Is Communion More Than a Symbol?

Is my salvation at stake if I misuse the Lord's Supper? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

843-2673. Our phone lines are open, and Pastor Adriel would love to talk to you for the next 25 minutes or so, so give us a call. You can also post your question on our Facebook or Instagram account.

You can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com, and you can watch us on YouTube. First up today, let's go to Ali in Boise, Idaho. Ali, welcome to the program. Hi, thank you for having me.

Thanks for calling us, Ali. What's your question? So I was wondering in Genesis when it said, And God let us make man in our image after our likeness.

What is the multiple there? And my thought and a friend of mine were thinking the Trinity. I love that question.

It's a great question to get right now. I just preached on that passage of scripture this last Sunday at the church that I pastor, Genesis chapter 1, beginning in verse 26. Then God said, Let us make man in our image after our likeness. It's interesting because leading up to that verse, Ali, you had this sort of repetition in the first five days of creation. Let there be, let there be, and there was over and over again. Then things sort of flow down here on the sixth day of creation, and it's almost as if Moses who wrote Genesis, as if he's trying to get us to focus in on the creation of man. Now instead of let there be, you have let us make. Let us make man in our image. There's some intimacy there, really a beautiful verse of scripture.

The question is, who does the us refer to? There have been some, Ali, who say it's a reference to the Holy Trinity. Now in one sense, I think we can say that that's true because we know on the basis of other passages of scripture that the whole Trinity was there at creation, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Genesis chapter 1, verse 2, you have the Spirit of God hovering over the face of the deep, over the waters. Then in other passages, you go to the New Testament, John chapter 1, verse 1, which echoes the language that we have here in Genesis 1. In the beginning was the Word, speaking about Jesus, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. I think we can say that the us includes the Trinity because Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were there at creation, at work. Now is that what's being focused on here though?

I think there's actually more to it. But God is being pictured here as this great king in his cosmic temple, we might say, and he's speaking to the angelic host that he'd created. We might refer to them as God's heavenly council. It's almost as if the author of Genesis, Moses, is helping us to see that God is this great king, and as he's speaking, creating, he's got the whole council around him. Many have said that the us is a reference to the divine council, including even the angels.

Now, where can we sort of see that in the context? Well, a little bit later in Genesis chapter 3, when Adam and Eve were driven out of the garden, verse 22 says, then the Lord God said, behold, the man has become like one of us, there you have it again, in knowing good and evil, now lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat and live forever. Therefore, the Lord God sent him out of the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken, and he drove out the man, and at the east of Eden, the garden of Eden, he placed the cherubim, the angels right there. You also see this language very similarly in Isaiah chapter 6. Remember the vision that Isaiah had in Isaiah chapter 6, where he sees these angels, these angelic beings around the throne of God crying out holy, holy, holy, and then God speaks after they're crying out these things, and he says, who will go for us? Isaiah chapter 6, beginning in verse 6, then one of the cherubim flew to me, speaking about Isaiah, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken from the tongs of the altar, and he touched my mouth and said, behold, this has touched your lips, your guilt has taken away, your sin is atoned for, and I heard the voice of the Lord saying, whom shall I send and who will go for us? Again, the picture of God in his throne room, speaking to the angelic council, the heavenly host, and so I think that we can say, Ali, on the basis of scripture, yes, the Trinity was there, but it's even more than that. It's depicting God for us as this great king surrounded by the heavenly host. That's the us, and so thank you for your question, and may the Lord bless your day. Thanks so much, Ali, for being a regular listener to Core Christianity.

We really do appreciate you there in Boise. By the way, if you have a question for Pastor Adriel, you can call anytime 24 hours a day and leave a voicemail on our voicemail line, or you can go on our website and record your message there at CoreChristianity.com. Just look for the little microphone icon and click on that. The phone number to call for the voicemail or right now for a live call is 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Gloria in St. Louis, Missouri. Gloria, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, my question is, if a person has all of their lives to ask the Lord to come into their heart and to be saved, and they don't do that, and as they get older they become, have dementia or have Alzheimer's, is there any hope for that person? Gloria, I think that there is hope for that person, that that person can still be saved through faith. Now, we have to remember that faith is a gift given to us by the Lord, that the understanding that leads to salvation is really a work of the Holy Spirit. So whether someone has dementia or some other issue, the thing we're resting in is the work of God in that person's life.

So I would encourage you, if you're thinking of someone specifically in your life, to pray for that person. I think of the words of Jesus in Matthew 11. I love this passage of scripture. It really is one of the most beautiful passages of scripture. Matthew 11, verse 25, Jesus is praying and he says, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. In other words, look, salvation, the message of the gospel is something that has to be revealed to us by the Father through the grace of the Holy Spirit. And so you pray for this person. I also think, you know, Jesus says a very similar thing to Peter in Matthew chapter 16, when he's saying, you know, who do men say that I am? And Peter replied, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.

And Jesus answered him, blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. The Spirit of God can still work in this person's life. Dementia can't stop the Holy Spirit from shedding the light of Jesus in a person's life. And so I would say, Gloria, continue to share Christ, to share the message of salvation with this person, because the Spirit of God is able and can save.

And so there is hope. Thank you for your question. Thanks so much, Gloria. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. By the way, we should let you know we are not supported by a particular church or a denomination. We rely on people just like you to make donations to keep us on the air. If you find this program helpful and you'd like to prayerfully consider making a gift, we really would appreciate that. You can make a gift of any amount through our website at corechristianity.com.

Just click donate at the top of the page. Let's go to Stuart in Festus, Missouri. Stuart, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Hey, Stuart, are you there?

I guess we lost Stuart. All right. Well, let's go to an email question that we received.

This one is from Cody. And Cody says, if Jesus said, this is my body and this is my blood, then why do we say the bread and wine are representations or symbols? Is salvation at stake and a misunderstanding or misuse of this in the Lord's Supper?

Yeah, this is such an important question. Jesus instituted this meal, the Lord's Supper communion, for the church, for the church to observe throughout our history this sort of perpetual ordinance. And he did say when he took the bread and the wine, this is my body given for you. This cup is the new covenant in my blood shed for the forgiveness of many.

Do this in remembrance of me. You read about this in the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke. And so the question is, if Jesus says, this is my body, how come we really don't emphasize this?

And how come sometimes people will just say, well, it's just a symbol? Well, first, we need to understand that kind of language. It's a sort of the language of God's covenant ordinances, we might say, sacramental language. There are some in the history of the church that took that, this is my body to mean, this bread is transformed into my literal physical body.

That's not my position. Again, it's sort of the language of the covenant ordinances that you see throughout the Bible in 1 Corinthians 11, for example, verse 25, Paul talks about the institution of the Lord's supper. In particular, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

That is, there's this relationship between the cup, this sign that God gives to us, and that which the sign signifies that's so close, so tied together, that you can almost speak of them as one and the same. So it doesn't mean that the bread and the wine are transforming into something that they weren't before, they're still bread and wine, but through them, we receive the body and blood of Jesus. We have communion with Jesus Christ himself. Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 10, verses 15 and 16, I think, where he talks about the cup of blessing that we bless is not a communion with the blood of Jesus. And so there's something really unique, something really special that's happening in the Lord's supper. And let me just say this, brothers and sisters, I think there is just such a low view in so many churches today of these ordinances that Jesus gave to us, the Lord's supper. I mean, talk about something that we desperately need, these gospel reminders, these means of communion with Jesus Christ himself by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And yet oftentimes, we just sort of treat him as these ancient, not necessary symbols, sort of empty religion, that kind of a thing. Well, no, brothers and sisters, these aren't empty signs. It's through these means that God is powerfully working in our midst by the grace of the Holy Spirit. And so I don't think we want to devalue these or just say, well, it's just merely an empty symbol. No, it's through these signs that we have communion with the very risen Jesus Christ.

That's the first thing I'd say. And then in terms of, what about when we misunderstand the Lord's supper? Well, even that, there are warnings in scripture about this. Brothers and sisters, we need to heed 1 Corinthians 11, for example, that makes this very, very clear. This is Paul speaking about the Lord's supper in Corinth, this city, the church there was misusing the Lord's supper. They were really mistreating one another when they would gather together for communion.

So Paul has this stern rebuke for them. In 1 Corinthians 11, verse 27, he says, whoever therefore eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself then. And so eat of the bread and drink of the cup for anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body, eats and drinks judgment on himself.

That is why many of you are weak and ill and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged. But when we are judged by the Lord, we are disciplined so that we may not be condemned with the world.

You see, this is real serious stuff, the apostle Paul said. The way we approach the Lord's table, recognizing the kind of communion we have with God himself here by faith, that's something that we shouldn't minimize. It's something that we should cherish, lay hold of, that we should, as we approach the table, come in repentance and faith. And if we don't, if we're misusing and abusing one another, well then there's a real problem. God is going to judge us for that, Paul said.

Now let me just say one more thing on top of that question. A lot of times people hear that text and they think, oh boy, I just don't feel worthy then to take the Lord's Supper. There were times in the history of the church where people just said, this is so, so serious.

I just don't ever feel like I measure up. I'm just not going to take communion ever. Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I'm not going to take the Lord's Supper. That actually happened in church history on a couple of occasions.

But I don't think that's what we're supposed to gather from this. We take this seriously, but we come knowing that we're broken, that we need, desperately need the body and blood of Jesus for our spiritual nourishment. Communion, the Lord's Supper isn't for perfect people, for people who have really been faithful in their devotions all week and haven't fallen into sin or whatever.

No, communion is for you if you struggle, if you know you need grace, if you long for Jesus, and you go to the table by faith, and you embrace, receive the gifts that he has for you there. And so really an important thing for us to consider and a wonderful means of God's grace to us to receive. Thanks for that question. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Our phone lines are open. If you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life, you can call us in the next 10 minutes or so. Here is the phone number. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Now if you or someone you know is struggling with depression, we have a free resource that we would love to tell you about today. Yeah, and again, this is just another really important topic, Bill, because we know that there are a lot of people who themselves, they have this battle, the struggle with depression, mental illness, or you know someone who does. And so that's why we want to let you know about this resource, Nine Things Everyone Needs to Know About Depression, and it is free when you sign up for our weekly newsletter. We created this resource to give you a foundational understanding of what depression is and how Christians can best help someone who suffers from depression. So head over to corechristianity.com forward slash offers to download Nine Things Everyone Needs to Know About Depression.

And of course, you can call us for that resource or any one of our resources at 833-843-2673. Right now, let's go to a voicemail we received from Mary in Alaska. I have a question about forgiveness. I carry a lot of bitterness from past pain that creates anger and I seem to carry it in all my relationships. And I know that it's something I need to let go.

How do I forgive and reconcile with individuals that are not aware or do not recognize the wrong that they have done or the pain that they have caused? Hey, Mary. I want to help you out.

I want to encourage you. The way it should work out is when someone has done something to hurt us, to cause us pain, they should come to us. Jesus makes this very clear. He says in Matthew 5 verse 23, if you're offering your gift at the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you. Leave your gift there before the altar and go.

First be reconciled to your brother and then come and offer your gift. That's the ideal. But the sad reality is a lot of times that doesn't happen. And sometimes on some occasions, as you said, people don't even know.

They're not even aware of how their actions have hurt us. And the fact of the matter is I think we could all say I'm guilty of that. There have been times in my life where I've done something I didn't even know that it was having this negative effect on this person, and yet it did. And so in one sense, I would say, I don't know if you've had a conversation with this person yet, Mary, but maybe one of the things you can do is help by just going to them and saying, look, let me be honest with you.

When you did this, it really hurt me. You sinned against me, frankly. I mean, we need that kind of help because we're sinners at times. We're blind even to our own sin. You think of David and his sin. I mean, he needed the prophet Nathan to go to him and confront him. He didn't know.

I mean, he knew, but he was blind to it. And so one, I would say potentially, going to this person could be an act of love and being honest. And even that, being able to express yourself and share what's taken place can be helpful in terms of healing to articulate the pain you've experienced and how this person has hurt you. Now, if they recognize what they've done, and if they say, wow, you're right, I'm so sorry, there can be reconciliation. Reconciliation requires two parties. It requires this other person, Mary, to say, man, I've sinned.

Forgive me. And there can be great healing there and peace, but they don't always do that. Sometimes we confront someone with what they've done to us, and they deny it. They downplay it. They just deflect.

They'll blame shift. Oh, well, I did it because of this or that instead of really owning their behavior. And that's so difficult, but you can still forgive. You see, you don't have to be bound in bitterness and anger and frustration. That's oftentimes what happens when we're unwilling to forgive. We're called to forgive when people sin against us, whether or not they really get it. And what that does is it frees us.

It frees you. And where you get the ability to forgive is Jesus himself, focusing on the fact that we, each of us, who have sinned against the Lord, don't deserve his grace and mercy, and yet he lavishes his forgiveness upon us. Meditate upon that. Meditate, Mary, on how good God has been to you in his son, Jesus, that he sent his son into the world to shed his blood so that each and every one of your sins might be forgiven. And as you meditate on that great gospel, I think that's where we get the ability, the power to forgive those who have sinned against us. Now, we hope that they recognize that, that they confess their sins, but that doesn't always happen. But you can be free.

You can forgive, as Jesus calls you, through the grace that he gives you by the power of the Holy Spirit and the truth of the gospel, the forgiveness that you receive. Thank you for your question. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Ellen in St. Louis, Missouri. Hi, Ellen. What's your question for Adriel?

Hi, thank you for taking my call. I listen to quite a few Christian radio stations, and I've noticed that, and there's many fine speakers there, but I noticed that speakers on Christian radio stations and also those who aren't on radio at all, speak more and teach more from the writings of Paul in the book than they speak and teach from the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. And since we're supposed to be followers of Jesus, then I'm curious as to why we don't focus more on those four gospels, the life of Jesus and the things that Jesus said, than we focus on the things that Paul said.

Yeah, that's a great question. You know, I really can't say why one particular speaker might focus more on the writings of Paul or on the writings of Jesus. I know personally for me in my ministry as a pastor, I try to change it up as I preach through books of the Bible, do an Old Testament book, I'll do a gospel, I'll do something in the New Testament to try to give people the whole counsel of God's word. But we don't need to create this sort of dichotomy between the teachings of Jesus and the teachings of the apostle Paul or the teachings of the apostle Peter. When Jesus sent his apostles out, he said to them, go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And then get this, he said this, Ellen, verse 20 of Matthew 28, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always even to the end of the age. And so what the apostles like Paul and like Peter were doing, were teaching essentially the command, the truth, the gospel of Jesus.

And so they're on the same team. We don't have to think, you know, I'm focusing on Paul, therefore I must not be focusing on the teaching of Jesus because the teaching of the apostle Paul was what he received from Jesus himself. Paul talks about this in places like the book of Galatians, where he talks about how Christ brought him into the church, saved him, rescued him. And so I'm not sure about the various radio ministries and why they might focus on one or the other, but the good news is the focus is Jesus and his gospel.

And whether you're hearing that from Peter, Paul, or from the gospels themselves, it's one truth that we receive through Holy Scripture. Thank you for your question. Amen. Thanks, Ellen.

Let's go to one more call. This is Wendy in Warrensburg, Missouri. Wendy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, my question is, when we're resurrected with Jesus, if it's to my understanding, that's when we receive our new bodies, when we meet Jesus in the air. My husband and I were walking the other night, and we were talking about if there's a difference between burial and cremation with this concept of when our bodies are resurrected. Does it matter, burial versus cremation?

Yeah, thank you for that question, Wendy. I don't think that it does matter. We're raised by the power of God, not by how well we were preserved. There are ancient civilizations that believed, hey, if we embalm the body just right, if we preserve it well, this is going to have some sort of benefit for this person in the afterlife, or let's fill their sarcophagus with all these treasures and good things so that they can enjoy them in the world to come, that kind of a thing.

Well, no, that's superstition. It's not the way in which we're buried that ensures our hope of the resurrection. It's the fact that Jesus Christ died, was buried, and then rose again, and we are united to him. If we're united to Jesus, then whether or not we have a traditional burial, we're cremated, or we're lost at sea, that kind of a thing, we have the hope of the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Our confidence is in Jesus and what he did, what he accomplished in the power of the Holy Spirit. And so we look forward to that. The question of burial or cremation is really a matter of personal conscience. May the Lord bless you. Thanks for that question. as we explore the truth of God's Word together.