. God saves the sinner, He separates him from the dominant sin nature, so that the Believer is not compelled to sin anymore. We are PERMANENTLY delivered from it's power. But, the Lord also left the sin nature IN the Believer as a disciplinary measure. 2. At the same time, He imparted His Divine Nature which gives the Believer both the WILL (desire) & the power to DO God's will, and not our own. Hence, the reason that Jesus prayed in the garden and told the Father, "Not my will, but thine be done." He said that because he was giving us the ability through His sacrifice to do so, and THAT is why He chose to lay down His Life.

ok, i have some scriptural references that i want to make concerning this, but i feel as though i need to start a different blog, because they require a little bit of explanation in addition to them...

1 Cor 10:16 (The Cup)

I have become fascinated with communion now that i have been studying it out some. When receiving communion, what is it that we should experience and understand? I discovered something that i will remember the next time that i take it, causing me to fall in love with Jesus all over again. There is a song that i love a whole lot, and the chorus says this, "I wanna sit at your feet, drink from the cup in your hand, lay back against you and breath, feel your heartbeat. This love is so deep, it's more than i can stand, i melt in your peace, it's overwhelming." The cup that is spoken of in this song....hmmmm, The Cup!!!

Let us travel back to the garden of Gathsemane for a minute. Remember before He is offered up, Jesus goes and prays three times, asking The Father to "let this cup pass from me." What cup is He talking about? it is the cup of the wrath of God. How do we know that? (You can find it in Rev 14:10 & Rev 16:19), when God's wrath is poured out upon those in the last day that will not choose Christ. God is loving, He is also Just. I am recalling the lesson before this and the story of Cain and Abel and why God accepted Abel's offering...it was a blood offering which is a type of Christ. We can ONLY come to God through the blood of Christ.

So, is the cup of wrath the one that the girl is singing about in my song? No. but we first have to understand what we have been spared from, before we appreciate what we have been given. Now that we know that we have escaped the wrath of God, we can accept the cup of blessing that is spoken about it 1 Cor 10:16. Christ didn't have to lay down His life, but He did, for us...not for Him, He didn't need redemption, we did. He hung there up on the Cross and when He cried out, "My God, My God, Why have you forsaken me?" He was receiving upon Himself the Judgment of God for our sins. He was spiritually feeling the total and complete withdrawal of the Holy Spirit from His life...No presence of God, The Father had turned His back on Christ at that time. And it pleased the Father to bruise Him, so that WE could receive what He came to give us.

I meditated on this cup f wine that Christ held in His hand the night of the last supper. He held it up, and said that it was His blood, given for us, to DRINK IT, and do it in remembrance of Him. WHAT does that MEAN?! He said that if we do not, we don't have eternal life, we have "no life in us." I thought then, what can we not live without as humans? There are basically three things that are body cannot go without for an extended period of time or we will die and they are: Water, Blood, & Spirit. 70% of our body make up consists of water, we have got to have blood...an incredible loss of it will kill us, and if we do not have a spirit, we are not actually alive. Have you ever been with someone when they died, I have...you know when they are gone. it's as though you can tell it, their spirit is GONE! hard to describe, but truly amazing to notice.

How is it that the cup of wine would be like Water, like the Blood of Christ, like the Spirit of God? i looked up the word, drink in the greek, it means: "to drink, figuratively to receive into the soul what serves to refresh, strengthen, nourish it, unto eternal life." Water is a refreshing drink when you are thirsty. Remember how David said, "As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after thee, Lord." The Holy Spirit is a refresher, it brings peace, overwhelms you, fills you up when you are dry and empty, it's how God communes or communicates to us, through the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit. So how is the wine figuratively His blood and what does it have to do with the aforementioned? When we realize the cup that has passed from us, when we understand the cup in which we drink of because of Christ, which is blessing and not cursing, it's Life and not death, we are fully able to grasp the meaning that is in this phrase He uses, to drink His blood. Knowledge of the atonement of Christ is refreshing to my soul!!!

David said it like this in Psa 116:13 "will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the LORD."


i know that i am not using much Word here to explain here, but bear with me, i still have some things to share. There are times we have to seek the Spirit of God to reveal things to us, and there is need for an explanation....

i decided to look up the word, "communion" in my strong's concordance. it means "fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse." That says a whole lot to me!

This is the scripture that comes to mind when i think about communion:

Rom 14:17 "For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."

---His righteousness that i receive, His peace given freely to me, His joy because i have none of my own.---

So when i looked at Rom 14:17, i began to think again about the wine. what is it that wine is known for doing? it makes you feel peace, relaxed, happy, carefree, it makes you want to be intimate with you Lover and then Rest. That is the way that this cup should be to us as well. To realize that through what Christ has done for us, we can relax, have joy, be intimate with our God, & Rest in Him.

We should be SO overwhelmed with Joy in this revelation, that we do what? i looked up the phrase, "sacrifice of praise," wondering what real significance it has to my walk.

In Jer 33:11, it says, "The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, Praise the LORD of hosts: for the LORD [is] good; for his mercy [endureth] for ever: [and] of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the LORD. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land, as at the first, saith the LORD."

This word sacrifice means to confess, praise, give thanksgiving to give a thank offering

THIS IS WHAT THAT IS TALKING ABOUT!!! What He has done and what we should do. it shouldn't be predicated upon our feelings at the moment, it's not something that we are forced or expected to do, and yet, for any child of God that knows what God has delivered them from (and i am not talking about smoking, drinking, sex outside of marriage, porn addiction, etc.) what i am referring to is the bigger picture and the GREAT deliverance, if you will, and that is Hell and Eternal Damnation and Judgment that we have escaped...freely!

There is so much further that i could still go with this, but i am so long winded, i fear no one will desire to attempt to read my blogs anymore if i continue to write so much in each one......

1 Cor 10:21 (The Real Thing)

So, on the last study, we realized that there is this tradition that man has had of partaking of drinks and meats offered to idols. My entire point in bringing this up, is that when Christ came, He spent much time addressing people's traditions of men, He is always trying to get us to think outside of our normal parameters. We like to think "comfortable," and the Lord is always trying to "grow us" in our thinking so to speak.

What i saw as i began to study this out, "drinking from the cup of the Lord, vs the cup of devils," and finding out about the customs of offering unto heavenistic gods, i saw Christ there alone with His closest followers, taking food and drink. He offered up bread and stated that it was His Body, which was broken for us and the remission of our sins. The cup of wine, He said we were to drink it, that it was His Blood, given for us, to do this in remembrance of Him.

I have never fully understood this. Everytime i have been at church and partook of the Lord's Supper, or Communion...what does all of this mean? am i the ONLY one that has posed this question? yes, i know He was foretelling the events to come with His sacrificial death, that part i understand. yet, i have always seemed to be intrigued by the thought that there is more underlying meaning in this than just that. now, i could get into the Jewish Feast of Passover and explain how what they do and eat and say is all a type and shadow pointing to Christ and What He would do for us, but it hardly seems relevant in the form that i am seeking to find this answer. So for the essence of time, i'll refrain from going into that, (although perhaps one day i can share those things, it is truly awesome what God has shown His chosen people, Israel, with their feasts and how they pertain to Gods' timeclock and the gospel of Christ.

What i find most important to address here is the need to understand the scripture and what Jesus is saying as He lifts these items up and calls them His body and blood...saying we are to eat and drink, for we do this to remember Him. Has anyone ever taken communion and heard that scripture at that time about discerning the Lord's body? (wow, id didn't know that we were going here, ok Lord...) Let's look at the scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

This is SO STINKIN' AWESOME! I feel the Holy Ghost leading me with this study! LOL yeahhhh!

ok, what this scripture is saying is CRUCIAL to the reader's walk with Christ! Why, I'll tell you. The greatest thing that the church has lost in it's message of the gospel, is the message of the Cross. I say this because we have multi-million member churches that folks are attending every single day and they are not leave one bit changed. they are coming in and receiving a message that is not the true gospel. the gospel is not just "the good news," which is what gospel means in the greek. there is more to it than that. every ask why it is the good news? the gospel that they preach is either money (for you and for them) making these preachers rich and yet their congregations are still going to hell because they don't know the truth, there's the holiness group that tell people that they can work their way into heaven, the government of 12 group state that there is a 12 step program like they have for addicts, which is man's formula and will never work. there is the word of faith doctrine which says that we are little gods and there is power in the words that we speak, that we can create a new and better situation for ourselves, therefore leaving them in complete bondage to what they do or lack in professing, but denying the power that really can be possessed which is Christ.

I rant and say all of that to say this...let me give an example, a word picture if you will:

i used to be a banker, a teller to be exact. i worked with money for nearly 15 years. after working with money for so long, i got pretty good at being able to catch the counterfeit bills that came through my deposits. they look about the same, but they feel different, there are subtle differences, things that you can check on the bill to see if it is authentic or not. sometimes you have to check for little blue and red threads in the bill, the watermark has to be even the same. i actually encountered a counterfeit bill that was so good, and the makers so deviant that they actually made Benjamin Franklin in the watermark wink! His image's eye, winked...like, HA HA, i got ya! False bills usually feel a little different. But if you had never worked with real bills for such a long time, it's very hard to distinguish what is real and what is not. It takes time and experience. The same it true with the Word of God folks! The church has been so ignorant of what the Word REALLY says, who the REAL Christ really is...that we are overwhelmed, eating any spiritual junk food that is handed to us...which it may have come originally from God, like corn from the stalk, but once it has been tainted and manipulated, it's no longer recognized as corn, nor is it good for us when we eat it. I'm referring to the Word we receive from preachers that they, themselves have not either discerned the Body of Christ, or have rejected the power thereof.

Let me explain further, i feel i am confusing some. Let's use some scripture to make it more clear what i am poorly attempting to communicate here:

2Cr 11:4 For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or [if] ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with [him].

Now, why would Paul say this? He KNEW that there would be others that would have some sort of twist to the truth, therefore making it NOT the truth anymore. Here is what the scripture is meaning when it says that we are not discerning the Lord's Body, therefore eating and drinking unto ourselves damnation.

My Jesus is the one that was born of a virgin. (Is 7:14, Lk 1) He is the One that was God made manifest in the flesh. (John 1:14). He was perfect and without flaw (Num 19:2, Jn 1:29) (Lk 23:4, Jn 19:6) He was punished for my death (Is 53:5, 10-11, Mt 27)) READ THESE, it'll help. He was risen on the third day and sent the Holy Ghost to illuminate those who would ask to receive it. He overcame sin, death, hell and the grave through this sacrifice. Because of what He did for me, i am like Barabus, i am set free without deserving it! (that's the typology of setting Barabus free and killing Christ, it is a picture of what He did for us!!!)


He is the Real Thing! Not a sinner like me. So, let me get back to this scripture:

1 Cor 11:27-29 "WHEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, AND DRINK THIS CUP OF THE LORD, UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND BLOOD OF THE LORD. BUT LET A MAN EXAMINE HIMSELF, AND SO LET HIM EAT OF THAT BREAD, AND DRINK OF THAT CUP. FOR HE THAT EATETH AND DRINKETH UNWORTHILY, EATETH AND DRINKETH DAMNATION TO HIMSELF, NOT DISCERNING THE LORD'S BODY."

So, how can we not discern the Lord's Body? What Paul is saying here is this, if you do not receive the One that died for You, if you do not receive the Christ that died, was perfect, poured out His life to cover my worthless life, the One who traded death for life, the One that was the only acceptable Sacrifice that God could accept for sin, and you just take communion without in your heart admitting to God, "i am a sinner, i needed a savior, and Jesus Christ, you are HIM, I need You, I receive You everyday of my life, I yield my life, my dreams, my hopes, my desires...to You and Your will," if you are not realizing what this ceremony is about and Who this is attributed to, for you and your benefit, (not money, not your personal wants, but the biggest prize, which is eternal life and forgiveness for your sinful selfish ways and nature,) than you are in fact eating and drinking damnation to yourself.

What does THAT mean? Unworthily means: to not make disctinction. why am i receiving damnation? i looked it up, damnation in the greek means: "condemnation of wrong, JUDGMENT." Do you know who is going to hell? is it you? is it me? it is those who will not receive God's only acceptable WAY to Him which is Jesus Christ.

Another example:

In Gen 4, there is the story of Cain and Abel. Those of us that have been in church a while, we know the story. Both brought a sacrifice to God, Cain's was the best of his fruit/plants. Abel's was the best out of his flock he kept. Does anyone know why this story is here? it is to show us the only acceptable sacrifice to God. Cain's offering was no doubt the very best, unblemished crops. he didn't bring his worst or his leftovers to God, with every effort he had within himself, he gave God his very very best. but why was that not good enough for God, but that of Abel's was? we assume that God loved Abel more than Cain. or Cain was just born evil and Abel had not a mean bone in his body, right? here is the reason: the only acceptable offering to God is that that consists of blood. it had to be a blood sacrifice! no other would do, because God was trying to line out there, this early on, that He had a plan of redemption for man, but by no other means can we come to him. the reason that Cain got angry and murdered Abel, is because he felt rejected by God not accepting his way, rather than obeying God's way.

God will not conform to us, we MUST conform to Him, and His Way states that He requires the Perfect Blood of Christ. That is why Jesus says, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life." No man can come to the Father, but by Him, being the Door. Remember the blood over the doors of the children of Israel, ever wonder why the blood of a lamb? why they had to EAT the lamb that night?! (another beautiful picture of our AWESOME, GRACIOUS SAVIOR that gave Himself for us). I could go on and on about the types and shadows that are lined out in the old and new for us to see.

Just remember, the old test points forward to the Cross of Christ. The new test. points back the Cross of Christ, but everything revolves around Jesus Christ and what He did for us. Anything other than that is a skewed and perverted doctrine.

This is getting lengthy, so i will conclude for this lesson, but i have more coming on this topic! so much more to the Lord's supper than what we are being taught in churches today....