Holy of Holies, the Last Supper (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

What does it look like a new life in Christ Jesus the Lord? Definitely, it is not difficult to think that it is not the same as the past. One example would be exclusionism. How hard is it to bear differences each other? History says that humans are having a tremendous difficulty and trouble each other on all sorts of matters like how to talk, how to wear, how to behave, how to drive, etc. All is eccentric even if there are seven billion people living in the earth. Read the newspapers! Fights, quarrels, killings, vengeance, hatred, murder, divisions, dissensions have visibly been manifested and displayed to our eyes and ears everyday. The world says, “Do whatever you want!” Cain protested brazenly when asked of the whereabouts of his brother Abel, saying “Am I my brother’s keeper?” In fact, he was, but refused to listen to God, murdering his brother. How attractive and enticing it is to cluster together with those whose outlooks and interests are the same or at least similar! There are so many country clubs around the world, even the secret societies. Not so in church, the body of Christ! Do not succumb to the temptations of being selfish and going a broad way as believers in Christ, say the Scriptures. Rather, deny ourselves and take up the cross for the cause of Christ, and follow the Lord daily. Our Lord Christ descended and bled and died and was buried and rose again from the dead on the third day and ascended into the highest heaven and sat down until he has put all his enemies under his feet. We have been called and justified and glorified in Christ, so that a way to follow him is open for us. "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!" (2 Corinthians 5:17) Christ in you, the hope of glory! We no longer live for our own interests, but for the sake of Christ because we have been freely redeemed through the faith in him. We have been made new in our Lord Jesus Christ, so we may able to live a new life in Christ selflessly now and forevermore.

“In the following directives I have no praise for you, for your meetings do more harm than good. In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions among you, and to some extent I believe it. No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval. So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers. As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God by humiliating those who have nothing? What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you? Certainly not in this matter! For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep. But if we were more discerning with regard to ourselves, we would not come under such judgment. Nevertheless, when we are judged in this way by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be finally condemned with the world. So then, my brothers and sisters, when you gather to eat, you should all eat together. Anyone who is hungry should eat something at home, so that when you meet together it may not result in judgment. And when I come I will give further directions.” (1 Corinthians 11:17-34)

The way of the cross is the way to live for all Christians. But church in Corinth exercised something significantly flawed and directly against the way of the cross. There are divisions among the church members. In the love feast occasion, they are supposed to share joy and gratitude in the Lord by comforting and mutually caring each other. This holy congregation gathering should not exclude anyone behind but embrace everyone in the fullness and presence of the Lord Jesus Christ. However, the Corinthians do not exercise and demonstrate the love and joy of the Lord that some are drunk and others are left hungry. It happened in the most holy gathering, the Lord’s Supper. It is unworthy manner to eat the Lord’s Supper because it is humiliating those who have nothing. They have home to eat and drink, rebukes Apostle Paul.

Why is it unworthy to eat the Lord’s Supper that way in divisions? Because eating the Lord’s Supper means proclaiming the Lord’s death. Christ was crucified in our place for the sin of the world. Proclaiming the Lord’s death means the acceptance of our death with Christ on that cross. Apostle Paul sorts out what it exactly means by it, saying “For through the law I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:19-20) In the Epistle of Romans, Paul details what had truly happened when we accepted Christ by faith. “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.” (Romans 6:1-4) Our old self called the flesh died and was buried with Christ for it was no value at all before God. Then we were raised with Christ on the day of his resurrection from the dead. That is a new life given from heaven above for us to live in Christ.

A new life in Christ is no longer operated by the old way of life in Adam. Exclusionism, for example, is no longer acceptable because we died to it in Christ. Since we died to exclusionism, how can we live in it any longer? Apostle John says bluntly that we cannot continue to sin if we have been genuinely born again by the grace of God in Christ. “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” (1 John 3:9-10) Exclusionism is evil no matter whatever cause. It is not permissible any longer in the life of believer in Christ. It is true that we struggle and stumble many times, failing to loving and accepting our brothers and sisters in Christ. The Lord knows!

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, ‘This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.’ In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.’ For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” (1 Corinthians 11:23-26)

In the holy of holies, the last supper, our Lord Jesus Christ commanded his disciples to take the bread as his body and to drink the cup of the new covenant as his blood, in remembrance of him. In Christ, we have been given a completely new way of living, so revolutionary that it is almost unbelievable to be true. In Adam, we cannot love each other no matter what, but in Christ we can do not by might, not by power, but by spirit. What Jesus is saying is stunningly challenging and unorthodox that people at his hearing were offended and left away from him. Jesus Christ the Son of Man says, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me, and I in them.” (John 6:53-56) By the grace of God, we have been made and put to live under the new covenant. Eating his body and drinking his blood are not literal but figurative language that we live in him and on him and by him and through him. We are in Christ and he in us. We have been united with Christ through the faith in the Lord God. Since we have been united with Christ, we live in him, completely depending on him. We live now his life, not our old lives any longer.

“So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves.” (1 Corinthians 11:27-29)

We ought to examine ourselves whether we live on the new covenant that we love each other just as our Lord Jesus Christ did while we were still sinners, the enemies of God. The salvation we have been given is not without price but with that of the Son of Man’s life. We were bought and redeemed at the price of Jesus’ suffering and death. Christ is our eternal ransom sacrifice to defend ourselves before God, so that we may stand in the holy throne of grace with confidence. “Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” (2 Corinthians 3:4-6) Therefore, we ought to examine ourselves daily and remind that we have been made and put under the new covenant living. If not, the consequence follows. “That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.” (1 Corinthians 11:30) As God intended us to be mature men and women in Christ, we shall grow by being nurtured and equipped with the word of truth.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

August 29, 2017

© 2015-2017 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved. 

The Head of Christ Is God (1 Corinthians 11:1-16)

Are there differences between man and woman? Yes, there are a lot of differences, physically and psychologically. But in the realm of spirit there is none. God created male and female in his image and in his likeness from the beginning. God made man and later in time woman from one of man’s ribs. It doesn’t mean woman was the second thought. Rather, God separated woman from man to teach humanity the mystery of union between Christ and his church. Whatever has been made by the Creator God is for purpose and meaning. Nothing exists at random or accidently. All man is equal in the sight of God. At the same time, there is order in the universe put in place by God. The smallest element in the matter of the universe humans have discovered is called atom which can further be decomposed into the smaller elements like protons and neutrons. It is invisible, but runs and operates in orderly manner without fail because Christ is holding and sustaining all things by his powerful word (Hebrews 1:3). “The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Colossians 1:15-17) The whole universe is paying careful attention and obeying to the Creator without an iota of miss. The Sun rises from the east and goes down to the west for thousands of years. Long winter is for sure followed by the season of spring, hot summer, and red autumn. Two sexes, male and female, exist generations after generations. The nature is the vehicle of the Creator to teach man the mind of God.

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ. I praise you for remembering me in everything and for holding to the traditions just as I passed them on to you. But I want you to realize that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God. Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved. For if a woman does not cover her head, she might as well have her hair cut off; but if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off or her head shaved, then she should cover her head. A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man. For man did not come from woman, but woman from man; neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels. Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent of man, nor is man independent of woman. For as woman came from man, so also man is born of woman. But everything comes from God. Judge for yourselves: Is it proper for a woman to pray to God with her head uncovered? Does not the very nature of things teach you that if a man has long hair, it is a disgrace to him, but that if a woman has long hair, it is her glory? For long hair is given to her as a covering. If anyone wants to be contentious about this, we have no other practice—nor do the churches of God.” (1 Corinthians 11:1-16)

It tells the relationship between man and Christ, man and woman, and Christ and God. Christ is head of man in him is his body. Four out of five senses are on the head, sight, hearing, taste, and smell. Head is the commander and authority to govern the body. Head and body relationship is the most perfect system in which all the organs are working together, receiving orders from the head and executing them by the body faithfully. Jesus is the head of the body, the church. We in Christ are not running and operating the course of church, but he is. He is the head and we are his servants. “This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful.” (1 Corinthians 4:1-2) In Christ, we are following and obeying him as his servants. We never are in the position of pushing our own agendas and in fact we can’t. He knows what he is doing, how to lead, where to put, what to do, why to move or wait on his church. He is the maker and designer of the church on earth. He gave birth to the church through his blood bled on that cross of Calvary where he assumed all the shame and guilt and pains in our place. Yes, church is built on the foundation of Jesus Christ the Lord and no other. Christ is equipping the church for works of service to reach unity in faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature. He is the living bread to feed his church now and forevermore.

“So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:11-13)

Body alone cannot exist and function without head. No life at all. It must be attached to the head. It is impossible to be headless! Jesus says, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:5-8) It shall remain in him forever. ‘Remain in Christ’ is timeless for any moment of being cut off from the vine ceases the flow of life, instantly resulting in darkness and lost in direction. Body is not aimless or lost as long as it is attached to the head. It is the reason that the Scripture says to fix our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. It means to have one mind for no one can serve two masters, God and money (or anything in the world). No body can belong to two heads.

Therefore, church on earth shall fix their eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ who is the Creator of all things. Who does send his sheep into the field where wolves are lurking? No shepherd would do that. But Jesus did just as he says, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16) Why did he do that? Because he will protect safe and secure no matter what happens. He sent his church to the world just as the Father sent the Son to the world. Church is sent to the world to do the work of God the Father as Christ was sent to do the will of the Father. Christ was sent to shine the light of truth on the people in darkness. “My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified.” (John 17:15-19) Church on earth has only one agenda that is to shine the light of Jesus Christ by obeying his new command, loving one another. Christ is the head of church, which means we are all brothers and sisters in him. No one is superior over others, as our Lord Jesus says, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28) We have one Shepherd and one Master, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Man is the head of woman. Why so? What is it teaching humanity? Man was made first and then woman made out of man’s ribs as a helper suitable for him. Woman was deceived by the devil but man was not. It doesn’t mean that man is superior to woman. “And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.” (1 Timothy 2:14) The role of sex has been designated differently between man and woman from the beginning. Man as leader and woman as supporter or follower is in the mind of God. Not mechanically though but voluntarily. God pronounced the recovery program of humanity right after the fall of man. To the woman, God says, “I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.” (Genesis 3:16) It is not curse but blessing for woman. God’s love is deeply implanted in the process of taking painful childbearing and husband’s ruling over her voluntarily. It is the lifetime compass to remember what she is before God. “But women will be saved through childbearing—if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.” (1 Timothy 2:15) She is under authority, her husband, which is set and put by God.

Man is the head of woman. It doesn’t mean that man is authorized to use any forceful means to be the head over woman. It never works that way. Rather, man may be the head of woman by loving her as Christ loved his church by giving his life. “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body.” (Ephesians 5:25-30) Jesus our Lord did not force anyone to follow and obey him but died for them, shedding the blood for the sin of the world. Christ became the head of church through the sacrifice of his own body to purge all sins and failures. This is the way for man to be the head of woman by giving his life for the sake of Christ.

The head of Christ is God. What does it mean? The triune God is a mystery. God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Spirit are one in unity. Christ the Son though he is equal with God did not consider equality with him something to be used to his own advantage. Rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness (Philippians 2:6-7). The Son Jesus voluntarily gave up all rights, power, glory, honor, and he offered his body as God’s ransom sacrifice. “Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: ‘Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, “Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.”’” (Hebrews 10:5-7) Jesus humbled himself by becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:8) Jesus Christ is a faithful servant to the Father God. In turn, the Father exalted the Son Jesus Christ to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:9-11). Christ received all power from the Father, but he did not use it to create a new universe, destroying the old one. “Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God.” (John 13:3) Instead, Jesus himself gave his life to the Father for the sin of the world, through which he has made new and holy whoever believes in him. The Son obeyed the Father even to the point of death and the Father loved the Son by giving him the highest name above all. In this way, the Father and the Son are one in unity.

So, man and woman in service shall follow the relationship principle that the head of man is Christ and the head of woman is man. “Every man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head. But every woman who prays or prophesies with her head uncovered dishonors her head—it is the same as having her head shaved.” (1 Corinthians 11:4-5) Paul may be referring to a head covering used in Roman religious practice, in order to bring attention to themselves, indicating that they are socially superior. So, man in service of prayer and prophecy should not cover his head because it dishonors his head, Christ. Man in service of teaching and preaching is fully under the headship of the Lord Jesus Christ, meaning that all men are the servants of God. So do woman in service. Note that man and woman are in service of prayer and prophecy. The Scripture doesn’t say that woman is prohibited for prayer and prophecy. But woman in service should not uncover her head because it dishonors her head, her husband. God is the God of order. After the fall, God pronounced the prescription for recovery to woman which we have already examined earlier. It is not curse but the love of God hidden in the process of voluntarily obeying and following God’s prescription. Voluntarily yes as our Lord Jesus obeyed the Father in his willingness and joy to the point of death. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus!

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says, ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father? If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.” (Hebrews 12:1-8)

August 8, 2017

© 2015-2017 David Lee Ministries – All Rights Reserved.