Gospel

The Lord’s Supper: Part One

By Pastor Josh Wamble

This past Sunday evening, we started a short series exploring what the Bible says and what Christians have thought about the Lord’s Supper throughout history. If you were not here for that, you can listen to the audio here. We looked mostly at two passages, and two aspects of the Lord’s Supper became clear during that time. First, the Lord’s Supper has a vertical dimension to it. It has something to do with our relationship with God. Second, the Lord’s Supper has a horizontal dimension to it. It has something to do with our relationship with other believers.

The Lord’s Supper Has a Vertical Dimension

When we look at Luke 22:14, 20, we see that the Lord’s Supper was anticipated (v.15). This was not a spur of the moment addition to the Passover meal that Jesus came up with on the fly. The Lord’s Supper was planned by God and implemented by Jesus at the right moment.

We also see that the Lord’s Supper is only temporary. It points to something else (Luke 22:16 and 18). Revelation 19:7-10 tells us that there will be a day when a reunion takes place between the Lord and His people. This is what the Lord’s Supper is meant to point us to. It is a reminder that a better Supper is coming—a marriage feast. Until that day, we have the Lord’s Supper together in expectation of what is to come.

The Lord’s Supper is a symbolic meal. The bread and the wine/juice point to something else. In Luke 22:19, we are told that the bread represents Jesus’s body and the wine/juice represents His blood. The bread helps us to think of Jesus’s sacrifice for us (“do this in remembrance of me”), and the wine/juice helps us to celebrate and trust in the new covenant that Jesus’s death established (“the new covenant in my blood”).

The Lord’s Supper Has a Horizontal Dimension

In Luke 22:17, we read that Jesus instructed His disciples to share the meal among themselves—with one another. There is an aspect of the Lord’s Supper that is focused on the relationship between those who are celebrating it together. In 1 Cor. 11:26, Paul tells us that every time we share this meal together, we are proclaiming something that is true. To proclaim something is to announce it or spread it’s message. In seminary, the preaching class was called “The Ministry of Proclamation.” The Lord’s Supper is a visual sermon or gospel presentation. Every time we share the Lord’s Supper, we are preaching the gospel to one another! We do so in two ways.

First, we proclaim His death to each other. We look back to what Jesus has done and how it has affected us. We remind one another that Jesus’s death is the foundation of our standing and acceptance before God. This is the very foundation of our faith and our hope. We remind one another that we are in this together. We are trusting in the same things. We are believing and following together. We can count on each other.

Second, we proclaim His coming to one another. Paul says we proclaim His death until He comes. As we see each other eat the bread and drink the wine/juice, we are helping each other and being helped to look ahead. We are reminding each other of this hope that we are moving toward. We are advancing toward holiness and righteousness and the fullness of our salvation—and we are doing so together! We are helping each other to make it. Sharing in the Lord’s Supper meal is a reminder that we are a community of faith following Jesus together!

I wonder if you have ever thought of this horizontal aspect of the Lord’s Supper. Some traditions refer to the Lord’s Supper as “communion.” It is a communion between us and God but also between us and each other. It is one of the ways God uses the church to mold His people into the image of Jesus.

The Lord’s Supper is a blessing to you and your faith as you look backward to Christ’s death and forward to His return, but it is also a way for you to encourage and strengthen the other members of our church as you proclaim these truths to your brothers and sisters. At our church, we have the Lord’s Supper on the first Sunday of each month. Sometimes it is during the morning service, and sometimes it is part of the evening service. You cannot take part in this proclamation encouraging and strengthening the church if you are not present. Would you prioritize being in attendance during these services?

The Five Points of the Gospel

By Pastor Josh Wamble

If someone asked you what they had to do to get saved, could you answer? What if someone asked you why Jesus became a human or why He had to die—couldn’t God save humanity some other way? What if someone asked you to explain the gospel?

“Gospel” is one of those words that gets used a lot in Christian and church contexts, but sometimes there is confusion surrounding just exactly what it is that we are talking about. There’s a genre of music called “gospel.” There are four gospels in the New Testament (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John). But, when Christians talk about the gospel, they are usually referring to the message of salvation. The word evangelism comes from the Greek word that means gospel or good news.

So what is the gospel—the good news—the message of salvation? What must we include in order to be faithful to the full message given in the Bible? What must someone believe in order to be saved? There are different ways of summarizing the gospel. Some use four points or headings. Some use six points or headings. Some use different acronyms like G.R.A.C.E. or F.A.I.T.H. Below, I will summarize the gospel in five points—one for each finger of your hand.

The Gospel Summarized in Five Points

1. God is Holy.

God is holy. He is completely set apart from his creation. He is morally pure and always does what is right. He is good and true and just and impartial. He is rightly focused on Himself and His own glory.

2. We are not Holy.

When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he did so as our representative standing in for all of humanity. Therefore, all humans are born with a sinful corrupted nature and guilty before God. We are not holy. We are not morally pure, and we often do what is wrong. We are not always good. We often are not truthful. We do not always treat others justly and often show partiality toward ourselves or others that we are connected to. We are not rightly focused on God and His glory. We often focus on ourselves and our own glory above God’s. Sometimes, we value parts of creation above God. We have rebelled against the God who created us, loves us, and provides for us!

3. This is a Problem.

Our guilt and sinfulness create a division between us and God. How can God remain holy and reconcile Himself to us? If God always does what is right, then he must do what is right toward guilty sinners. How can God forgive sinners without becoming unjust and unrighteous? Forgiving guilty sinners would require God to show partiality and no longer be true. He would no longer be good. (Think of a judge who lets people go free even though they are clearly proven to be guilty beyond a doubt.) If God is to remain holy, he must pronounce a true and right judgement against sinners. This is a big problem.

4. Jesus is the Answer to this Problem.

God could have left us in this position of guilt and rebellion against Him, but He chose not to. God has provided an answer by taking on humanity in the person of Jesus. Since Jesus is fully man and fully God, He can serve as a mediator between God and us. We can be reconciled to God in the person of Jesus! Jesus is fully human, but since he is not descended from Adam, He was not born with a sinful and corrupted nature or guilty before God. Since Jesus never sinned and lived a perfectly holy life (good, just, right, true, morally pure, impartial, and rightly focused on God and His glory), He is not guilty of sin. This means that Jesus can serve as a perfect sacrifice—a substitute for guilty/sinful humanity. Jesus takes our guilt and suffers our punishment before God. In addition, we are credited with His holiness and righteousness since He lived a perfect/holy life as our representative! This means that God can forgive sinners and remain holy. He doesn’t simply overlook our guilt and sin. He does what is right by justly and impartially judging our sin in Jesus. Since Jesus is fully God, he is able to fully consume God’s wrath toward our sin so that justice is fully done.

5. How Will You Respond?

Salvation is not an automatic thing. God requires us to make a choice. Will we continue in our rebellion and sin following the course of Adam or will we surrender and swear allegiance to Christ as our new representative? We must turn from our love of sin, abandon our own attempts to reconcile ourselves to God, and trust in the only solution that God has provided in Christ.

Sharing the Gospel with Other People

Remembering these five headings (1. God is holy. 2. We are not holy. 3. This is a problem. 4. Jesus is the answer. 5. How will you respond?) can make sharing the gospel with people much less intimidating. You don’t have to remember everything the Bible says or know how to answer every question someone might have. Remembering just these five points will give you confidence to talk to people about God’s plan of salvation.

Speaking with people about the gospel also requires wisdom and some discernment. Once you get a good understanding of the person you are talking with, you will not always have to go into great detail about all five of these points.

The person you are talking with may know and feel greatly that they are sinful, but may not believe that God is holy. He may think that a good God would not allow some specific thing that has happened to him. In this case, you would need to spend more time on the first point showing that God really is holy and all that that means.

Another person that you talk to may believe that God is holy but think that she is a pretty good person. In this case, you could almost skip over the first point and focus more on the second point and how serious her sin and guilt before God is.

A person who believes that God is holy and that we are sinful but thinks God should just forgive everyone, would need to be confronted with the third point and why this is such a big problem—how a holy God cannot just overlook sin and guilt and remain holy.

A person who agrees with the first three points may think that his sin is so great and the problem is so big that God cannot forgive his sin. In this case, you would need to spend time explaining the fourth point—how Jesus is the answer to this problem and has made a way to reconcile us to God, provide forgiveness for our sin, and remain holy.

Finally, if the person you are talking to understands the problem and how Jesus answers it but thinks that means that God will automatically forgive everyone, you will need to explain how in her sin she is still following Adam in rebellion against God. You will need to help her see that she needs to turn from her rebellion and sin and swear allegiance to Christ as her new representative before God and trust Him to reconcile her to God.

In all of these scenarios, we need to remember that the Holy Spirit is the one who converts and rely on Him to do so. We should never try to convince someone or convert someone under our own power or ability or cleverness. We should always join prayer with our explanations of the gospel asking God to give us the words and wisdom to explain the gospel well and asking Him to convict our friend of sin and open his heart to believe!

As people who have been changed by the gospel, we should always be seeking opportunities to share that same message of salvation with those around us—our family and friends and coworkers and neighbors and even strangers when we have opportunity. We should look for opportune times and pray that God would provide those.

I hope that this five point summary of the gospel is a help to you in your sharing the gospel. I hope that it will give you more confidence to do so. I pray that God will use this tool to make us more evangelistic people and a more evangelistic church!