1 Corinthians 11:28-30  But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup.   For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep.

Taking communion for me one Sunday a month at church was becoming an occasional ritual, and I longed for some deeper teaching on the subject.   Speaking with a missionary friend recently, she mentioned that at her missions conference they had a guest speaker and he spoke on the very subject of communion.    I was able to find his article online where you can read in it’s entirety here.  As I read the article, I felt that I wanted to share my short version of it with you now.

So what does Communion mean?  According to Websters dictionary it means;   Fellowship;  interchange of transactions, or offices; a state of giving and receiving; agreement; concord.    We are naturally led to seek communion and fellowship with others.

In the Garden of Eden, we read how God and Adam had fellowship/communion with each other.    God  gave Adam  instructions that they, Adam and Eve,  were freely to partake of every tree, except the tree of Knowledge of Good and evil because if they did this, they would surely die.

Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.  The punishment for their sin -  they were cast out of the Garden of Eden, and a Cherubim with a flaming sword was placed to guard the way to the Tree of Life.  Why was the Cherubim placed to guard the Tree of Life?  Because if Adam had access to it, they would live forever.  See Genesis 3:22.

We now go to the last Adam, Jesus.  Because of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross,  we are now free from the law of sin and death.  The  first Adam was made a living soul, and the last Adam was made a quickening life giving spirit.  1 Corinthians 15:45

So what does this have to do with communion?  Everything!

Jesus is the true vine (Tree of Life).  Through Adams’ sin, we were attached to the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, and through Jesus we  are attached to the Tree of life.   We can only have life if we partake of Jesus’ life.  Adam was banished from the Garden of Eden, and he was no longer able to partake of the Tree of life, but through Jesus that access has been restored to us.

How do we partake of Jesus life? 

Jesus says in John 15: 1-5  “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.  I am the vine, you are the branches.  He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

When Jesus died on the cross and he said it is finished, sin and death was finished, disease, affliction, lack, we passed from the covenant of the law into the age of grace.  Jesus then became our way of life, the tree of life, our endless life.   Hebrews 7:16

Jesus has come to give us life and life more abundantly.   The Tree of Life relates to life, The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil relates to that which is good, bad, right or wrong.

We are no longer attached to the tree of knowledge of good and evil, but are now attached to the tree of life, where there is no sickness or disease, and where we can enjoy an abundant life.

1Co 11:23 -25 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread;   and when He had given thanks, He broke it 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.”

When we partake of communion, we are eating and drinking the very life of the One who is able to impart life.   Jesus is a “root” or the Tree of Life out of dry ground.  If we partake with spiritual understanding and agreement, we will no longer be weak, sickly, and dying prematurely.   When we partake of communion, we should be receiving the quickening life giving spirit. 

When we show the Lord’s death, we demonstrate the value of His death.

In taking communion, let us detach ourselves from the Tree of knowledge of Good and Evil, and re-attach ourselves to the Tree of Life, Jesus.

May you be richly blessed this day.