Eudora

Q. How does the promised New Covenant differ from the Old Covenant? We are now indwelled by the Holy Spirit, which teaches us and holds us accountable. On judgment day we can not blame others for what we have done in our individual walk. One day we will all have to give an account to God for our sins and it is the Holy Spirit who will bare witness to God on our behalf. The Holy Spirit is our defense in the highest court of all when we go before God who will judge the whole world. It is the Holy Spirit that leads us and draws us near to God. It is our faith and trust in the leading of the Holy Spirit, whom teaches us to live and walk righteously. We are to seek Him and His Kingdom and we do this by staying in The Word. It is the Holy Spirit who reveals the Living Word to us and draws us near to Him. It is because of this nearness to God that we do not want to commit adultery, physically or spiritually with any other God. What are the promises God makes in the New Covenant? Our Father will now write His law on the tablets of our hearts, by the teaching of the Holy Spirit. God's law will be engraved in our hearts, so we will want to worship , adore and obey our loving Father. From this point on, it will be our hearts that turn to stone, if we turn away from Him. It is the Holy Spirit, who helps us to build our temples in a way that would be desirable to God for His indwelling and it is also where we come into obedience, because we have the same desire, to have a relationship with our Father. What are our responsibilities under the New Covenant? We have been crucified with Christ [in Him we have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer us who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in us; and the life we now live in the body we live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, who loved us and gave Himself up for us. We are to live by faith in the spirit, and walk in the spirit so that righteousness might be fulfilled in us, and we are to go ... and sin no more and follow in the path of the Holy Spirit, teaching and sharing this faith, with others. Romans 8:4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

Q1. (Exodus 24:3-11) How was the covenant with Israel ratified? By the shedding of the blood of the young bull as a peace and burnt offering, in exchange for their lives that were spared as a result. The blood symbolized the death of the animal, a representation of sin and forgiveness of sin, but still it was only a temporary provision, looking forward to the death of Jesus Christ. 10:28 This act while providing forgiveness of sin, was still incapable of perfecting the conscience or of cleansing and renewing the inner man of the worshiper as is stated in Hebrews 9:9 What promise did the people make twice in this passage? They had agreed to do everything the Lord had commanded. What was sacrificed? Young bulls were sacrificed. What was sprinkled? Half of the blood was sprinkled on the alter and the other half sprinkled on the israelites, which confirmed the agreement between God and the Israelites as a covenant between them both. Like in the passage of Jeremiah, the cutting of the calf into two pieces and walking between them ratified the contract which symbolized the judgment on anyone who would break the contract. Also like another passage in the book of Genesis, chapter 15 when Abraham took the Heifer, the ram and the goat to God and He cut them down the middle [into halves] and laid each half opposite the other, and later on that evening a flaming torch passed between those two pieces. God

What do the Words of Institution say to us about forgiveness? "This is my blood...which has been poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." Not forgiveness of just a sin, but all sin, for all time, for all people, once and for all. Why is it important for us to repent of known sin before taking the Lord's Supper? The average adult has about five liters of blood living inside of their body, coursing through their vessels, delivering essential elements, and removing harmful wastes. Without blood, the human body would stop working. Blood is the fluid of life, transporting oxygen from the lungs to body tissue and carbon dioxide from body tissue to the lungs. Blood is the fluid of growth, transporting nourishment from digestion and hormones from glands throughout the body. Blood is the fluid of health, transporting disease fighting substances to the tissue and waste to the kidneys. Because it contains living cells, blood is alive. Red blood cells and white blood cells are responsible for nourishing and cleansing the body. Since the cells are alive, they too need nourishment. Vitamins and Minerals keep the blood healthy. The blood cells have a definite life cycle, just as all living organisms do. Our Creator knew all of this? Blood is a cleansing agent, a purifying agent. Before we swallow a representation of His life

Q3. Why did Jesus purposely point his disciples to the phrasing found in Isaiah 53? Believe it or not, all men are sinners. Here is the proof: "As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one" (Romans 3:10); "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God". (Romans 3:23) We the many, is every human who has His life

Q2. Why did Jesus refer to the violent nature of his death in the Words of Institution? One of the verses used in the study has caused me to remember something I learned long ago. Matthew 23:35 That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. The blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zacharias? From A to Z, they were slain and Jesus said that they, those who had slain them, would be guilty of all the righteous bloodshed through the centuries. Yet they were about to kill the most righteous of all that came or ever would come. Abel was the first killed and Zacharias was the last killed in the Hebrew Bible, which ended in the 2nd Chronicles. Zacharias was also killed by men who claimed to be God

Q1. How were Old Testament sacrifices a way of God showing grace and mercy to his people? Interesting question! To find this answer, I had to go back to the beginning to find the first sacrifice. In the garden, East of Eden, after Adam and Eve first tasted sin, they noticed that they were naked and hid from God. Because they had made their own choice, they were full of sin, God called out to them because He can not look upon sin. Their disobedience created a barrier and they tried to hide their sin by putting a fig leaf on their nakedness. They were feeling guilt and shame, which is a warning signal that God placed inside of all of us. Isaiah 47:3 Thy nakedness shall be uncovered, yea, thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and I will not meet thee as a man. We can be thankful for these signals because they make us aware of our sin so we can ask for forgiveness. These are works of the Holy Spirit. Proverbs 28:13 He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. They had already sinned and did not have the empowering of the Holy Spirit, but they still felt the shame, other wise they would not have hidden from God. Therefore, a sacrifice for their sin had to be made. Scripture doesn

Wow, A fellow sojournor. I too wanted to die, back in January 04 and God reached right in and saved me. Now I am more alive than I have been in 47 years. Your reply here, made me wanna go outside and sing with the stars and shout with the sons of God. Job 38:7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy? One day soon, they too will sing again. Keep on shining! God is crazy about you!

Q4. How does Jesus' voluntarily laying down his life for you encourage you? It encourages me that when times of questioning my beliefs that I remember that Jesus laid down His life for me. Before He did that, He paused to ask God , is this really what You want? Jesus did what He taught. He set the example, when He prayed first before all things. I need to keep that in mind before I make decisions because I don

Q3. Look at the verses above which include both the word "give" and a preposition that means "in behalf of." According to these verses, what was the purpose of Jesus giving himself in sacrifice? It was an empty life that we inherited from our ancestors. Their lives were ridden with guilt, year after year, because they did not have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. They would slip back into doing things their old way, as was so prevalent in the book of Exodus. Without the inner spirit of God to remind them, they did not hear that inner calling to live a holy life.

Q2. (1 John 4:2-3) Why does Christianity insist on a physical birth, physical suffering, and a resurrection of the physical body? The answer to this question is found in the second chapter of Genesis, the beginning where all life forms began, through the creativity of our Heavenly Father. Genesis Chapter 2:16-17 16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die. Sin entered the body, through the mouth. Lord God commanded man not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because by doing so, we would surely die. Not maybe die or possibly die, but that we would surely die. Sin entered the body, through the mouth by disobedience to God

Q1. (1 Peter 2:24) Why do you think the Apostle Peter emphasized Jesus' physical body, when he talks about sin-bearing? Leviticus 17:14 For it is the life of all flesh; the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: for the life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off. Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat. Leviticus 17:11 For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. John 6:53 Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you. John 6:54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. Just as there was blood in the life of the lambs that were sacrificed in the day

Q4. What are the implications for you personally, when you realize that in the Lord's Supper you are becoming a sharer in the sacrifice of the cross? Wow, to share in communion with Jesus, in remembering Him in this way, to drink the wine in remembrance of the blood He shed, to eat the bread in remembrance of His life, broken before all those who persecuted and betrayed and spit upon Him, My Savior. That is powerful! That Jesus Christ would call upon me to share in this experience with Him and those around me... well that is profound. It

Q3. In what way did the priests participate in the altar by eating of the Old Testament sacrifices? I Corinthians 10:18-19 Behold Israel after the flesh: are not they which eat of the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? Christians are the spiritual Israel of God. When an Israelite offered a sacrifice, he ate part of what his offering was, as a way of bringing himself or herself back into unity with God. This was a way to commune with God after having sinned. This communion brought one back into restoration with God. Priests were from the tribe of Levi, through the line of Aaron, who was God

What does koinonia mean? Koinonia means a living relationship. Paul

Why was Paul exhorting the Corinthians about the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons? Paul was a born again believer. Paul was a minister of God. Paul was doing what he was called to do. He was exhorting this church to not follow the ways of the culture that surrounded this church, in pagan worship. This culture was and is still controlled by satan. There is only one way and that is to serve God Almighty and Paul knew this. At the beginning of Chapter 10, Paul had reminded them in this letter to take a look back at the Torah and what had went on in the desert. He reminded them of how when Moses was gone from their sight, the Israelites began to worship the golden calf idol. From this book, when we look back and read what happened to them, they all had to drink the bitter cup of their transgressions, their sins of idol worship. Moses had smashed the golden calf into powder and they all had to drink because of the sins of the entire camp. Paul was bringing these folks into remembrance of what happens when our ancestors drank from that cup, and how they became separated from God. What was going on in the church? The worldly cup of satan has many dimensions. Sexual immorality and idol worship, are just a couple he reminded them of. Testing The Lord and His jealously by drinking from these types of moral depravity can only lead to death and Paul knew this too. What was the danger to the believers? This was a danger that the folks at Corinth faced. Pagan worship was prevalent in Corinth. Any time, one worships anything or any dimension of the natural, we can become spiritually separated from our Living God. When we worship an idol of any type, it takes our eyes off of Him and we loose sight of the promise of eternal life. This was a danger then and it still is today. Putting our trust in anything other than God, is idolatry. This can have deadly consequences as most all of the Israelites found out, when they were denied entry into the promised land. Paul was bringing this church into remembrance that when they ate at His table they must identify with His death and if they ate at any other table, this would promote that which is against the will of God, thereby serving two masters which is against the will of God. They would drink from the cup of satan and that would divide and separate them from the Living God. This would be un-holy ground opening the door to satan where they could drown in a sea of iniquity. We today are no different. We can not have it both ways. One cup leads to eternal life and the other cup leads to certain and eternal death. We must choose that which glorifies and exalts The Living God.

Patsy, your reply is SIMPLY AWESOME! Thank You for sharing. -Eudora

For me, this is not a one liner! There are four questions asked and for me , not a quick answer. But here is what was presented to me through scripture and the understanding of my inner spirit. In what way is the Lord's Supper a proclamation? This is the early church here that we are reading. They were remembering that Jesus instituted The Lord

Why is our remembrance of Christ's death so important? As the spotless Lamb of God, the blood of our Savior was spilled to save His people, His chosen from the penalty of death, brought by sin. The importance lies within the fact that we by nature, became a sinner, because Adam became a sinner before Eve conceived a child, every human being descended from him is a sinner, just like him, except Jesus Christ. Because of Adam's sin, death entered into the human race and every human being needs to have the new life. This new life, begins at the cross of Salvation, when we cross over from slavery to sin, into eternal salvation, through the redemptive sacrifice of the blood of Jesus Christ. We must always remember that His death, saves us from sin and His death shows us the way to eternal life. We are born again and set free from sin. Praise His Holy name! What happens to Christianity if we neglect remembering in this way? We could slip into that sinful nature and loose our friendship and relationship with our Redeemer and the sacrificial system, the new covenant might be lost. We would loose our seal and we would be sealed by the rule of sin, and would face certain death, for the wages of sin, is death. Christianity is a relationship by faith, and our faith would soon diminish. Our walk would soon follow the path of destruction. What happens to us personally when we forget Christ's death? We would loose the seal from the forefront of our minds. We would loose the very foundation of our faith. Like the redemptive blood of the lamb over the door post, we wear the blood of The Lamb over the door post of our hearts and when Jesus comes, if we do not recognize and worship Him now, He will not recognize us then and we would be passed over, and would die in the lake of fire. Ephesians 1:12-14 (King James Version) 12 That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 2 Timothy 2:19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.

What was the purpose of the Passover meal for future generations? To remember

Q 1. a) When repeated often, doesn't the Lord's Supper run the risk of becoming mundane and lose its meaning? I don't believe it becomes mundane, nor do I believe it looses it's meaning. If it does for some folks, they must have lost their focus. Jesus died for all sin. If someone feels that the activity of sharing communion looses it's meaning, that person must have lost focus, or may have been separated from His Spirit with in themselves. It is not everyday that Jesus is hung on the cross. This is not commonplace nor is this an ordinary day to day practice. This is not characteristic of the world to hang someone on a cross for their sin. If it were a common day practice, perhaps folks would think twice, before committing sin. Jesus died so that we do not have to die for sin. Through Him, and His death on the cross, we are forgiven. BUT! we are not to continue in sin, nor are we to willingly sin. When we live a life of walking in His Spirit, and staying in His word daily and seeking His righteousness and His Kingdom, we are so far from sin and so far from this world, that we do not even think in those terms. Q1 Why did Jesus command its repetition? Just as Passover celebrates deliverance from slavery in Egypt, so the Lord's Supper celebrates deliverance from sin by the death of Jesus Christ. When Jesus died, His death ushered in the new covenant between God and us, just like was given the opportunity to those who wandered in the desert for 40 years. Most folks think they were Jews but they were a mixture of multitudes, called the Israelites. These were a chosen people, His Israel, whom He had intended to carry out His plan of redemption. Most of this population were Hebrew. Remember even today , there is no difference between Jew and Gentile. Just like there was no difference then. God is no respecter of person's. Those who enter into a relationship are His chosen people. God is the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He is the God of Israel. We, therefore are Israel, His chosen. This very same reason of sharing communion, is why God sent Moses down to ask the Israelites if they wanted to come into a covenant with Him, before he shared His law with them. He didn

Which part of the meaning of the Lord's Supper is most valuable for you at this point in your spiritual journey when you partake of and meditate on the Lord's Supper? I actually cry most every time when I am holding the bread , because my mind goes back into visualization of time, where His body was broken for me. If I was the only human placed on this planet, He still would have done this for me. That humbles me. I cry for the pain that He suffered , all for my sins. I cry because it took His life to fulfill the plan of redemption. I cry because He willingly and so lovingly and with joy, gave His life on my behalf. The passage in Luke 22, in verse 15 of the KJV, it reads: And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: So with desire, Jesus wanted to share this remembrance with His disciples, before He was to suffer. But then when the juice (representation of wine) is passed, I feel guilt as I hold what represents His blood, right in my own hand, as if I was the one soldier who pierced His side, where the blood was spilled out. In a since, that soldier, represents everyone of us who is guilty, before His resurrection into eternal life. The sin of Barabbas was murder, yet even he was set free that day, in exchange for his sin of murder. Jesus Christ, gave His own life, so that Barabbas could be set free from the penalty of murder. I do not know if after he was freed that he accepted the Lord Jesus Christ or if he even believed in Jesus Christ, but the opportunity for the redemption of his sin, was paid in full on the cross. So for me, when I think of all these things, as I take and eat of the bread of life, in Jesus Christ, who died for me, and took my place through the depths of hell and sin and rose up through the grave, I surely do give thanks as I take and eat. My guilt is then washed away and I come away rejoicing. In a way though, when I partake of the bread and the blood of His body, in remembrance, it bothers me that in a since, He is being crucified all over again, and He paid it all that day and should not be killed again. He told the disciples, to do this in remembrance. I am a disciple of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Yeshua is Risen and is King! Salvation Has Come!

Which action words used to describe the elements of the Lord's Supper, teach us that we are to be thinking of Jesus' sacrifice of atonement, when we partake of the Lord's Supper? Matthew 26:26-28 And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it; For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. (KJV) Action words are : take, eat, drink. Mark 14: 22-24 And as they did eat, Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many. (KJV) Action words are: take & eat. Luke 22:17-20 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you. Action words are: Take this, divide it among yourselves, (share) Jesus is the bread of life. (John 6:48 I am that bread of life. KJV) His desire is that not one person perish. In John 3:16, we see that God so loved this world that He gave His only son , that who so ever... believes on Him, that they should not perish. Everyone has an opportunity to take and eat of the bread of life. 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. (KJV) When ever we take and eat, we are in effect, doing this in accordance of what He wanted us to do. That is to remember what He did and why He did this for us. I believe that by doing this, it takes us back to the focus of the fact that eternity is awaiting us. This is the reconciliation of God and man through the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ. This is the reparation for the offense of sin which has caused us to be separated from God, and the atonement is the satisfaction to God, that brings us back to Him. In the passage of Luke regarding the passover supper before the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, he writes that it was said to divide this bread among yourselves. (vs 22 of Chapter 17) This is just a difference of wording not mentioned before by either Matthew or Mark, but Luke, who is the Doctor and pays attention to detail, mentions that it was said to share this bread. I like that because that wording, reminds me that we are to share the bread of life with all those who are on our path , here in the wilderness, that we call earth.

How can an extreme symbolic interpretation cause a person to have too little respect for the Lord's Supper and its elements? It is very possible that a person who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior can have no respect at all, simply because they do not know Him in a personal way. Perhaps if the relationship between man and Savior were taught right here before the partaking of the bread and the wine, one might be able to grasp and take hold of a new insight and understand how very sacred this remembrance really is. The word, interpretation , is where the balance begins to fall. The Word of God is clear. The bread represents His body, broken, which is given for all who would believe..... and the wine represents His blood, which is shed for us, all who would believe. There is no room for interpretation. Where is the balance? Life or death.

John 6:54-57 (King James Version) 54 Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life; and I will raise him up at the last day. 55 For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. 56 He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him. 57 As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father: so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me I wanted to use the above scripture to explain my answer. I believe that the word sent is what makes the greatest difference for me, in this lesson. I don't believe that word has ever stuck out in my mind before. Jesus saying, that He lives by the living Father who sent Him, causes me to understand in a huge way that this, the eating of the bread, which represents His flesh, is a significance that when we eat this bread in remembrance, it signifies His refreshing our souls and nourishes our souls, which thereby gives us a renewed strength, in our body, because it is a representation of a renewal of life that is sent, from the creator, who commanded it into existence. Same as in the wine, with the exception that this represents the life that flows through the flesh. This flow, life