Remember The Cross!

Remember The Cross!

I Corinthians 11: 23-26
23 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;
24 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.”
25 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.”
26 For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.

   I once read that if a young man forgets his hat at the bar, no one thinks very much of it.  But if an old man forgets his hat at the bar, everyone says he’s losing his memory.  I think the point was that we all have to have help remembering things at times.  There is an old wives tales about wearing a string on your finger.  I guess that since an elephant never forgets we can buy one and lead it around with us all day.  Although it wouldn’t work for me – my car is too small to fit an elephant.  The modern way is to either mark a calendar or enter a reminder on our tablet or IPad.
   There have been times in our nation’s history when we wanted to remember something and a slogan was made up and repeated over and over.
Remember the Alamo!  Remember the Maine!  Remember Pearl Harbor!  Remember 9-11!  All these were negative memories that were remembered because we hoped for a positive result.
   In 1 Corinthians 11 Paul tells us that Jesus wanted us to remember something, too.  It, too, was a negative memory that leads to positive results in our lives.  What He is asking us to remember are these things:
First: His Body broken for us.
Bread signifies life, so when Jesus broke the unleavened bread and gave it to His disciples, He illustrated that His body would be broken in order that they might have life.  He was beaten, humiliated and hung on a cross.  He suffered and died so that we could be whole.  His body being broken brings us new life and also He provides for our healing.
   When we take the bread at communion, we remember His suffering and how his body was broken for us.
Second: His shed blood is a new covenant for us.
When Christ raised His cup, He proclaimed that the cup signified a New Covenant.  No longer would people have to sacrifice innocent animals and offer their blood to cover sins.  Christ made one final sacrifice and brought His blood one time as a last offering for sins.  The cup did not just cover sins but now sins would be washed away.
   When we take the cup at communion, we remember this blood sacrifice that sets us free from sins and reconciles us to God.
Third: We proclaim His death until he comes.
   This sounds like a gruesome thing to remember, but we need to remember His death and we need to proclaim His death to the world.  The trend among “trendy” churches is to downplay the death of Jesus and many never mention the blood He shed or the suffering He went through.  But without the suffering and the blood and His death and resurrection there would be no church – trendy or otherwise.
   We need to proclaim His death and resurrection to a lost world.  As you go out to share the Gospel:  Remember the Cross!

Stephen Cram                            March 17, 2013                      Colossians 2:8

See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 NASB